I read the posts every day and being a very social girl, I talk to all my girly girlfriends every day! I don't think a single day goes by that I do not hear the word "diet" mentioned again and again.

The word diet really was meant to describe the types of foods consumed by an organism or group.
Somewhere along life's way, it became distorted.
Now it describes deprivation and weight loss.

From my skinny girlfriends, to my fellow fluffy ones, it is a constant topic and it makes me crazy.

I am 30 pounds overweight. I have gained and lost the same 30 pounds since I was about 18. I consider myself to be very successful at weight loss. When the numbers on the scale are down, I feel good, then they climb as I happily over eat my favorite foods and I set out to lose them again!

Any "diet" works! Any time you decrease calories and increase activity, the result is weight loss. That can be from omitting a food group, cutting fat, lowering carbs, not eating after 6pm, skipping sugary snacks. All of these changes cause a calorie deficit and you will lose weight. That does not mean it is healthy. That does not benefit your over all health.

Saying "my diet" or "I am on a diet" is equally self destructive. It immediately places thoughts of deprivation in your mind. It makes you cranky, sad and may even increase your cravings for certain foods.

I am on a campaign to ban that word in this country. I believe that if you were to go to Italy or Germany, you would not hear that word come up. People in Europe and Asia, just eat what is good for them. Healthy fresh foods, lots of fruits and veggies. All of the things we know we should eat, and maybe we do, followed by a Devil Dog or something processed or fried.

We need to focus each day on just being healthy. Make healthy choices because it is good for your body. It will even improve your mental clarity. You will feel better because you know in your mind that your health is improving every day. You walk to improve your heart function and when you lie down at night, you listen to it beating, knowing that it is getting stronger with each step.

The next time you feel tempted to use that bad word, stop yourself. Change your way of thinking and just by eating healthy foods and in moderation, smaller portions and becomming more active, the pounds will come off and you will have done it with a much happier heart and outlook. Consider it the power of positive thinking or positive speach!

I eat low fat yogurt because I am over 35 and my calcium production is slowing down and I don't want to have brittle bones when I am older. The lovely side effect is that I have eaten a food that has what my body needs, it was delicious, it held me over until dinner and it replaced a sugary snack bar, or cookie or bag of chips. All of which offer my body very little except for energy! And the yogurt gave me energy too!

I'm on another board with a British woman who is amazed at the amount of fried stuff served here in the US. There is definitely a contrast with food issues (or there was) abroad and in the States.

I think that even though there are trends abroad of going the way of the US, their governments are speaking out more.

I couldn't agree with you more. Ban dieting, and ban the use of the word! (Ban all the women's magazines and their diets too!)

However, the depressing truth is that people in Europe are rapidly following in America's footsteps. They may not have as many different fast foods and snacks, and there may be more opportunities for walking and biking as opposed to driving a car all the time, but the general trends are, unfortunately, the same.

I got rid of the word "diet" (used in that context, anyway) many years ago. It used to really bother me in the first year or two of my journey when people would say "How's your diet going?" because, for the first time in my life, I was losing weight but I wasn't ON a diet and I was so proud about that!

I am only momentarily annoyed by people saying this because I understand that is how our society is programmed--i.e., if you're voluntarily losing weight, you must be "on a diet." You hear a lot more people starting to talk lifestyle change now than ever, but the diet mentality is still heavily ingrained in peoples' psyches. I know it was in mine for decades and, when I finally "woke up" to the truth, I was mad at myself for buying into the lie for so long.

Amen!!