When did dieting become popular?

Apparently the first known diet was in about 1087 when William The Conqueror King of England decided he was too fat to get on his horse. His idea of a diet was to take to his bed,refuse food and drink only alcohol. There are,unfortunately, no known findings as to whether this worked or not. He was,however, back on his horse to fight another battle. Dieting as we know it did not really become popular until the 1800's. Until this point in time people were more concerned with survival and did not make the connection between food and weight gain. As time went by and food became more accessible we started to realise that excess food could mean excess weight.