Are you on a diet or change of lifestyle?
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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!0
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Change of lifestyle! I am less concerned with the numbers on the scale than I am with the fact that my current eating habits will likely give me diabetes and/or heart disease if I keep them up. It has been a life-long issue for me.0
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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.0 -
For me, a diet is nothing more than a temporary change in how I'm eating. But having lost 138 pounds through counting calories I can say that the whole experience has definitely been life-changing on many different levels!0
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I've been here for 3.5 years and have kept the weight off, so I'm going with lifestyle change0
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I don't care what it's called - but I have dumped old habits that were counterproductive and adopted new habits that make my life better.
Habits dumped:
self-indulgent eating
negative thinking about my body
undisciplined snacking and eating when not hungry
being lazy about physical activity
being deliberately ignorant about the calorie content of foods
New habits:
mindful eating
more positive attitude about life in general and myself in specific
awareness of every bit of food that I choose to eat and how that food contributes to my well being
regular physical activity whether I feel like doing it or not
I smile more. Which leads to --- more smiling. Which leads to --- being a happier, more content person. Which leads to -- being a person other people want to be around. Happy life.
Works for me0 -
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.0 -
Currently I'm doing this to lose weight but once I hit my goal I will not be done. This is a lifestyle change and the weight loss is necessary in my case to improve quality of life and my health. Logging everyday just keeps me in check and let's me know how well or bad I did that day. Every pound lost is an accomplishment and everyday I maintain will be an accomplishment as well.0
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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.0
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It's got to be a lifestyle change - eating habits and exercise - or I had better be prepared to see the pounds start creeping back on!0
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Both. Right now I'm losing weight using dieting tools, but am currently nearing the end of my weight loss phase, and focussing on transitioning to lifestyle and maintenance habits.0
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iam here to change my life....to grow ...to live...to learn....to be happy.........I want to live a long healthy happy life...
....I have lost 83.8lbs .....im trying to lose another 61.2lbs....everyday of my life is a challenge, a struggle, but I choose to stay strong and stay motivated no matter how tough it gets....ive been on yo-yo diets...since I was a teen......now I changed the way I think and the way I feel about food /my habits have changed...traded the bad ones for good ones....now this is my life....I accept it being slow and steady.....iam slowly gaining confidence and iam much happier than I was before I started this journey...0 -
The statistics are staggeringly against us keeping the weight off, even if we manage to get to our weight loss goals.
For me, that is why this has to be a lifestyle change. I absolutely will not go back to where I was 2-1/2 years ago. I will be logging and monitoring for as long as I am able to do so.0 -
I am doing this for a lifestyle change and accountability. My BMI is fine etc. but I think it is very important to track my exercise as well as what I eat, supplements etc. It has been very helpful and I am able to see which foods bother me. Great question by the way!0
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Right now I'd say a diet, and everything I learn, and all the habits I form I'm hoping will turn into a lifestyle change. I'm only given one chance on this big beautiful blue marble and I'm tired of huffing and puffing away my time on it.0
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My journey is pure lifestyle.
I detest diets and won't do anything just because I am supposed to. I need to want to take certain actions.
There are some days that prove to be more challenging, but at day's end I know all will be well in that overall, my lifestyle dictates my lasting results.0 -
I don't do diets, I was put on fad diets from 3 months old(apparently I filled the pram) to when I left home(I was 21 then) since then I try not to binge I still fail sometimes but my binges aren't as bad as they used to be(24 bags of crisps in 1 sitting-this was when I was at my mums, i'd bought the crisps and had to hide the evidence)
Nowadays my way of thinking is different, I allow myself anything in moderation, i'm trying to up my protein, lower my salt, sugar and carbs and hopefully lose a bit in the process.
Ironically I have never been obese(12 st 8lbs was my heaviest) but my mother is still doing milkshake diets and whilst she does lose it she can never keep it off. I just wish she would listen to us(her 2 kids) but she's convinced:noway: that diet and exercise does NOT work for her0 -
For me it's a change of lifestyle
Back to the old days because since I was medically discharged from the Marines it kinda went downhill from there with PTSD and accompanying depression, stopped doing PT (using injuries as excuse) and started eating
So now I have to turn that switch over in my head (think I'm at that turning point now) and get back to doing something, setting realistic goals0 -
I'm on both; when I lose 18 more pounds, then I'll be on life changing maintenance - occasionally allowing for cheating.:flowerforyou:0
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I've been successfully maintaining here for 3 plus years. It's definitely a lifestyle for me. I've never actually "dieted," in the traditional sense. I just don't have that restrictive, temporary mindset that goes along with dieting. I don't have a struggle (dysfunctional relationship) with food that a lot of people have. I mainly just use logging to maintain and make sure I'm getting all my protein, etc.
A few years ago, I noticed that as I'd aged that I had started to slowly creep up while I wasn't paying attention. I've never technically been overweight, but I was starting to see things moving in the wrong direction. Since logging food and exercise, that hasn't been an issue. Being healthy and fit is just part of my life, not a temporary status. :flowerforyou:0 -
It's probably a lifestyle. I've been using this app since i got my new iphone and I now use it on daily basis. I think checking my calories has become and a habit and helped me develop a sense to know the right proportions without checking the app first !0
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Definately NOT a diet for me...its a change of habit, of practising moderation and moving more and two years in since I joined this site I've never felt or looked better in my life - I've maintained my weight loss for over a year now0
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to be honest I am here to get the pounds off (for now) and likely intend to going back to how I "used" to do things for the most part. I like my life, I don't see any real need to change it but for health reasons and my own laziness (carrying more weight around is so much more work in so many ways).
My weight gain was not anything rocket fast. If you average it out it was not even10 lbs a year. My "mistake" was letting years and years and years go by and not taking intermediate steps to keep things in check. It's kind of easier to lose 5-10 lbs than it is 100. Whoops.
The only thing I intend to change is to set a range that when I get to the top end of I need to watch things a little more closely until it goes back down. I have been essentially doing the same thing this year except my range has to go down even farther before I go through a lax period. (so like lose 10, gain 5, lose 10, gain 5 will eventually get my weight down over time. Eventually it can just be lose 5 gain 5).
And that's probably a crappy way to go about it, but I really don't care. It's better than being 250 lbs, I'm at least pretty sure of that.
I spent 20 years of my life doing this. eating with in reason and weighing regularly and when my pants started getting tight going on a diet and getting rid of that 10 pounds rinse and repeat.. it does work for a balance of lifestyle and reasonability. I stopped weighing in a time of stress and then broke my ankle and boom.. way over weight.. I want to get back down to where I was then basically live that lifestyle again. Although I will probably continue to log. it just helps keep it in perspective. I'm small enough and not very active that my calorie allowance is not high. I start gaining where most people would be losing... (Calorie wise)0 -
I have a long way to go. I am doing this for the long run. I am not going to go back to killing myself. I have already done too much work to just let that go, and I just started.0
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I see a lot of people on here and they are on this diet or doing this to lose weight. I wonder though. Are you willing to do this for the rest of your life? When you are done with the diet or you hit your weight, will you go back to what you did before? You say no now but.....
I was one of you, I did atkins and lost 100 pounds and gained back 180 after ending the diet. Bread is good. When I started this time I decided to think about things I can and would like to eat every day for the rest of my life. Sure I will be able to endulge once in a while but it is just that an endulgance. I started running, swimming and biking. I love all of these things and these are going to be the things I do to maintain my soon to be sexy self for the future. I have changed the way I think about food and the way I eat.
I have to ask the question, Are you here to change your life or get the pounds off (for now)?
Lifestyle change ... going on 2 years! :drinker:0 -
I made up my mind to start my weight loss journey just yesterday after I finally put new batteries in my digital scale. Let's just say I under estimated my weight... I want to make this a lifestyle change.0
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I am just 1/2 pound from goal weight. I lost 25 pounds and have no intention of finding it again. So a life style change for me. No diet, no elimination of food, just portion control.
Calories in versus calories out simply meaning eat less move more. Works for me!0 -
I tend to shy away from terms like diet, lifestyle change, and weight loss journey...mainly because I have extremely vivid and negative images in my head for each one.
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.
But in all seriousness, I feel that I changed my life back in 2008 when I hit my all-time highest weight of 307. I made the decision to truly take better care of my body to avoid future problems, to stop eating seriously ANYTHING I want whenever I want just because it tastes good, and to generally strive for health.
That change I made starting 6 years ago truly did help me a lot. I felt better, looked better, and lost over 40 lb.
But when I joined MFP in March of 2013 nothing further truly changed for me, EXCEPT counting calories and by doing so, learning a lot more about what I was consuming and its nutritional and caloric content. I've lost 89 lb so far on this site and it's just been kind of like "bonus". it's made it way easier to see results doing what I was already doing anyway.
I seriously enjoy your posts! What a crack up :laugh:
I have to do this for health reasons so I'm in for the long haul.0 -
For me, it is a lifestyle change.
My Dr. told me that I had to get my blood pressure in check. She gave me four months to do with via my diet, or I would go on meds.
At my two month check up, my blood pressure was normal and my weight was down 17 pounds. That was a pleasant side effect. Now, four months later, I am down 34 pounds and will have my check up next week. I know that it will be good.
So, I will keep this up, as I feel good, I am looking good and I am healthier.0 -
it's a lifestyle change. i am now exercising and eating healthy when i was not before. it's not a 'journey' as in my mind some journeys end. it's not a diet as in my mind diets end. it's my new lifestyle.
great post!0
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