Are you on a diet or change of lifestyle?

Excellent observation and lessoned learned and it's very familiar story. Whatever we do to lose weight is what we need to do to maintain weight. Now I'm striving to eat whole foods, no processed foods, and sweets. Weekends, vacations, special occasions and football watching I may wonder from the plan and then get right back on it. However, for me it's a lifestyle change.

I am changing my life. I'll be doing this forever. I DO NOT believe in dieting. I now watch what I eAt like never before. I make much better choices. I haven't really cut anything out so I am satisfied with what and how much I eat. And I am down 35 pounds, it is working.

For me it's been a learning change. Educating myself on nutrition, fitness and understanding myself as to why I do things, how I can do them better

Because I haven't made any drastic changes other than on portion control and getting off my *kitten*, it's what I will do forever. And I will continue to learn about myself.

Just trying to stay more active for the rest of my life.....food and portion control will likely fade out as the weight drops and becomes less on my mind as it sets in how much I really should be eating..and no I wont be logging when im 80 but I will be ..walking or rolling in some wheelchair chasing some guy around my nursing home with my cane..or sumthin for exercise..

Lifestyle for me!

For me it is all about doing what I need to do to live my life without hypertension, diabetes, joint problems from too much weight and risk for a ton of other health related issues.

I have learned a lot of what I know now here on this site. The folks here are so supportive

Call it what you will. It's not lifestyle or diet to me....its life.


????

Absolutely for life. I've tried every diet in the book and it took me years to realize that they're all part of the huge, money-making, diet industry. None of the proprietors of these diets want to help anybody but their own wallets. I'm so glad I found MFP and started reading advice on the forums. It pushed me to do a lot of research on my own and analyze the results of correlation studies about sugar/carbs, fat, etc. When you actual take the time to analyze the results for yourself, you realize that the media and diet-founders skew the correlations and tout them as cause-effect relationships.

For example, I heard on the radio that a new study is showing that artificial sweeteners are linked to obesity and diabetes. Well, DUH! I don't know about you guys, but when I was obese I tried switching to artificial sweeteners MANY times to (rather unnecessarily) cut out sugar in a weight loss attempt. People who already have diabetes use artificial sweeteners. The link is nothing more than a correlation. The sweetener isn't causing the obesity and diabetes like the radio host insisted this study was showing. There is also a link between people who get sunburned and spending time in the sun. People don't spontaneously sunburn and THEN decide to go out in the sun. . . it's the other way around. I wish more people would look into these studies and form their own conclusions.

I'm thankful that I finally realize it's HOW MUCH you eat, not WHAT you eat for your weight. Sure, what you eat is important for your health. . . veggies have necessary vitamins, fiber is great for you, protein is awesome for cell repair/building, fat is awesome for hormone regulation, and carbohydrates are needed for more immediate energy and the regulation of certain neurotransmitters. . . but how much of each of those food groups will depend on the individuals health and lifestyle. No one diet is the "right" diet for everybody. I finally see that I need to make permanent changes to my life in order to stay a healthy weight. Learning how to incorporate the foods I actually enjoy into a sustainable diet has given me confidence that I can do this. I've been at it for almost a year now and it just keeps getting easier. I'm working toward maintenance at this point and all I have to do is slightly up the caloric quantity of the SAME diet I've been eating all along to lose the weight. There is no more trying and guessing.

Whilst i get that yo yo dieting or being on a 3 week diet to lose weight for an event is not a good long term plan - I do think diet has uneccesarily become a dirty word and lifestyle change has become a trendy buzz word.

I agree with you about "lifestyle change". I also think a lot of times there's a very narrow definition in mind. That doesn't seem to be the case with most in this thread who speak of moderation. But for example, it is not uncommon for me to eat "healthy" breakfast and dinner but have a fast food lunch...or ice cream in the evening. For me that's the beauty of MFP and calorie counting, my "lifestyle change" doesn't have to mean I omit all so-called "bad" foods from my diet...for some that might work, but for me I just don't think it would be sustainable long-term. I am a firm believer in doing what works for you. I have not gone up in weight since I started this "journey" (lol) over six years ago and for me that makes me feel like I'm on the right path for me even if my Saturday is centered around going out of town for shopping, Korean food and a fancy cupcake...not too different of a lifestyle from ten years ago when I was well over 100 lb heavier ;-)

I don't think of this as dieting, but as being healthy. Weight loss is a good side effect for me, but I want to feel good and have energy.

Im on a diet. it has an end date.

I've refused to call this a diet specifically because I want to always have the mindset that it's a change for life. No, I don't think every day of my life I will get on here and type in everything I eat and do, like I need to do now. But I do hope and am shooting for learning things that will stick always. Even if I'm not on here typing it in, I'll still know about what calories are in what foods, which things are best for me, how much exercise I need to try to get. I'm only about halfway to my weight loss goal, but I'm trying to start thinking about what life will look like at that point - what will be my weight sustainment goal. I am not going to let this be just a diet - I am going to be strong enough to carry it on. That's what I'm telling myself until it becomes ingrained and hopefully I forget how to be any other way.

Definitely a changed lifestyle. No "diets" have EVER worked for me and I finally realized it was because I needed to change EVERYTHING as far as my eating habits were concerned. Not just for me, but for my kids! They were watching me and picking up the bad eating habits I learned from MY parents! I didn't want my kids growing up with terrible self esteem and bad body images because THEY were growing up overweight like I did. My health was declining and I'm only 35. And even though I haven't lost a lot of weight consecutively, I've lost over 40lbs. I need more friends on MFP who are gonna help motivate me lol! Although I've been sick again with some stomach issues so I'm not getting proper nutrition which sucks bc I'm losing weight too rapidly and not in a healthy way. I'm surviving mainly off of ginger ale, yogurt and saltines so if anyone wants to help me out, it should be greatly appreciated especially if anyone has had similar issues and can offer any kind of advice!!

It's a lifestyle change. I've discovered that challenges keep me going. I believe that I will get to all my goals, because I believe in myself. I don't deny myself. I just watch what I eat.

This is definately a Lifestyle change for me. The road has had many twist and turns, but i learned not to look at food as anything other than fuel for my body. This is the only way I will be able to stay healthy, by learning how food effects my body and only choosing to put things that impact my body for health into it.

The old statement, "You are what you eat" is so true.

Life Change!
It includes drinking at times (ok too much over the summer)
still going to parties

Making Better choices but still not feeling deprived