Crossword Genius

Diet a man has to become lively (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

animated

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'lively' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'diet a man has to' is the wordplay.
'diet a man' can be anagrammed to 'ANIMATED'.
However, I am unsure how this is indicated.

'become' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for animated that I've seen before include "put in spirit" , "Lively - brought to life by Disney?" , "full of spirit" , "full of beans" , "Vivacious in diamante" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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