Why I Hate the Word DIET

The irony hasn’t escaped me.

I’m a nutrition coach, and yet I hate the word DIET. or DIETING.

“Oh, I can’t have that, I’m on a DIET”

I’m cringing.

I should probably just get over it. Because it is, in fact, the word to describe the food that we eat. It’s our diet.

We NEVER talk about ‘being on a diet’ in our house. We don’t even really say the word, because it’s not really how we talk about the food we eat.

And yet I was weighing my food on the scale the other day and Sloane (my 9-year old) says, “Are you doing that because you’re on a diet?”.

I mean, what the fuuuuuuuuuuu….?!?! Where did she hear that? Where did she learn about being on a diet?

I was annoyed.

Because DIET always seems to imply restriction. To me, there are so many negative implications. If you google “Diet Culture” it says this: “It’s the pervasive belief that appearance and body shape are more important than physical, psychological, and general well-being. It's the idea that controlling your body, particularly your diet—by limiting what and how much you eat—is normal.”

That sounds TERRIBLE! I don’t know many people who want to live by that belief… and yet, many of us do.

Le sigh…

So, I will continue to piss and moan about it, and probably keep using the word DIET when necessary, but I will also endeavor to change my own language to “my nutrition” rather than “my diet”.

Diatribe over. Thanks for listening.