Typical response generally goes like this "Diet and excersise my dear patient"
DIET. You've all heard this word before, and no doubt you've probably even embarked on a "diet". Oh how we dread this word! DIET. These days we have so many words to describe the way we eat, and the actual meaning of the word has been lost.
According to the online Oxford Dictionary (oxforddictonaries.com), there are two meanings of diet.
1) The kinds of food a person, animal or community habitually eat.
(The second doesn't make sense at all so I'm not even going to bother listing it.)
So is the actual definition of DIET congruent with our Canadian society's comprehension of the word? Not even close.
Because this definition was taken from a British based, English dictionary, I can see why there would be a conflict between what is considered a DIET in the UK, versus what would be considered a DIET in Canada. Having lived in the UK, their society does not hold the same social definition, which has translated into their definition of the word. If we had a Canadian dictionary, the definition of DIET would probably be something like this
Diet (noun)
The grueling attempt to improve physical health by cutting out foods you love for a body image you are attempting to acheive.
So I would like to put a stop to this word DIET. Instead, can we replace this word with sentences like "be conscious of what food you eat?". Or how about "everything in moderation". A DIET should not be something we all fear! A diet is the simplest of terms to describe what we eat. So instead of occasionally embarking on a diet, lets just all agree to consiously eat better food on a regular basis, and treat ourselves every once and a while to a sweet. Capsiche?
