What does a "lifestyle change" mean to you?
Replies
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For me it means making changes to lose weight that I'll be able to keep making in the long run. Ideally, the only difference between losing and maintaining should be eating a little bit more food... Diet and exercise should overall stay the same.
In more concrete terms, for me it meant not killing myself at the gym for 2 hours every day (as I'd never be able to sustain that), not cutting any food out, but realizing that I'll never be able to just pig out on food whenever I feel like it... so I made the decision to learn to eat reasonable portions.
The thing I did differently between losing and maintaining is that I did more lifting when I was losing, but I realized that it wouldn't be sustainable for me because I hate it - I do more cardio now because I enjoy it more. I've been maintaining for 2 years (gained a couple pounds back but measurements haven't changed).1 -
In April of 2011, I decided it was time to start watching my portion sizes, eating more whole foods, and becoming more active throughout my day. I made those changes, and lost about 60 pounds over 13 months.
The new habits stuck, and 5+ years after initiating the changes, I'm still at my goal weight. I'm still eating more whole foods than I used to. And, I'm still more active throughout my day.
I changed my entire relationship with food and activity. Isn't that a lifestyle change?4 -
sunnybeaches105 wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »A BS platitude
It's not my favourite expression (I used to think, "Oh really? You're planning on eating at a deficit for the rest of your life? Good luck with that"), but once I started slowing the weight loss process way down (losing 1 or 2 lbs a month), it got a lot less silly.
Talk to me in 5 years. If you're still on track then yes you changed your lifestyle. My point is that it's work. I'm sticking with BS platitude the vast majority of the time.
Hello
Well, technically 4 and a half. Do you need me to get back to you in a few months?3 -
To me it means changing my habits in regards to food. It can be as simple as eating only 3 slices of pizza instead of 5 slices (not overeating) or avoiding all red meat, but changes need to be made. I find it very difficult to break 40 years of habits.0
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lthames0810 wrote: »"Lifestyle change" is one of my pet peeve phrases when used in reference to weight loss. Eating differently is just a change of habit.
I think lifestyle is much more comprehensive than that. Having a baby would do it. Getting married (or divorced) or moving away or winning the lottery or losing your job might do it, too. Big life alterations that happen to you.
Well, it has to be a lifestyle change though... I mean for people who want to keep the weight down.
3.5 years ago I was playing video games all day, didn't cook, didn't exercise, ate junk food pretty much all day.
Now I quit video games, I go crazy if I don't stay active, I cook, I eat less than 200-300 calories worth of junk food a day... If I splurge one day, I typically make up for it the next couple days.. If that's not a lifestyle change, I'm not sure what it is.
It was gradual though! Didn't happen overnight for sure.3 -
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I have never said that. I don't mind correctly using the term diet (reducing caloric intake for the purpose of weight loss). My goal was to lose slowly making as few changes to my lifestyle as possible, because I really love my life.1
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amusedmonkey wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »A BS platitude It's not my favourite expression (I used to think, "Oh really? You're planning on eating at a deficit for the rest of your life? Good luck with that"), but once I started slowing the weight loss process way down (losing 1 or 2 lbs a month), it got a lot less silly.
Talk to me in 5 years. If you're still on track then yes you changed your lifestyle. My point is that it's work. I'm sticking with BS platitude the vast majority of the time.
Hello
Well, technically 4 and a half. Do you need me to get back to you in a few months?
Congrats, you've gotten past platitude along a handful of others on here. Of course, you said yourself that you don't like or use the term.
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lthames0810 wrote: »"Lifestyle change" is one of my pet peeve phrases when used in reference to weight loss. Eating differently is just a change of habit.
I think lifestyle is much more comprehensive than that. Having a baby would do it. Getting married (or divorced) or moving away or winning the lottery or losing your job might do it, too. Big life alterations that happen to you.
Well, it has to be a lifestyle change though... I mean for people who want to keep the weight down.
What about those of us who spent most of our lives eating reasonably well and exercising lots and remaining slender ... and just drifted from that for various reasons for a few years ... and are now back to that again?
See I'm looking at it as "getting back to normal" again ... not a lifestyle change. This ... what I'm doing now in the way of diet and exercise ... is back to the way things used to be. Back to normal.
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sunnybeaches105 wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »A BS platitude It's not my favourite expression (I used to think, "Oh really? You're planning on eating at a deficit for the rest of your life? Good luck with that"), but once I started slowing the weight loss process way down (losing 1 or 2 lbs a month), it got a lot less silly.
Talk to me in 5 years. If you're still on track then yes you changed your lifestyle. My point is that it's work. I'm sticking with BS platitude the vast majority of the time.
Hello
Well, technically 4 and a half. Do you need me to get back to you in a few months?
Congrats, you've gotten past platitude along a handful of others on here. Of course, you said yourself that you don't like or use the term.
I don't see what the problem is with the term when looking backwards to be honest.
Sure the whole I'm going to do this half-arsed cos it's a lifestyle change not a diet doesn't really help.
But when looking back at your life over the last few years and realising that who you are now is different from who you were then, then surely that is exactly what it says on the tin - it's a lifestyle change2 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »Well, I don't like calling it a lifestyle change. Change is too extreme of a word to be sustainable for me. I call it lifestyle modification. Now what does this mean to me? Making small modifications to my diet and activity that would allow me to stay within calories without having to make a paradigm shift in the way I'm eating. Basically the way I do it is that I imagine myself already maintaining a healthy weight, then ask myself how would I act?
Examples:
- I don't see myself as someone who would train for 2-3 hours a day so I don't. I keep my workouts manageable 20-60 minutes. I don't enjoy lifting weights, so I don't. I discovered that I enjoy running, and I can see myself doing that long term, so I run a few times a week when I'm able.
- I don't see myself removing any food from my diet, so I eat it all. I can see myself being able to moderate higher calorie foods and balance them out against the rest of my calories keeping to a weekly budget, so that's what I do.
- I found skipping meals, or even having low calorie overall days, to be an easy quick fix for a higher planned dinner, so I do that sometimes.
- I found that planned small weight gains followed by quick weight losses are fine, and I plan to keep doing that into maintenance whenever the situation calls for it, like during the holidays.
Basically, I try a bunch of stuff, and when I come across something that feels easy and natural to me I add it to my dieting arsenal.
I have gone about it almost the same way. I don't like weights so i do bodyweight exercises. Running and biking are enjoyable and now routine.
I make adjustments to intake as necessary to meet my personal goals, but not too strict. I eat whatever I want. Nothing is forbidden except that I don't find tasty.
The only difference is that I don't skip meals, I may just reduce the amount in a meal if necessary. That's just because I tend to feel run down if I skip.
I like your term lifestyle modification. It's not that I find the term change too extreme, but that it's stuff i did before with a better understanding of how i got the result and now keeping to it, instead of just half hearted efforts.2 -
Its not a lifestyle change for me! I continue to live my lifestyle just with a different mindset and attitude towards to food and exercise.
Nothing is restricted.. nothing is done out of "dread".. It is all done with a better attitude, better use of my time, and better choices. I will get to live a little longer (I hope) because of these small things I have chosen to do.0 -
lthames0810 wrote: »"Lifestyle change" is one of my pet peeve phrases when used in reference to weight loss. Eating differently is just a change of habit.
I think lifestyle is much more comprehensive than that. Having a baby would do it. Getting married (or divorced) or moving away or winning the lottery or losing your job might do it, too. Big life alterations that happen to you.
Well, it has to be a lifestyle change though... I mean for people who want to keep the weight down.
What about those of us who spent most of our lives eating reasonably well and exercising lots and remaining slender ... and just drifted from that for various reasons for a few years ... and are now back to that again?
See I'm looking at it as "getting back to normal" again ... not a lifestyle change. This ... what I'm doing now in the way of diet and exercise ... is back to the way things used to be. Back to normal.
Well it's still a change. You changed your lifestyle, now you're changing it back.
But obviously it won't need to be a huge change for people who have always had a healthy lifestyle but just eat a little bit too much.
I just think that when people mention a 'lifestyle change', it's more directed at obese people who like eating a lot.0 -
"Lifestyle change" is something I said maybe 10 years ago. I'm not going to.say that it is a BS phrase for everyone but it was for me. To me it did not include counting calories or doing very effective things. It meant eating food I didn't normally eat and exercising an hour a day from day 1. It was me trying to change everything about myself. It didn't take into account my preferences and habits. It went along with a period of intense self hatred and wanting to harm/punish myself. I don't really view lifestyle change as more positive or sustainable than dieting.
I would prefer to say now that I eat and exercise in a sustainable way. I eat whatever I want in appropriate portion sizes for me. I eat the same foods I always ate- with more vegetables on my plate. I exercise moderately- 30 minutes or so- for health not weight loss. Small changes not a lifestyle change or diet overhaul.0 -
It's a lifestyle change in that in taking control and awareness of my eating.
I have added in moving more to eating less and I think I can manage this quite comfortably.
I have made these changes fit my day to day life but, apart from being slimmer there isn't that much change in my life ( still a cake maker - surrounded by cake, frosting and sugar 24/7) and a mum to kids that enjoy sweet things, and wife to a husband that can pack away the food.
I've just made the goals achievable day to day.2 -
sunnybeaches105 wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »A BS platitude It's not my favourite expression (I used to think, "Oh really? You're planning on eating at a deficit for the rest of your life? Good luck with that"), but once I started slowing the weight loss process way down (losing 1 or 2 lbs a month), it got a lot less silly.
Talk to me in 5 years. If you're still on track then yes you changed your lifestyle. My point is that it's work. I'm sticking with BS platitude the vast majority of the time.
Hello
Well, technically 4 and a half. Do you need me to get back to you in a few months?
Congrats, you've gotten past platitude along a handful of others on here. Of course, you said yourself that you don't like or use the term.
I was poking harmless fun. I actually agree with you to an extent. The phrase as it's often used actually means dieting, excluding fad diets like cleanses and such. Apart from a few exceptions, it does not usually involve careful consideration of a person's preferences, life, personality...etc. The things that make a diet actually sustainable. That's why I don't personally use it. I don't really mind when others do though, as there is no way of knowing what they mean by it.1 -
"Lifestyle change" to me is this mythical state where you change your lifestyle from one that results in weight gain to one where you lose/maintain weight. I've never been able to sustain such a change for any longer than 6 months max. I've never once reached "maintenance".2
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amusedmonkey wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »A BS platitude It's not my favourite expression (I used to think, "Oh really? You're planning on eating at a deficit for the rest of your life? Good luck with that"), but once I started slowing the weight loss process way down (losing 1 or 2 lbs a month), it got a lot less silly.
Talk to me in 5 years. If you're still on track then yes you changed your lifestyle. My point is that it's work. I'm sticking with BS platitude the vast majority of the time.
Hello
Well, technically 4 and a half. Do you need me to get back to you in a few months?
Congrats, you've gotten past platitude along a handful of others on here. Of course, you said yourself that you don't like or use the term.
I was poking harmless fun. I actually agree with you to an extent. The phrase as it's often used actually means dieting, excluding fad diets like cleanses and such. Apart from a few exceptions, it does not usually involve careful consideration of a person's preferences, life, personality...etc. The things that make a diet actually sustainable. That's why I don't personally use it. I don't really mind when others do though, as there is no way of knowing what they mean by it.
I'm more annoyed with the way it's used mostly as a platitude than anything else. I agree with your points.
I haven't been able to take the phrase seriously since this scene:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vuJrsCBt0rQ 0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »Well, I don't like calling it a lifestyle change. Change is too extreme of a word to be sustainable for me. I call it lifestyle modification. Now what does this mean to me? Making small modifications to my diet and activity that would allow me to stay within calories without having to make a paradigm shift in the way I'm eating. Basically the way I do it is that I imagine myself already maintaining a healthy weight, then ask myself how would I act?
Examples:
- I don't see myself as someone who would train for 2-3 hours a day so I don't. I keep my workouts manageable 20-60 minutes. I don't enjoy lifting weights, so I don't. I discovered that I enjoy running, and I can see myself doing that long term, so I run a few times a week when I'm able.
- I don't see myself removing any food from my diet, so I eat it all. I can see myself being able to moderate higher calorie foods and balance them out against the rest of my calories keeping to a weekly budget, so that's what I do.
- I found skipping meals, or even having low calorie overall days, to be an easy quick fix for a higher planned dinner, so I do that sometimes.
- I found that planned small weight gains followed by quick weight losses are fine, and I plan to keep doing that into maintenance whenever the situation calls for it, like during the holidays.
Basically, I try a bunch of stuff, and when I come across something that feels easy and natural to me I add it to my dieting arsenal.
I have gone about it almost the same way. I don't like weights so i do bodyweight exercises. Running and biking are enjoyable and now routine.
I make adjustments to intake as necessary to meet my personal goals, but not too strict. I eat whatever I want. Nothing is forbidden except that I don't find tasty.
The only difference is that I don't skip meals, I may just reduce the amount in a meal if necessary. That's just because I tend to feel run down if I skip.
I like your term lifestyle modification. It's not that I find the term change too extreme, but that it's stuff i did before with a better understanding of how i got the result and now keeping to it, instead of just half hearted efforts.
I really like the way you phrased that. I mean I still eat the same things, do (or don't do) the same things, I still spend hours playing video games, I still order things based on preference not calories when I go out, I still pig out on special occasions and so on. The only thing that is different is that I understand the impact each action has and how to mediate it. The only difference between then and now is that I used to overeat all the time without consideration or planning and now I only overeat when it's worth it then make adjustments to other less important meals. If skipping meals made me feel run down I wouldn't be doing it either, but I actually don't mind it. It was actually a surprise to me. I did not know I would find it so easy, let alone be able to do it in the first place.2 -
It meant that I had to learn how to cook, and stop sucking at being a functional adult. It's actually been an enjoyable process...and I actually like my own food better.0
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lthames0810 wrote: »"Lifestyle change" is one of my pet peeve phrases when used in reference to weight loss. Eating differently is just a change of habit.
I think lifestyle is much more comprehensive than that. Having a baby would do it. Getting married (or divorced) or moving away or winning the lottery or losing your job might do it, too. Big life alterations that happen to you.
Well, it has to be a lifestyle change though... I mean for people who want to keep the weight down.
What about those of us who spent most of our lives eating reasonably well and exercising lots and remaining slender ... and just drifted from that for various reasons for a few years ... and are now back to that again?
See I'm looking at it as "getting back to normal" again ... not a lifestyle change. This ... what I'm doing now in the way of diet and exercise ... is back to the way things used to be. Back to normal.
Well it's still a change. You changed your lifestyle, now you're changing it back.
But obviously it won't need to be a huge change for people who have always had a healthy lifestyle but just eat a little bit too much.
I just think that when people mention a 'lifestyle change', it's more directed at obese people who like eating a lot.
The bigger "lifestyle changes" were the move to Australia (as I mentioned earlier), developing DVT which knocked me out of the game for a year, then travelling and cycling around the world for 8 months, then moving around a bit while we got settled again. Those have had a lasting impact on my life.
But as for my diet, I did the calculations and it turns out I averaged about 80 calories a day over maintenance, during that time, to arrive at my peak weight. Not a huge change to my "normal" diet.
Although, that said, my diet did change in Australia ... I started eating meat pies instead of burritos, and creamier squares instead of nanaimo bars.
And during the 8 months around the world, we tried all sorts of things. I even tried haggis! But it is highly unlikely that will become part of my lifestyle.
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I think I'd say the lifestyle "change" I made was to not give up making better-for-me choices.
I was a morbidly obese mostly sedentary smoker who drank every day. Since then I've gone through phases and changes in my life. I'm no longer those things I was. I'm an ex-smoker, I'm much more active, I've ranged from normal weight to overweight a couple times since then from injuries and life, but the idea that "health" was a goal, an aim, a target I'd always shoot for and never give up doing my best to make better choices towards. That's my new lifestyle: Ownership of the choices I make every day.1 -
GirlonBliss wrote: »Shadowmf023 wrote: »Creating permanent new habits with regards to eating and exercising.
cool, what habits are you happy to have permanently?
Drinking 8+ glasses of water, walking 4miles a day, strength training 5 times a week.
I'm currently trying a LCHF (well maybe not so low carb, it's more between 60-85g a day) diet, for satiety reasons. If I do well on it and feel good on it, I'm open minded to trying to incorporate the approach long term.
Other than that, keeping track of my calories. Having go-to meals and so on.0 -
Awareness, impact and consequences to decisions and choices made - positives and negatives. Actions and inactions.
For me, the task of logging isn't sustainable so I gave that up once I shed the weight I wanted to.
The holding back of not eating foods and drinks I love isn't sustainable. I eat and drink what I like.
Doing exercises I hate isn't sustainable. . I won't and don't do them.
All of the food and exercise choices wrapped around the conscious thought and awareness of impact to how I feel is what I have taken away from life after hitting my goal weight.1 -
I started a new phase of my life in 2008 when I started running. I was large...very large. I didn't run for weight loss I ran because I always wanted to be a runner. I stayed pretty large and ran lots of races as a larger person. When I decided I wanted to run faster and improve my running I relooked at all my habits and revamped them (this was in 2012). I hired a personal trainer and started lifting weights to aid my running. That helped some. But the nutrition was lagging behind. In 2014 I changed my nutrition to support my long term running goals. I continually strive to improve myself. I tweak and change and try new things to see if they get me closer to the athlete I want to be...its been a slow transformation and sometimes very frustrating as well as very rewarding. Thats a lifestyle transformation in my opinion since its ongoing and morphs into new areas and improvements continuously.1
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You can call it whatever you want. But the way I am currently living does not work at all. So changing that will lead to an improved possibly different life! It is the journey of a lifetime.0
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A permanent change.0
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Making positive changes in my life that I will keep up. Not doing a crash diet to burn and get back to square one again but to build up new habits to replace some of my old ones.0
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A lifestyle change means having to find a hobby other than eating.2
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