I am NOT on a DIET (a fresh perspective)

Agreed - I don't diet, I have just changed what and how much I eat and it has been pretty easy.
My loss has been slower - 33 lbs so far for the year - but I feel it is sustainable and I will lose more/keep it off next year.

Keep up the good work!

That is helpful. I have always felt deprived and resentful that I have to give up certain foods. I do have a question as I am new to this site, should you try to eat the extra calories that you burn off in exercise or try very hard to stick to the original number of calories per day - in my case 1200?

What I am doing now is what I call a "Daily Calorie Budget". Each day my goal is to be under my calorie budget. I eat whatever I want, but i keep track of everything I put into my mouth, and track every exercise I can. If I choose to eat 7 snicker's bars in one day, I'm cool with that, as long as I perform enough exercise so that I am under budget for that day.

Yep, totally. I'm the same way. I don't restrict anything, I just control portions and log in. I will say though, that after a year and a half of changing the way I eat, how often I want the "bad" foods has been greatly reduced and it's easier to make better choices just because. But come between me and my weekly take out and I'll cut you. It's not a diet, it's a new attitude towards food.

I'm also on the same train as all of you - from the first day on MFP I was determined to not call this a Diet - statistically diets fail and I AM going to succeed in getting this weight off of me.

My problem was never over eating (huge excess quantities of food daily) My problem was that I didnt eat enough and when I did eat I was eating crap and even more importantly I wasnt moving (long commute w/ a desk job and spent wayyyy wayyy too much time on the computer at home as well)

Since starting MFP I've lost ballpark (havent done measurements yet this week) 15 lbs, combined total of almost 20 inches, 3% bodyfat and 11lbs of fat mass - all while still eating the foods I love (pizza at least once a week for example) and I still even eat at mcdonalds. The difference now is that instead of having a whole pizza I have a couple slices or at mcdonalds instead of having a double cheeseburger and extra large iced tea I have a grilled chicken sandwich with mushrooms and swiss cheese and a child sized iced tea (I couldnt believe how sweet those suckers are after not having one for a while). For me finding out how much sodium is in things has been the biggest eye opener and I'm working constantly on getting it down.

Its been kind of fun finding ways to make the foods I really enjoy but with less sodium but still have the flavors.

The biggest annoyance I've found is with inconsistant labels on foods or things that dont have labels on them at all and portion sizes - this time of year I tend to eat a lot of clementine oranges - and got curious about how the nutrients are determined - the portion size is 1 clementine - but what sized clementine - some are the size of ping pong balls - some almost the size of tennis balls - that has to be a huge difference in the nutrient content - when in doubt I usually pick the middle size or add one in qty to make up for the possible increase in nutrients.

Sorry about the rant - got off on a tangent there for a bit

Keep up with the not dieting!!!

I am the same way now! People are always "Oh on a diet!" when I chose fruits or veggies over doughnuts. Nope - I just know now that the doughnuts make me feel like crap, while the pineapple makes me feel better - mentally and physically. I rarely even crave bad food anymore. But if I want it, I have it!

Exactly! Technically it is a diet because I restrict calories, but I'm also much more knowledgeable about my macronutrients and appropriate portion sizes. Before I was clueless and ate how much and basically whatever I wanted, within what I thought was reasonable. Well, clearly it wasn't reasonable because I gained 60 pounds in a year.

I am looking forward to people asking me what kind of diet I went on. Zone? Atkins? South Beach? Nope, it's called PORTION CONTROL and common sense.

I agree, just posted this on my profile yesterday-
I did not give up Bread, I did not give up dessert, I did not even give up beer! I lost 33 lbs and more important I have continued to tone and lose inches. I have NOT lost any real weight ( I go up a few and down a few) since May but I dropped from a size 6 to a size 2. Last month I was a 3, but I gained 2 lbs and lost another pants size. I moderate. I MOSTLY eat clean. I set my calories at 1600-2200 depending and I just aim to get some major protein. That is what I do. It works for me. It may or may not work for you. EVERY body does not have the same body! That's why certain things work for some but not all. I will say one thing, very few people will eat 1200 calories a day forever. To change your life you need to find something you can maintain for the long haul!

I love your fresh perspective. I only wish I knew then (2005 - a month ago) what I know now. I have ridden the weight loss (and subsequent gain )roller coaster for the past 7 years. Each time gaining my 55 lbs back. This time around I didnt' know if I had the strength to try again. I've even been asked by a coworker if I like to gain weigh to see if I can lose it again.

But now, I'm going by your methodology and I'm actually sane LOL. Everything you said I agree with 100% and you said it better than I ever could.

Thanks for sharing.