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I am hearing a lot of objections on this board to dieting yet everyone on here has weight to lose. I say I've been successfully dieting for about a decade and some of you seem to think this isn't "normal".
One of the major problems in nutrition is the lack of rigor in describing diets. The first problem is that the root of the word diet comes from the ancient Greek phrase “way of life”. A diet is not a short-term plan to fit into a swimsuit, but rather it is a way of life to reach a lifetime goal, like a longer and better life. If your goal is less grand like simply to lose weight, then to lose that weight and keep it off, you had better maintain that diet for the rest of your life. From that perspective, a diet like the Grapefruit diet doesn't make much sense.
Diet, as in "the combined sum of the things you eat" does originate with the greek word (not phrase) for "way of life."
A Diet - as in, "to be put on a diet so as to lose/gain weight" comes from the french for "regulating yourself as to food" which is used as a restrictive, not a lifestyle.
The issue is when you use the word inappropriately - as in, "I have been on a diet for the past 10 years." Really? You've been attempting to lose/gain weight for the past 10 years? Guess that diet isn't very successful.
If you have been maintaining "a healthy diet" then you are not "dieting." You are eating healthfully. Dieting, as a verb, means restricting your nutritional intake for the purpose of losing or gaining weight. So is the phrase "being on a diet."
If you don't know the difference between the two VERY different uses of the word, then you really need to spend more learning about food and dietary needs, and less time telling "fatties" what they should or should not be doing.
I've been following various low carb high protein diet protocols the last decade or so. I'm thin & healthy & know a lot about nutrition, at least what works for. I stick with a diet because it works....My many, many years of experience has proved to me that I can't just eat whatever and be thin, I have to follow guidelines. Barry Sears has a Phd from M.I.T., I think I'll go with his definition of diet.... you should consider calling him up & using such a rude tone. Bet you wouldn't have the gumption. Sears, like many of the doctors I've learned from, says dieting is a lifelong discipline. Even Dr. Phil says this... day to day self management. I've used this approach for many years & it works. And no, I don't need to lose weight. I'm one of the lucky ones who learned how to keep the weight off..... through careful, conscious & constant dieting!
Last edited by lemon&lime; 02-23-2011 at 05:35 PM..
YOU can't eat just whatever and be thin, YOU have to follow guidelines. Not everyone has the same metabolism you have, AND not everyone likes to eat what you like to eat. People who are healthy and fit, who ENJOY healthy foods, do NOT need to diet, nor do they need to follow guidelines. The only people who "need" to follow guidelines, are people who are NOT already healthy and fit.
Such as diabetics - who -cannot- eat certain foods, or they will die. Such as people with celiac disease, who CANNOT eat certain grains, or they will get sick. Such as people with stomach ulcers, who CANNOT eat certain acids or they will suffer. It has nothing..
nothing..
NOTHING to do with their blood type.
Nothing. It has NOTHING to do with you, or some guy who's selling a diet book. It has everything to do with an individual person's needs, combined with that individual person's habits.
I'll use me as an example. I know I need to lose 30 pounds. I've gained weight over the years, subsequent to quitting smoking. I have become sedentary, and not exercising much at all. I know what I need to do, and I don't need to "go on a diet" to do it. I need to eat less, more often, of foods containing fewer fats. I also need to reduce my carb intake, but I don't need to measure it. If I eat three fewer pieces of bread, or one slice less of pizza, or skip the mashed potatos and add more salad for my Tuesday dinner, I will lose weight. I also need to do more cardio movement, such as walking, or riding my bike. Unfortunately, the spring thaw hasn't occurred yet, and I can't afford to join a gym. So I'll have to wait another week or so before I can walk any distance without slipping on ice. Once I get more exercise, and eat fewer fats, and more salads, I will lose weight.
I don't need to "go on a diet." I don't need any special kind of dietary "lifestyle." I just need to reduce fat intake, slightly reduce carb intake, add more veggies, and exercise.
MOST people need to do only that, and nothing more, to lose 10, 20, or even 30 pounds. Unless they're already doing that. Then they need to try something different. If I was a chocoholic who ate tons of candy, cake, ice cream, and drank Pepsi by the quart, then I would need to just cut all that stuff WAY down - and I'd lose the weight. I don't eat any of that stuff on a regular basis though, so I know that eliminating it from my food choices won't be all that helpful.
This forum isn't just for people who want to try a new fad or crash diet. It's for people interested in weight management, healthy eating, and yes, weight loss. But none of these things necessarily require "being on a diet." Often it's just a matter of adjusting a few choices, eliminating a bad habit or two, and gaining a good habit or two.
I've gained a lot of experience & knowledge from years of doing various diet approaches, all protein based & carb restrictive. I will always follow a diet protocol, period. I have had 2 slices of pizza & 2 glasses of wine every weekend the last 3 months & have hardly gained a pound. I haven't done that much fancy gym stuff this winter either...just lots of long walks. I have a system that works for me & intend to stick with it.
The issue is when you use the word inappropriately - as in, "I have been on a diet for the past 10 years." Really? You've been attempting to lose/gain weight for the past 10 years? Guess that diet isn't very successful.
If you have been maintaining "a healthy diet" then you are not "dieting." You are eating healthfully. Dieting, as a verb, means restricting your nutritional intake for the purpose of losing or gaining weight. So is the phrase "being on a diet."
Interesting comments. Yes, I agree about the idea of 'diet' being too time-based or time-limited. As if something you do for a period of time. 10 years is not being on a diet, but eating a healthy diet, maybe more of a lifestyle or cultural change., changing ones foodways or gastroethnological preferences, or something like that.
I get that on occasion: "How's your diet coming"? my response: "I'm not on a diet", because this sort of implies that I will be coming off a diet.
If you don't know the difference between the two VERY different uses of the word, then you really need to spend more learning about food and dietary needs, and less time telling "fatties" what they should or should not be doing.
"Diet" means "what one eats," whether that's for a week or over a lifetime. So perhaps you need to spend less time making erroneous assumptions and hurling insults.
I've been following various low carb high protein diet protocols the last decade or so. I'm thin & healthy & know a lot about nutrition, at least what works for. I stick with a diet because it works....My many, many years of experience has proved to me that I can't just eat whatever and be thin, I have to follow guidelines. Barry Sears has a Phd from M.I.T., I think I'll go with his definition of diet.... you should consider calling him up & using such a rude tone. Bet you wouldn't have the gumption. Sears, like many of the doctors I've learned from, says dieting is a lifelong discipline. Even Dr. Phil says this... day to day self management. I've used this approach for many years & it works. And no, I don't need to lose weight. I'm one of the lucky ones who learned how to keep the weight off..... through careful, conscious & constant dieting!
Well, if Dr. Phil says so, then it has to be true...
–noun 1. food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health: Milk is a wholesome article of diet.
2. a particular selection of food, especially as designed or prescribed to improve a person's physical condition or to prevent or treat a disease: a diet low in sugar.
3. such a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight: No pie for me, I'm on a diet.
4. the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group: The native diet consists of fish and fruit.
5. food or feed habitually eaten or provided: The rabbits were fed a diet of carrots and lettuce.
6. anything that is habitually provided or partaken of: Television has given us a steady diet of game shows and soap operas.
–verb (used with object) 7. to regulate the food of, especially in order to improve the physical condition.
8. to feed.
–verb (used without object)
9. to select or limit the food one eats to improve one's physical condition or to lose weight: I've dieted all month and lost only one pound.
10. to eat or feed according to the requirements of a diet.
–adjective 11. suitable for consumption with a weight-reduction diet; dietetic: diet soft drinks.
Obviously, the word diet (any word for that matter) can have different meanings. I would suspect the majority of the posts/questions in this forum are geared toward 'diet' as a rapid way to lose weight which often include severe and unreasonable food restrictions (insert latest fad diet here) as opposed to how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Which, as I think AnonChick was trying to suggest, don't work for long periods of time.
If you maintain a healthy diet even if it consists of reduced intake of carbs for example, that can be sustained over time as long as it is not too restrictive.
Right. For example, the Dukan Diet is advertised as, and used as, a method of losing weight. In fact, the very first thing you see when going to their website are these words:
"Join the millions of people who follow the diet described as "the method exerting the most influence and spreading fasted throughout the world", the plan with the best chance of tackling weight problems."
Bold emphasis mine - this is a diet designed specifically for "tackling weight problems." That means, that if you don't have a weight problem, then this is not something you should be concerning yourself with. If you have maintained a healthy weight for 10 years without having to use a method designed for "tackling weight problems," then you don't need any method of "tackling weight problems." If, however, you gain weight whenever you stop using methods designed for "tackling weight problems," then I suggest you seek medical advice from a licensed physician to find out what is wrong with you.
Because, people who *need* to be on a diet designed for "tackling weight problems" for 10 years, most certainly have something wrong with them. It might be overeating, it might be allergies to wheat. It might be really bad food choices and total lack of self-control, and having discipline thrust upon them from outside sources is the only way they can maintain health without shoveling the crap into their mouths. It could be a thyroid problem. It could be some kind of digestive disease or disorder. It could be some other glandular or hormonal problem.
But - healthy people do not need to go on diets. They don't need to maintain their weight. Their metabolism does the maintaining without fancy combinations of foods or deprivation of things they enjoy or cutting down or cutting back. They are *already* eating what is healthy for them, without the benefit of some fad diet author telling them what they should and should not eat.
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