banting (n.)

system for weight loss through diet control, named for William Banting (1797-1878), the English undertaker who invented it, tested it himself, and promoted it in his 1863 booklet "Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public." Although the word is a surname, it was used like a verbal noun in -ing. ("She is banting"). It consisted of eating lean meats and abstaining from fats, starches, and sugars.