It seems as though nutritionists and the medical profession have a different take on the word Diet. They seem to use it in terms of intake and output.
Which is okay because it is what it is. A balanced diet doesn't mean that you are in a perpetual loss mode. That would be unbalanced, just as being in a perpetual gaining mode would be. So its okay, except for when the public seems to perceive it as, loss, deprivation, or something relentless that you have to do and control.
When Dr. Oz came on the scene one of his messages he was sending at the time was to automate your diet. What a wonderful idea. Learn three meals, Breakfast, Lunch and Supper and learn how to make them. Practice making them, start playing with them, tweak them, make them your own until the confidence is there. Then when you are satisfied or board, learn a couple more and rotate them with the ones you have already perfected.
The only problem that I had with it was, why not call it what it is and explain it as Automate your Cooking, instead of Automate your Diet? In fact, while thinking of it this way, it occurred to me that I was already doing this with pumpkin bread, pancakes and ways to use up fruit that was going to waste. I'd start with the recipe and then tweak it to make it my own. The next time I baked it I would try a little more of this and a little less of that. Then I would write down a permanent recipe to follow. I just needed to do it more often with meals, rather than every once in a while with baking treats. More recently, when The Girl brought the book, The South Beach Diet home, I didn't follow the diet. I chose some things to cook and I continued cooking them. I didn't follow Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 until phase 1 was over. I went to the grocery store and bought about 3 days worth of recipes with all intentions of going back to the store to buy the next 3 days and then I just got stuck practicing. It ended up being a good thing. Besides we are cooking for a family who is never home here. I wanted to make sure we ate the majority of leftovers before I purchased and cooked anything new. The South Beach Diet cookbook is also another example of this. From my own general public perspective I am South Beach Cooking and the Diet is the byproduct. Although I do understand that from a marketing perspective that using the word diet would attract more than foodies and people who already know how to cook. Using the word diet worked for marketing, it worked wonders for broadening the audience.
Ohhh, by the way... speaking of doing something with the fruit before it goes to waste..... I just boiled down some rhubarb that wasn't measurable for storage. You know not enough to start another bag to freeze. To much to throw away as scrap? Anyway.... I threw it in a pot boiled it down with some sugar till it was broke down and looked all stringy and thickened. Then let it cool to just above room temp and I ate it with some vanilla Greek yogurt. OMG.... (I can't believe they haven't done this yet!) It was really good. Really, Really Good. I may have used too much sugar. But still, I'll try it again next time. I'm having a no Sugar week and this was the worst thing to try before going into it. My saving grace is that I am saving it for The Girl to try. No water. Just cut up rhubarb and sprinkle some sugar until you feel you get enough for the rhubarb and not too much for your intake.
Did you see that?
Great segue to get back on topic. ;) I used the word intake instead of diet. ;)
So whenever you hear or are tempted to use the word diet, try inserting the word cooking instead, and see what that does to your perception of the whole deal.
Don't let any thoughts of going back into the kitchen will undo a millennia of woman's suffrage either. Because it won't. It doesn't change the fact that a person needs to eat and someone has to cook it. If you can't afford to have someone cook it for you, then you need to do it. Just relax and figure out what needs to be done. If you aren't eating correctly, does this little word play help you see what needs to be done? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. For some people it may be distracting from the goal. Some people may not have a problem with taking the time to cook. If you feel pressured to be on a constant diet does this little word play help to remove the pressure and enable you to get to work?
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