Power of words while dieting

Anna_43

In one of my 36583465837665196 diet books someone mentions not to use the expression "lose" weight as it implies the loss of something that we may miss and has a negative effect on dieting.

It is recommended to rather say "drop" "get rid of" and similar - to encourage shifting weight down and not think about it as any form of "loss".

What do you think?

PeeTeePee

I suppose 'losing' something means that you hope to find it again, misplaced it in other words. I lost my keys, I lost my book, I lost my wallet, etc. However to say 'got rid of' is implying 'and I hope to never see it again'. I finally got rid of my cold, I got rid of that old car, etc.

Interesting idea, I'll try using it in future.

TeeferTiger

I might as well say I'm putting it in a safe place then cos I never find stuff I put in a safe place :laugh:

meerkat70

I struggle with this. A lot of my friends talk about 'releasing' weight, and it always makes me thing 'born free' or something! 'Go free, little adipose creature, play wild with your own kind.... !'

I like to think of myself as losing weight. I guess it's the logical opposite for me of 'gaining', and I feel quite positively about losing. :-)

lorro

I've never seen any dieter react with anything other then delight to weight loss.

EllieMo

This is just a personal opinion, but to me, it's piffle! Using the phrase "get rid of" is not going to help me, erm, dispose of my excess weight any quicker. I want to lose it, forever.

meerkat70

And realistically, with my organisational skills, once something is lost, it's good and lost forever... :-)

EllieMo

I struggle with this. A lot of my friends talk about 'releasing' weight, and it always makes me thing 'born free' or something! 'Go free, little adipose creature, play wild with your own kind.... !'

That's reminding me of an episode of Doctor Who!

nothingisred

I don't think it has negative effects as such because the idea of weight "loss" is something ingrained into our culture as a positive thing.

However, I do get the thinking behind it.

I see a thing on Pinterest quite a lot that says something like "I am not losing the weight, I have no intention of ever finding it again" (can't remember the exact phrasing) which I love!