THIS!!!!!

I feel like everyone who inquires about my "magical" weightloss expects me to give them the Secret to Life or something. They are very disappointed to learn that I didn't take any pills, didn't buy special foods or restrict X, Y or Z foods. I ate less by counting calories and focused on mostly good foods. To top it all off, I excercise.

VOILA! "It's a miracle!!"

I'm on a weight loss diet, and I lose 1 pound a week. That is about 50 pounds a year.
I count my calories and post them on a web page.
And I make up a weight loss chart, an exercize chart, track my nutrients, BMI, etc...all on the same dieting site.

All the other weight loss diets restrict calories. And they have fancy names like Adkins, LA, IP, Weight Watchers,etc.
But most never reveal exactly how many calories you are taking in.

To me, weight loss is a numbers game, and I want to know every little number.

I actually add up every calorie that goes into my mouth.
Knowing what my calorie count actually is does not make it not a diet, it makes me more knowledgable as to what the numbers really are and how my scale is impacted.

There have also been a lot of books written about calorie counting diets, and they list pages of foods with their calorie contents.

There are also diet sites in the internet that make it easier to keep track of the calories.

Other diets leave a person guessing as to what their calorie counts are.
I don't want to be left in the dark by someone selling a diet book that conceals my calories and labels things by points.

Every year someone comes up with a new angle on how to make a bundle of money by introducing a new "diet". They sell their books and their foods to people that either don't know about calories or are just too busy or confused as to how to keep track of them.

And most of these diets will work, as long as the dieter follow their plans.

You lose weight when you simply restrict calories down to a certain point.

I would agree with you that your diet is the best for every dieter,
but then we would both be wrong.

I'm convinced I'll be doing this forever... So i'm not really calling it a diet, it's just a controlled eating lifestyle. Like controlling money, sleep, etc.

Now I'm using an iphone app (MFP) to keep track of EVERYTHING I eat, but I think that after one year or so, after a while on maintenance that is, I'll have it pretty much controlled in terms of habit. Also knowing my portions and knowing what to buy, what to eat, etc.

Diet is just a word, and citing Mr. Shakespeare: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet "
So a diet on any other name would also yield positive weight results.

Some people ARE on a diet and don't call it that, they call it life... Others say they are on a diet when in fact... (I've been guilty of this in the past!)

As long as I am actively trying to lose weight I am dieting. When I reach my desired weight I will be maintaining...both will require me to count calories.

It took me years to wrap my head around this concept. I can't lose the weight then revert back to what I was doing before. I know it sounds silly to some, but I couldn't figure out why I kept gaining weight back after I had worked so hard to lose it...no, I cannot have an entire box of Twinkies, washed down with a coke and a gallon of ice cream for dessert and stay 170lb.

Mmmmm sort of. But it can be and it doesn't have to be. I started counting when I first started to get an idea of what was healthy and what I could or couldn't eat. Then I just stopped counting. I still read labels and make sure it's low calorie, low sodium, sugar, fat etc... but I'm not recording it. I personally would become too obsessed and frustrated so I just make healthy choices by what I read, mentally kind of add it up during the day and go with that. It's working for me. If I was to count consistantly everyday, it would be a diet for me. By not counting but being AWARE of what I'm eating, it's more of a lifestyle choice. I don't want to give my power away into my food, I want to be the one in power of what I eat, if that makes sense

I consider it a lifestyle decision. Calorie counting is ultimately the #1 way I'm able to lose any weight (since the very basics of weight-loss are calories in/calories out), but it's something I have to commit to and stick to even in maintenance (which is how I ended up gaining back all of my weight).

I consider "dieting" to be a temporary thing. Lifestyle decisions and changes are typically forever.

Somebody accused me of taking diet pills yesterday. I was floored!! I swear it's so strange getting all this attention at the gym. I've been going for six years and while I was friendly with a lot of people they usually just left me alone. Now I get bombarded with questions that are met with scowling faces when I don't give them the answer they want.

I think people get so angry because they want to justify their own failures with weight loss. If it's "impossible" (say if we restrict foods or take diet pills) then they feel more comfortable about the fact that they haven't succeeded.

That, and I think it's a little unnerving for people that the formerly biggest one there is now smaller than most of them.

I can't get mad at them though. I was there just a year ago, getting angry at anyone who said "eat less!" :s

I think counting calories just means that I'm *aware* of what I'm eating. Its what I assume most healthy people do, but I could be totally wrong.

I agree with GonnaTurnHeads - if a "diet" is defined as paying conscious attention to what goes in your body and being aware of its contents, then I suppose calorie counting is a diet.

Unlike Atkins or South Beach or The Zone, etc. , it has the flexibility to be applied to all different phases in your life. I mean, maybe you go through a phase where you have a crazy craving constantly for bread - calorie counting can still work.

Of course it is a diet.
Webster defines diet as : "Food or drink habitually consumed'.

No. Not in the way you are meaning the term, at least. I haven't changed what I eat while calorie counting. I just view it as portion control.

Yes portion control is a HUGE factor also! I agree!

not really. not the counting part, anyway. sticking to 1200 calories a day i consider a diet, but calorie counting is more a lifestyle change for me. i'll continue counting calories at maintenance, though the calories i'll have to work with will be in a larger amount.

If I'm using it to lose weight--as in, I'm saying "this many calories, and no more"--then heck, yeah it's a diet. It's a relatively unrestrictive diet, and I find it quite easy to follow, but it is still a diet.

That being said, I could count calories and eat like I did before. Knowing that I'm having eighty-bajillion calories a day isn't a diet; it's just being informed.

This is what I was trying to say. Amen!