No, I'm not on a diet. I eat healthy. 

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 10/14/2015 at 14:57 • Filed to: None

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I used to be fat. Now I’m not. Today I had a mini-epiphany. To paraphrase Yoda: Eat healthy or do not eat healthy. There is no dieting.

Today, my pregnant coworker (this is one of the coworkers I actually like!) and her works-from-home fiance who sometimes comes to my office to use our wifi (who I also like!), went to pick up some pizza for lunch. On their way out, they offered to pick up pizza for anyone else who was interested. I said thanks but no, because I already indulged in some unhealthy food & drink at my cousin’s wedding over the weekend, and now I’m back to my usual healthy eating.

The fiance asked me, “oh so you’re on a diet?” and then told me in excruciating detail how the best way to succeed at a diet is to make giant batches of salsa, because salsa has very few calories, and if you’re eating boring diet food you can put as much salsa on it as you want.

Putting aside the fact that I’m pretty sure eating mass quantities of homemade salsa-covered “boring diet food” is not a viable diet plan, especially coming from a dude who is like 5’9” and 280 lbs, I realized something he said bugged me:

I’m not on a diet .

Being on a diet is like saying “I’m going to eat healthy, for a while, until I go back to not eating healthy . ”

Fuck being on a diet. I’m not on a diet. I eat healthy. It’s what I do. I’m not going back to how I used to eat when I was fat. That’s why I was fat! I’m done with that shit.

I know it’s not a new idea, but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself so forcefully rejecting the idea of being on a diet. So add me to the list of many other people who have said before that the only way to truly succeed at losing weight and keep it off is to make a genuine lifestyle change.

(Image credit: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

UPDATE: For fuck’s sake people, how many of you are going to rush to the comments to say something about how someone’s diet is what they eat, not a temporary thing? Like 9 other people have already said that shit! THE PHRASE “ON A DIET” HAS A SPECIFIC MEANING.

I’m busting out the Oxford English Dictionary. There are !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! eats:
‘a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! diet’
‘a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in diet’

A special !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of food to which one !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons:
‘I’m going on a diet’

The second definition, which is the one that uses the phrase “on a diet” as an example, refers to the diet being a special course. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! :

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , greater, or otherwise different from what is usual

Put these two definitions together, and “on a diet” means:

“A better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.”

Or to put it another way, when someone says the phrase “on a diet,” they are saying what I said in my original post:

“I’m going to eat healthy, for a while, until I go back to not eating healthy . ”

Thanks for making me say this shit like 9 times now!

Leon711 > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:01

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FUCKING YES! FUCKING YES RIGHT TO THE FUCKING POINT. I’m eating better and a side effect is weight loss to a particular level, not dieting, just being responsible.

Chariotoflove > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:03

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Good on you! You’ve turned the corner now. You won’t fall into that yo-yo trap that so many people do when they diet. You’ll be healthier too, no matter your weight compared to theirs.

Hermann > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:12

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I have this belief that “diet” stands for “I think about what I ingest before I do so. I eat until I’m satisfied. And satisfied doesn’t mean full.”, which (to me at least) stands for basically what you just said you do.

And as you pointed, people mistake it for this habit of spending some time eating weird crap to lose weight, only to return to a bad habit of eating whatever sounds best until they can’t stuff any more food into their faces.

I know this is a bit of a stretch, but this sort of thing infuriates me similarly to what people currently say about Feminism for example. Feminism used to be about gender equality, and now it stands for “Women are better than Men”. Now there is this ambiguity of terms and you have to say you are “in favor of gender equality"

jariten1781 > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:17

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Yes. I hate having to continually explain why I don’t want to order Chinese carryout or whatever other crap co-workers are ordering. I regiment my eating, when I didn’t I got up to nearly 300 lbs. The folks at work have no concept because when I started there I was already down to under 180.

I don’t mind them offering to get me food, it’s nice!, but I do get irritated when they ask me why. First couple months it was ok...but motherfuckers, I’ve been here 6 years.

I’ve seriously thought of framing one of the (very) few existing pictures of fat me and just pointing at it when it comes up.

MultiplaOrgasms > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:19

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I don’t eat healthy. I never did. I am not a particularly sporty person either. I am not fat.

Nonster > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:21

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You hit the nail on the head. It’s a bit pedantic of me, but it bothers me that the word diet has become synonymous with fad diets. The definition of diet is the sum of food consumed by a person. You can’t really go on a diet. You can change your diet, but its simply what you eat.

It took me a while to figure out what worked for me, but over the past 2 years or so I’ve lost about 65 lbs. It really wasn’t anything magical. Just eating less, eating better, and regular exercise. No it wasn’t easy by any means, old habits die hard, but it’s definitely worth it! Keep up the good work man!

Textured Soy Protein > Hermann 10/14/2015 at 15:30

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Here’s the distinction, and I’m busting out the Oxford English Dictionary. There are two definitions of diet .

The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats:
‘a vegetarian diet’
‘a specialist in diet’

A special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons:
‘I’m going on a diet’

The second definition, which is the one that uses the phrase “going on a diet” as an example, refers to the diet being a special course. Special is :

Better , greater, or otherwise different from what is usual

So if we look at what is commonly understood when someone says the phrase “on a diet,” they are referring to eating stuff different from what they usually eat. Or as I said in my original post, “I’m going to eat healthy, for a while, until I go back to not eating healthy . ”

My whole point is that if eating healthy is what I usually eat, I’m not on a diet, because I’m not eating something different. I eat healthy all the time.

As for that whole feminism stuff...I ain’t touching that with a 10 foot pole.

Textured Soy Protein > MultiplaOrgasms 10/14/2015 at 15:31

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Lucky you!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:31

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Thanks for the motivation.

Frank Grimes > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:31

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WORD.
Also cook at home.
I believe there should be moderation in everything. Everything has its negative consequence if done in extremes. Don’t eat cookies all the time but sometimes make some really good homemade snickerdoodles and enjoy food but don’t be a fatty.

MultiplaOrgasms > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:32

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It’s ok.

I am Batman.

Textured Soy Protein > Nonster 10/14/2015 at 15:32

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Re: your pedantry, here is the Oxford English Dictionary explanation that I already posted and don’t want to repost .

ColoradoTaco > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:40

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Everyone is on a diet. What you eat is your diet, regardless of whether it is good for you.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:53

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Unrelated but whatever happened to the overly religious coworker series? Those were always good for a few laughs.

cazzyodo > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 15:57

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My definition of “diet” is “what I ingest.” My diet consists of a variety of things but I tend to eat pretty well.

My definition of other people’s definition of “diet” is “starvation or skipping things I love.” I went insane hearing people at my old job talk about how few calories they’re eating or how they dip their fork in dressing every third salad bite because it cuts calories but their weight hasn’t changed (because 8 IPAs a weekend does that...).

So yeah, fuck “diet”.

Textured Soy Protein > ColoradoTaco 10/14/2015 at 15:58

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“On a diet” has a temporary connotation that “diet” does not. Full explanation here .

Textured Soy Protein > cazzyodo 10/14/2015 at 15:59

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Fuck, you’re like the 837th person who I’ve had to point out this distinction to .

cazzyodo > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 16:03

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Maybe I didn’t phrase it properly but, yeah...that’s what I have in my head. There are two definitions but I don’t recognize the second.

That’s what I was getting at.

Textured Soy Protein > cazzyodo 10/14/2015 at 16:06

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Unlike the Oxford English Dictionary, you are not an authority of the meaning of the phrase “on a diet.”

for Michigan > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 16:15

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I agree.

But also, calm yourself down . Most of the people you’re getting defensive toward are saying the same thing you are.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 16:20

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This x1000. I did the South Beach “diet” for a few weeks, felt great, and then I tried to eat some fast food and basically died. Somehow the experience made me realize that “dieting” was stupid and I needed to make a major life overhaul on the shit I was eating.

Also, love the Update/rant. You get an extra 500 points for that. Bravo.

cazzyodo > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2015 at 16:53

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I stopped recognizing its authority this past May when this happened:

Also, I basically agreed with you.