You don't choose to be a furry lifestyler; it chooses you.
To me, my fursona is a way of expressing my inner animal spirit. She's me in animal form; the anthro form is kinda too, but moreso with her feral form.
To me, a lifestyler is someone who has an absolute and strong desire to be their fursona animal, wether because of body/spirit mix-ups, or just not wanting to be human and wearing the fursuit, body modifcations, and diet changes are all ways of expressing it.