STOP saying "Diet"!!!
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sammiewammie444 wrote: »if you are eating less then you will continue to loose weight. so when you have reached your goal weight you can start eating more and you should stay the same weight as long as you dont go over the recommended daily allowance. im eating 1200 cals, but when i reach my goal weight i will be able to eat upto 2000 again. if i carried on eating 1200 id never stop losing weight! so i dont get how your theory would work?
You are correct. What @Bshmerlie meant, I think, is that if you go back to the amount you ate when you were gaining the weight that you came here to lose, you'll be eating over maintenance, and thus gain weight.
For that matter, even if you eat at what was maintenance for your original weight, you'll gain weight. What was maintenance for me when I weighed 225 lb. is way too much now that I'm at 148.
That would be the lifestyle change part. You still have to diet to get down to the new weight.0 -
sammiewammie444 wrote: »if you are eating less then you will continue to loose weight. so when you have reached your goal weight you can start eating more and you should stay the same weight as long as you dont go over the recommended daily allowance. im eating 1200 cals, but when i reach my goal weight i will be able to eat upto 2000 again. if i carried on eating 1200 id never stop losing weight! so i dont get how your theory would work?
You are correct. What @Bshmerlie meant, I think, is that if you go back to the amount you ate when you were gaining the weight that you came here to lose, you'll be eating over maintenance, and thus gain weight.
For that matter, even if you eat at what was maintenance for your original weight, you'll gain weight. What was maintenance for me when I weighed 225 lb. is way too much now that I'm at 148.
That would be the lifestyle change part. You still have to diet to get down to the new weight.
Ok...so you have to diet to get down to the new weight and you need a lifestyle change to keep it off. Is that fair to say?0 -
Fair enough. That does not apply to everyone on a diet though, I only gained weight through pregnancy and I wasn't eating more than I should have. So once I have reached my goal weight I will go back to how I used to eat which was the recommended daily allowance0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »I actually don't understand the "journey" terminology. I didn't feel like I was depriving myself when keeping a calorie deficit (I made sure to eat food I enjoyed), but I also didn't feel like I was going anywhere. I stopped snacking and worked out more and focused on getting back to my old habits of cooking more consistently at home and bringing lunch.
I sort of understand it, because I'm reinventing myself in my middle age. In some ways, that does feel like a journey.
I've never exercised. I've always run from my problems instead of facing them head on. (for example)
I've learned a lot about myself throughout this process and in leading up to it. In a way, all of life is a journey, if you want to be lyrical about it. I'm just on a new stretch of it now, maybe?
To me, a lot of this is obviously about more than my weight, though. Others' mileage may vary.0 -
sammiewammie444 wrote: »Fair enough. That does not apply to everyone on a diet though, I only gained weight through pregnancy and I wasn't eating more than I should have. So once I have reached my goal weight I will go back to how I used to eat which was the recommended daily allowance
Yes, pregnancy would definately be an exception.0 -
Eh, I say dieting. I've used the term "journey." I really don't care if other people have problems with those terms.0
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PeachyCarol wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I actually don't understand the "journey" terminology. I didn't feel like I was depriving myself when keeping a calorie deficit (I made sure to eat food I enjoyed), but I also didn't feel like I was going anywhere. I stopped snacking and worked out more and focused on getting back to my old habits of cooking more consistently at home and bringing lunch.
I sort of understand it, because I'm reinventing myself in my middle age. In some ways, that does feel like a journey.
I've never exercised. I've always run from my problems instead of facing them head on. (for example)
I've learned a lot about myself throughout this process and in leading up to it. In a way, all of life is a journey, if you want to be lyrical about it. I'm just on a new stretch of it now, maybe?
To me, a lot of this is obviously about more than my weight, though. Others' mileage may vary.
Yeah, this makes sense and in particular the bit about it being about a lot more than weight.
I think for me it was more about getting back to who I am, how I had been and think I should live my life. But I do get the self-reinvention thing.0 -
Diet. Its a word. Nothing more.
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I would much rather people stop saying "totes".
Because that's like totes annoying bro-1 -
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.
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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 brah0 -
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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.
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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.
^^ This.0 -
I have no issue with the word diet or thinking/saying I was on a diet. I was wildly successful while doing it.
I also don't think the times I have gained weight are because I was on a diet and it was temporary. That had nothing to do with it. I gained weight because I stopped using my maintenance techniques, plain and simple. Stuff happened. I didn't deal with it all that well. I put lots of food into my face.
This.0 -
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!!!
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OK, say it's basically semantics and individual to each person.0
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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.
+1
I have absolutely no intention of continuing at a deficit once I hit my goal. My deficit diet is not a lifestyle.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!
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I plan for my diet to have changed permanently. Even when I am no longer eating at a deficit, I will be eating fish several times a week, not drinking full sugar sodas, keeping my sodium and carbs limited and my fiber intake high. I have never done that before and I have never belonged to a gym before but I plan to continue, thus it is a lifestyle change. Have I made all these changes at once, no, thus it is a journey.
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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.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 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.0 -
What I eat is my diet.
signed: at maintenance for 14 years.0 -
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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.0 -
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.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 said that failing to "restrict" one's diet over the long term usually results in gaining back the weight that was lost. A person can't go back to eating the amount they were before because they were originally eating more calories than it takes to maintain their goal weight. In other words, you have to continue to "restrict" calories to the new maintenance level if you want to maintain your new weight.
Not necessarily. I am actually eating more calories now in maintenance than I was when I was gaining weight on most days. Why? I am ridiculously more active now than I was then.
Just thought I'd put that out there.
Yeah, thanks and I was in the middle of updating my post after reading what she'd written later. Not everyone gained weight quickly.0 -
If I'm eating at a deficit, then I'm on a diet.0
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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.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 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.
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Um. What I eat is my diet, so no. I will not stop.0
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LaceyBirds wrote: »I'm on a diet journey and I'm totes crushin' it, bro.
You win the Internet today!0 -
People are different. The same word can have more than one meaning. Whether you use diet or something else, as long as you are doing something that works for you in the longterm, there is no reason to change. Use the word you feel most comfortable using.
Whether you call it diet, a journey, or something else, the underlying methodology is what matters. Are you controlling your portions? Are you eating at a healthy deficit? Are you working towards making lifestyle changes to your eating habits? Are you exercising more (not needed but healthier way)? If so, who cares whether you call it a diet or a journey.0
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