Diet Book Deep Dive: "Skinny Bitch"
FINALLY, A VOICE FOR SKINNY BITCHES! This month, Mike is taking us on a deep dive into one of our most requested titles: Skinny Bitch. It's a true time capsule from the dirtbag 2000s. Also, Aubrey is as bad at mean girling as she is at reply guying.
You can play the episode directly through Patreon or use our RSS feed to add it to your podcast app. Here are the instructions from Patreon.
And if you've got episode requests for the main feed or for bonus episodes, as always, feel free to drop those in the comments!
See you next month!
M&A
Comments (340)
Coming back to request you do an episode on the cookbook “skinny italian” by teresa guidice
Coming back to request you do an episode on the cookbook “skinny italian” by teresa guidice
One of your funniest eps EVER
I love also the contradiction, "read labels, don't trust the government " Like, why are those ingredients listed in the first place? Could that be a government regulation that's regulated?
Oh yes, I bought that book.
I read this in about 2008/2009 when I was 23, and I only remember it being the reason I wanted to go vegan and how awful the details of animal cruelty were, along with the dieting advice. To listen to you guys talk about how it's SO MEAN surprised me, and made me remember that that's how I talked to myself in my own head back then, and I only wanted MORE of that because I thought it'd push me to get skinnier, like I needed to be meaner to myself to get there. Looking back, I did so many awful anti-self things to try to get skinnier, since I was like 13 years old. If there was a poster child for the negative consequences of a society obsessed with thinness, I was one of them (but I bet that's all of us here)! I also went on to buy "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch", the cookbook!
Getting worked up about the nutritional advice in this book feels about as useful as getting worked up about the nutritional advice in „the very hungry caterpillar“ 🐛🐛🐛 I was on the floor 😭😭
also i read this book bc i was vegan so the whole beginning i was like “wasnt this a vegan diet book or did i misremember that” i did not know it was trying to hide the veganism in the original marketing !
i read this book as a teenager and i did in fact go anorexic on them my bad 😔
Ed twitter wishes it was this book
Anytime people want to get super nostalgic about the 00s being “a better time” this is one of my rebuttal citations
Strange tidbit: I used to work for a ghost kitchen startup with like 20 different "brands" for their food (it was identical across brands) and one was literally named Skinny Bitch Pizza. It made me so mad that I refused to sell it and brought it up as one of the (many) reasons I quit. Crazy that there's actually a precedent for the name and not just something concocted by silicone valley ghouls.
As a vegan, I am frequently horrified by vegans in the public eye. The writing is so comedically bad it sounds like it was written by a chatbot or something. Tone: abusive, but sassy! Audience: hip young teen girls. Topic: Fat bad. Organic. Fasting. Not anorexic. Vegan??
SOBER UP, ASSHOLES!
Omfg - I read this book when I was a teen and it fully broke my brain around food for the next.. 15 years? So this episode is healing wowza
Brb - dragging my cankles to a heathfood store
Brb calling my doctor because of the WHIPLASH from the last chapter of this book
The verbalisations of the solo living folks are relentless and I think my neighbours must think there’s about 6 people living here based on the conversations I’m having with myself all the time
Mike says "this is the WORST thing ever" like every episode of MP
Dumb Bitch Juice should be the newest offering of the Haunted Swamp Juice Company
I went vegetarian when I was about 10 or 11, then vegan around age 13 and, shortly after, read The Skinny Bitch Diet - not as a diet book, I've always been naturally thin if not skinny, but because I'd been recommended it or had read about it at the subject of veganism. This book (despite what they say in the end about not going extreme or anorexic - I'd apparently completely forgotten about that part until I listened to your episode) is what kicked off my eating disorder at the time which I had been - and still am - struggling with for the past 16+ years. I have and have had no life. I've watched everyone around me go to uni, get degrees, buy houses, travel, start families, see the world, live their dreams, whatever, just living their lives (of course, not literally everybody, but you get what I mean) while I'd just been fighting to get myself out of this mess of restricting, fasting, etc. I'd stumbled upon your podcast around the beginning of this year and completely binged it within the shortest amount of time and it really, really helped me so much. I don't have the words nor the time to express how grateful I am for what you're doing, and honestly just how amazing you are, how delightful it has been listening to you. I wish I had people like you in my life. I've been internally commenting on what you're talking about and whoa I'm having way too many thoughts at once to articulate. I'd actually been hoping for an episode on Skinny Bitch for a while and as much as I'd have loved to support you via patreon, I just didn't (and honestly still don't, actually) have the means to, especially being on disability benefits because I hadn't been physically or mentally able to work for quite a while due to my conditions, but I'd kind of run out of podcasts to listen to and I had missed you guys so much, so I'd regularly open your patreon page, considered subscribing anyway but always resisted the impulse because I knew I basically couldn't, as much as I'd have loved to. That was up until yesterday, after having found out you do have, in fact, an episode on skinny bitch. Took a few days of reasoning back and forth with myself and yesterday I went "fuck it" - I'd been planning on re-reading the book as part of my therapy and recovery but hadn't been able to find it at my mum's house and definitely wouldn't have spent money on it - again -, especially after it had played such a tremendous role in having me destroy my or prevent myself from having a life. Plus, I thought, having your perspective, your take on it, might be even more useful or therapeutic than "just" reading it another time - and I'd say, it definitely was. This episode was - more than any other so far - therapy for me. In general, you guys have helped and supported me so much more in just a few months than my therapist(s) have in over 16 years (my current psychotherapist and actually pretty much all of them think it's all about calories in vs calories out, strongly believe in BMI and so much more, sorry to say, bullshit). There's so much I could and would wanna say, but for now, before writing a novel, I'm just gonna kind of leave it with a big, fat, fucking THANK YOU, YOU ARE AMAZING, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE AWARE HOW HELPFUL, HOW DELIGHTFUL, HOW GREAT IT IS WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND HOW AMAZING YOU ARE, I'M GONNA GO OVERBOARD AND SAY I LOVE YOU GUYS Honestly, not only have i generally learned so much through your podcast, but you really really helped me debunking all that stuff, helped me let go of so many disordered thoughts and so much disordered thinking, sparked my motivation, have given me hope, have made me feel less alone, more understood... Etc etc, again, too many thoughts, not enough words, been trying to keep it short, never been one of my strengths btw, you wanna know what's maybe most ironic? (rhetoric question here, obviously, gonna tell you regardless) I'd also forgotten about the very first part ("quit smoking") and have been and still am a smoker. Plus, (and this is maybe a bit complicated to explain in detail) I haven't been fully vegan for the past seven years or so, despite fully standing behind it ethically, but I'd been restricting so badly and some of the very few things my disordered brain considered "allowed" were chicken, eggs, fish,... so trying to recover from being drastically underweight (still am^^) and undernourished I decided to, against my beliefs, rather eat animal products than nothing at all and die haha (because CARBS ARE BAD SUGAR IS BAD FLOUR IS BAD EVERYTHING IS FORBIDDEN THANKS SO MUCH TO THE SKINNY BITCH DIET) once again - biggest THANK YOU all the way across the sea from Germany, sending so so so much love. If I ever make it out, please know that you'll have played a huge role in my recovery in so many ways. (sorry for any potential typos or any other kind of mistakes, haven't spell-checked or re-read, just typed, copied, pasted, sent bcs I knew if I wouldn't, I'd be overthinking it and would have ended up not sending it at all)
Michael says to just binge all the episodes or download them and then end your membership. They don’t want people to spend money they don’t have. I love them so much too
"hydrogenated oils, does anyone even know what that means?" oh boy. my mom put our whole family on this exact list of weirdly contradictory health foods. sugar isn't sugar if it's a golden color instead of white? calories from "good fat" doesn't count but non organic butter was somehow more fattening??? trust the ingredients list but don't trust the nutrition facts? candy offered at a social event was the devil but also we would get lollipops and candy canes from the health food store and those were ok?? I had all that shit memorized as a kid and would proudly parrot it to others who accurately saw our family as "weird about food". So cringey in retrospect. Still overcoming my orthorexia tendencies, though, so that's fun 🙃
In case, like me, you just come back to this episode to relisten to the first minute of this episode… i see you #chirps
Maintenance Phase merch idea: travel mug with “DUMB BITCH JUICE” for when I fuck up while merging 😌
As Central/Eastern European: PHEW thank god we only have non-fattening beet sugar 😂 also it’s funny to me because similar advices here would say that cane sugar is good and beet sugar is not good so I guess it’s a localized thing 🙃
i read this book bc of my sister and it absolutely convinced me to go vegetarian bc of the animal cruelty stuff later in the book. really ALL i remembered about it is the vegan manifesto lol so i guess they got my teenage dumbass lol
I would like a tshirt that says CHEMICAL SHITSTORM
I borrowed the sequel cookbook 'Skinny Bitch in the Kitch' from the library when I was about 12. There was a recipe for macaroni and cheese. I can't remember exactly but the description said something like: "If you don't have an orgasm within the first three bites, consult your gynaecologist."
This is truly the show at its best. I found this book in graduate school when I was (unrelatedly) already vegan, but I did not remember anything about the horrendous content or writing. I would absolutely buy "Dumb bitch juice" or "Fat, bloated, and farty" merch.
Idk if this is allowed but there is a pin you may enjoy https://www.strikegently.co/collections/pins/products/juice-pin-1
“Don’t shit and piss yourselves” from Aubrey just took me all the way out
Was I expecting Dumb Bitch Juice today? No. Am I delighted by its arrival? Absolutely 😂 And perhaps an unpopular suggestion with one host, but as a salad-loving fat lady who has been repeatedly asked how I'm fat when I eat salad a lot, I am still waiting for the salad episode.
I, too, would be fascinated by a salad episode! I remember so clearly when salads became a *thing* and every sit-down chain (TGI Friday’s, Chili’s, etc.) had an ad about their salads.
lol, this is how my sister talks about weight loss, and Covid “you don’t need a mask, PUSSY, it’s called an IMMUNE SYSTEM.”
I would love an episode on PMDD and other hormonal or menstruation symptoms attributed to weight! I feel like doctors often prescribe weight loss as a go-to for that and I’d really be fascinated by a deep dive into the existing studies of it.
The way I cackled at Dumb Bitch Juice 🤣🤣
I’m finally getting around to listening to this, because the first time I tried my husband couldn’t stand the fat phobia in the book and we had to turn it off. But I just have to say, when Aubrey mentioned The Swan, all I could hear was Luxaria saying “The Swan, girls!!!”
Have I listened to this episode 10 times? Yes. I have. Not done either ❤️
Aubrey, you should just read the audiobook for skinny bitch. This is amazing.
Hi Mike and Aubrey! Can you please expose doctor naturopaths? Please look into Lara Briden. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.larabriden.com/&ved=2ahUKEwin74rr5OSIAxVHzjgGHfdzAs0QFnoECAwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw10mCDGYVXmAYu84FV8ujuK
Hi Aubrey and Mike, I recently attended a weight inclusive presentation from a MD colleague within our Health Network. The audience was Family Medicine Practitioners and content was very much a summary of your first few episodes. The presenter even did a shout out to the podcast (w/ a warning on the occasional vulgar language). ;-) Anywho, one attendee posted in the chat a link to the book “Burn” by Herman Pontzer as a resource to support the debate of debunking the calories in calories out rhetoric, but I’m unsure how much the book speaks to supporting the topic or further exploits the narrative with a lack of data. Would you be willing to do an episode on the book?
I'm a longtime vegan and lifelong dieter and I just remember this book making no fucking sense. I also forgot how absolutely terrible and poorly aged the writing is. I had the cookbook and remember the recipes not even seeming particularly healthy or wholesome? Tons of coconut oil and vegan cheese. Such a timewarp to think about this book again. Thank you for the blast back in time to the terrible 2000s and putting this book in its place! Kind of crazy how it has completely evaporated from everyone' s memory. Not even the vegan publications/websites I frequent bring it up anymore. Great episode!
I am VERY behind on listening as I was finishing a book for a bookclub meeting later this month. That said, I desperately need a “dumb bitch juice” sticker in the merch shop.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/sep/21/metabolism-diet-linked-bipolar-depression-scientists-edinburgh hello! British listener here.Sorry I’m not sure if this is the right place, but I just read an article on the guardian (pretty reputable) linking bipolar to diet, which seems a bit fishy to me. It would be cool if you fancied doing an episode on this but no pressure x
I read this book as a 16/17 year old and some parts of it have stuck with me to this day (the part about medicine being counterproductive and certain sections about factory farming in particular) even though I have unlearned since then. Hearing some of these sections now makes me really sad for teenage me who took in this anti-fat, pro-disordered eating propaganda as gospel.
i would love for you to do an episode (bonus or main feed) about milk and the special status it occupies in american food culture! i’m a teacher in a toddler classroom and we are legally required to serve milk at every meal per USDA standards to receive federal funding. michelle obama is also specifically cited on the nutrition guidelines posted in our kitchen… MP cameos greatest hits? we have a child with a dairy allergy and are having to reconfigure our entire classroom to keep him safe because milk spills are inevitable with toddlers and we can’t be dairy-free the way we could for another allergy like peanuts. also, what was up with that “got milk?” campaign a decade or two ago??? why did they give every olympian a milk mustache? much to discuss.
I lived and died by this book in my early 20’s 🙈🙈🙈
Omg please talk about the BRI replacing the BMI plz
Me and my husband were going to dress up as "ingredients you can't pronounce in foods" for Halloween when we were living in southern California because it was the scariest thing we could think of for that demographic!
OMG tell me that you weren't going to wear anything distinguishing it as a costume except for a small label, because of course the "insidious" thing about those ingredients is that you can't tell what they are by looking at them! 🤣🤣🤣
When Aubrey shares a personal story I know it will be an amazing day 🥰
This podcast made my nipples harder than they got with all that delicious organic junk food I found when I lumbered down to the health food store on my elephantine cankles. 😆😆😆 This made my morning - love you both so much!!
I read this book in college as a new vegan and gave it five stars on Goodreads…. Still vegan nine years later, but wow is this book horrific 😧
Hearing all these quotes made my ears physically nauseous
I actually did read this book in college and the hard turn into very visceral descriptions of slaughterhouses haunted me for a WHILE
I definitely thought the twist was gonna be that the book was a satire on diet books. Very disappointed 😞
Hi hello hi Mike and Aubrey! N1. Love u miss u, ur my fav parasocial besties N2. I'm commenting here cuz idk how else to reach u guys lol but I've been binge watching this YT channel lately, it's a girl that used to be into fat activism then got out and is now "against it" and does debunking vids. It's created a lot of mixed feelings in me that I cant seem to articulate: i disagree a lot; but I cant stop watching. She seems like a legit smart and sweet person which is why Im very confused by her takes. I was wondering if you guys would be interested in covering her channel/ ppl like her. I feel like there is so much entangled in to it (internalized fatphobia and ableism for starters) but also i dont know her and im not fat. I am disabled though, and some of her takes on ableism get me mad. Yet, once again, she does sometimes make sense and seems like a reasonable person. Her latest video seems to encapsule all of this best; so I thought I'd drop the link in case this could interest you (or anyone else here). Every time I listen to her I wish you guys could be there to answer and articulate what I cant seem to, as you always do. Anyways, a lot of TW and disclaimers though, that's for sure, so id get if you're/ anyone is not up for it. Just thought I'd drop the link just in case. Maybe someone else will watch it and I'll feel less alone. Love to all. https://youtu.be/0IIVhCwEgkg?si=VVZI_VptlnRY3szW
I’m going to check out this channel. I’m curious now!
I never comment on here but I came here to say, DUMB BITCH JUICE 🤣🤣🤣
Episode rec: the cold plunge trend/Wim Hof. Might be slightly less depressing to research than past episodes? 😂
Are y’all coming back? I miss the podcast.
The last chapter reminds me of how a few evangelical folks wanted to bring more people to Jesus, and in order to gain a popular following, wrote and performed music with violent, chaotic content as the Insane Clown Posse.
ICP is an evangelical psy-op?!
I love the goldfish memory quip cuz thats pretty much been debunked junk science but also goldfish dont give a shit
Great episode! Would love to hear one on the Blue Zones thing
Yes, PLEASE! Especially because the creators/authors of that just made shit up. E.g. Okinawans' diet is NOT 90% sweet potato based. That was a temporary thing during WWII due to their actual primary food source -- a specific type of pig native to their island -- was decimated. Their primary diet was seafood, nose to tail usage of that pig, *and* fruits/veggies. It's a myth that has been spread in whole foods vegan/plant based circles for years and it drives me BANANAS.
Would love you to do an episode on Elle McPherson and her dodgy wellness company.
If y'all made maintenance phase merch that said "Fat, Bloated and Farty" I would immediately buy it for me and all my friends
I am with you. Middle aged single living by myself making a lot of noises 🙃 😂😂😂
This diet book was so incredibly fucked! I'm so glad they're finally doing it.
My friend read this when she was 15 and doesn’t eat meat 20 years later
Classic Maintenance Phase. I love it. And, like, I know so many vegan mean girls. The vegan thing intersects very nicely with the antimedicine thing, too.
the way i walked in on mike moaning—😭😭
I honestly can't believe I fell for this book circa 2008/2009. I remember trying to cut out coffee and eating a lot of frozen vegan foods 😭😭 hearing it back 15 years later makes me realize how far I've really come but sad too.
I've requested this before but I would love an episode on bariatric surgery. I had it and it did nothing. I'm curious about the research and your views.
I think they’ve already gone on record saying that topic is one they won’t touch.
Thank you for always making me laugh, especially so in this episode ❤️
A plea for MP merch water bottles marked 'Dumb bitch juice'🙏🏻
"Chemical shitstorm" definitely caught me off guard. Laughed out loud at work. No regrets.
This is how I refer to non dairy creamer 😆
I was howling with laughter listening to this, truly one of the funniest episodes y’all have released in a while!!
Look, I will drag my cankles wherever I want, THANK YOU
Also the mind body connection and the work of Dr. John Sarno!
Great episode!! Unrelated, but would love to hear your thoughts on “blue zones,” especially the recent Netflix documentary on the subject. Seems like the concept has some merit but is ultimately based on data that is way too variable to draw a real conclusion or lifestyle from.
I love IBCK! Do you remember which episode that was? I must’ve missed it
So glad you covered this! I read this at 15 when I was vegan and had an ED and it was so bad for my brain
For me, the most traumatic part of the book back then was the dairy chapter, when they tell you that cow's milk exists to turn a 90 pound calf into a 2000 pound cow in the course of two years, so don't drink milk, duh. I was sad Mike didn't cover that one. Too close to the pooping chapter!
Whew, this needs a much broader CW, along the lines of “if you lived with a tiny mean vegan who said things like ‘I’m against a public option bc I shouldn’t have to pay for healthcare for ppl who eat cheeseburgers every day.’”
Has the main feed been stopped entirely? Frustrating it’s still listed as bi-weekly… I fully support going all Patreon…but truth in advertising would also be great. 🙏🏻
There’s something so Poochie the Dog-esque about this writing. Instead of ‘Always recycle… TO THE EXTREME!’ It’s ‘Always diet… TO THE EXTREME, ASSHOLE!’ At least Poochie was sincere.
Definitely got some "Hello fellow kids!" vibes pretty early on in the episode.
Omg "like taking nutrition advice from the hungry caterpillar" made me laugh out loud in my car. Amazing
"Do you pop a pill when your nose starts running -" Bitch, that's how allergies work! The writing triggered my inner teenager like nothing else has. Also people today forget why vegans had a bad reputation, especially with the conservative crowd - THIS shit is one of the biggest reasons. Insulting, sneaky, permeated with misogyny and antifatness, nothing substantive - any cause would be harmed by association in people's minds tbh
Honestly. Hearing you two mock this book and laughing along feels like standing up to a bully and it feels healing . I've been waiting for this episode. I read this book when I was maybe 15 or 16. My best friend was reading it too. I was able to check it out of the library. I had an eating disorder. I had previously been bullied for my weight and was considering veganism and vegetarianism. (This book is ridiculous but did a number on my starved, not fully developed, adolescent brain.)
I worked a job captioning calls for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing with dragon voice recognition and we had what was called "phantom words"- words we didn't say but would appear on the screen. which was usually "him"
My almond-mom used to talk endlessly about things being "too acidic" - omg the one slice of diet lore I never understood. 😂 It's a twisted archaeology.
Also most granulated sugar IS beet sugar!!!! 🙄🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Hold my dumb bitch juice. I want the “Have a body! It’s easy!! But not like that! Or like that!!” Shirt.
so many quoatables!
I would love to hear your thoughts on Ilona Maher!
I have a “fun” bonus request that’s Bachelor/ette adjacent: In 2003 FOX had a one-season dating show called Mr. Personality hosted by Monica Lewinsky. It was basically The Bachelorette but all the suitors wore creepy colored masks to hide their faces so she fell in love with their personalities. One guy is a motivational speaker who tries to constantly hypnotize/influence Hayley (the bachelorette). One suitor hooks up with a random girl at a party and is revealed to Hayley in a spy room where producers show a clip reel of each suitor’s worst behavior each week.
OH MY GOD I remember this one, one of the most disturbing sight was when she got to kiss a few of them
Aubrey saying “facile” with so much disdain - chef’s kiss.
I really remember this from the time - although I never bought the book or anything. I must have read an interview in Heat magazine or something- also of its time. I strongly remember them saying about giving up alcohol “just stop it - it’s not crack. If you must have one glass of red wine”. I had no idea it was actually pushing veganism! At the time I assimilated loads of diet stuff from everywhere and understood sugar is sugar is sugar. People will still argue the toss about how it’s not really true in honey or fruit juice or whatever. It’s so hard wired for people. Eat and drink what you like - but understand that your body isn’t going to be like “ohhh this is organic honey”!
This was hilarious, thank you! It also inspired me to get out my copy of The Skinny: What Every Skinny Woman Knows About Dieting (And Won’t Tell You!) - which is still the wildest diet book I have ever read, and which was pseudonymously co-written by (I shit you not) Susan Orlean of New Yorker and The Orchid Thief fame. I'm sure it's been requested already, it would make such a great bonus episode. It's kinda half flippant, half serious, and all bonkers. I flipped through and got reminded of fun tips like "pour bleach on your leftovers" and "starve the evil you"
Ooooh I went through a “mess up your leftovers so you don’t eat them” phase. Gross.
I wonder if Freelee the banana girl read this book 🤣
As a vegan (and clearly anti-fat and anti-diet activist), I am SHOCKED and in tears and I have no words left 😂😂😂 this is all there is wrong with veganism...... 😭😭
Now I really want to make mugs that say dumb bitch juice
Susan Powter. That's all I will say.
For some reason I'm reminded of a diet book a friend tried to convince me to read called "Trim Healthy Mama." I never read it, but the title just made me want to punch something. Because, of course you need to be thin and conventionally attractive to be a good mom.
O Anna, I know that book cover so well. It checks out it our library system So. Fucking. Often. It makes me angry and sad.
Well, I go one farther and drink orange-flavored Metamucil to start my mornings (honestly, it's been really helpful for me personally, but YMMV), but then I tend to follow it with a cup of black tea--both caffeinated and acidic!
Literally just drank my nightly glass of orange-flavored Metamucil. 🤣 (It has also been very helpful for me but if it was truly gross there is no way I'd still be doing it.)
Cackling like a loon with my ear buds in and starling my children at DID YOU DRINK YOUR DUMB BITCH JUICE?! 😂😂😂
But what if it's acidic?!
I think my favourite thing is when Aubrey knows she can't contain the giggles, and says, "Oh no!" Like it's going to happen, no matter what 😂
lol “get your cankles out of the bookstore”
PLEASE. I need a maintenance phase x if books could kill x you’re wrong about crossover event to cover A Hunter Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century.
Ok. So when do we get the bonus BONUS episode on Chapter 8: Pooping? The people demand it, Mike!
I read this book in 2005/2006 and honestly this chapter is the one I remember the most. I understand why Michael couldn't read it but I really wanted to hear the debunking!
I was so completely taken in by this book my freshman year of college. I even bought the “skinny bitch” workout dvds 🤦🏻♀️ what I remember most is the disgustingly descriptions of animal abuse and pus in milk, etc. that made me attempt veganism while also eating in the college dining hall.
This book was so hurtful to read and I was SO uncritical of it at the time and felt like such a failure bc I couldn't do any of the things in it. I'm so mad I picked it up.
This truly is Maintenance Phase at its finest. Learning about health is great but the collective eye rolls and guffaws in reviewing this shit and garbage is PRICELESS. 🤣😍
I started screaming in my car when you got to “cramps prepare you for child birth”
Really enjoyed the phrase "Jesus Christmas" from Aubrey
Is there a reason that you guys have never done the jilly juice cult?
"Does your head hurt? Fuck you!"
This is the best of MP. Both of you laughing at ridiculous diet books. Thank you for making me laugh about this when otherwise I might cry lol
I love it SO much when diets suggest I give up coffee because I can immediately discard everything about that diet.
What's everyone's 'dumb bitch juice' of choice? Mine is prosecco, I've definitely acted pretty dumb on prosecco.
Gin
This episode is AMAZEBALLS
I was 20 minutes in before I realized Skinny Bitch and Skinny Girl are different brand names. I was ready to skewer RHONY. Lol
Same. Her stuff is too sad to roast though because it’s just straight up ED advice
Looking forward to episode 2 of Aubrey as a mean girl! I laughed until my sides hurt.
Aubrey, I just saw that your movie is going to screen here in Sweden! 🎊
I feel like yall need to know I’m listening to this while eating a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Their brains would expo lose.
Yesssss!!!!!!! Enjoy that donut!!!!!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Can't believe Michael got to "there's just one book" on yet another podcast
Yeah I was like oh it's a crossover episode 😂
I did read this at a formative moment in college when I only had access to a dining hall that didn’t have enough options to sustain my new vegan lifestyle and I did send my roommate to the dining hall to get a Tupperware full of tofu off the salad bar but she did just go for the first thing she saw that looked like white blocks and she did return to me with a Tupperware full of feta cheese
Also only ate spinach, craisins, walnuts and vinaigrette after that which nutritionally, is crazy ❤️
We need MP dumb bitch juice merch 😂😂😂
YES
Skipping the poop chapter is unforgivable
Skipping the poop is self care
This episode hits very close to home for me. In fact, it was instrumental in me going vegan in 2007 (still am to this day). I live in L.A. and this book and its values and vibes were EVERYWHERE. The language was very of the moment and we laughed while reading it. I gifted it to several people: Skinny Bitch, Skinny Bastard, AND Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. Helped my husband go vegan (he still is as well). I met both authors at some point. Even had dinner with one of them at Cafe Gratitude! They are both lovely women off the page. Honestly, it wasn't until 2020 that the last domino fell. I finally realized that a lot of the "science" in these books and in the crunchy, wellness, health-food vegan sphere is not correct. This was aided by the fact that one of the Skinny Bitch authors got cancer in 2017 (she survived because of modern medicine). She also ended up using and selling Beach Body (or one of those other "lifestyle" shakes popular for a hot minute) at some point. When I look back, so many of the "healthy" people I followed got cancer (one died) or went crazy. Kinda like a lot of "regular" people.
Hobbes: "I know nobody actually read this book...." Me, who read the book: 🥴🥴🥴 Okay but this actually convinced poor lil high school me to go vegan for a while, and I did *not* remember this level of snark oh my GOSH. This was a hilarious listen, and a good one for sweet lil' ole high school me.
Did my inner critic write this episode
I absolutely read this book in college 🤦🏼♀️
Oh gosh that flashback to The Swan show… I had blocked that out
Can you do an episode on “Eat Pretty” by Jolene hart ?? It’s like a hazy dream to me but definitely was formative for me in an ugly way.
My cup holder is full of dumb bitch juice
Didn’t skinny bitch come out with like. A wine brand?
That's what I was thinking too. I think it's Skinny Girl though but that could still be them.
I’m going to need “ignore all the jibber jabber bullshit” on a pretty wall art print or t-shirt please and thank you.
Also one that says “this stuff makes me so grumpy”
i would listen to this entire garbage book if the two of you did an audiobook version.
"don't eat sugar, eat evaporated cane juice" made me ascend to the astral plane.
I remember when my vegan friends and I deluded ourselves into thinking it was was somehow different than white sugar. We just wanted to be able to eat sugar and feel okay about it.
I know you get lots of requests but I'd love for y'all to tackle Robert lustig and his book metabolical. The science from a scientist seems at times... unscientific
I love listening to this show while I run but after this episode I think I might need to stop. Too many of my neighbors got to watch me uncontrollably wheezing with laughter while progressively losing my footing trying to keep running this morning. 1 star for presenting a genuine safety hazard. (This is my first time ever commenting after like a year and it just felt ✨right✨).
God I loved this episode. I genuinely laughed out loud several times. More fun episodes please!
Fucking love you guys! Amazing episode, as always. One little note: I was disappointed that you didn’t dig into issues of factory farming & animal abuse in the way that you go in on so many important topics when they pop up in your research for episodes. I know you would do an amazing job at uncovering injustices & teaching your listeners, as always. It’s a really important issue and I wouldn’t assume that “we all know how terrible it is”
Just not the point of the podcast.
Dumb bitch juice just made my whole day
For real, this book sounds like NXIVM. Cult tech.
I literally am not even 15 minutes into this episode and my jaw is on the ground with how heinous this book is. I had to stop the episode and write this comment because I just kept saying "Oh my god!" in an increasingly loud and outraged voice. Wow. I'm with Aubrey. I don't have this level of mean girl in me.
Ugh I remember reading this in my early 20s. One of my best friends read it first and really followed a lot of it, like giving up coffee because using caffeine to wake up was weak. I truly admired her discipline at the time, because I wasn’t able to do it. Really kind of took it as a a moral failing for some reason. This episode was really cathartic!
As someone who arrived at MY orthorexia the AUTHENTIC way — through a combination of CPTSD, undiagnosed neurodivergence, and a UNIQUE LIFESTYLE that allowed me to meet and be brainwashed about my eating habits by REAL PEOPLE in REAL LIFE — I cannot express my DISGUST at all the FAKE, DUMB BITCHES who had THEIR orthorexia prepackaged and handed to them on a silver platter by this MAINSTREAM, BASIC BITCH book. Fucking POSERS.
About to listen can’t wait - o bought this book soo fast when I was early 20s in a new city and hating my body. My main memory is “an apple is the perfect breakfast!”. Never forgot that
Re: Turbinado Sugar, I was just at a Whole Foods two weeks ago, looking for "dark brown sugar" in the sugar aisle. There was not one bag of "dark brown sugar," but there were three shelves with different brands of "light brown sugar" and "turbinado sugar." First time I ever heard of it! Then today was the second time I ever heard of it!
I need a mug that says dumb bitch juice on it. Like yesterday please!
It would be this years Xmas gift to all of my friends, for sure! 🤣
Best MP of all time
Immediate re-listen. This episode had me howling the whole way through.
This is the first time I haven’t been able to tell the difference between the jokes and the direct quotes from the book. Like I was sure that “fuck them, trust no one, get skinny” HAD to be a joke but nope, direct quote. (Also I would definitely buy “dumb bitch juice” merch, just sayin’…)
I KNOW! I kept rewinding the episode because I was positive I had misheard that they were reading quotes from the book. Jesus Christ!
Michael’s moaning in the beginning 😭
my sister and I love to say "now you've gone and fucked up everything!" to each other when we take cold medicine ever since we read this in the mid aughts
I LOVE THISSSSS AHAHAHA
Another love note: you guys are simply the best. Thank you for continuing to do what you do...I get so excited when I see a new Maintenance Phase episode pop up in my feed, and I had the biggest smile on my face as I listened to this one. I second the vote for Glucose Goddess!! I am so very mad at myself for buying a copy of it. Thank you, thank you for all you do! We love you!!
Needed this episode! Love you guys so much. It just left me thinking NO WONDER I reached the height of my eating disorder in 2004, what a fucked up time for diet/food culture. "Eat shit and garbage" my new favorite insult 🤣
Would love an episode on Glucose Goddess!! That’s a more recent kind of WTF diet that people seem to eat up!!
I wish ‘fuck them trust no one get skinny’ was a meme or something. And that it was funny. I want to say it to everyone. But I won’t!
It’s really unfortunate that it was written before the era of hashtags. #FuckThemTrustNoOneGetSkinny
Another winner! Just love listening to you two so much ❤️
I laughed SO HARD listening to this episode 🤣
Commenting before I even listen to this episode because I am SO EXCITED that you are covering this book!! Back in my college days, when I was deep into my disordered eating and doing p90x twice a day, I read this book thinking it was a gospel of some kind. I cannot wait to hear you rip it to shreds.
I came here to say almost exactly this! I was so excited to see this book come up because I read it when I had terrible postpartum anxiety and it really aided me in turning that into an ED in which I also did P90X!
This sounds like a satirical book Michael and Aubrey could have written. LMFO through this entire episode!
Omg I’m laughed so hard at dumb bitch juice portion. I was listening while cooking dinner, my nearly 2 year old nearby. She’s been picking up language voraciously recently. I blame you guys if she ends up saying dumb bitch juice. 😂
I'm laying in bed with my 2 year old for a nap and almost woke her up laughing at the bitch juice line!
I’m only halfway through and this is the funniest episode you guys have ever released. 😂
Long time listener (since the Presidential fitness test), first time commenter. May I kindly request “You can Heal Your Life” book review (maybe crossover with IBCK).
Y'all made me laugh so hard this episode 🤣 I had this book, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, and Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven. I forgot how bad they were!
Were they all the bait and switch to veganism?
Glad to have you back, Michael and Michael. There’s a part of me that would secretly benefit from someone talking to me in that condescending girlboss way, but for actually good things “Hot bitches floss daily, you don’t want your mouth to smell like farts and hatred do you?! And try a little mouthwash, girlfriend. Your make-out partners will thank you for it.”
"Farts and hatred" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.... you officially killed me.
Why don't I know better than to not eat breakfast while listening to MP by now????
My mom gave me this book when I was 18. I already had orthorexia, anorexia and ocd. It really got me good for a long time. Hearing the dramatic reading from Aubrey brought me so much joy. I had no memory of how outrageous and funny some of this was.
Isn’t it amazing, looking back, how insane these things actually sound??
“Eat shit and garbage” has me crying
It's so dumb and insulting, but also... Uncreative? It feels like it was written by AI!
I think episode(s) on both these books would be a public service. There are several major articles calling out Bryan Johnson's bs, but Google results for both these books and authors show only positive results and neutral to positive coverage in major outlets (e.g., NPR). If there is no counter narrative in the first 3 pages of Google results, it is essentially fact.
This was supposed to be about Good Energy and Outlive.
I only drink dumb bitch juice that's made from fresh-squeezed, free-range dumb bitches
Ooh do they serve that at the organic twat-waffle cafe?
Wow I read this book when I was 14. Then I developed an eating disorder not long after. Coincidence? Tbh I also had a lot of other shit going on so I can’t blame it all on this book but… I did become vegan partially due to this book and am vegetarian to this day, and since it’s basically one of the only meaningful individual actions someone can take towards reusing emissions I think that’s a good thing, but there are plenty of non-toxic vegan/vegetarian books out there I would recommend people read
Honestly the graphic descriptions of slaughterhouses and the weird poop chapter are the only parts I remember
n
Why do I have terrible self talk? Oh yeah, this book was my LIFELINE when I was like 13!
I refuse to believe women wrote this. I’m halfway through the podcast, and everything I’ve heard so far sounds like it’s directly from dudes.
I'm so glad you did this book. It's lived in a sort of twilight haze in my memory since I read it. I was vegan already and remember feeling so baffled because according to them, I should have already been a skinny bitch 🤣
Please please do an episode on this mushroom powder trend! Someone at work started touting all the reasons why mushroom coffee is beneficial, and I need facts! Also, a taste test episode is next on my “Mike and Aubrey Haven’t Done This in Awhile” list. 🥺😅😻
This book sounds like it was written by Jonah from Veep, only he'd call it something like Nut Up Or Shut Up: A Diet Book for REAL Men
So when do the Dumb Bitch Juice™️ mugs & bottles drop in the Maintenance Phase merch store?
Vegan animal rights activist and sanctuary operator here! I love that Mike and Aubrey are so mindful about not insulting vegans but there are harms to this being the reason humans are vegans. First and foremost - going vegan as an anti-oppression stance is the most guaranteed way for long term veganism. Those who go vegan for diet reasons not only return to eating animals but they give fuel to the fire that vegans are liars, hyperbolic, and it’s about humans and not those we oppress. I have less in common with health vegans than I do activists fighting for human rights that consume animals. This is also why veganism, thought practiced worldwide much more by non-white humans, is seen as a “white” trend. The loudest voices in the community are racist ones, ableist ones, fatphobic ones. This makes it much harder to get our foot in the door when we are trying to advocate for the animals we rescue. Most vegans I’ve met in my ten years of rescue work that are fat or people of color feel completely disgusted with the community as a whole. We can know objectively that many humans - even those who rescue animals - are self obsessed and having rescued animals is one of the easiest ways for narcissists to get attention AND never have to concede their own voice as they are speaking for those who “don’t have one”. But when we see these humans all over social media and causing harm, we excuse it because they’re vegan. The longer I’ve been in this community, the more harm I see. None of this has made me want to exploit my animals or any others, but I can certainly see how this lack of support for many makes it impossible to stick with veganism. Veganism needs to be presented and viewed with the same lens as all anti-oppression movements and this is not the way most vegans see it, and it’s certainly not the way non-vegans see it. Tl;dr - you don’t have to validate veganism whenever you bring it up because your critiques are valid and the vegan community deserves to hear them.
I am an animal rights/ecology vegan. I think generally, people who are not vegans really have no idea of the schism within veganism that you refer to. How many times has my host at a dinner party or other event steered me toward another vegan in attendance, having no clue that I don't want to talk to the health vegan anymore than she wants to talk to me - I don't give a shit about her sugar-free soy-free carob truffle marketing campaign, and she is horrified that I am a fat person.
I am listening to this at work and so I cannot scream like I want to. But omg the "chemicals are bad for you! Don't take medicine!" makes me want to STRANGLE somebody. This is just such a precursor to the extra-crunchy anti-vax bullshit. Medicines! and vaccines! Save! Lives! Fuck this book!
Now didn't you read the disclaimer??
The year it came out, someone gave me this book, entirely unsolicited, for my birthday. I threw it away as I didn't want another person to ever be exposed to that garbage because of me. Plus I put the giver on my mental shit list. Seriously people, don't give diet books as gifts. That's like basic humanity 101.
Oh wow that's unbelievably shitty. For a BIRTHDAY?! Also just reminded me that when I was a fat 12(!) year old, one of my worst aunts gave me the book Jemima J by Jane Green, an also very 2000s novel about a self -hating fat woman who becomes thin and her life gets good. It was meant to motivate me 🙃
Someone gifted me this book in 2008 when I was trying to lose weight before my wedding and I remember thinking WTF is this shit as I read along. I don't think I ended up finishing it because it was such trash.
Aubrey is bringing 200% Bob’s Burgers Prince of Persuasia energy to her dramatic readings and it couldn’t make me any happier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ezbYl3rzOI
Oh Meghan, yes - 100%!!!
I remember comments by a woman who had battled anorexia that THIS is the voice anorexics hear in their head when they are berating themselves!
I remember reading an article after this book came out where Victoria Beckham said that she only ate 600 calories per day. She was praising all of the information in this book, and had become pescatarian. The idea that it is not promoting disordered eating is probably the most insulting. She is the living embodiment of someone being horrified at "getting fat"
Omg!! This is the awful book that made me go vegetarian at age 17! That's literally the only part I remember, apparently all the fatphobic stuff didn't stick. The vegetarianism did though, I'm still veggie 12 years later. So... thanks Skinny Bitch? I guess?
speaking of problematic vegans… i am humbly suggesting an episode on Freelee The Banana Girl
i second this motion
"don't PISS and SHIT YOURSELF" 🫡 ok
an incredible episode as always with a great and nuanced conversation, also...aubrey's dramatic reading of this has given me so much delight
I read this in 2009 and went vegetarian. 😅 I’m actually still veg but definitely denounce this book. 🙃
Same!! Or I was already vegetarian and still am to this day, but the book made me go vegan for a long time. Also I'm mortified at how much of the insane stuff I believed and probably relayed to other people too after reading it 🙈
Really interested what they have to say about poop. Maybe Aubrey can read the poop chapters.
I read the book in it's heyday and from memory the poop chapter is about the importance of regular bamus lest you look fat from bloating.. Also pretty sure there was something in there about cancer or other major risks from not going often enough 😳 the main message was definitely that skinny bitches should shit well and often lol
"Fat pig syndrome" had me wheezing
This is the meanest book I’ve ever heard excerpts of… and I listen to if books could kill!
Can we have a new merch item with a "Dumb Bitch Juice" cup or mug? I would...buy that.
I would buy a dozen. Many people in my life need that mug.
I’m thrilled you guys covered this book! I read it in my early 20s and will never forget the feeling of getting yelled at by a book. This book is trash and you did a fantastic job as always. Keep up the great work!
I also don’t have an inner mean girl. This deficiency has made me assume the best of people, (sometimes for way too long.)
Ohhhh I remember this one. I worked at a Barnes & Noble circa 2007-2009 and sold a ton of these. My favorite was the day one of the assistant managers told me he'd just had an older woman come in asking for a book that had been recommended and she would only whisper the title to him.
Omg… it’s me! I went vegan because a friend gave me this book back in the day. She just thought it was funny (at the time) and I took it waaayy to heart. Was vegan for 5 years after that and then slowly reintroduced animal products during my ED recovery. So funny - I had honestly forgot about it!
I swear to god, if y’all don’t make a “Dumb Bitch Juice: it’s the only kind I’ll drink!” shirt, I will die.
Is dumb bitch juice acidic ????
Omg I still have this on my bookshelf. Tbf recovering ED so ya know. And I didn't pay for it.... That justifies it right??
I needed this one. A good laugh has helped me so much today.
Dumb Bitch Juice - This is what I from now forward will call my morning coffee. 😂
Was CRYING laughing at that “just do it forever” paragraph. Hahahahah
Right?!
I burst out laughing when Aubrey said "did you drink your dumb bitch juice?"
I feel like “The B Vitamins” would be a good band name
reminded me so much of the beets from doug. #actualkillertofu
Shit. I forgot this is where I got a bunch of my vegetarian ideas and the animal treatment in our food system. Almost 20 years later! These ladies dumb bitch juiced me! Hahahah. But on a positive, I do try and find vegetarian options more becuase of this book, so…. Win?
My Roman Empire is the fact that sulfites in wine mean nothing and it’s extremely unlikely that anyone is allergic to them, but almond moms are determined that sulfites are evil in some vague way.
the overlook mentioned 👁️👁️ -overlook neighborhood resident
I'd love to see you do a crossover with Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine, with Sidney and Justin McElroy
I've never heard of this podcast. This is my kind of content! Off to listen! Thanks!
I feel like I want a sound board of Aubrey just yelling the bumper sticker advice from this book. 😂
This book is like the "coffee is for closers" speech from Glengarry Glen Ross but rewritten for women!
Decided to support ye here as missed ye so much on Spotify. This episode didn't disappoint. Laughing my way around the woods on my walk🤣
Re: requests. I would love for you guys to have Virginia Sole Smith on the pod. I think Aubrey's mentioned meeting her via fat activism work?
I have missed you guys!
This book had such a chokehold on me as a teenager 😩
I was “gifted” this book by a family “friend” when I was maybe 14
I am having so much trouble figuring out if I've read this book or I was just a young woman consuming popular media in the early aughts.
The only things missing from my diet book bingo card here were a Christian spin or reference to “old times” 😹
Omg thank you for this my number one struggle in AN recovery is getting Bethany Frankels shit advice out of my head!
Wow, I remember hearing controversy about this in the vegan community when I was first going vegan like 15 years ago or something? I'd never read this book and didn't really read most of the arguments about it because it just seemed abrasive and annoying based on the title alone, but I do remember there being long, controversial forum threads about it. In retrospect, thank goodness for my arbitrary aversion to swearing as a teenager because this would have been very bad for my mental health. I think it is a great example of the sort of thing I really hate about public discussion of veganism, which is that veganism often becomes more popular only as a health trend rather than as a genuine ethical stance, leading to people adopting a so-called "vegan diet" but not being vegan in other areas. Which is fine, if that's how you want to eat! But calling it the same thing as veganism leads to a lot of miscommunication and frustration between those people and those who avoid animal products in all areas for ethical reasons, including things like clothing and entertainment where it isn't going to make a difference in your physical health. And since a lot of the arguments for plant-based dieting are rooted in the idea that vegan food is inherently healthier, it also reinforces the idea that your vegan option at a restaurant or whatever can just be a salad because that's all we eat anyway, right? Rant aside, I do actually think this is improving somewhat at least in some areas. It seems much better now than it was when this book came out, not that that's necessarily a high bar haha. (Disclaimer: I'm not trying to convert anyone to being vegan, I don't need to hear why you're not vegan, go forth and live your life as you see fit)
🔥
100% need a “dumb bitch juice” mug for my morning acid!
This better make its way onto merch!
He said "you need to be fed" "But keep an eye on your waistline" and "Look good but don't be obsessed" He Said She Said - Chvrches
Full snort when Aubrey said that fat, bloated, and farty is her next tattoo.
Me too
This ep really takes me back. I'm doing wii fit step aerobics in the finished basement. There are skinny cow ice cream sandwiches in the fridge (no other desserts in the house). Carbs are a special treat. My triathlete mom is obsessed with losing 10 pounds. Life is bad.
Oh my god, I have been at someone else’s house in their finished basement playing WiiFit and they had skinny cow ice creams in their freezer!!!
Loved this episode! Pleeaase do How Not To Die. Lots of vegan health claims are made I would love to hear your takes
Omg I have so many complicated feelings! I used to donate to them until they did a series on "curing autism" and wrote an angry email and cancelled. I've deep dived into the more relevant claims like pistachios for sleep and it was.....tenuous. I feel like so many things are stuff that people want to be true and very tiny link. At least he's pro vax!
I was vegan for 2 years after reading this book 😂. I was definitely sucked in by the title...but I still fucking love tofu, so there's that?
holy shit i completely blocked this book out of my brain and it was so therapeutic to laugh at how hilarious it actually is while simultaneously being like “oh fuck this book totally took my eating disorder to a whole new level.” i was young enough at the time to be like, “this sounds right!” like, i incorporated like every part that was mentioned in this episode into my “rules” and they stayed there for a horrifically long time. i’m very proud to say that i listened to this while eating a piece of bread without even realizing it until afterwards— something i rarely allowed myself to eat before recovery. thank you for this one!🖤
Please please please do an episode on Richard Simmons. I need more spandex and sequins in my life.
So when are we getting the “Sober up, Asshole!” Maintenance Phase T-shirt? 😭
One of your best bonus episodes yet!!!!! I laughed along with you the whole time.
I’m at O’Hare right now waiting for a flight, trying to stifle my giggles at “dumb bitch juice” 🤣
“oh, Mr T appears” 😂🤣😂
Oh my god I was a vegetarian for 13 years after reading this book as a teen, can’t WAIT to listen
The fact that I couldn’t tell when a quote had ended and Aubrey’s “mocking the boiled down contradiction” had begun
A shirt saying “Got dumb bitch juice?” Or “have you had your dumb bitch juice?” Would be hilarious! I smell merch ideas 😉 great episode btw.
"Is your cupholder full of dumb bitch juice?" Nearly killed me.
Dumb bitch juice had me cackling in the hallway of my apartment building and if my neighbors don’t report me for a noise violation I’ll be lucky. 🤣
“They have chapter 8: pooping, which I skipped” I’m walking my dog and absolutely crying laughing 🤣🤣🤣
I'm only partway through the episode but I feel like this writing style was the inspiration for McSweeney's "It's Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers". It's so over the top it feels like it has to be satire.
I feel like what the authors of this book actually thought was, "Well, we're skinny, so we're experts, so we'll just share what we do! It's not that fucking hard!" And then they proceeded to write out a bunch of conflicting, contradictory pieces of advice which is just how they themselves think about/behave around food. It's that specific kind of mental gymnastics some skinny people do whereby they simultaneously think, "I work hard on my thinness, so I deserve it, and I'm clearly an expert because I'm good at this", but also, "it's really not that hard to be thin? so you must be seriously lazy to not even do these few small things I do." Without managing to make that tiny little crucial final step to figuring out, "oh - maybe I'm just naturally thin"
I have mostly known thin people who say people ask how they are thin and they just say “I don’t know, not doing anything special here”, so it’s wild to hear from the women who got that question and decided “oh you know what, we ARE experts!”
“Do you think putting chemicals in your body is good for you?” is giving Michael Scott “do you think doing alcohol is COOL?”
🤣🤣🤣
I didn't realize my ex husband wrote a diet book!
Omg the number of years I felt like I couldn't take midol because I wasn't letting my body toughen up for labor...... that never happened lol
I wish my early 00’s self could hear this with my 2024 ears. This book made me feel terrible then and listening to it now? It’s absolutely absurd to hear the phrasing they used in their writing.
You guys should do "how to eat like a hot chick" because I was convinced this one was that one until you started talking about veganism and not their whole if you eat chocolate cake for breakfast eat a pound of spinach for lunch stuff. They also have a whole lexicon that I think you would enjoy.
As a comfort food vegan I’ve been waiting a long time for this episode lol
My kids are looking at me weird because I’m heaving with laughter at all the road rage quips Aubrey is saving up “Did you drink your dumb bitch juice?!?” 🤣🤣🤣
UDDERLY indefensible 😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉
Just started listening to this and realized that "Skinny Bitch" and Bethenny Frankel's "Skinny Girl" brand are not, in fact, the same. Definitely thought a real housewife wrote this book!
Was also confused!
I have such strong feelings about this book! I discovered it in a charity shop when I was 8 or 9 years old, and read the whole thing before my mum confiscated it from me after she’d read a tiny bit. This book was what started a long period of anorexia for me (thankfully I’m now fully recovered). However, it also started off a strong passion for vegetarianism in me, and I’m now a happy and healthy vegan. I was wondering if you ever thought of interviewing people who have written books like this and now regret/at least have doubts about their role in diet culture?
This book single handedly sparked my eating disorder in middle school !!!!! My parents let me- an 11 year old- read this book. (Funnily enough Michael Pollen’s Omnivore’s Dilemma also majorly set of my eating disorder in high school)
i work in agriculture and one of my coworkers (worst person i’ve ever met in real life) told me that “factory farming” is an offensive term to the farming community. i’ve never rolled my eyes so hard.
I've heard the casein == opioid response thing so much from other vegans I wish Michael would have looked into that one because I've always kinda just taken it as a real thing but never looked into it
I was curious and there's something about casein being broken down to casomorphin but I also suspect there's a huge dollop of pseudoscience here and an assumption that opioid must mean bad. I would like a Maintenance Phase investigation!
Feel like you should have added 'ya dumb b*tch' at the end of every sentence you read out from this book.
helllll yeah, i woke up to a notification that this dropped!! best birthday present!!
Happy birthday!
I can’t believe this is fucking real! 😱
I'd love a "Don't talk to me before I've had my fat bitch juice" mug or tshirt
Yesss I’ve been waiting for this one!!!!
The start of this might be my favorite ever🤪🤪 And I’m so happy I got more bitchy responses to use✨
I hate the hold this book had on me.
Chemical Shitstorm is my new band name.
You could tour with Tropical Fuck Storm
I read this book in my 20s and tried to be vegan for a little bit. I ended up just eating chips & salsa 🫠 Thank you for highlighting this absurdity
As a vegan in central Texas I'm not going to comment on how much chips and salsa I consume
I bought a mini fridge out of college and tried this diet for a whole month. It was so miserable I only became a b*tch
The Very Hungry Caterpillar diet is a frequent joke in our house lol. Has produced a Brooklyn 99 spec script written at 2am with an infant lol
'Dumb bitch juice'. I have literally never laughed harder.
That killed me too!
My friends and I were obsessed with this book in highschool. 😂😭😭. I can't believe I was carrying this to school at 16. I wonder if it had the advice to drink your hot coffee out of a straw. I started doing that too lol My skinny friends all lost weight when we read this and I would think I was doing eating lettuce wrong I was vegan for like 7 years afterwards though
I like the idea that tearing apart diet books that are so much more horrible and hideous than the normal horrible/hideous diet book rhetoric seems to take some of the sting out of it - like it's so ridiculous it hurts less
Aww yeah. Sitting up on my porch peeling & pitting the plums my neighbor dropped on said porch to prep them for canning & this dropped. A little reward for getting this task done. :]
THANK YOU! 🙌
I forgot about this book! Liquid satan!!!
Perfect timing for my flight tomorrow, downloaded and ready to listen miles in the air First time on a plane in 16 years so having M&A to keep me company is just what I need ❤️
Yes! Perfect timing!
Yay! My work day is starting right now, this is my carrot to work fast and get to lunch early so I can listen!
Yay! Perfect timing as I have a lot of waiting around and train travel later. 🙌