Diet

     Going on a diet or dieting usually means altering your intake for some reason.  A diet is often viewed as a planned regime toward a specific goal.  We should think of the word diet as just the sum total of what we eat and drink.  Every living creature consumes a diet to sustain the body.  However, we eat and drink for many other reasons beside sustenance.
     Mother's milk or formula serves the purpose for the first months of life.  Then comes soft foods leading up to solids.  A wise parent gives the child a wide variety of healthy foods.  Somewhere along the way, our taste buds prefer some foods over others.  When we develop preferences, we may begin to consume what we like rather than what our body needs.
     Our family and culture form our food habits.  Holidays and celebrations often lead to overindulgence.  Food is sometimes used as a reward.  We also eat and drink to satisfy emotional needs, to relieve stress and boredom, to perk us up or calm us down.  In our busy lives, we often consume the fast and convenient instead of the more nutritious.  Some foods and drinks are just empty calories. Unfortunately, our diet can take a detour from what we naturally need for nutrition, health, and longevity.
     Some people are more careful about what they feed their pets than what they consume themselves.  Parents too often allow their children to choose their own diet.  Adults often get into unhealthy habits then face the consequences of an unhealthy body.  Begin at the grocery and only bring home the nutritious stuff.  Plant a garden and a fruit tree.  When you consume a good diet, you won't have to go on a diet.