The Difference between Diet and Lifestyle

When one goes to a public library there are many topics of interest that may stand out to them. Each section of the library is usually labeled with what kinds of books are in that section, for example, Non-fiction, has books that are not fiction and so on. One of the sections of the library that seems to be becoming more popular is the Health section. There are rows of books all describing ways in which you can be healthy, how to live, how to change something about yourself, how to avoid or recover from illness, and many others. The largest part of that section now seems to be types of diets. There are books about low-carb diets, vegetarian diets, the "Housewives" diet, the Paleo diet, the cookie diet and so many more types of diets. Who knew there were so many diets? When I went to my local public library and saw all of these books on different types of diets it made me think. Do people really read all of these books? Are there people that go from one book to another and then presumably one diet to another? Is this how people are living now?

I would assume that the answer is yes just based off of basic knowledge of the types of diets that are publicized in the media and how many people I know that have tried some of these diets. There are people who want to lose weight or become healthier or just want to feel good about themselves, so they go on a diet. They go out and buy one of those books or they get them from a library or from a friend. They go on the diet and then after they lose the weight and start feeling good, they decide that they don't need the diet anymore, then go off of the diet. What a huge mistake! In fact, all of the people that I know that have went on a diet and came off of the diet gained all of the weight they lost back and sometimes gained more. They ended up feeling worse about themselves and seemed like being healthy was becoming less attainable for them. I myself have been in that same situation. What people do not realize is that being healthy is not something that comes from a diet or a quick or easy fix. It is not temporary. It is a choice that one makes. You can choose to eat a banana for breakfast or a donut. It is all about choices. A lifestyle change is a choice. Someone chooses to change their life by choosing what they will eat.

Some people have told me that they don't think that they should have to choose between the foods they really love and being healthy. They think that moderation is the key. Maybe for some people it is, however I do not know anyone who can only eat one potato chip when they have a whole bag in front of them. I do not know anyone who can only eat one bite of a candy bar and then throw the rest away. The best way to change your life is to change how you eat and what you eat. A lifestyle change involves changing your diet, not going on a diet. If you want to be healthy you need to nourish your body through the types of food you eat. Of course being healthy doesn't all come from food, but a large portion of it does. What you eat and how you eat can affect how your body functions, therefore affecting how you feel about yourself and how you feel about your life in general. Some people do not realize the power of food. Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine, and let thy medicine be food." If people looked at food as something that nourishes their body and keeps them on the path of having a healthy lifestyle, there wouldn't be a need for all of those books about diets. The definition of diet has been altered to fit with the trends of society, but ultimately a diet is supposed to provide nutrition for lifelong longevity not a temporary loss of weight. Where are the rows of books that? Perhaps they are hidden among the many books about diets, and are therefore being hidden by the false promises of a quick fix.