Do you consider counting calories a diet?
 

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.

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.
:cool:

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! :)

the word has contextually different meanings. there's diet in the sense that you defined it, and then diet in the sense of restricting or changing your habitual eating patterns.

The word "diet" has always implied restriction to me so I tend not to use it to describe my current calorie-counting regimen. Like others have said, I'm pretty sure I'll need to count calories forever, since I'm clearly incapable of eating like a normal person without some sort of tool to help me. I'm never going to be a healthy eater (I hate vegetables!) so I need to use portion control and counting calories makes that easier for me.

I'll be over for Sunday dinner.:dizzy:

The phrasing almost always makes it obvious which meaning is being used. "Dieting" as a verb, and "I'm on a diet" both mean an attempt to lose weight. "The Japanese diet has a lower incidence of breast cancer" or "the rats were fed a diet of..." is a way of eating. "My diet consists of..." could be either, although the context will usually elucidate that one. (The "Diet of Worms" is something else entirely, of course.)

The context of the original post made it clear that both "diet" and "counting calories" were meant in the sense of weight loss.

Well...okay then. LOL
The way I see it, (and I'm not going to sugar coat it), whatever the crap a person wants to call counting calories it is fine. If you need to lose weight then just do it, and don't worry about what it's called. Over analyzing everything is NOT a diet and is for sure is an annoying lifestyle change.

I think getting caught up in the semantics (is it a "diet"? no, it's a "lifestyle change!") is a distraction. I don't care what it's called - I COUNT calories, I'm LOSING weight, and that's the whole point. When I reach goal, I will STILL count calories and maintain my weight. That's the whole point. :D

Yes, to me

diet=creating a calorie deficit

so anything you're doing to do that is a diet. I'm on a diet even though it's of my own making, doesn't follow any book and I don't count calories. However, I eat less than what I need to maintain my weight.

Now you can get wrapped up in semantics here for sure, since some might not like the word "diet" and immediately associate it with "fad diet". Call it whatever you like but in my mind if you're purposefully (so not talking about due to illness, depression etc) eating below your maintenance calories you're on a diet. :shrug:

I should also add. I don't think

diet=eating healthy

You can be eating just french fries below your maintenance calories. You'd be on a diet but I don't think anybody would call what you're doing healthy. You can also be on a diet even though you don't need to be or be eating foods that harm you (like if you have allergies...).

Clearly you can be on a diet AND eating healthy. It seems like that is the intention of most people here. You can also start out on a diet and THEN eat healthy (something I've seen on here often too because you get more bang for you buck with healthy foods).

ETA: if it's not obvious from my post you can be eating healthy and NOT be on a diet too and can even gain. Certainly it's harder when you're eating healthier food but definitely still possible

The main way I lost weight was through counting calories and eating whole foods/high fiber/good carbs only/daily exercise. I switched to whole foods so I could get the most bang for my buck, since calories were restricted.

I think it is both a tool and diet method

Yes I do. Controlling your calorie intake is a HUGE part of weight loss. i mean is eating 3 pieces of cheesecake for your 1500 calories a good diet? No. I think in time you learn if you only have x amount of calories, eating healthy you will get the most fulfillment out of those calories.

I agree completely. One of my pet peeves is when someone on a forum chastises another person for using the word "diet" (this is no slam to anyone here---just a general observation). In my view, whatever I call it is not as important as my attitude toward it. I have had to accept my limitations and not compare myself to others. I am not a good estimator, so for right now, what is working for me is weighing and measuring my food and keeping a tally of the calories.