Are you on a diet or change of lifestyle?

Previously it was always a diet. However this time around it's def a lifestyle change. I know this because I've stuck it out past a month and I'm okay with the slow rate of loss (weight and inches).

I don't log or keep a diary...I did when I was losing, but I've always seen logging as merely a tool for learning how to eat in proper portions and get proper nutrition, etc. I've maintained for over 1.5 years now without logging...I personally don't think logging is the "lifestyle"....learning proper nutrition and how to eat a nutritious and well balanced diet is the lifestyle I'm talking about. Making regular exercise a part of my life that is not something "extra" is the lifestyle I'm talking about. Logging and keeping a food diary is just training wheels...eventually you have to take them off and just ride...IMHO, it is unrealistic to think I would log in some diary for the next 40+ years I have remaining.

Lifestyle change. For me, that means SLOWLY incorporating little changes here and there that I can live with for good. I am not going on an "all-banana", "no carb", "low carb", "nothing white at night", or "paleo" type diet because in the end I think I would find those too constrictive (yes, I mean CONstrictive and not REstrictive because those types of diets feel like a noose around my neck to me) and end up binging on the "no-no" foods.

I track my food much better than when I started but far from perfectly. But since I feel like I've failed when I *DON'T* log now, I think this has become a change I can stick with. Just because I am logging doesn't mean I always stick within my calorie goals (let alone my macros) and the reports in the link below are proof of that. (I took screenshots of the reports and made them .JPGs in my photos..I *think* they should be viewable this way. They're the only two charts among the four photos.)

see my reports:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/photos/view/51171126

You can also see that I'm human...my weight still goes up and down (more noticeable in the 180) but the overall long-term trend remains DOWN...so that feels like a lifestyle change too.

I have now been here for approximately a year. As of when I joined MFP, I weighed around 264 pounds. I am now at 210 with an end goal of 150-170 for my "final" weight.

I will probably never "eat clean" because I don't think that's a change I could realistically make forever. I like the occasional ice cream or bag of potato chips. But I no longer habitually have a gallon of ice cream in the freezer..if I crave it, I go out for a single dip cone or bowl.

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.

@seltzer - you have to keep posting - pretty soon you will be under "contract' - Priceless :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

--- and I totally agree - It HAS to be lifestyle. Great post OP!

This may be controversial and I may be "simplifying" things too much. But just my opinion.

Some of those who are here to "just lose weight" generally do not mention the love of exercise and and how the changes affect the rest of their life.

The people that get a "wake up call" and realize that they need to change Their internal habits and discipline start to embrace exercise and health and all the "lifestyle" of watching intake and getting more physically fit becomes a real source fun and pride instead of "something temporary what they have to do".

All of your posts are very inspiring, thank you! I've been on MFP once before about two years ago, and I'm back on it again but with lots more help and life changes. Maybe in a few months I will be able to post similar encouragement and "I've lost X pounds" graphs!

I think 'lifestyle change' is just a more PC way of saying 'diet', to be honest. I HATE the term lifestyle change, because I associate it with weight watchers where everyone ate 1200 calories of diet box food a day and said 'yeah but it's a lifestyle change though'….and packed all the weight back on.

People use that term to imply that this is it now. This is their last diet. They're going to succeed this time, and do everything they're doing right now….until they die. That doesn't make sense to me. Things change. Different skills and mindsets are needed to maintain than to lose the weight. Yes, certain habits you've learned during the weight loss journey will stay with you, but whether you call it a diet or a lifestyle change, you're still talking about a calorie deficit no matter what name you give it.

I don't mind saying I'm on a diet. It doesn't mean I'm being unhealthy, or on a crash diet, but for me, yes it is temporary. It's temporary because for the next 35 weeks I will be eating at 1500 calories a day, and certain sacrifices are going to be made. When I'm at my goal weight, I will be eating at 2000. My focus will be more on building muscle, so my food goals will change - they will be more protein heavy. After that, I may decide to lose a little more, so things will change again.

The point is, you learn boundaries. You learn what food works for you, what keeps you full, what's worth splurging a few calories on and what you don't think is really worth it. You learn proper portion sizes. You learn to always keep healthy snacks with you. You identify places you can get healthy food if you're in a pinch (NB: not McDonalds!)

I can do that without having to label it 'lifestyle change'. It's just a process that as well as getting rid of the weight, will educate me too.

I've been here for 3.5 years and have kept the weight off, so I'm going with lifestyle change

For me it's both. I'm here to lose weight but also to gain tips and insight on what I need to do to keep the weight off for good. I'm learning that it's ok to have a cheat day as long as you don't do it everyday.

I've also developed the mindset that I didn't put this weight on overnight and it's not going to come off overnight but with hard work and making lifestyle changes I can keep it off.

If I kepp doing the same thing over and over I' m going to keep getting the same results - an increase in my weight. If I want to see a change in my weight then I'm going to have to make some changes in how I eat AND exercise/be more active.

I am not on a diet, I am educating myself for a better future. When I am done with my education and graduate to the next level I will use my new learned skills to better my life.