There are so many things wrong with the word, diet. For most of us, we feel like we've been on a diet our entire lives. It is a ride you're perpetually on and never reach your destination.

Our culture has taken something positive and made it into a negative...shocker, I know. But think for a minute. When someone says the word, diet, to you....what first comes to mind? Do happy thoughts run through your head or do you immediately think of depriving yourself, being miserable, the scale, and eating food you hate?

I don't just hate the word diet because of the negative association. I hate even the idea of dieting. When someone says they are dieting, they talk about it like there is an end in sight. "I'm dieting this month to lose 5 pounds." Okay...great! So what happens when you lose those 5 pounds? You say, Hallelujah!! I can eat ice cream and finally RELAX!! And then what happens....you gain those 5 pounds back and here we go again - another diet.

Diets work. All those program people try to sell you, work. The problem isn't that they don't work. The problem is they only work when you are eating their food. They only work when you are drinking the shake, only work when you are taking the pills, and only work while you're miserable.

We need to stop thinking about our health as a diet and start thinking about it as a life long journey. I am here to attest that until you come to the realization that you will ALWAYS have to think about healthy eating, you will continue to ride the diet rollercoaster.

I'm not saying that it never gets easier. Some things do. Hopefully your relationship with food becomes more about enjoying the taste and less about using it to soothe your emotions. Working out can become part of your routine and you may even give up a few "treats" after a while. But if you don't keep your health a priority, in a blink of an eye you can be back where you started - another diet.

I have said many times...."I'm never going back!" And then I allow myself to relax and enjoy a few too many treats and I find myself back where I started. I've had to find balance in my own life with what I can enjoy and for how long before I lose control. I've had to learn that I can't live my life on a never ending diet.

So next time you want to say you're on a diet, try saying you're changing your life. Because that's what you should be doing. There is no end to a healthy life. It is either something you commit to or something you don't. You have to decide if you're worth the change.

If you ask me --- I'd say yes a thousand times over.

X - Rachel