Strictly speaking diet is whatever you eat or drink everyday.

So the question is if you need to follow a structured diet like those offered by many commercial companies.

And the answer is no, not necessarily.

Structured and/or commercial diets are being utilized every day by millions of people and many have achieved their weight loss goals but by no means they are absolutely necessary to achieve a desired weight loss goal.

Weight loss is one of the toughest things to accomplish for many people and structured and commercial diets present a number of peripheral benefits that increase your chances of succeeding at losing weight, like support, variety, personalization, targeting of medical conditions, etc.

But you can change bad habits and acquire healthy ones all on your own.

There are several things you can do without dieting, like exercising or even make your own diet, but again, when talking about food, a structured diet can be seen as a tool, a bridge or a service that works in your behalf to make life easier for you.

Think of diet this way:

Can you take your trash to the city dump every day?

Of course you could, however, it may not be practical and you choose other alternatives, like paying taxes so the city picks it up, or paying a fee to your apartment complex so they do it.

It is the ease of use and other features tailored to make it easier for you that present dieters with a choice when selecting commercial or structured diets.

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