The word diet gets thrown around so much that people usually get confused about its true meaning. Diet and nutrition might seem like they mean the same thing, but they're pretty different when you really think about them. One's a way of eating, or simply what we eat in a day, while the other is all about the quality of what we put in our bodies and how our bodies use that food.
When most people think of the word diet, it implies restriction. However, the word diet comes from the Greek word diaita, which means "way of life." A diet is simply the foods that we eat daily. Looking at diet as a noun rather than a verb is an excellent way to redefine what diet is. Diet is often seen as negative, but this shouldn't be the case. Diet needs to be associated with a person's overall food intake. It should not just focus on restriction or "being on a diet".
Nutrition comes from the Latin term nutrire, meaning "to nourish." It involves all the processes our bodies use to break down and absorb nutrients from food. Good nutrition differs from diet, for it refers to the quality of the food itself and how the human body uses the food we eat to function at optimal levels.
Short and sweet - now on to focus on the nutrition in your diet!