DIET - 4 letter word????

Brownblonde triggered my thinking on this one today. I've thought a lot about it over time.

I love the conversation about "dieting". The first definition of diet found on Dictionary.com is : food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health

The definitions that follow the first refer to diet as some type of limitation or regulation of foods.

One of my epiphanies this past year was the fact that I had been on or off some type of diet for 44 years. There was a lot of emotion wrapped up in and around this fact. I could write a serial expose on that part of my food issues! So, one of the first things I did last March was stop dieting. I allowed myself anything and everything I wanted. And did I eat! I did not track, but I still weighed portions. Did I gain weight? Sure thing! Was it part of my journey that needed to happen? YES! 

I have lost over 30 pounds in the past 6 months. I have not dieted in the sense of what I used to think of as a diet. Have I chosen to not eat certain foods? Yes. Are those foods off limits? NO! I allow myself to eat whatever I want as long as I make my eating a conscious choice. I have absolutely restricted my eating over the past months, but again, it's by choice. I am also eating in a way that I designed. It is a plan that works for me. It is sustainable. 

I suppose some people would say I'm dieting. I look at it as I'm eating in a way that promotes weight loss. A simple adjustment to this plan will allow me to eat in a way that promotes maintaining my weight. I am making decisions that are based solely on my personal needs - both emotional and physical. I am not on anyone's prescribed "diet". To use a phrase of my mother's that indicated her intense dislike of something, I am allergic to diets and dieting. 

It is a matter of not only semantics, but emotional perception. I have decided that I will never diet again. The emotional scars from being put on restrictive diets as a child no longer allow me to consider any style of eating in a restrictive manner. Linda, on the other hand, uses diet mode to help her stay focused and on track. We must follow what works for us. 

If there is one thing I truly believe it is that while there are proven methods to get the weight off after WLS, how we deal with weight management over the long haul must be individualized. There is no one plan fits all. 

Thoughts?

Please write a book. You are so reflective of your journey and write so clearly and vividly. This is an issue that resonates with me as well. I too, have tremendous baggage associated with the term "diet", mostly because my earliest recollections were of rigid rules imposed on me before I knew I had a voice.

During the rebellious phases of my journey, I acted out and proved that no one could tell me what, when or how much I could eat. That earned me 345 pounds.  Moderation and balance have always been a challenge for me. I need structure I can anchor to.. to keep me grounded when I need it, to safely tether me when I am pushing boundaries, and as a beacon to return to.

D  determined

I   invested

E  evolving

T  tenacious

This is the perception of "diet" that works for me. It is a mindset for keeping me on the path toward balanced, healthy living. My plan will be revised, but my "diet" is my resolve to have a plan and to remember why I have one.

I LOVE your DIET acronym. Determined, invested, evolving, tenacious. That so aptly describes my state of mind right now. I am going to commit the acronym to memory! Thank you so much for sharing it. 

I too am not a big fan word "diet".  For the most part, it connotates negativity, as I've been on so many diets with no long-term success.  Every time I think about losing weight, even now, as soon as I equate it with going on a diet routine - i.e. WW, Atkins, etc.., I immediately feel the self-sabotage kick in.  Having a healthy lifestyle, on the other hand, is more positive and affirming.  I like to feel that I'm striving for health, not just physical health, but emotional and spiritual health as well.  Therefore, having a healthy lifestyle is how I want to live my life.  Being on a diet may bring better physical health (if I could stay on one!), but it doesn't change anything else and is temporary at best.  Lifestyle is on-going.  Hopefully this makes sense, as I feel I'm rambling a bit!  :)

Mary

In my mind, dieting should not and cannot be a permanent state, but for me it's useful. But time limited. There must be another defined state, which is what I call maintaining. 

See, that temporary state works for you and that's fantastic. For some reason with my warped thinking, the temporary state of diet means I get to be done. And since I've never mastered the art of the maintenance state, for me the stinking thinking always led to, "You're thin now, so you can eat anything you want in any quantity you want." Clearly that thinking doesn't work for me. 

I am impressed that you (and others) can go into "diet mode" with conviction and strength and without emotional baggage to sabotage your efforts. While I admit I am in a "diet mode" I can't consider it as such. I love Diane O's DIET acronym. I can see that working very well for me. 

Like you, I have been on an off diets for a long time.  And the crazy conclusion was that I tend to gain less weight (or maintain, or even lose!) when I'm not on a diet.  You said you're "allergic" to diets and dieting, and I'd have to agree.  When I'm on a diet I think about food more.  I eat when I'm hungry as well as when I'm not.  I feel that I constantly cannot have the foods I want.  So what do I do?  I rebel.  If I "slip up" and eat one thing off plan, I purposefully sabotage the rest of the day, hell sometimes the rest of the week or month!  And I don't even particularly like it.  I let perfection become the enemy of progress.  

Now, before, when I weighed 277lbs., it was hard to justify maintaining there.  But now at 158, give or take, I find that a much more difficult query.  Diet before has almost surely spelled defeat.  Do I risk this gentle, happy maintenance for a better goal, but one that may actually take me back down a very dark path to weight gain and head games?!  So that's what I've been struggling with.  

I definitely like the way you look at your "diet"--making CHOICES which will promote weightloss.  I will also say that, although it's very difficult to lose weight closer to goal, I feel less rushed.  I feel like everyday I can wake up and make better choices because I'm here in a good place where if I stay I'm still okay.