Why do YOU diet?

I don't like the term diet for one main reason. Diets have a start point and an end point and never last forever. If you truly want to lose weight and keep it off you need to have a nutrition plan you can sustain long term for life. Diets can't be sustained for life. Eating healthy and having a total lifestyle change can. That's how I have been able to lose weight and been able to keep it off and how I advise everyone with losing weight.

This. +1

I don't understand the obsession on this site with the word diet. If you are restricting calories with the desire to lose weight, you are on a diet. Is calling it something else helpful?

I've never understood it either. Counting calories (and limiting them consciously) and weighing, and measuring.... that's a diet.

Because....food. yep

I don't understand the obsession on this site with the word diet. If you are restricting calories with the desire to lose weight, you are on a diet. Is calling it something else helpful?

If it makes you feel any better, I agree with ya!

Well language does evolve but it doesn't mean that the word diet doesn't mean what you eat.
"We fattened up some lab rats on a diet of pure crisco to twice their normal weight to see what happened."
"I changed my diet to include vegetables but I eat the same amount of calories"
"I included more food in my diet because I'm trying to gain weight"
English, it's fun.

Yes, "diet" as a noun simply means whatever one eats.

However, "diet" as a verb (the way OP used it) means: (according to Merriam Webster)

: to eat less food or to eat only particular kinds of food in order to lose weight : to be on a diet

That said, what's up with the urgency on MFP about avoiding the term "dieting" or "being on a diet?" I don't get it. Yes, lifestyle change is all well and good, but right now I'm eating at a 500 to 600 calorie per day deficit. That's because I'm working on losing weight.

I am NOT going to be losing weight for the rest of my life. I am currently dieting, and this diet very definitely has an end point.

After I reach its end point, which is my goal weight, I will shift over to eating my TDEE. That will still require attention, but it will definitely be different from how I'm eating right now.

And to answer OP's question: I am dieting to lower my blood pressure a bit, so I can (hopefully) avoid the need to start medication. I've also made other lifestyle changes for this purpose as well.

Yes, given that MFP IS definition #2.

I don't understand the obsession on this site with the word diet. If you are restricting calories with the desire to lose weight, you are on a diet. Is calling it something else helpful?

On 1 hand that's true, but on the other hand I'm not "restricting" anything - I'm trying to eat healthier foods. The fact that they happen to have less calories & I've lost some weight is fantastic, but overall health is my goal. I'm 50 years old & all the #'s on my bloodwork are now right in the middle of where they need to be (if not a little to the side of center that's a little better). My LDL (bad) cholesterol has come down from 129 to 97 while my HDL (good) cholesterol has gone up. My resting pulse rate ranges from 48-53 & my blood pressure ranges from 110-120/65-75. My last stress test showed no blockages & it took 9 1/2 minutes to reach the target heart rate - my doctor told me the vast majority of men my age hit the target rate within the 1st 30 seconds. This is all giving me the best chance to live a longer, healthier life & that's what it's all about...........

You're not restricting calories?

No such thing as a "diet"...if it's not sustainable it's not worth doing. What and how we eat is just a what we do. I don't short term "diet", but I have a long term, sustainable diet that consists of eating according to my fitness goals. It's not temporary but lifelong. It's lifelong because its sustainable and not a short term "diet".

I refuse to diet. I am on a lifelong healthy, versatile, moderating eating plan. I will never diet again.

I don't understand the obsession on this site with the word diet. If you are restricting calories with the desire to lose weight, you are on a diet. Is calling it something else helpful?

I've never understood it either. Counting calories (and limiting them consciously) and weighing, and measuring.... that's a diet.

Yep, anything that involves me eating less cheese and pie is a 'diet' (in that sense of the word).

Especially as (I'm not referring to anyone here and may include myself) so few people to manage that 'lifestyle change' in the long term. Much the same way as a 'diet'.

As I said, not applying this to anyone, just in relation to the proportion of people who lose weight and keep it off. Myself included - Weight Watchers and Slimming World alike. My lifestyle somtimes involves treating my body like cr*p. My relationship with food and body has drastically improved since using MFP, but yes, I deliberately eat less than my body requires to maintain my weight. I am banting.

I don't understand the obsession on this site with the word diet. If you are restricting calories with the desire to lose weight, you are on a diet. Is calling it something else helpful?

I agree with this.

My last diet (verb) was reducing my calories by about 500 per day until I reached a goal weight. Then I stopped dieting and began maintaining by eating a reasonable amount of calories for my age, weight, and activity level.

I didn't really change my diet (noun) other than to pay more attention to my macronutrient/micronutrient percentages and try to get more protein overall. I have always eaten in a relatively balanced manner.

Throughout the verbs (diet and maintaining) I have also incorporated a regular workout plan, which I would call a lifestyle change because I did not do that prior to my desire to be healthier.

All the foods I like are considered "unhealthy" and "bad", but I know I won't be able to cut them out of my diet for life.

I am a steak and potatoes kind of girl, so this is very hard for me when a normal meal for me is easily half of my calorie allowance.

I also like chips and dip, and brownies and cake. I want to be able to eat what I want when I want it, so the long term answer to me is increasing the amount I exercise... rather than forever being stuck at say 1600 calories a day.

So, I'm trying to do things that I can see myself sticking to long term. I've come to the conclusion that cutting out foods and weight lifting are not things I can see myself sticking to for the rest of my life. The only exercises I have enjoyed in the past were your basic calisthenics and running, so these things I know I can stick to. Lifting weights bores me to tears. And having a 'normal' serving of something.... can't see me sticking to that for the rest of my life. I can see myself sticking to running five days a week while happily eating half a large pizza for dinner............................

I don't know what I'm trying to say or what I'm trying to do, but I do know that I really want to lose the weight. I figure that once I get down to where I want, I would just keep up with my calories and exercise accordingly (not a diet then, right?).

Dieting is so difficult for me. It's funny that I would rather spend hours on a treadmill than choosing to not have that 1/2 lb Texas BBQ burger......

Honestly, that's how I lost the 30 or so pounds I've lost so far. I've just kept up with the amount of calories I've stuffed my face with and burned off anything past my allowance given to me by MFP.

I know that my way is generally unhealthy (I read that eating too much causes premature aging of the cells), and that it may not work in the long run... but until I am treated of my binge eating disorder, I can't see the weight coming off any other way.

I don't understand the obsession on this site with the word diet. If you are restricting calories with the desire to lose weight, you are on a diet. Is calling it something else helpful?

On 1 hand that's true, but on the other hand I'm not "restricting" anything - I'm trying to eat healthier foods. The fact that they happen to have less calories & I've lost some weight is fantastic, but overall health is my goal. I'm 50 years old & all the #'s on my bloodwork are now right in the middle of where they need to be (if not a little to the side of center that's a little better). My LDL (bad) cholesterol has come down from 129 to 97 while my HDL (good) cholesterol has gone up. My resting pulse rate ranges from 48-53 & my blood pressure ranges from 110-120/65-75. My last stress test showed no blockages & it took 9 1/2 minutes to reach the target heart rate - my doctor told me the vast majority of men my age hit the target rate within the 1st 30 seconds. This is all giving me the best chance to live a longer, healthier life & that's what it's all about...........

You're not restricting calories?

Not intentionally as a means to lose weight. The food I'm eating has fewer calories than the fast food/junk food I was eating a lot of, so my calories ARE lower. My goal has been to eat better, & for the most part I have not been going hungry (other than the occasional day where I feel like I must have a tapeworm)......

ETA: I HAVE done the "diet" calorie restriction thing before & it has never worked for me in the long term, I never fail to fall off the wagon in a big way. The only way I can do this (& it's been working for close to 2 years now) is to be more aware of what I'm eating & how often/how much I "treat" myself. Instead of it being whenever I feel like it I only do so every so often. The key for me is to still eat foods I like, but to concentrate on the healthier foods that I like. It has become so much easier to do over time. YMMV, this is what worked for me. Like everything else, everybody is different & my way may not work for somebody else just as their ways may not work for me. As long as we all reach whatever goals we set it doesn't really matter what we call it.........

These responses fascinate me. I have a couple of questions, if you would please indulge me.

1. If you are not restricting anything and therefore not on a diet, why did you feel the need to respond to my post about a diet? Diet means restriction - be it calories only, fat, carbs, junk food, whatever - with the intent of losing weight. If weight loss was never your goal, what has your argument to do with my post?

2. Why are you logging food on MFP, with a calorie goal, and a ticker showing your weight loss, if weight loss is not a goal for you?

1. My apologies, I didn't realize that only people officially on a "diet" could respond. I also wasn't "arguing" anything, I was bringing another viewpoint to the conversation. For some people a straight up diet works, for others it doesn't, some people watch/change what they're eating for reasons other than weight loss. Overall health is just as important as weight loss itself, if not more so. I felt that my response applied to your post to show why somebody might watch what they're eating without a primary goal of weight loss, thereby not considering it to be a diet. For me, the change in lifestyle is the ultimate goal.....

2. I'm logging my foods more to see the macros than the calories, because I think that these things are what will have the biggest effect on things like my sodium levels, sugar levels, cholesterol, etc. Although weight loss isn't my primary goal, it's been a nice side benefit & I am proud of it. If weight loss were my primary goal I'd be weighing exact portions & all of that stuff, but it's not so I'm not. ....

No need to apologize. It's an open forum so anyone can repond. I was just curious.

In answer to OP - I tried Weight Watchers and Slimming World and they didn't work because I couldn't eat like that in the long term (e.g. red and green days - 1 proteiny, 1 carby) and I hadn't looked at why I ate so much (depression and really, really liking dairy products).

The reduction in calories was too much as well, I was always hungry. I have a much smaller gap between my deficit and maintainence calories now.

Those diets also relied on a lot of sad foods - desserts involving quark, or curries that consisted of chicken boob, veg stock and some spices.

Actual LOLz. Desserts involving quark are a tragedy

I've done the works. Atkins, WW, SW, VLCD, Slim Fast, IF and Ive bounced from one to the next til I thought what the bloody hell am I doing here. MFP helps me sensibly learn to manage my portions and still enjoy foods I like, if I want something 'bad' i eat less of it or exercise more or something gives somewhere else. Still early days for me yet but Im content doing what Im doing. I havent thought what I will do once I reach a point where I am happy but Im reading a bit about TDEE atm