Diet or Lifestyle?

[Finnigan]

I don't know if this has been brought up before, but this popped into my head while responding to another thread.

The use of the word "diet" is interresting. It really has a couple of meanings, and they are related, but different.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
di·et1 Audio Help /ˈdaɪɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[dahy-it] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, -et·ed, -et·ing, adjective
–noun

1. food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health: Milk is a wholesome article of diet.
2. a particular selection of food, esp. as designed or prescribed to improve a person's physical condition or to prevent or treat a disease: a diet low in sugar.
3. such a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight: No pie for me, I'm on a diet.
4. the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group: The native diet consists of fish and fruit.
5. food or feed habitually eaten or provided: The rabbits were fed a diet of carrots and lettuce.
6. anything that is habitually provided or partaken of: Television has given us a steady diet of game shows and soap operas.

–verb (used with object)
7. to regulate the food of, esp. in order to improve the physical condition.
8. to feed.

–verb (used without object)
9. to select or limit the food one eats to improve one's physical condition or to lose weight: I've dieted all month and lost only one pound.
10. to eat or feed according to the requirements of a diet.

–adjective
11. suitable for consumption with a weight-reduction diet; dietetic: diet soft drinks.


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[Origin: 1175–1225; (n.) ME diete < AF, OF < L diaeta < Gk díaita way of living, diet, equiv. to dia- dia- + -aita (akin to aÇsa share, lot); (v.) ME dieten (transit.) < AF, OF dieter, deriv. of the n.]

If you look at entries 4, 5 and 8 you see where the word "diet" really means "what you eat." Most of the rest have to do with 'limiting' what you eat.

I think the No S diet should be considered in the first sense as in 4, 5 and 8.

I don't think it is meant to be a weight loss program. It is really a lifestyle change. Maybe it should be called "The No S lifestyle."

[BrightAngel]

I don't think (the No S diet) is meant to be a weight loss program.
It is really a lifestyle change.
Maybe it should be called "The No S lifestyle."

This is very true.

[reinhard]

Yes, the problem is that no one would ever have heard if it if I didn't use the word "diet."

So I prefer to dig in my heels and reclaim the other definitions of the word for human beings again.

Some stuff I've posted previously on this issue:

From:

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p= 41832&highlight=#41832

"Diet" doesn't have to have such awful connotations. Even animals have "diets" after all (as in "the pygmy marmoset has a largely gumnivorous diet"). Everyone has a "way of eating" or "eating tendencies." That's all no-s is. In fact, though it starts out as a bunch of conscious rules, habit turns it into something far closer to what the pygmy marmoset does after a while, something instinctive and automatic.

From:

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic ... rous#13999

I think of "diet" as "what is eaten," rules or no rules, as in: "the great northern burly faced raccoon has an omnivorous diet." We all have diets, whether thought out or not. If the unthought kind isn't working, then maybe it's time for rules. Good rules will create habits that don't require much thinking long term. Bad rules never get past the popular definition.

It's interesting to note that the "raccoon" sense of diet is in fact the primary definition in most dictionaries:

From:

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jse ... sbid=lc04a

1. The usual food and drink of a person or animal.

2. A regulated selection of foods, as for medical reasons or cosmetic weight loss.

Reinhard

[JillyBean]

Yes, the problem is that no one would ever have heard if it if I didn't use the word "diet."

So I prefer to dig in my heels and reclaim the other definitions of the word for human beings again.

Some stuff I've posted previously on this issue:

From:

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p= 41832&highlight=#41832

"Diet" doesn't have to have such awful connotations. Even animals have "diets" after all (as in "the pygmy marmoset has a largely gumnivorous diet"). Everyone has a "way of eating" or "eating tendencies." That's all no-s is. In fact, though it starts out as a bunch of conscious rules, habit turns it into something far closer to what the pygmy marmoset does after a while, something instinctive and automatic.

From:

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic ... rous#13999

I think of "diet" as "what is eaten," rules or no rules, as in: "the great northern burly faced raccoon has an omnivorous diet." We all have diets, whether thought out or not. If the unthought kind isn't working, then maybe it's time for rules. Good rules will create habits that don't require much thinking long term. Bad rules never get past the popular definition.

It's interesting to note that the "raccoon" sense of diet is in fact the primary definition in most dictionaries:

From:

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jse ... sbid=lc04a

1. The usual food and drink of a person or animal.

2. A regulated selection of foods, as for medical reasons or cosmetic weight loss.

Reinhard

Yes! Thank you, Reinhard! Especially about the part that says: no one would ever have heard of it if I didn't use the word "diet." I am one of those people! What is unfortunate is that the word "diet" has taken on a whole new meaning with all of us that have let society convince us we are what we weigh and only what we weigh. This way of eating is helping me get back into life and heal the scars left from hating myself for so long. (And I have never even been what is considered "obese," fat, yes, but not obese. I sure felt like I was though, since I was a teen.) As fkwan says, "Three bows" to you, Reinhard.

[flipturn]

I have called it the No S way of life . . . I think that I wrote that when I welcomed someone new.

[OrganicGal]

It's a lifestyle for sure...especially because it has/is built in maintenance.

[MoTappin]

Reinhard is right...if he hadn't put "diet" on the cover, nobody would read it. But the great thing about this is its permanence. When you do it for a while, it becomes a automatic...a habit. And then, the word "diet" can fade into the distance.

The thing I like best about No-S is that it's NOT about FOOD. It's about BEHAVIOR. The problem with "diets" is that they're all about the food. That makes us think about food all the time, which makes our day revolve around food. Not very helpful when you're trying to lose weight and there's all this stuff you're not supposed to be eating.

So, maybe it is a diet because it has to do with your eating pattern, but it's all about behavior modification. Modify the behavior and the problem with overeating takes care of itself.

Brilliant, Mr. Engels!

[Mavilu]

Someone here calls it "No S Thingy", that's my favorite, so I call it a thingy to and so does my husband: "Wow Mavilu, you've lost some weight, what are you doing?" *husband intercepts* "Oh, nothing, really, she is just following this S rules thingy...".

[Jessies Daughter]

Reinhard is right. I would never have found this if it did not contain the word diet. I would never have stayed if it was a diet.

I do recognize that there are many definitions for the word "DIET", but when I get honest with myself I have to admit that the only definition that resonates in my head is the one that means to restrict ones caloric intake in an effort to lose weight.

Since I have never been on a successful "diet" I chose to call this a "Thingy" because "Thingy" lets me remember that I am not "DIETING" BUT that I am changing the way I look at food.

This "Thingy" has helped me to recognize when I am hungry versus when I eat to fill an emotional void. I have learned to recognize when I am full. I am eating healthier and making better choices as to the foods I eat. I am changing my eating habits and by changing my eating habits I sleep better, I wake up at the same time every day, food tastes better, I walk my pups twice a day, I am not bone tired anymore and I have lost 5 pounds. No bad for a "Thingy"!

While I consciously know that know "DIET" has many definitions I have to fool myself into subconsciously recognizing the one that speaks to how and what I eat rather than what I can and cannot eat.




This "THINGY" works for me. All of the negative conotations I associate with diet are gone. "Thingy" lets me associate this new lifestyle as it relates to food with a new and untainted word.

[navi]

any "diet" is a lifestyle if you plan to embrace it for life. atkins can be a lifestyle, as can south beach, weight watchers, etc. they all aim to get people to adopt new habits for life. if you adopt any new "lifestyle" aka diet you will embrace new habits (hopefully good ones) over time. noS fits for alot of people, which is great, but other diets such atkins work for other people (not me - i could never give up carbs). i think noS is nice because the rules are straightforward and easy enough to follow, but the "habit" or "lifestyle" aspect is no different from any other sensible eating plan. of course, crazy cabbage soup style diets are clearly DIETS as they are unsustainable.

[Hungry Girl]

I like the No S Lifestyle too. I am fed up of telling people I am on another diet as they've heard it all before. But lifestyle is something differnt!

[blueskighs]

I guess in the end "diet" does seem to have a short term connotation and "lifestyle" seem to have an enduring quality,
but if the book had not been in the "diet" section, I would not ever have found it

Blueskighs

[Will]

Yeah, unfortunately Reindard is correct. I do not believe in diets and am a big sustainable and healthy "lifestyle" enthusiast. What is being talked about on this site may not be a "diet" but that is the key word that probably brings 90% of new users to the site.

In the U.S. at least, the dietary and living habits of many people has become so unfortunate that nothing short of a lifestyle change can help. But when these people go looking for help, the first word they type into the search engine is "diet".

So the name choice was very astute on Reinhard's part. What he has done with his "No S" has obviously helped countless people. That is the most important thing.

-Will

[deadweight]

Yes, ultimately it's all semantics as the words can be used synonymously.

Eating fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats can be considered a diet.

Eating a vat of Crisco with chocolate sprinkles on top can be considered a lifestyle.

Personally I don't mind the word "diet" and find that "lifestyle" sounds a bit euphemistic.

[Finnigan]

I was really just making an observation. I wasn't serious about changing the name.