No Diet Day: What Exactly is a Diet? :

Yesterday marked "International No Diet Day". According to this newspaper:
"one dietitian would like to see the day become an all-year theme and diets banned."

So - a dietitian would like to see diets banned...

Sometimes words become so overused they completely lose their meaning. Other words, like "diet" are so ambiguous that the meaning can change at a moments notice.

The word can be used to bludgeon the guilty: "Diets don't work - you should learn how to eat healthy instead."

The word can also be used to impart positivity and even superiority: "My children have a wonderfully nutritious and wholesome diet."

How confusing!

For most - the word diet means: "a temporary period of time during which food is restricted."

In spite of so many bad connotations - "diet" is still a big seller. Many authors use the word diet in their book titles - simply because it will sell. Never mind the fact that inside these very books, the author often goes on to deride diets!

Blogger PastaQueen says:

I don't want to say I'm on a diet, because this is a permanent change that leaves me satisfied and happy. I'm not suffering in any way because of it. The word "diet" makes it sound like I'm eating only protein shakes and vitamin pills. I also don't want to say I'm not on a diet because I am following guidelines and actively managing what I eat.

We need a new word. We need a word that implies temporary food deprivation for the purposes of losing weight.

There is also an issue about control here. If someone else tells you what to eat - it's a diet. If you choose - then it's not a diet.

We don't use the phrase "on a diet" in our house. Instead, people just see us as fussy eaters.

It seems you can't win.

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