Do you consider yourself "on a diet?"

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  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    The word diet feels negative to me (it's a personal thing), so I tried to avoid using it when I was trying to lose weight. I'm in maintenance now though, so :)
  • yusaku02
    yusaku02 Posts: 3,476 Member
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    No, I just consider myself aware of what I'm eating.
  • KenziesFrenzies
    KenziesFrenzies Posts: 1,014 Member
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    Nerp. Diets have expiration dates. Lifestyle changes stick for good. :)
  • gonettie2015
    gonettie2015 Posts: 52 Member
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    yes, i'm eating at deficit. it's not any fad diet, but i consider the restriction to be healthy dieting.
  • bbinoa
    bbinoa Posts: 493 Member
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    Good stuff! I find our own interpretations interesting. I guess to me when I think "diet" I think old-school stuff like the cabbage soup diet, etc. So even though I may be cutting calories to decrease body fat, it's still not a "diet" in the old school sense (again, just my thoughts). I'm not following a book, with 3 weeks of meals planned out, or saying certain things are off-limits.
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
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    midwesterner85 wrote: »
    Yes. When I got serious about losing weight 1/1/14, everyone on here says there are ways to eat fewer calories and be satisfied. During the past 18+ months, I've tried a lot of different suggestions for how to do this. None of them have worked. I'm just going to be hungry forever, occasionally eat as would satisfy me, then diet for several weeks or months to compensate for a normal day or two. I can be fit or I can be full, but not both. Maybe you can be fit and full, but I can't. For now, I'm choosing to be hungry.

    I consider myself on a diet because I'm restricting myself from what I would like to eat and what would keep me satisfied. When I hear diet, I infer "restriction" because that is what it is to me.

    **Note: "Diet" does NOT imply restriction or short-term or finite, but you can infer it (as I do with restriction, but do not with finite). Don't confuse implying with inferring... it's all about how you see it.

    I'm with you. I've been at least slightly hungry for about 3 years, except for the days or weeks when I just can't take it anymore and say, "Screw it, I want a goddamn cheeseburger AND fries AND TWO, yes, TWO delicious beers." (That's all my calories for the day).

    I've tried more protein, I've tried more fat, I've tried high-volume, high fiber foods, I've tried more water... there is just no way for me, personally, to be full on the limited number of calories at which my body maintains a healthy weight. You know what works? Multivitamins that make me nauseated for a couple of hours. Also the flu :)

    So, yeah, I'm on a permanent diet. If my day was not a constant succession of internal "No, you can't eat that" messages, I'd be 200+ lbs.

  • jalarson23
    jalarson23 Posts: 62 Member
    edited July 2015
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    A friend of mine asked me if I was dieting the other day and I told her, "more or less, yes". I don't know, I have such a huge aversion to the word. The word implies that I am excluding something or it is only temporary. No, I'm in this for the long haul. I don't care if it takes me an entire year to get where I want (although I wouldn't mind it if I get there sooner), but more so to reinforce healthy habits and to live a healthier life style. At the same time though, it is easier to say that I am on a diet. Simply for the sake of moving the conversation along.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Yes, no, no , sometimes. Lifestyle change blah blah blah smug zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
  • Danixkm
    Danixkm Posts: 114 Member
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    No. Diets are temporary and I'm wanting to get fit and healthy for life.
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
    edited July 2015
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    Yes I am on a diet. I will consider myself to be "not on a diet" when I reach my goal weight and can eat to maintain rather than to lose weight.

    Likewise if I were eating to build muscle (in the weightlifting sense, not basic health level), then I'd consider myself to be on a diet.

    That's not to say that good eating shouldn't be a habit or that my food choices should no be consistent with establishing good eating habits. But because I am restricted from what my current weight wants to eat to maintain itself, I feel like I am "dieting". When I'm maintaining and allowed to eat ~300 cals more/day than my current diet, then that will be "not dieting"--the amounts will shift slightly but allowable choices of foods will remain the same--I still won't be able (for example) to eat a donut every day--maybe once a week would be okay though.
  • DuckReconMajor
    DuckReconMajor Posts: 434 Member
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    No. The changes that have worked for me are the ones where i make a small change i can make a definite in my life. One day I said "i am gonna eat whatever i want, but i'm going to log it to the best of my ability". It's worked out much better than i expected
  • brandyosu
    brandyosu Posts: 257 Member
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    I don't consider myself on a diet and I correct anyone who tries to say I'm dieting. I've finally realized that I needed to make changes that I had avoided making for a long time. I haven't given up anything I enjoy, I've just learned to eat more of some things and less of others and it's a change that makes me happy and one that I can live with.
  • williamwj2014
    williamwj2014 Posts: 750 Member
    edited July 2015
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    Not at all. I'm a lot more mindful about what I put into my body than I was almost a year ago. Definitely a lifestyle and am much more happier. With that being said, I eat the same things as when I was on a deficit, just more of it.
  • noobletmcnugget
    noobletmcnugget Posts: 518 Member
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    Yeah. To me, calorie deficit = diet.
  • Furbuster
    Furbuster Posts: 254 Member
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    At the moment yes.

    Diet for me is eating less because I'm a greedy wench who just eats too much. Food is wholesome there is just too much of it going in my gob!
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
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    lifestyle change
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited July 2015
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    I'm in maintenance for over two years now and I eat pretty much the same way I did when I lost weight except I get to eat a little more...lots of whole food nutrition...tons of veggies...a few servings of fruit daily...some whole grains...lots of legumes...lean sourced protein and healthy fats from things like avocados and nuts.

    I made a decision when I was losing weight to adopt a diet (noun) that I could adhere to into perpetuity and one that was going to help fix some health conditions. Dieting (verb) or being on a diet to me implies that at some point you're not going to be on said diet anymore which means most likely that there would just be a reversion back to old dietary and exercise habits which will most likely lead to putting weight back on.
  • nora_gettingfitnow
    nora_gettingfitnow Posts: 108 Member
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    "Diet is defined as a person's regularly consumed food and drink or it can mean regulating food intake to lose or gain weight"

    So yes I am most definitely on a diet, my goal is to reach the end where my habits and lifestyle have changed so much that my diet is balanced and I can treat myself without worrying about putting back on any of the weight that I have worked so hard to lose. Then if someone asks if I am on a diet, I can shout NO from the rooftops :blush:

    Best of luck everybody
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    No. I say things like 'my diet', but I'm referring to my eating habits when I do. An actual diet is normally only a temporary measure, and most of the time, when you stop, you go right back to where you are. Plus, I don't like what you have to do with diets. I don't want to cut out all my favorite foods because then what really is the point of eating aside from fueling your body? I don't want to lose my enjoyment of a good meal, especially with friends and family, so actual diets aren't for me. I'm doing much better and I'm happier with retraining my eating habits.
  • Centipede007
    Centipede007 Posts: 19 Member
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    I consider myself on a journey as vague as that word is. I never framed my journey to healthiness as losing weight (even though I am), but as a path to endlessly improve myself throughout my life by being able to make good health choices.

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