Do you consider counting calories a diet?

I'd love to hear what people think.

Me, I'm undecided.

I'm half and half on this one.

Yes, I do think it's a "diet" because it's something different than just eating what I want.

And no, because it's just doing what's right. LOL

Counting calories means you're counting calories.

When I am trying to GAIN weight I count them much more carefully than when I am trying to lose weight or trying to maintain. (In deficit or maintinence mode I merely estimate them or don't count at all)

I consider counting calories a diet centered strategy to manage my weight.

"Diet" just means what we eat.

BTW, I also subscribe to JohnP's sig line, "Use diet for weight loss and exercise for fitness." So true. Sorry for the aside.

LIMITING calories is a diet. Counting calories just means you know how many you are eating but unless you change what you eat (from junk food to whole foods, etc) and how much you eat, you can count calories all you want but if you are eating lots of them, you aren't going to lose weight.

I think there's a huge weight loss myth right now, that implies that you're doomed to failure if you use the word "diet," and guarnteed success by simply by using the word "lifestyle." As in - "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle."

The label doesn't matter nearly as much as the attitude and behavior do - and there's no one set of attitudes and behaviors that determine either success or failure.


I don't see calorie counting (or the exchange plan I use to count calories, or my going to the gym 3 times a week) as temporary choices - I see them all as a tool I will use until they no longer become useful (and I'm rather doubting that such a time will ever come).

In the past, I tried to lose weight by methods that I expected to be temporary. I thought that when I lost all the weight I wanted to, that I would get to give up (or lighten up) some of the changes I had made. I didn't think I could go back to eating like I did before the weight loss, but I also didn't think that I would have to work as hard at maintenance as I did at weight loss.

I think that was my error (the behavior, not what I called it). I made changes that weren't sustainable for the long-haul. And some people do fine with that. They learn a whole set of strict behaviors to lose the weight by way of changes that are too drastic (or at least the person hopes) to support a healthy weight. As a result, when they reach their goal weight, they HAVE to eat more to maintain a healthy weight (but not too much or they'll regain). So they have to learn an entirely new lifestyle at least twice (one for weight loss, and another for maintenance).

I never made it to maintenance, because I dieted by methods so strict that I got sick of the changes way before I was anywhere near maintenance.

"This time" I've made changes more gradually. I only have made changes that from the very start, I was willing to make forever, even if I didn't see any weight loss result. That's worked really well for me, and I won't have to "relearn" anything at maintenance.

At least that's the theory. I will always have to adjust my choices to fit my goals, which may change. But for me, the "overhaul" method of change just doesn't work. I get too overwhelmed by the massive changes, and end up reverting to old behavior. Making small changes, but making them permanent (from the start) has allowed me to succeed much better than I ever have before.

The words I use to describe my behavior really aren't that important. Mostly I do try to avoid using the word "diet" as a verb, because "dieting" has a lot of negative connotations for me, and I think reinforces the idea that dieting is temporary, or something you only do until you're done losing weight. But really, I don't think the words matter nearly as much as the actions and the attitude - are you willing to do whatever you do forever, or just temporarily. If the weight loss dosn't come off as fast as you want it to, will you still be able to stay the course, or do you NEED rapid results to keep you motivated on your course. What hapens if your stamina runs out before you reach your goal? What happens if you find yourself at goal and you find that it takes more to sustain your goal weight than you expected? Are you able to adapt, or will frustration bring you down?

I'm no longer afraid of regaining, because I've stopped making changes that I cannot see myself making forever. I no longer have to hope the weight comes off before I get disgusted with the regimen I'm following.

I consider calorie counting as a tool, not really a diet. I lost all my weight using it and still use it to maintain.

Interesting question. I've been counting calories seriously for about 2 months now and am having great success with it. I never really thought of it as a diet but lifestyle change because I plan to be aware of my caloric intake from here on out. It's a tool I use to help me lose weight.

Aren't all "diets" a form of calorie reduction? Counting them, at its most base form, is the mother of all diets I guess.

I think it's about the politics of the word "diet", as Kaplods said. I hated the word too for years based on various negative societal stuff or experiences (not my own, incidentally). I'm a first-time dieter, and when I started six months ago, I found that I don't really care about the word any more. It's the most convenient one, so I'm using it. That said, when I'm explaining to people what's going on, I don't say "I'm on a diet" but "I'm losing weight at the moment". (I started off with "I'm trying to lose weight" and then realised that this gave the wrong idea: I'm not merely trying, I'm actually doing it!) So I suppose that I'm careful where and how I use the word so as not to give the impression that I'm on a fad diet. Especially since I'm one of those people who was already eating healthily and just had to cut down on calories and make the odd minor tweak rather than overhauling my entire way of eating. And on that subject, "WOE" completely cracks me up. It took me a while to figure out what it meant, and it's such a madly negative acryonym for such a sensible phrase!

I'm another one who considers it a tool in my arsenal for losing weight & getting into better health, just like exercise.

I didn't like to say I was dieting when I first started trying to lose weight because that didn't seem quite right. I wasn't going to ban anything from my diet, I was just going to eat smaller portions and less often, and so because I associated dieting with restricting things, saying I was dieting didn't really seem to fit.

Similar to Esofia, I now say that I'm losing weight, and I normally throw in that I'm trying to eat less. I can't say eat healthier because I'm still not a great lover of veggies and I still love to eat out, but it's making better choices when I do and eating less overall that makes a difference for me in losing weight.

If a diet is defined as a method of eating which ultimately restricts calories so that weight loss ensues, then calorie counting is one of many tools that can be used to monitor the diet.

I think it's just a tool, personally. Because what you do with the information is still up to you!

Exactly..."A Rose is still a Rose by any other Name."
A "diet" is whatever you stick in your mouth. You can have a diet of grasshoppers and tuna...if you eat it, it is your diet.


People can call it what ever they want, lifestyle change, diet, way of life, or losing weight...but the real truth of it is...restricting what I eat, and not being able to eat whatever I want, and going day after day after week, after month after year of watching/counting everything I eat is WORK. Calorie counting = work!

I think it really depends on your definition of "diet." If your definition is the actual dictionary definition—the foods you eat—then yes, it's a diet. If your definition is that a diet is a temporary thing to lose weight, then no, I don't think it's a diet.

Counting calories is probably something I'm going to do for my entire life. I've learned how many calories I should be eating and I've learned how to find information about the amount of calories in my food. I can't just erase that knowledge, especially when I know how easy it is to find (thanks internet and smartphone!).

This is what I do; I just tell people that I'm eating less. Healthier? Well I was already eating pretty well before, I just ate too much. Now I have a better idea of what a proper portion looks like and how much I should really be eating. I too still love to eat out and love to eat certain "bad" foods, but I figure life is too short to not have a bit of fun now and then Eating "bad" food once in a while isn't going to throw everything off.

If people say I'm on a diet, I correct them and just say that no, I'm eating less. If they ask what diet I'm doing, I just tell them the same.

What's interesting is how many people seemingly don't like that answer. They'll insist that I must be doing something, I'm "hiding" something from them or that I'm doing it wrong and starving myself (I think I would have lost it a lot faster if I did that...). It can't possibly be "that easy." I admit to many folks who ask that I still eat things like pizza, fast food and I still go out to eat—I just make sure to watch how much of all that food I eat. Yet, inevitably, people just don't want to hear that

Just adding to what is already stated. I'm counting calories now to lose weight, so I'm eating at a deficit. Typically this is considered a diet, but I will continue to count calories probably for the rest of my life, so it will become part of my lifestyle and not part of a 'diet'. When I am maintaining, I will count to maintain... and I'm sure I'll never need to count to try to gain.