Think of the word "diet" and what springs to mind? Restrictive meal plans? Best-selling books by skinny celebrities? Guilt producing health nuts who make us feel like anything that we might want to eat is not only bad for us but will ultimately cause our unfortunate demise and it will be all our fault because we didn't listen to them and follow their diet?!? OK, maybe that last one is just me.

Anyone who has been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes has heard the word "diet", usually in the context of a health care professional telling us that we need to change to a healthier diet. But these days, we tend to think that there must be a detailed diet we need to follow, a book we have to read a membership we have to buy, or a guru we need to pledge our allegiance to.

But "diet" actually has another meaning. According to our good friend Merriam Webster, the word "diet" can also mean "food and drink regularly provided or consumed." Another definition is "habitual nourishment".

Here in this country, there is so much talk of diets, that we start to think that we have to be "on a diet." The other meaning of the word diet gets lost in the hype: Your diet is what you eat everyday.

People can have a healthy diet, a junk food diet, or a steady diet of Steven King novels. It's just another way of saying... something you consume on a regular basis.

So when we hear in the news that we should add something, say, like olive oil, to our diet, it just means that we should chuck the trans-fat laden hydrogenated gunk we're eating and substitute something that's kinder to our heart instead.

No fancy diet required. Just tossing out some bad stuff and adding some healthier choices to what we already eat everyday.

More unhealthy items to limit or eliminate from our diets:

• Beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup
• Packaged salty, fried snacks
• Other packaged snacks that contain trans fats or high fructose corn syrup
• Deep fried or breaded, battered foods
• Creamy sauces or soups
• Processed foods like hotdogs, luncheon meats, or high-fat frozen foods
• Sugar-laden foods like packaged cookies, cakes and breakfast cereals

Healthy things to add to our diets:

• Fresh or frozen vegetables and salads
• Lean meats
• Water and other unsweetened beverages like green tea
• Homemade low fat, low sugar treats
• Fresh fruit
• Monounsaturated fats like olive oil, canola oil, nuts and seeds
• Whole grain breads, brown rice, and other sources of fiber

A diet doesn't have to be rigid, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money and it doesn't have to be on The New York Times Bestseller List. It just has to be something that we can follow everyday. Good choices that fit our preferences and our lifestyles. In other words, an everyday diet that we can follow for life.