Some thoughts and discussions from me.
The 4-letter Word that Starts with D
I’m talking about diet. D-I-E-T.
The word, diet, is often treated like a 4-letter word, no? Especially in the healthy living world on blogs.
There are a lot of things I love about the healthy living blog-world: The sense of community, the desire and passion to promote health and wellness, the support, and positivity. However, one thing about it that tends to frustrate me is the rose-colored glasses when it comes to losing weight. Edit: I’m definitely not talking about vanity pounds, or reaching an unhealthy, or unattainable weight, or someone who is recovering from an ED. I’m talking about clients who might be overweight or obese and would like to lose weight to reach a healthy weight (or fit better in their clothes, or lose inches, etc.)
I get where people are coming from when they say losing weight is a lifestyle, I do. They mean that a person should develop healthy habits and incorporate them into their lifestyle – working out, eating vegetables, not eating so many sweets, etc. I used to think – and preach – this way, too! Until I started training clients – clients who wanted to lose weight to be at a healthy weight, who had already been eating healthy food and exercising – or living a healthy lifestyle. These are things that are good to do at all (most) points of life – not just when one is trying to lose weight.
But when people reiterate the quote: It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle! it really makes me kinda stabby. It’s not fair to those who are really trying to lose weight to say that to them. Here’s why losing weight isn’t all about developing a healthy lifestyle:
1. Two words: Calorie Deficit.
To lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit. This means you take in less calories than you burn. How you do that is another matter, whether it’s through diet, exercise, or a combination of both. Once you lose this weight, congratulations! You’ve reached your goal weight.
Now what? Now it’s time to go off the diet, because you no longer need to be in a calorie deficit. You’ll need to be at maintenance, and stop dieting since you’ve reached your goal. I encourage those who’ve done this to go ahead and incorporate what they’ve learned about health into their lifestyle. Even if you’re not counting points or calories, your eating habits are going to need to shift somehow once you’ve lost the weight. Eat at maintenance now, but still eat your fruits and veggies 
2. Losing Weight is Hard.
Losing weight is hard. Even for someone with all of the knowledge about nutrition in the world, it’s difficult. It’s not fun to not be able to eat and drink all the foods. It’s not fun to have to deliberately not give your body what it requires to maintain the weight it’s at – it doesn’t like it! (note: I’m not talking about HUGE deficits – enough to lose 1-2 lb’s a week.) That’s what it takes to lose weight for most people, and that’s not the kind of lifestyle I’d like to have.
3. Maintenance Mode.
Whether it’s through calorie counting, food logging, portion controlling, or just eating more mindfully, one will need to change the way he or she eats eventually, in order to maintain the weight loss. If you were calorie counting, you’ll add more calories back, portion controlling, you’ll increase the portions, “eating intuitively,”then you’ll do whatever your intuitions tell you do. Keep on working out, keep on lifting weights, keep on making healthy choices, BUT – give yourself room to enjoy yourself.
In my opinion, this is also good to give people a stopping point. A clear line. A plan to adhere to in order not to continue losing weight. A lifestyle to continue so they don’t keep losing weight and become underweight. There are few people who reach their weight loss goals who keep that weight off in the long term. When someone loses weight, they also often lose muscle mass, ergo their resting metabolism decreases. This is where the lifestyle thang comes into play. If part of the healthy lifestyle one developed was lifting weights, that person also likely maintained muscle mass more than someone who did not. This will definitely help the metabolism stay constant.
I guess I’m saying that in my opinion the “lifestyle” enters in maintenance mode. Someone may have dieted to reach a healthy weight, but now has to live a healthy lifestyle to maintain it.
Of course, there will be some times where you’ll weight a little less – and sometimes a little more, but the idea is to give yourself some room to enjoy, while sticking with what you learned. I’m actually having a little trouble not rambling here. I should do a post on maintenance all on its own!
I want to hear from you! Have you successfully lost weight (or helped others lose weight?) What methods worked best for you?
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or registered dietician. I am a certified personal trainer and this is my opinion blog.
i cringe at the word diet but i don’t know what other word to use. I think people need to find a lifestyle that gets them to their healthy weight, which might not be the weight that are aiming for but it’s still a healthy weight. I encourage clients to not focus on weight but overall well being.
lindsay recently posted…New Season, New Reason: #slowdownchallenge13
I agree with needing another word tp replace it, because it’s gotten such negative connotations. I, too, encourage well being, but if an obese client comes to me with a goal of losing body fat, I’m going to do my part to help him or her (healthily) reach his or her goals.
ahh yes, very true.
lindsay recently posted…New Season, New Reason: #slowdownchallenge13
I finally broke my plateau and started losing again. Unfortunately it was because I spent a week in the hospital recovering from a massive pulmonary embolism. Not recommended.
I was diagnosed Diabetic in December and my food/exercise became a lifestyle change but because of my weight, it is also a diet.
I’ve stalled on everything now, the doctors don’t want me changing my diet, it messes with my medication. So does more movement. I think I’m doing much better than I should be and am trying hard not to over do it.
Gina, book dragon recently posted…Purr-sday
YES YES YES.
we seem to seize words and ruin them…bastardize their meanings.
Miz recently posted…WE’RE NOT DOGS. WE’VE EARNED BETTER.
I love this Paige. One of the many reasons I love your blog so much is because you don’t conform to the typical healthy living standards and beliefs all the time and I love that. I have to agree that weight loss is not some easy process or a lifestyle. Weight loss takes hard work. I tend to find that my clients who are doing all the right things in terms of diet and exercise but not losing weight usually have some underlying problems happening too. Whether it’s stress, or an emotional attachment to food, there is usually something else under the surface that is preventing the weight loss. Just my two cents 🙂
Danielle recently posted…How I Learned About Nutrition
Thank you, Danielle!!
Love this! A healthy lifestyle is the way to go, I totally agree. I’m actually at a point where I need to gain a little weight right now, but I’m still eating wholesome foods while treating myself fairly regularly. I’ve definitely learned that healthy habits do a body much better than some sort of diet mindset. The mental aspect can throw people for a loop.
Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves recently posted…Baked Salmon with Lime-Dill Yogurt Sauce
I absolutely get where you’re coming from and I agree. The healthy lifestyle is definitely a maintenance mode kind of thing. The hard truth is that when you have weight to lose, a diet is what you’re on. I really like how you said that telling people it is a lifestyle is not fair. You’re right!!! When you have a large amount of weight to lose, telling people to add a salad into their routine and start eating breakfast is not going to cut it.
Natalie @ Free Range Human recently posted…Routine Return
I’ve come to use the word diet not as “weight loss” but how you eat – like “my diet is mostly plants” or whatever. I used to hate that word, but I’m actually using it the way it’s meant to be used. Definitions aside, I agree would agree with what you’re saying. As someone on a strict diet (not calorie counting, but strict macro counts), it’s NOT something I want to do long-term to this level at all! There are things I will take and incorporate into my lifestyle when I’m not competing, but I want more beer and wine in my long-term diet. 🙂
Heather @ Better With Veggies recently posted…Rafting the Arkansas River in Colorado
Exactly! Yeah, I’m not sure I could live on 1 beer/week for life! haha 🙂 🙂
As of this morning, I’ve lost 55 lbs, which happens to be exactly half of what I’m hoping to lose in total. I have tried “diet” plans before (Atkins, WW) but didn’t like the structure of them.
What’s given me success this time around is just using MyFitnessPal to track my food, as well as other apps that track my activity (running, strength training).
Really good read!
Courtney @ Don’t Blink. Just Run. recently posted…Weekend Shenanigans Part 3
That’s awesome, Courtney!! Major congrats 🙂
Thanks so much! 🙂
AMEN! This is the best post I’ve read in a long time, Paige! I sometimes get caught in the hippy healthy living blogger attitude of “just eat intuitively” and forget that a) sometimes you can’t trust your intuition and b) no matter what you do, or how many good choices you make, calories will always, always count. I read recently that if you eat so much as 100 calories too many each day, that equates to 10 pounds gained in a year! Wake up call!
Thanks so much for getting this out there!
Kim @ healthy nest recently posted…What’s on my mind lately