The Meal Plan vs. The Diet– What’s the Difference?

I find it very interesting when I hear people say, “Oh, I’m going on a diet.” The reason I find it interesting is because in reality they are already on a diet.  Your diet is the foods that you consume on a regular basis.  The term “diet” doesn’t mean weight loss, yet people synonymously use it when they refer to themselves consuming food in order to lose weight.  Every day you are on a so called “diet”, but many people don’t acknowledge the word on those terms since society has used the term “diet” to mean weight loss for so many years.

Now that we have defined what a diet is we have to figure out where the term “meal plan” fits into the equation.  People frequently use diet and meal plan interchangeably so it can get a bit confusing to actually know what they are meaning.

The two terms diet and meal plan are quite similar.  I like to explain it this way– “diet” is the broadest term available.  You can have a balanced diet where you consume the proper amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats OR you can have an unhealthy diet where you consume whatever you want, whenever you want.  So that goes back to the whole “diet” being what you consume; whether or not you are trying to lose weight.  A meal plan however is more of a sub category of the term diet.  A meal plan consists of a prescribed amount of calories and lays out what you will consume through out the day.  It helps to make sure that you are consuming a balanced diet.  A good meal plan will not be restrictive and say that you must eat this, this, and this in order to lose weight.  It will give you some leeway so it can be customized to meet your needs and your lifestyle as well as help you lose weight.  So the next time you hear the terms “diet” and “meal plan” you will have a better understanding of what the person means and maybe you can help educate your family and friends so they can reach their weight loss goals as well.