Permission to Stop Dieting

[Anonymous]

I gave up at 41. It is very freeing. I’ve been at the same weight my entire adult life outside of pregnancies. The women in my family are zaftig for multiple generations back. I exercise 5-6 days a week, both strength and cardio. My body feels great - nothing hurts! What a miracle.

So if my bmi is right at the border of normal and overweight, so be it. I feel lucky to feel so strong and healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The concept of "dieting" is outdated. The phrase intself connotes old age: no one says "dieting" anymore. Now we are to think about the lifestyle of eating that we should engage in. Low sugar, low salt, abundance of leafy green vegetablels, healthy oils (non-seed oils, such as olive, avocado, walnut, coconut), small amount oh not-too-surgary fruit (blueberries, raspberries), oily fish (salmon, sardines), beans, small amount of whole grains. Yes, eating heathily and maintaining a healthy weight is important for heart health and for preserving the quality of life in older age (preventing need to take lots of meds, preventing kidney failure, etc). We can't just give up, that is not responsible toward ourselves and our families.

Yeah, if you're counting your blueberries and raspberries and limiting yoirself to minimal whole grains, you're on a restrictive diet. You're not headed for an early death if you eat a banana or oatmeal on a daily basis, PP.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by dieting OP?

[Anonymous]

YES!!! I finally got to this stage of my life about a week ago. It is crazy how much nicer life is on the other side. You can change your behavior - try it! The freedom is so worth it. And you know what? I haven't gained any weight. i'm eating like a normal person and exercising like a normal person. My mind is so much freer now to be present with my family and at work. I'm really happy. You have the power - you can do it!

[Anonymous]

Well, of you are 20 lbs overweight “on a diet” and not losing the weight, what will going off that diet look like and mean? Basically, whatever you are doing now is giving you weight maintenance- like it or not. If you start indulging more and eating more, you will be 30 lbs overweight by next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The concept of "dieting" is outdated. The phrase intself connotes old age: no one says "dieting" anymore. Now we are to think about the lifestyle of eating that we should engage in. Low sugar, low salt, abundance of leafy green vegetablels, healthy oils (non-seed oils, such as olive, avocado, walnut, coconut), small amount oh not-too-surgary fruit (blueberries, raspberries), oily fish (salmon, sardines), beans, small amount of whole grains. Yes, eating heathily and maintaining a healthy weight is important for heart health and for preserving the quality of life in older age (preventing need to take lots of meds, preventing kidney failure, etc). We can't just give up, that is not responsible toward ourselves and our families.

Uh, don't remember signing a contract here. You live your life and let others live theirs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I am not looking for permission to become a glutton, just freedom from the mindset that because I am 20 lbs overweight I should be on a diet.

Only reason you should want to get rid of that weight is if it affects your overall health, otherwise if you're happy then you shouldn't care what others think.

[Anonymous]

OP, how are your numbers looking?

A1C good? Cholesterol ratio? Kidney function, heart score and all the other stuff? Can you do the things you want to do physically?

If so, you have permission (that you don't need). Don't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are beautiful, sexy, amazing exactly as you are right now!!!!

[Anonymous]

My dieting (very militant about doing weight watchers) may or may not have contributed to my teenage daughter developing anorexia. I have since stopped and definitely gained some weight back (lost 40 and gained about 20 with menopause) but realize how bad it was to model that restrictive behavior even it was to get to a more normal bmi weight. I am very careful now not to talk about diets or losing weight. But also trying to accept a mindset to not obsess about weight. I am now a size 8 versus 4 or 6.

[Anonymous]

I did that during COVID and after. I decided I was old enough (60) that I was invisible anyway. But then I found that I was uncomfortable with the extra weight (about 30 lbs), had high AIC levels, joint pain, and hated looking at myself on zoom. So I changed my tune and started on Ozempic. I've lost more than 30 lbs and it actually makes me really happy.

So you should do what you want but I will say that Ozempic has been a game changer for me - made it really not like a diet, I jsut eat less because I am not hungry.

[Anonymous]

Title sounds so dramatic. Live your life OP. You don’t need anyone’s permission on anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The concept of "dieting" is outdated. The phrase intself connotes old age: no one says "dieting" anymore. Now we are to think about the lifestyle of eating that we should engage in. Low sugar, low salt, abundance of leafy green vegetablels, healthy oils (non-seed oils, such as olive, avocado, walnut, coconut), small amount oh not-too-surgary fruit (blueberries, raspberries), oily fish (salmon, sardines), beans, small amount of whole grains. Yes, eating heathily and maintaining a healthy weight is important for heart health and for preserving the quality of life in older age (preventing need to take lots of meds, preventing kidney failure, etc). We can't just give up, that is not responsible toward ourselves and our families.

Yeah, if you're counting your blueberries and raspberries and limiting yoirself to minimal whole grains, you're on a restrictive diet. You're not headed for an early death if you eat a banana or oatmeal on a daily basis, PP.

Posters like the one you responded are strange. Sure, if you manage to eat like an entire bucket of blueberries its possible that could cause some weight gain - if you did that for a few months. But you would be force feeding yourself to get there. I eat oatmeal every day. I also blow through probably 3 pounds of blueberries a week. I go through at least a half dozen bananas - they are a super portable and inexpensive carb source. I am borderline normal to overweight, but my body fat percentage is around 10. There is nothing restrictive about my diet other than cutting out alcohol almost all together.

The answer to all of this is finding what works for you. And not being vane about it. I don't even care what I look like - I do what I do for health reasons.

It is a massive pain in the ass going to the store for fresh food all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The concept of "dieting" is outdated. The phrase intself connotes old age: no one says "dieting" anymore. Now we are to think about the lifestyle of eating that we should engage in. Low sugar, low salt, abundance of leafy green vegetablels, healthy oils (non-seed oils, such as olive, avocado, walnut, coconut), small amount oh not-too-surgary fruit (blueberries, raspberries), oily fish (salmon, sardines), beans, small amount of whole grains. Yes, eating heathily and maintaining a healthy weight is important for heart health and for preserving the quality of life in older age (preventing need to take lots of meds, preventing kidney failure, etc). We can't just give up, that is not responsible toward ourselves and our families.

You may not use the word "dieting" anymore, but you are the very picture of an eating disorder. Obsessing about "Not too sugary" fruit? Please, tell me what a too sugary fruit looks like? What would be the health effects of eating, for example, watermelon, instead of blueberries? It's outrageous that you would call the concept of dieting outdated and try to convince people to only eat "leafy" green vegetables or low salt.

[Anonymous]

I don’t really look at being mindful of what i eat as dieting. However I did live in another country for many years and am able to see how depressing the SAD is and how little exercise we do here. The eating habits I adopted there are not what any American would call a diet or “healthy”. I eat a ton of pasta, bread, cheese, and meat along with a lot of varied vegetables and fruit. I do make my own pasta, bread and all dough related products along with soft cheeses/yogurts. Exercise for me is key and not just “gym” exercising, but tons of walking throughout the day.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being cognizant of how horrible our relationship with food is here. Slow food is the way to go.