Are you on a diet or change of lifestyle?

Diet (low carb). Lifestyle change can wait until I'm at goal weight.

Right now, it's definitely a diet as I shoot for 180lbs from 220, but I'm learning lifestyle changing skills along the way. As I intend to cycle bulking and cutting once I have a better BF%, it will ultimately become a change of lifestyle.

I made it a lifestyle change. I've learned how to eat and why what I used to eat made me obese. I won't ever allow myself to get fat and lose control again.

Lifestyle change for sure. Like you, I've picked things I really enjoy. I haven't sworn off anything, and don't plan to. Best part is...it's working!

A life makeover. I'm all about nutrition and survival. I'm going to live if it kills me

i've made a lifestyle change, and i'm sticking with it. not only have i changed the way i eat, but the way i think about eating and food, the way i deal with relatives, holidays and eating and i've learned to treat myself while staying within my calorie goal. this last is pretty important - treating myself (or being treated by others) or trying to cheer myself when life wasn't treating me well used to mean large amounts of yummy food. now i eat my favorite foods every day, so it's a lot easier to not go overboard at those other times. in fact, i just had trader joe's cheese crunchies while staying within my calorie goal, and they are one of my all-time faves!

Losing weight by counting calories and eating at a deficit but also trying to improve my health overall by eating less processed sugar and low glycemic index foods in general. This leaves me lots of room to move when selecting foods because I know I won't stick to meal plans made up of foods I don't enjoy. Making changes that are sustainable is the only way this will work for me in the long run.

Still trying to find an exercise routine I actually enjoy. That's an area I still worry about sustaining in the long run.

There is approximately 11% difference between me at goal weight and when I'm gaining in terms of how much food I'm eating. That's not a large amount, but enough to cause a gain of about 1 kilogram a month. In my case the answer is to weigh myself regularly, and note when I'm gaining. I 've never been the type of person who eats a lot of food, even when I'm gaining.

They're the same thing! Your diet is what you eat; good or bad, 3000 cal or 500 cal, vegan or meat eater. You're diet is what you eat no matter what, the way to lose weight is to change your diet to include a deficit.

But I get the question, so yes, I plan on changing my diet to a healthier one for life!

Seltzermint said:
Diet = 80's aerobics instructor eats rice cakes in a teal & white outfit with matching high top Reeboks.
Weight Loss Journey = nomads with robes and sticks crossing a mountain/desert area look for a magical weight loss plant.
Lifestyle Change = 60-ish widow from suburban Texas moves to NYC, starts wearing day glo spandex and becomes a lesbian.

:laugh: :laugh: Perfect

It started as weight and now I am living differently with higher aspirations.

Lifestyle -- 100%. I've been on a stricter version of Atkins (I cut wheat, sugar, and vegetable oils out completely and have drastically minimized my intake of dairy and processed foods) for just under 2 years now and have never once been tempted to have a cheat day or even meal (even during a one-month trip throughout Europe). Before I cleaned up my diet and went low-carb, I was constantly binging (even when I was trying to lose weight with high-carb/low-fat). Within 2 months of starting Atkins, my cravings and appetite became more manageable than I ever even thought possible, and my binges stopped completely. I could never go back to my old way of eating (even once I reach my goal weight), because I know I would backslide into my old bad habits -- and I have no desire to do so either.

For some people, low-carb is not something they have the will power or desire to stick to for life. The trade-off simply isn't worth it to them. For me, it absolutely is. I have found something that not only works for me and I can stick to with ease, but is also what I - based on my research - consider to be an optimal way of eating (which only reinforces my commitment to this diet for life). Once someone finds a way of eating that works for them, can/has become second nature for them, and about which they are passionate/agreeable, it is much easier to change their lifestyle.

I allow myself indulgences and higher-carb days (during special occasions, while on vacation, etc), but even those are minimal. For me, "cheating" used to be a full day (or more) of binging on copious amounts of grossly unhealthy food (junk food, fast food, baked goods, etc). Now that I've made the commitment and have the desire to stick to this way of eating for life, my "cheats" aren't really cheats at all. For health reasons, I've given up wheat and refined sugar for life. But I'll allow myself low-carb baked goods (made with almond flour, coconut flour, erythritol, stevia, etc), homemade Colombian cuisine made by my extended family (buñuelos, arepas, empanadas, etc), and "treats" that fit into my preferred nutrition guidelines.

If I feel the need to splurge, I will. So long as my indulgence of choice does not contain wheat, refined sugar, or vegetable oils, I do not feel guilty in treating myself from time to time. Because I do not deny myself or feel denied, I do not see myself ever letting go of this way of eating and actually continue to make it stricter as time goes on, eliminating foods that I feel are not beneficial to my health/well-being.

For me, this way of eating is not just about weight loss; although it began as that, is has become much more about my health with each new thing I learn and as time goes on. I don't just want to look great; I want to *feel* great as well. And by continuing this way of eating for life, that is exactly what will happen :-)

It's a lifestyle for me. I lost my weight, and I'm maintaining now, eating food that I can easily afford, and enjoy eating. I eat low fat, high carb, with limited (lean) meat.

I miss nothing, I can have everything I desire to eat. I'll always log, or food journal. It's helpful in planning my day.

i started off as a diet... but i'm learning how to live life in moderation and that i dont need all the crap I use to eat. So technically speaking I am on a "diet", but it's leading me into a healthier life style that i can see living the rest of my life.

My diet (as in, what I eat) is part of an overall change I'm making in my life. I quit smoking, too (a year ago this month, woot). And I started increasing my activity in general.

I'm not *on* a diet, though. And the term "lifestyle change" irrationally annoys me (as it applies to me, not anyone else).

So I'm just me, doing a healthier me.

A lifestyle change will not only cause weight loss but can reverse many of the diseases that we carry including diabetes.
Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pjkC71exKU