Do you consider your new lifestyle change a diet?

Absolutely not. I consider it a change to better myself.

I consider WHAT I'm eating to be a lifestyle change but HOW MUCH I'm eating is a diet.

I think it stopped being a diet to people when I was still "dieting" 6 months later. I think a diet it something that involves stupidity and weird food over and over (to be simple about it). I just eat right and exercise like a person is supposed to. It's a "diet" now since eating right isn't the norm what eh...whatever...i'm healthy.

I consider this a lifestyle change. period. It is something I have decided to change in my life that I can continue doing and not feel like I have cut things out of my life that I will someday have to have. I eat so much better now and feel better. I also eat a lot more, or so it seems to me. A diet is something I consider is a quick fix and one that has to be repeated.

I started of thinking I was on a "diet" and I have only been doing it for a couple of months but my mind set is changing and I don't feel like I am "dieting" I feel I have become a part of something. It is certainly a lifestyle change not a diet. But the words losing weight and diet just go together for most people I guess.

The answer would be. "Yes thanks its great" because it is working so what is in a name eh?

sometimes it can be ..... lifestyle can be change i g uess by what u eat..... it can also affect the way you feel

I'll ying and yang ya.

Yes, because technically, everything you eat is part of your diet, whether it's ice cream and cake or low fat protein bars. There's no such thing as "going on a diet", there's just what your diet consists of and changing your diet.

No, because it's a lifestyle change, so it's just the way and what I eat now.

I don't feel like its a diet i still eat what i want just less of it..like i don't eat a whole pint of ice cream at one time like i use to or a whole quart of chicken lo mein for dinner. my biggest change is me running..now that i finished the couch 2-5k program I'm looking for my next big challenge.

I don't see what's wrong with the word "diet", look it up, it's not bad to be on a diet. A healthy diet improves your health, your physical and mental state...
I think the word 'diet' has negative connotations because of UNHEALTHY diets, but really, it's not a big deal.
I say I'm on a diet. I am. And I'll be on a healthy diet for the rest of my life.

I'm not on a diet. I'm eating healthy and exercising ... like I should be.

How can living healthily be considered a diet?

Personally, I think a lot of people assume weight loss means restricting yourself from everything - hence the "diet" label. Just because you are healthy doesn't mean it's a "diet"

But - if you were following a rigid eating pattern (i.e. South Beach, Dukan) I would call that a diet.

Heck no! It's a lifestyle change & it'll stay that way

When people say "How's the diet?" I say "Fine." No matter what. I don't argue semantics, and I don't give details unless they specifically ask because most people don't really want to hear the answers.

That's how I feel.

I didn't consider it "a diet" because I think of "a diet" as a short term fad with a name. Grapefruit diet, Slimfast diet, Cabbage diet, etc. I'm just learning how to eat the proper foods and amounts to get the results I want. At one time, the result I wanted was to lose weight. Now it's to maintain my weight.

I dont consider it a diet! I am making dietary changes but to me it is a change in my lifestyle.

Many people go on 'diets' - however most are completely unsustainable and restrictive. Yes you may lose 10 pounds or whatever, but once you stop you put it all back on. I guess that is why, for me, it is all about lifestyle change!

At the beginning of the year, I was a lazy, fat, sad and lonely girl who was stuck in her ways eating anything that tasted good and didnt care enough about herself. Sure I would go on diets, but I did not have the right mindset. In my opinion dieting and living a healthy lifestyle can be two totally different things. What seperates them is the mindset that one has.

Dont get down about what people say or what they may think. You have made a change for the better, take it as a challenge and prove them wrong.

I hate the fact that the "slimming" community has hijacked a word that now means different things to different folks: DIET.

In Nature your diet is the type of food stuffs you consume...koalas have a diet of eucalyptus leaves, pandas eat bamboo, etc.

But nowadays diet so often refers to a program used to lose weight. These diets tend to be short-term (from a few weeks to a few months) and they normally incorporate a dietary change (low fat, low carb, only fruit & veg juice, VLC-food supplements/replacements, etc) These changes can only be continued for a definite period because your body needs balance and so often these diets shift that balance.

Nowadays we talk about lifestyle change almost interchangeably with diet, but truthfully, if we are still in the weight-loss phase rather than the maintenance phase, then truthfully if we are honest with ourselves... we are on a diet!

I am currently eating a deficit of ca. 750 Calories a day. This isn't a lifestyle change, because I can no more eat a deficit of 750 for the rest of my days than I could do without water. Put it simply, I'm on a diet. OK, it's not a branded program like Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Atkins, Dukan, LighterLife or SlimFast... it's an EAT LESS, MOVE MORE plan where I eat much the same type of foods as I always have, only now I count calories and eat within those limits as well as ensuring I get some sort of exercise every day.

Next year I intend to move into eating maintenance calories based on the weight I want to end up being. This will still be a deficit on my current and ongoing weight for at least another 12-18months, but that will be a true lifestyle change as I will be re-educating myself as to what I can fit into a food and nutrition program based on 1850kc which will include going out to restaurants, drinking in the pub, having chocolate, biscuits, cakes and snacks from time to time and living within my weekly goals. No quick fix, no special requirements, just sensible eating, regular portions and enjoying exercising (walking, swimming, cycling)

So yes... I am on a diet, but I'm looking towards a future where I will not have to count calories (meticulously) and just be able to enjoy leading the life I want to lead, eating what I want to eat and getting out and about and feeling invigorated :happy:

My journey on MFP is a Lifestyle Change because it has to be permanent. I consider a diet to be temporary that would have a date to begin and end. Lifestyle changes are what what you know you have to do and will keep on doing.