does dieting ever end?

Kochupurayil
Kochupurayil Posts: 42
edited October 4 in Food and Nutrition
I feel I am always on some kind of diet to keep myself on check with my calories for the day. Like I am restricting something or the other everytime. For example I restrict sweet intake to keep me on check with my weight gain. you just can't eat anything you want and stay fit and healthy. We always have to watch what we eat :(

I feel even if I reach my goal I still have to count my calories to not go overboard :( Is that so with all of you?
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Replies

  • bethdris
    bethdris Posts: 1,090 Member
    I was on maintainance for a few months and still counted calories. I did it to keep myself honest with what I was eating. Im back at it to lose the last 3 pounds. I am one who will always have to be aware of portions, and food chocies...thats just the way it is for me.
  • sammys1girly
    sammys1girly Posts: 1,045 Member
    You have to get the mindset that you are not "dieting" but making a lifestyle change. I LOVE my chips and candy but have to have them in moderation. I don't deprive myself of anything I like, but have to work hard on portion control and making sure to be
    getting some exercise.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    It stops when it becomes habit rather than diet.
  • AdventureFreak
    AdventureFreak Posts: 236 Member
    dieting ideally will lead to lifetime duration eating preference changes. Until those changes take place it likely will not end.
  • fionarama
    fionarama Posts: 788 Member
    its true you can not be on a "diet" for one or two meals a week, but even if you are maintaining you can never ever think, right I just eat what I want now. Because us humans are greedy and you'd always start gaining again! You have to monitor yourself and keep under control! but yes, does get boring!
  • hipsandcurves_whiskeyandpearls
    hipsandcurves_whiskeyandpearls Posts: 1
    I feel the same way. I am in the process of losing a lot of weight, but I do feel that it will be never ending. I think that eventually choosing healthy foods and exercising will become engrained into a lifestyle instead of an obstacle.
  • JanLeb
    JanLeb Posts: 297 Member
    I believe it is something that we will have to watch for ever if we want to be healthy. I have always thought of it as 'always having to diet' before, but this time I am looking at it differently, I am making a lifestyle change!

    I know I will always have to watch what I eat and make sure to get moving everyday, but am doing my best to not to think of it as a chore, but investing in my healthy future.

    If I really want something 'sweet' or 'salty' then I am learning to allow myself just a single portion and make sure I have room for it. It is not always easy for sure, but we are well worth the effort don't you think?
  • Lula16
    Lula16 Posts: 628 Member
    You have to get the mindset that you are not "dieting" but making a lifestyle change. I LOVE my chips and candy but have to have them in moderation. I don't deprive myself of anything I like, but have to work hard on portion control and making sure to be
    getting some exercise.

    I agree 100%
  • jshoe33
    jshoe33 Posts: 5 Member
    It stops when it becomes habit rather than diet.

    EXACTLY!!!
  • lik2bowl
    lik2bowl Posts: 5
    I feel the same!!!!!!!! and I think yes we will always have to keep in check but exercise helps when there are slip ups!
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
    After losing 70 pounds I got hit by a car 15 months ago. Knocked me completely off my program and also caused some depression. I couldn't exercise from injuries. I tried halfheartedly to maintain without help or counting,,,

    So here I am, almost 30 pounds heavier and working on getting it back off. For me to stay trim... No, it can never end. But that can be Ok.
  • Charice
    Charice Posts: 188 Member
    Personally, I think that is why we need to get in the mindset of "lifestyle change" rather than "dieting". If I don't make that mental shift, then once I stop "dieting" my old lifestyle choices will put me right back where I was. This is not another "diet" for me...this is a wholesale "lifestyle choice". Not everyone has the same mental make-up, but that is the only way it is going to work for me.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    We are fortunate to be able to buy enough food to be overweight.

    It has to be a mindset that you live with forever. Not "restriction" so much as "preventing life threatening illness."
  • lik2bowl
    lik2bowl Posts: 5
    I agree with jshoe33!! well said!!!
  • loombeav
    loombeav Posts: 391 Member
    You have to get the mindset that you are not "dieting" but making a lifestyle change. I LOVE my chips and candy but have to have them in moderation. I don't deprive myself of anything I like, but have to work hard on portion control and making sure to be
    getting some exercise.
    Exactly this. This isn't a diet for me, it's a lifestyle change. Yes I occasionally have something that isn't great for me, but I enjoy those things in moderation. Exercise is a huge part of my life now also. Before I was sedentary any and everything that I ate just got added to my weight, now I exercise at least 3x a week (usually more) and am more active overall.
  • abazooday727
    abazooday727 Posts: 150
    You have to get the mindset that you are not "dieting" but making a lifestyle change. I LOVE my chips and candy but have to have them in moderation. I don't deprive myself of anything I like, but have to work hard on portion control and making sure to be
    getting some exercise.


    This says it all!
  • deathstarclock
    deathstarclock Posts: 512 Member
    This is why the word diet has been misused completely.

    di·et/ˈdī-it/
    Noun:

    The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
  • 6heatherb6
    6heatherb6 Posts: 469 Member
    You have to get the mindset that you are not "dieting" but making a lifestyle change. I LOVE my chips and candy but have to have them in moderation. I don't deprive myself of anything I like, but have to work hard on portion control and making sure to be
    getting some exercise.
    I say the same...:wink:
    I'm on maintainance (haven't we all been there before) but this time I'm not going to put it all back on!!!
    I'm not on a 'diet' :noway: :noway: it's just how I live. If I want a piece of something I have it...:love::love: but I exercise more or just have a LITTLE!!!! Portion control is the key to high calorie foods.
    All the best
    :flowerforyou:
  • jlewis2896
    jlewis2896 Posts: 763 Member
    I agree with previous posters that it should be habit rather than diet.

    But... that doesn't stop me from wanting to stomp my feet and EAT WHAT I WANT, WHEN I WANT.

    :wink:

    Staying focused is so important, and sooo difficult!!
  • jlewis2896
    jlewis2896 Posts: 763 Member
    I agree with previous posters that it should be habit rather than diet.

    But... that doesn't stop me from wanting to stomp my feet and EAT WHAT I WANT, WHEN I WANT.

    :wink:

    Staying focused is so important, and sooo difficult!!
  • wvanbakel
    wvanbakel Posts: 1 Member
    Kochupurayil, Sorry to hear that you feel that you are missing out.

    I have a different view, though. I look at calorie counting like balancing my checkbook. Perhaps you are trying to get out of debt. But once you paid off everything you owe, you get to keep the interest for yourself and if you continue making mindful expenses you are doing fine. And now and then you can indulge yourself with reasonable moderation.

    Once you are debt free, it does not mean that you are entitled to apply for credit cards and max them out. You are much smarter than that!!!

    I reached my target weight four years ago and I never felt like I miss out on anything.
    -> I can eat anything I like, just not all of it.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I feel I am always on some kind of diet to keep myself on check with my calories for the day. Like I am restricting something or the other everytime. For example I restrict sweet intake to keep me on check with my weight gain. you just can't eat anything you want and stay fit and healthy. We always have to watch what we eat :(

    I feel even if I reach my goal I still have to count my calories to not go overboard :( Is that so with all of you?

    everything in moderation!
  • hajjcomb
    hajjcomb Posts: 118 Member
    Dieting ends the day you realize and accept that no diet has ever, or will ever, work.

    As the previous poster said, it's a change in your mindset. It's evolution not restriction that gets the results.
  • jilliebk
    jilliebk Posts: 252 Member
    I feel the same way too, and today I'm just fed up!! I don't know how to get out of this funk, mayb tomorrow will be a better day
  • ashnm88
    ashnm88 Posts: 748
    One's that refer to it as a "diet" tend to set themselves up to fail. It has to be a "lifestyle" change. Everything in moderation.
  • grneyedgf
    grneyedgf Posts: 23 Member
    "You have to choose, you can either eat everything you want - when you want or be SKINNY, but you can't do both." Dr. Judith Beck

    I know that sounds harsh, but we have to redefine the role of food. The food got you where you are now. If you want to lose weight and feel better you have to make changes. Not for a month or two, or you'll end up right back where you started. This is a chance to learn portion control and live healthier and happier. It's not easy and it may not seem fair. We age and our activity level and metabolism slows down and we can't eat like we used too. But you have a whole group of people here that are facing the exact same reality and struggle.
  • cspence2270
    cspence2270 Posts: 229 Member
    I stopped calling it a diet and started to realize that yes I can have pizza I just can't sit down and eat the entire pizza 4 times a week. I don't restrict anything, I just eat a normal portion of it. I have to do this for the rest of my life and I refuse to not eat a french fry or a piece of birthday cake for the rest of my life. The same goes for exercise. I have realized that I will be working out at least 5 days a week for the rest of my life, so I have learned to enjoy the strength it is building in my body and love the changes it's making. I love the feeling of movement and the ability to squat down and pick something off the floor or get on the floor to play with my son.

    So no it will never end-- but than I don't want it to-- because then I will be back to the person I was before. The one who kept wishing for change but not doing anything to make the change.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I feel I am always on some kind of diet to keep myself on check with my calories for the day. Like I am restricting something or the other everytime. For example I restrict sweet intake to keep me on check with my weight gain. you just can't eat anything you want and stay fit and healthy. We always have to watch what we eat :(

    I feel even if I reach my goal I still have to count my calories to not go overboard :( Is that so with all of you?

    The first paragraph is true for me. I watch what I eat all the time. I splurge occasionally but on a day to day basis I limit sugars, white/processed grains, and saturated and trans fats.

    But I don't count calories for the most part. I eat most of my calories in the evening on weekdays and rarely log that until the next day, but because I make an effort to eat healthy I am usually pretty close to the MFP calorie recommendation.

    For me focusing on eating healthy and exercising regularly works better than counting calories or macronutrient grams.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    We are all on a diet. Forever. Definition of a diet is: The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.

    I think the question might be "How long can we remain on a healthy diet?"
  • Saruman_w
    Saruman_w Posts: 1,531 Member
    Once it becomes a new lifestyle, it becomes less of a diet and more like a permanent change to your eating habits. Have to look at food in a completely light and not let those habits emerge again.
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