STOP saying "Diet"!!!

maidentl wrote: »

juggernaut1974 wrote: »

I would much rather people stop saying "totes".

Because that's like totes annoying bro

I wish people would stop calling me bro.

My bad brah

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.

^^ This.

While I get, understand and even agree with the whole, "You need to make lifestyle changes" thing, it's just easier to say, "I'm dieting" than it is to say, "I'm maintaining a calorie deficit. It's one of my lifestyle changes to make myself healthier."

Many people, upon hearing the latter, would say, "Huh?" anyway. Everyone understands "I'm dieting." I don't think it matters very much what we call it, so long as the changes we need to make are made and become habits.

To me, it's all those many different habits, added up, that make a lifestyle change, not one thing. But I get that people use the words "lifestyle changes" differently and that's just my take.

Whatever works!!!

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.

+1

I have absolutely no intention of continuing at a deficit once I hit my goal. My deficit diet is not a lifestyle.

Bshmerlie wrote: »

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.

In my case ... I ate well and exercised lots, and was slender for most of my life. That was my lifestyle. That is what I still consider my lifestyle.

Then, over a period of about 5 years, I ate slightly larger portions and exercised less, and gradually put on some weight. I did a calculation and based on the amount I gained and the idea that 1 lb = 3500 calories, I worked it out that I was eating an extra approx. 80 calories per day on average. That's all.

Now I'm eating somewhat smaller portions and exercising more again, and I'm losing weight. I am on a diet.

When I hit maintenance, I will return to my former lifestyle where I ate well and exercised lots.


What I eat hasn't changed much over the years ... just the quantity.
What I do for exercise hasn't changed much over the years ... just the quantity.

I'm not doing any significant lifestyle changes.
I'm not on a journey.
I'm simply on a diet to get me back to where I want to be.



Now returning to university in my 40s, getting another degree, then moving to Australia to live with my new husband for a few years before travelling the world together for 8 months ... those were lifestyle changes!

maidentl wrote: »

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?

I did not say I was planning to eat at a deficit forever. Please don't put words in my mouth to try to make your own point. I'm not a strawman you can knock down.

I said that failing to "restrict" one's diet over the long term usually results in gaining back the weight that was lost. Not everyone has your story. Most people have gained weight over years of eating more than maintenance and can't go back to eating the amount they were before if they plan to maintain their goal weight. In other words, they have to continue to "restrict" calories to the new maintenance level if they want to maintain their new weight.

I'm also a lot more active now than I was 4 years ago when I started and can eat more and maintain. Not everyone here is doing that, either.

diannethegeek wrote: »

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.

This. Personally, I loathe the verbal gymnastics many people use to avoid using the "d" word. Especially saying you're on a "journey" rather than a "diet." Barf to that sanctimonious nonsense.

But also especially since 9 times out of 10, they're just doing it because some d-bag told them not to use the word "diet," and not because they actually understand or have actually accepted the meaning of the idea that long-term weight control will require lifestyle changes.

Weight control does not equal weight loss, just like "dieting" to lose lose weight does not equal changing one's eating habits to prevent weight gain. I contend that for most people who have a substantial amount of weight to lose, there is a short- to mid-term "diet" phase where you're eating at a meaningful and appropriate deficit to lose weight and build better habits, followed by a long-term / lifelong weight control phase with different eating habits than before the weight loss, but also different eating habits than during the weight loss phase. So yeah, you're almost certainly gonna need to diet first, whatever you want to call it. Then if you're successful you'll need some new habits / lifestyle tools to keep it off; otherwise just going back to pre-diet lifestyle will mean gaining the weight back.

Also, for what it's worth, I personally find it this hostile attitude towards the word "diet" to be strongly correlated with (tho' not limited to) judgemental jerks who are using it as part of a larger pattern of judging fat people. As in -- you wouldn't need to "diet" if you weren't fat, the reason you're fat isn't simply because you tend to overeat and need to eat less, it's because you have a "bad" lifestyle, i.e. you're lazy and gluttonous, etc. and you need to change who you are fundamentally. This is hardly the same thing as compassionately coaching people about specifically how to gradually establish healthier eating habits that will support long-term weight management after a weight loss period.

If I'm eating at a deficit, then I'm on a diet.

sympha01 wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

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.

This. Personally, I loathe the verbal gymnastics many people use to avoid using the "d" word. Especially saying you're on a "journey" rather than a "diet." Barf to that sanctimonious nonsense.

But also especially since 9 times out of 10, they're just doing it because some d-bag told them not to use the word "diet," and not because they actually understand or have actually accepted the meaning of the idea that long-term weight control will require lifestyle changes.

Weight control does not equal weight loss, just like "dieting" to lose lose weight does not equal changing one's eating habits to prevent weight gain. I contend that for most people who have a substantial amount of weight to lose, there is a short- to mid-term "diet" phase where you're eating at a meaningful and appropriate deficit to lose weight and build better habits, followed by a long-term / lifelong weight control phase with different eating habits than before the weight loss, but also different eating habits than during the weight loss phase. So yeah, you're almost certainly gonna need to diet first, whatever you want to call it. Then if you're successful you'll need some new habits / lifestyle tools to keep it off; otherwise just going back to pre-diet lifestyle will mean gaining the weight back.

Also, for what it's worth, I personally find it this hostile attitude towards the word "diet" to be strongly correlated with (tho' not limited to) judgemental jerks who are using it as part of a larger pattern of judging fat people. As in -- you wouldn't need to "diet" if you weren't fat, the reason you're fat isn't simply because you tend to overeat and need to eat less, it's because you have a "bad" lifestyle, i.e. you're lazy and gluttonous, etc. and you need to change who you are fundamentally. This is hardly the same thing as compassionately coaching people about specifically how to gradually establish healthier eating habits that will support long-term weight management after a weight loss period.

I talk about my weight loss journey because that's how I view it: as a journey. It's several years spent doing and learning lots of new things and making hundreds of little changes that, when added up, make a lifestyle change.

I don't believe I'd have gone this far if I hadn't made all those many changes.

There is nothing sanctimonious about it. I don't think it makes me better than someone else. I also know it doesn't make me worse...or sanctimonious.

You've made some very big assumptions about other people, some of which are dead wrong.

Just as you wouldn't stop saying the word "diet" because someone didn't like it, I will not stop saying "journey" because someone doesn't like it. These issues you have with the word are your issues, not mine.

Please don't take it personally when other people speak about a "weight loss journey." They didn't say it to upset you. There is NO offense intended.

LaceyBirds wrote: »

I'm on a diet journey and I'm totes crushin' it, bro.

You win the Internet today!