Four Letter Hell - "DIET"

highvoltagequeen

Someone asked me yesterday, Why do I call it a lifestyle change. Why don't I just diet and exercise?

After giving it some thought, here it is.

Because, after I've lost 20lbs on a "diet".. I begin to feel like I've accomplished my goals. It's like I think that weight loss through dieting is something that can be earned like a trophy in one monumental burst of effort and then admired and coveted for the rest of one's life.

What usually ends up happening is that I completely wear myself out. Thinking that I've earned it, I give myself permission to slack off for a while and recover mentally from the calorie counting and the exercising. But because I end up saying "I'll "START" again "TOMORROW"... I end up needing to take more recovery time than usual. This is when the guilt-spiral downwards starts.

Then the guilt from my lack of "calorie counting" and exercising grows so large that merely eating feels like a huge disappointment from the universe. It consumes me so much and the guilt grows so large that I think I start hoping my weight will collapse on itself like a dying star and voila! Thin.

At some point in this endlessly spiraling disaster, I am forced to throw all of my energy into trying to go on a "DIET" again, just to dig myself out of the stretch and sweatpants I've grown into. The problem is that I enter this round of attempted weight loss already burnt out from the last round.

That is why, I do not diet.

Janworkingitout

Well said!

ronda_gettinghealthy

You are exactly correct- you put into words what I believe-thanks

IrishChick71

BINGO! You hit the nail on the head there! Everyone has a diet of some sort. Good or Bad but to change the way you think is something different completely. It's what we strive for and struggle to continue that changes our life. Calling it just a "diet" belittles the struggle for me.

Thanks for posting!

Debbisue52

Yep....to me, a "diet" is a temporary thing....a "quick fix". We can't lose weight, and MAINTAIN it on a "diet". It's a LIFESTYLE CHANGE...and it has to be a change we can live with for the rest of our lives. It's about training ourselves to live our lives in a healthier way and still be able to enjoy ourselves and our favorite foods...in MODERATION! A "diet" to me means I have to deprive myself and I can't live that way the rest of my life. I can, however, live my life eating healthier and exercising....and still enjoying the things I like. That's NOT a "diet". Good luck everyone!

highvoltagequeen

Thank you, thank you, thank you and you're welcome.