Diet vs Lifestyle vs Way of Eating

I just watched Amy Berger's video on YouTube called "Redefine the Word 'Diet.'" Confusion over the word "diet" can come up in conversation whether your diet is Paleo, low-carb, Keto, Carnivore, Mediterranean, Gluten-free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or even the Standard American Diet!

"Diet" just refers to your way of eating; it has nothing to do with losing weight. Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig are typically weight-loss diets as they restrict calories. None of the other diets I listed, by definition, are calorie restrictive. They may be restrictive for other reasons, e.g., you will need to eat a gluten-free diet if you have celiac disease. You may eat a low-carb or Keto diet to combat Type II Diabetes, PCOS or other metabolic diseases, but there is no requirement to restrict calories. Even if you are eating low-carb or Keto to lose weight, there is still no requirement to restrict calories, just to restrict carbohydrates!

Some people have eschewed the word "diet" and replaced it with "lifestyle." For example, "I'm living a low-carb lifestyle." Most diets are not actually a lifestyle, although some diets can reflect a certain way of looking at the world. Vegan and vegetarian diets, for instance, often stem from a concern about animal husbandry, cruelty to animals, etc. However, some people on vegan or vegetarian diets just don't like meat. Some people who call themselves vegetarians eat fish, chicken, eggs and dairy, but not pork or ruminants. These are called Pesco-Polo-Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians. Not sure these are really vegetarians at all, but I love saying Pesco-Polo-Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian! It's kind of fun, like when you learned to say acetylsalicylic acid or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! But I digress...

To avoid the word "diet," some people call it their "way of eating." Honestly, all this skirting of the word "diet" just isn't necessary. Whatever you eat, that's your diet! You might shovel in donuts and guzzle sodas all day. That's your diet. It has nothing to do with weight loss.

So, if we are trying to lose weight, we can say, "I'm eating a low-calorie diet," instead of, "I'm on a diet." When you think about it, the latter makes no sense at all. Of course you are on a diet! Everybody in the world is on a diet!

So, if someone says, "I'm on a diet," we should be asking, "Are you trying to lose weight?" If they say yes, we can then ask, "Are you restricting calories or are you eating low-carb?" Now you can have a real conversation about diet.