Non-Dieting

[Laura]

I've brought up the concept of "the non-diet diet" a few times, and have been asked what it is.

I've read dozens of diet and nutrition books, and have gone on many many diets: Pritikin, Scarsdale, Atkins, Carbohydrates Addicts', Cambridge (a liquid fast), actual fasting, Weight Watchers, The California Diet, The Rotation Diet, non-specific low-carbing, vegetarianism, veganism, Curves, Pilates Diet Directives, and a personalized plan from my nutritionist. There's probably more but I'm forgetting at this point. All this dieting just makes me fatter every year. Sure, sometimes I'll lose the weight. One time I lost 30 pounds and kept it off for about three years, but it all came back plus another 10.

This last time I was so burnt out I couldn't face going on another diet. I'd try starting Atkins, and after a day I'd be bingeing again. I tried doing Diet Directives again, and same story. So I decided to hell with it, I'd eat whatever I want when I want, with a very few rules. My rules are personalized to me: I found out from allergy testing that I am allergic to soy, to gluten, and to casein (one of the proteins in dairy products), so I've pretty much cut them out completely. Every so often I might have a bit of cheese or a little something with wheat in it, but it's really never more than once a week. I never really liked soy, so that hasn't been an issue. If I eat these things more often than every once in a while they do strange things to my digestion. If I eat too much dairy my face starts to swell up. So, it hasn't been too difficult do these things.

Next, I emptied my cabinets and fridge of everything that wasn't decent to eat. At this point in my life there was hardly anything like that laying around, but it's always good to check. Every so often I run through them to see if anything has creeped in, like as the result of having a party or of Hubby-san shopping on his own.

My last rule is that I would have no other rules, I don't want or need to do anything that will cause me to crave food or obsess about it. No weighing and measuring, no counting calories or carbs or fat grams. No setting goals like "I will lose 5 pounds by the end of the month." Nothing. I'm not dieting anymore.

I think another part of this non-diet diet thing for me has been talking about what I've been through and what I think. For years and years I just took it meekly while people said or did negative things to me using my weight as an excuse. I'm not doing that anymore, which is why I've come out so vocally on these boards. I guess it's part of my own recovery therapy or something like that.

[pygmalion]

I've seen a "diet" like that written up in one of those supermarket checkout magazines -- basically you eat whatever you want so that you don't spend time obsessing over food.

Weight Watchers worked for me in a similar way -- I planned everything out so that I was on autopilot, then I never thought about food again. I think that's where a lot of "diets" fail -- they're short term, not real lifestyle changes. And they make you think about food entirely too much.

That's why I quit Weight Watchers, btw. A lot of the people at meetings gave me the creeps. They talked about food as if it was the meaning of life. I just can't (or maybe won't?) think about food 24/7.

[delamusica]

I think that's a great way to be - stress and self-criticism only help to add the pounds, making it harder to shed weight. I don't look overweight (people never believe me when I tell them how much I weight!), but my doctors always say I could stand to lose 20-30 lbs. Every time I try to start dieting, I just get depressed and crave things and binge. I totally agree with Laura - I've had so much more success just trying to be generally healthy and not beating myself up about eating what I want (even when it's not the perfect super-healthy choice!), and I'm much happier and stress-free not obsessing about my food intake all the time. Not to mention that I'm in a better mood when I'm not always hungry. :)

[Laura]

They talked about food as if it was the meaning of life. I just can't (or maybe won't?) think about food 24/7.

Oh yeah, that reminds me of another thing I did: I used to read a diet support bulletin board. I quit that, because all they did was talk about food and it drove me crazy. I also felt like a failure when they'd post their weekly "stats."

[squirrel]

Talking about food all the time makes it an obsession...

The last diet I tried was a stupid, lousy diet that would make me hungry... I quit after 2 days... and never again have I started another!

Dieting all the time and being obsessed by it are different than making sure you eat good food...

For instance, I always put on weight when I eat at restaurants regularly... or when I go abroad... and mind me, I do not change my eating habits... I eat the same things... only probably cooked differently and in different quantities...

So, I think dieting by starving or getting obsessed with food is bad!

[motardmom]

My uncle had a diet he would talk about often. It goes like this: "If it tastes good, spit it out." Didn't work for him, tho. :lol:

I KWYM about non-dieting. I've been trying that. Trying to eat until I'm satisfied instead of eating until I'm crammed full. You know. I've been doing really well too. I did a nose-dive at first, lost a lot of weight really quickly. I don't quite know what that was, but it has levelled off and I'm loosing at a slower pace. People keep asking me how much I have lost and I cannot tell them. I do not own a scale. As a matter of principle, I never weigh myself (unless I'm at a doctor's office and they need it for their records.) I could see myself obsessing over my weight if I knew what it was. So I pay attention to how my clothes fit instead, and pay attention to how I feel. Lately I have been feeling really great. :D

[cocodrilo]

I pretty much eat what I want. I followed the Pritikin diet as it made total nutritional sense to me when I was 19 years old and training for long-distance running races. I don't adhere to the diet per se, but eliminating stuff like globbing mayonnaise, sour cream and dressing on food has stuck with me even now.

[SDsalsaguy]

...has stuck with me even now.
Or not, as the case may be! :lol:

[cocodrilo]

Har har har, SD! 8)
All joking aside, I will admit I make sacrifices to keep in shape, but these are things which are unhealthy to begin with, so when I take that into consideration, I end up not missing things so much! I will admit I don't miss drinking sodas or eating fast food at all(been about 20 years!) but I still scam on chocolate from time to time! 8)

[pygmalion]

We all have our little vices. That's okay, as long as they're fairly little, yes? 8)

[Sagitta]

We all have our little vices. That's okay, as long as they're fairly little, yes? 8)

Right! I actually eat what I feel like. There are times that I indulge. But listening and learning to listen to the body has worked well pour moi. :D

[Laura]

That's a good point Squirrel. I think that in the US at least we are inundated with so much diet information that people completely forget how to listen to their bodies.

Oh, and I'm down another pound and a half or two since I started this thread. Today is Thanksgiving which means some indulgence, but I've pared down the menu and also made less food in general so there wouldn't be a pile of leftovers hanging around.

[Laura]

Here's an update for me...the pants I was wearing on Thanksgiving were so baggy they were bothering me, so I bought new pants the next size smaller today. I'm down two US ladies' sizes since I started non-dieting. My goal is to get two more sizes smaller. I figure it will take me another year since I'm taking it easy and non-dieting.

Hey, this means I'm halfway there!!! Wow. The numbers on the scale are weird, though, I've only lost about 20 pounds overall. Well, no matter...I'm going by how the different sizes in the same brand and style of pants fit. In January I was in a particular size, and now I'm two sizes smaller, so that's progress! Muscle is denser than fat, so a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. I must be burning fat and building muscle, which is good because that kind of exchange increases your overall metabolism, making it easier to maintain the weight loss.

[dancin_feet]

Congrats Laura, I'm glad you are finally finding success in some simple common sense eating rather than following one of those diets.

I have never had to worry about dieting myself. One one of the hated "fast metabolism" type of people. My mother followed diets for years so I know the pain that people go through with up and down weight problems.

[DancePoet]

I've brought up the concept of "the non-diet diet" a few times, and have been asked what it is.

I've read dozens of diet and nutrition books, and have gone on many many diets ... All this dieting just makes me fatter every year. Sure, sometimes I'll lose the weight. One time I lost 30 pounds and kept it off for about three years, but it all came back plus another 10.

This last time I was so burnt out I couldn't face going on another diet ... I decided to hell with it, I'd eat whatever I want when I want, with a very few rules. My rules are personalized to me ... it hasn't been too difficult do these things.

Next, I emptied my cabinets and fridge of everything that wasn't decent to eat. At this point in my life there was hardly anything like that laying around, but it's always good to check. Every so often I run through them to see if anything has creeped in, like as the result of having a party or of Hubby-san shopping on his own.

My last rule is that I would have no other rules, I don't want or need to do anything that will cause me to crave food or obsess about it. No weighing and measuring, no counting calories or carbs or fat grams. No setting goals like "I will lose 5 pounds by the end of the month." Nothing. I'm not dieting anymore.

I think another part of this non-diet diet thing for me has been talking about what I've been through and what I think. For years and years I just took it meekly while people said or did negative things to me using my weight as an excuse. I'm not doing that anymore, which is why I've come out so vocally on these boards. I guess it's part of my own recovery therapy or something like that.

Ah ... learning to love yourself through knowing yourself! You will find much joy, while most of the world won't! :D