STOP saying "Diet"!!!

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flippy1234
flippy1234 Posts: 686 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
One thing I am learning on my journey is that "diets" do not work. You have to change the way you eat, how much you eat and how much you move. Whatever you end up doing has to become your lifestyle and what you "do". So, find something permanent that works for you. For me, I still eat what I want but I take much smaller portions and eat slower. I walk...a lot. It is sustainable.
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Replies

  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!

    Although I get your point and agree. :p
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    Well, eating less to lose weight is pretty much a diet...
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
    edited October 2015
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    di·et
    ˈdīət/
    noun
    1.
    the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
    "a vegetarian diet"
    synonyms: selection of food, food
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiCKzDUbiPg
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    Not everyone uses the word "diet" as a verb, or as a noun referring to a restrictive diet. A "diet" is also simply what one eats. Maybe I am used to the term being used in such a way due to the nature of my first career, but my diet is simply . . . my diet. I understand what you mean, though.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    di·et1
    ˈdīət/
    noun
    1.
    the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
    "a vegetarian diet"
    synonyms: selection of food, food, foodstuffs;
    2.
    a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
    "I'm going on a diet"
    verb
    1.
    restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight.
    "it's difficult to diet"
    synonyms: be on a diet, eat sparingly;

    By definition, that is what we are doing....

    I think many ways of dieting don't work. However this one does. I don't much care if someone says I am dieting. I just say I am tracking calories myself. It is only negative if you decide to make it that way.
  • ColinsMommaOC
    ColinsMommaOC Posts: 296 Member
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    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diet

    stop applying only one definition to the word diet.

    "Diet"
    1. food and drink regularly provided or consumed
    2. habitual nourishment
    3. the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason
    4. a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight.

    One out of 4 definitions is used to define the word on this sight.

    Saying I eat a moderately low calorie diet is not a problem. It is a fact.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Some people hate the word diet. Some people despise calling it a journey. I should add a funny meme here to punctuate my point, but I don't have the energy to find one.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,140 Member
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    According to the Webster's dictionary, Diet = the way a person (or an animal) eats. So regardless of the desire/intent of losing or gaining weight, or the way we eat, everybody is always in a diet. Some people are in diary free diet, if they are lactose intolerant, other are GF, if they have gluten sensitivities or Celiac, etc. So we are all in a diet.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Well, I don't plan to restrict my calories forever, so I'm on a diet. I guess I don't understand why people get so hung up on a word.
  • OneHundredToLose
    OneHundredToLose Posts: 8,534 Member
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    Diet.

    You're not the boss of me.

    ADULT.gif
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    maidentl wrote: »
    Well, I don't plan to restrict my calories forever, so I'm on a diet. I guess I don't understand why people get so hung up on a word.

    Because failing to restrict one's calories over the long term usually results in gaining back what you lost in the short term.

    Diet as I use it is a noun, never a verb.
  • MarcyKirkton
    MarcyKirkton Posts: 507 Member
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    I am on a diet. Sorry, but that's what it takes to lose for me.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Yes we can all argue the semantics of the word and how the OP used it but I agree with what he is trying to say. When people say they are going on a diet they are actually looking at it all wrong. There really is no short term change that you can do that will make you lose weight and allow you to keep it off. What many people don't understand is that they will be doing this forever. There really is NO finish line. Once you've lost the weight there is no going back to the way you were eating before. Until that clicks...they will be a YOYO dieter.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    I'm dieting. Eating at a deficit isn't a lifestyle. Sorry to be contrary but diet is a perfectly good word while lifestyle change is... not. :)
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    AlabasterVerve wrote: »
    I'm dieting. Eating at a deficit isn't a lifestyle. Sorry to be contrary but diet is a perfectly good word while lifestyle change is... not. :)

    You do understand that you will forever have to eat less than what you did before otherwise you will simply regain the weight? So in effect you will have to change your lifestyle and eat less than you did before even when you reach your goal weight.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    You can diet and still make a lifestyle change, but they aren't necessarily the same thing. I don't always count calories or worry about macros. It doesn't mean I am failing. Counting calories is a type of diet.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    Meh. I eat. I use diet as a noun.

    When someone asks me how I've lost weight, I answer "Diet and exercise." If they ask me to be specific, I tell them I count calories.

    I agree with the thrust of the OP, long term weight management is about more than temporary measures adopted to fix a problem. This is one of the reasons I like thinking of my former obesity as a disease that requires management just like my other medical conditions. I can keep it in remission with attention to how much I eat, but I need to keep paying attention always. Going back to my old ways is not an option.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    SueInAz wrote: »
    maidentl wrote: »
    Well, I don't plan to restrict my calories forever, so I'm on a diet. I guess I don't understand why people get so hung up on a word.

    Because failing to restrict one's calories over the long term usually results in gaining back what you lost in the short term.

    Diet as I use it is a noun, never a verb.

    You plan to eat less than you burn for the rest of your life? At some point you will need to stop and maintain your loss, don't you think?
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    AlabasterVerve wrote: »
    I'm dieting. Eating at a deficit isn't a lifestyle. Sorry to be contrary but diet is a perfectly good word while lifestyle change is... not. :)

    You do understand that you will forever have to eat less than what you did before otherwise you will simply regain the weight? So in effect you will have to change your lifestyle and eat less than you did before even when you reach your goal weight.

    My diet isn't such a black and white thing. Sometimes I eat more, sometimes I eat less. It balances out. If it doesn't... I diet.

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