Why It’s Time To Drop the Word "Diet" As We Know It

What comes to mind when you hear "diet"? 

Chances are it is a vision of days, weeks, or even months of restriction, not eating anything you enjoy, and feeling downright miserable. 

Or, it’s following the latest trend: low-carb, intermittent fasting, detoxes, what have you. Whatever it takes to get quick results.

That’s why we’ve decided it’s time to change the way we think about the word "diet" as it’s currently used.

First of all, you could have the most nutritious diet in the world, but if you are restricting your food and feeling guilt or shame around eating, then your diet isn’t supporting good health.

The definition of diet is "the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats."

But thanks to a billion-dollar industry, diet has become something we dread and consider as a drastic change we need to make to lose weight for that upcoming vacation.

When we view diet through that lens, there is almost always an inevitable outcome. We follow whatever "diet" we decide on, reach a desired goal, and then eventually stop following the “diet” and we end up right back where we started, weight and all. 

So when you follow a "diet" it not only doesn’t lead to lasting weight loss, but your  emotional well-being takes a knock as well. Every time you lose weight only to regain it, you’ll likely become more and more confused and conflicted about what to eat and become overwhelmed with the feeling that your body is flawed and in need of fixing.

We feel the word "diet" should be replaced with "lifestyle."

That’s because a diet should not be something you follow for a short period of time, only to go back to what you were doing before. It should be a lifestyle. We should be focusing on our relationship with food, our bodies, and our overall well being. 

When you view it as a lifestyle, you realize the power is back with you. That means you can choose when it comes to the kind of ingredients that you put in your food, or what kind of food you choose at a restaurant, or what you feed your kids.

Most importantly, you can make a lifestyle change when it comes to moderation and portion control.