The definition of "diet"

I try to avoid using the word "diet".  I don't want people to take my use if it the wrong way so I just don't say it at all.  Sometimes I use it because I just feel like it's the best choice of a word at the time but it still makes me uncomfortable to say.

The dictionary defines diet a few different ways:
1   a : food and drink regularly provided or consumed

b : habitual nourishment

c : the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason

d : a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight <going on a diet>

2

: something provided or experienced repeatedly <a diet of Broadway shows and nightclubs — Frederick Wyatt>

My problem is that if I use the word diet to mean "food and drink regularly provided or consumed" I don't want people to think that I am on a diet.  Some of you might be saying, "You are on a diet Corinna.  You have told us that you follow Weight Watchers."  Here's the issue.  I don't consider it a diet.

I've lived in a world that is obsessed with diets all my life.  I remember my mom being on many diets while I was growing up and trying some of them myself even though I wasn't really overweight.  Even as a child I remember my friends in grade school talk about being on diets.  Some people are obsessed with trying the newest, latest diet craze.  Although I've never been one to be obsessed with different diets I will admit that I am often tempted to try one that advertises "easy weight loss", "fast weight loss", "weight loss without exercise", weight loss without watching what you eat", "losing 10 pounds in one week"...... I could go on.  The diets all have some catch phrase to get you interested in their diet.

So what's wrong with going on a diet, right?  It helps us lose weight.  It helps us become healthy.  What's wrong with going on a diet is that we think of it as a temporary fix to a permanent problem.  We think that if we lose weight by going on a diet we will be fixed.  Somehow the problem of being overweight disappears in our minds when we think about what we will feel like when the weight is gone because of our latest diet attempt.

What I have come to realize over the last several years of struggling with my weight is that the problem never really goes away.  I was at my goal for over 3 years and the challenge never went away.  I had to continue watching what I ate and how much I exercised every single day.  Even while pregnant with Samuel I had to watch carefully the food that I put in my body. I knew the consequences of gaining 50 or 60 pounds with pregnancy would be having 40 pounds to then lose after pregnancy.  I learned that from my past experiences.

One my weight loss buddies tells me how she talks to people about her weight issue with people who have never had to struggle with their weight.  When they offer he food that she turns down they look at her and tell her that she looks good.  The tell her that she is not overweight so why is she always trying so hard to be careful of what she eats?  She is a Lifetime Member at her WW goal but trying to lose a few more pounds to be comfortable.  She describes it very well.  She tells them that she was overweight and will always struggle with food even though she has lost a lot of weight.  She describes how gaining even 5 pounds back puts her into panic mode because she doesn't want to gain it all back again.  She remember how it felt to be overweight and that has made her careful and diligent in keeping the weight off.  Does she still struggle? Yes.  Does she gain a little weight now and again? Yes.  I think that is a natural part of life.

The difference is that she does not look at what she has done as a diet.  She did at one time though.  That has made the difference in how she lives her life today.  When she originally lost the weight she stopped attending WW meetings and stopped being as diligent with her efforts.  The weight crept back on.  After realizing that she was headed down the wrong road she returned to WW to lose it again.  I'm not sure how many times she did this. I know she has told me that the difference for her is when she realized that this was a lifestyle change that she would have to make for a lifetime.  She stopped making it a diet.  She made it her life.  She attends meetings most weeks now.  She watches what she eats all of the time.  This is not to say that she doesn't slip up from time to time - we all do.  But when she does, she gets back on track.

I am not on a diet.  I am part of lifestyle change. I have changed my lifestyle for good.  This does not mean that I will only eat chicken breast, brown rice and broccoli for the rest of my life.  (Poor broccoli, it always gets thrown under the bus!)  It means that I will eat fewer sweets than I did before.  That was fewer not none. (I love my chocolate and always will.)It means that I will eat smaller portions most of the time.  Every once in a while I am allowed to splurge.  This is the true difference for me.  If I tell myself that I will never eat another piece of chocolate because that is what got me here I will never stick to my "diet."  On the contrary, if I tell myself that I can still have chocolate on occasion (not every meal) then I can stick to my plan, lose the weight and keep it off.

If you are on a diet I will ask you to consider what that means for you.  Can you sustain your "diet" for the rest of your life?  If it is not sustainable then it is a diet and it will be hard for you to maintain your weight loss.  Losing the weight is the first part of the battle. Keeping the weight off is the rest.  Only a lifestyle change will accomplish that.

Have a great day,

Corinna

"The one who begets a food get trouble; the parent of a food has no joy. A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones." -Proverbs 17:21-22