Bonus Episode: Celebrity Food Diaries

I spat my drink when Michael sneezed.

I’m catching up on all these and yes, how you cut toast is a Thing in the UK. I’ve always left in uncut, my mrs was disgusted it wasn’t in triangles.

I know it's three years late but Antoni identifies as sexually fluid

Ok so I have never commented on an episode before but I can't sleep (thanks perimenopause!) and have been listening to this in the dark after probably not having heard it while conscious since it came out. I'm sure Mike knows this now, but absolutely YES water is coded that way! Like Aubrey, I'm a well educated, middle class white woman, and the amount of shit about water vs pop/juice I encounter on a daily basis is insane. Everyone has to clarify that they "only drink water" or "never drink pop" and any mention of pop is met with this moral disgust that is, quite frankly, disturbing. I have one friend, who is very thin naturally, who drinks pop regularly, and even she sees it as a moral failing in herself. Funnily enough alcohol is fine, Starbucks drinks are fine, "mocktails" (fancy pop with more steps) are fine, but a glass of Sprite or Coke without alcohol in it? You must be a moral degenerate. It is absolutely FUCKED. Also, re: toast - my working class Scottish husband still thinks I'm fancy because I only ever cut toast on a diagonal, and I still think cutting it directly in half is utterly bizarre and slightly unhinged lol

I have a friend who is an anesthesia tech. He used to make extra money working at an "on call mobile IV" company. The majority of his calls were hungover people. He has some WEIRD stories!

Taylor Lautner talked about how traumatizing the filming of Twilight was that he never wants to see or step in a gym ever again

I LOVED how in OFMD they had middle aged queer people with a large array of body types and when you see Izzy shirtless and practicing swordsmanship in S2 everyone is going FERAL over his figure that could be described as a dad bod and he unlikely dehydrated and starved for that scene. Knowing how that show was produced, they probably asked him to come as he was and everyone’s gonna love it and they’re right.

This episode made me hungry! 🤤

In the spirit of this episode, I thought you guys might enjoy this article chronicling a day in the life of the eccentric Britush actor Tom Baker, best known for his role as one of the early Dr Who incarnations from the early 80s. Enjoy! https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/A_Life_in_the_Day_of_Tom_Baker

Am I going crazy or didn't you guys already talk about Nadiya cutting sandwiches into triangles?

I cannot cut toast without thinking of Michael!!!

Unrelated but have you guys considered doing an episode on Shadow Work? I was just at the bookstore and there was an entire section dedicated to this thing I'd never heard of!

Just joined Patreon and am catching up! I had a thought during this episode that I’m thankful for “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” from the 80s. We all knew that we weren’t supposed to live like the rich.. /we weren’t like them/wouldn’t be like them …. 🥴

Brendan Fraser is also a sexual assault survivor, which is another part of why he was blacklisted.

I'm totally cutting my toast in triangles 😁 love your podcast ❤️

I'm a woman and I've never dieted! I'm 31 so I grew up in the time of magazines drawing circles around cellulite and shit. It really helped that my parents both explained to me that all the mags are photoshopped. My dad takes photos and uses Photoshop so I saw how extremely you can change an image. I have never been fat, but I was bullied for being fat for many years in school. It actually made me NOT want to ever diet because I was like "fuck you guys, you're not taking away my sense of security AND my food." I honestly never really considered going on a diet, and resisted when friends wanted me to join them on their diets. I think I realized from a young age that diets don't work because people on them are always miserable and you have to maintain it to maintain the weight loss.

Listened to this episode juste after the new one about Brittany Dawn, and both have the Guy Pearce in Memento remark hahaha

I enjoy relistening to these episodes. I have a thought on Kelly Ripa, I can see not eating before doing a live morning show. When I eat breakfast that sort of stimulates the GI tract to start moving and I gotta poop. So I can see waiting to eat chewing food until after you finish the filming in the early morning.

Rob McElhenney, like Kumail Nanjiani, talks extensively and hilariously about weight loss. His sound bites are great—yeah losing weight is easy as long as a studio is paying you millions to do it, you have a personal trainer, someone makes all your meals, etc

The antoni section reminds me of the Dr will cole interview with qweneth paltrow. It ends with her desperately pining for a slice of pizza which she "isn't allowed" to eat anymore. Its really sad. Also that "drs" podcast is INSANE and worth an investigation for the pod.

I remember reading one of Chelsea Handler’s books, and she had a trainer who made her do a food diary. At first, she’s serious and then she goes to a baby shower and has 15 jalapeño poppers and a bunch of Kettle One. And she tells her trainer and he’s horrified.😂😂😂😂😂And her trainer was very early 2000’s and Chelsea was being all of us all the time. I love her!

Listening to everything a celebrity eats in a day sounds so. Boring. Bless you.

Haha the Tiffany Haddish diary was amazing. It’s not “fake” so much as “satire” which was spot on.

Defo cut toast diagonally

Yes please! I was convinced to eliminate all sugar after cancer. I have long covid now and am so so nauseous I can't do it. But I also wonder how bad sugar really is

I had to listen to an audio book by Sarah Wilson for book club. It was about anxiety. I didn’t realize she is connected to “I quit sugar” and anti inflammation. Please do an episode on sugar and inflammation!

Steroid use is also very common with being very buff and cut.

I went to prom with Antoni’s ex. (His ex was dating my friend but he was goooorgeous so I made him take prom photos with me) haha.

The IV actually works for hangovers! It's really common to have them at big party destinations like Vegas and Miami. There are even mobile IV vans in these areas haha.

Thinking about changing body standards, go watch an old Bond movie with sexy Sean Connery ro king a dad bod!

Omgosh I was obsessed with water when I was struggling with my body image.

Wait, Kelly Ripa has chia pudding and tea for dinner?! Where is the dinner? That’s not even a bird’s beak worth of food in a day.

The fact that neither of you commented on Antoni adding VEGEMITE to his toast agsgsg

I’m watching the European athletics and wondering what the athletes eat. Those are some food diaries I’d genuinely be interested to hear about. There’s a whole load of diversity of different bodies in different sports - big strong people throwing shot-put and hammer and discus, to tiny power ball gymnasts, to very slender long distance runners. I bet they eat a hugely varied diet that is genuinely directed at their fitness - and I bet it has plenty of carbs. Not that the rest of us are pro athletes - but I bet they would eat very differently from these people that profess to be all about health but are really about being thin.

Pleeeeeeeez do an athletic greens/dr. Huberman episode

Omg her avocado toast breakfast sounds amazing.

I have to say that I fully do not like the taste of water and can't drink it without some sort of flavor additive! I'm a freak!

I actually knew about the IV hangover trick - I have a lot of nurse friends and those ladies party hard. Banana bags. More than saline! Also, in my little NC town? We have a custom IV bar you can go to. Somewhere between the oxygen bars or yore and a mini spa sort of thing. Very, very, very strange. But my town is indeed a Meds & Eds town so it kinda tracks.

RE: Brendan Fraser, have you guys seen any of the press coverage for The Whale? So many articles about him deliberately gaining weight to play a fat person 😬

Second time listening to this episode and BOTH times I had to go directly into my kitchen and make a crispy-egg on toast. 😆

Man, that Antoni shit bummed me right out.

Does anyone have a link to the Kumail Nanjiani interview?

After Pete Evans I need a Christiane Northrup (sp?) episode now!!!

Can we please discuss the photo that came out today for the movie The Whale staring Brendan Fraser (who should know better!) in a fat suit (based on a play written by a not fat man staring a not fat man in a fat suit who is in the playwright's words "eating himself into a coffin.")?

Ref. the seed oil conversation above, here's my favourite example of the kind of pseudoscientific nonsense that the anti seed oil people get up to: https://twitter.com/drcateshanahan/status/1276888289627320322?s=20 In this tweet Cate Shanahan, high priestess of this mob, claims to demonstrate that soybean oil consumption increases the risk of COVID death. However, because her sciencey-looking graphs report absolute numbers for both oil consumption and COVID deaths rather than per-capita numbers, all this shows is that countries with larger populations consume more soybean oil than countries with smaller populations, and that countries with larger populations generally have more COVID deaths than countries with smaller populations. The lunacy of this mob is reflected in some of the comments (not verbatim, I'm just summarizing the tone) - "You tell 'em, Dr. Cate!" and "Why is everyone talking about vaccines when it's really all about seed oils?" and "More victims of Ancel Keys!". This stuff is truly nuts.

Are you familiar with Joe Cross? He made a documentary called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, and also a sequel to it, about juicing... I bought into it for awhile, and went through a juicing phase. I'd love to hear you two discuss, dissect, etc this fad :)

Completely off topic: Because of ADHD I can’t speed through every episode of the podcast, so I wanted to reach out to ask if you’ve ever done significant discussion on the podcast about bariatric surgery? And if you could tell me which episode that is in? Im looking for y’alls perspective on it (a sane one😩)

Would you consider doing an episode about "Content Creators" whose entire content seems to focus on commenting on fat bodies and responding to content by fat content creators? Some of it is just grim and some is done under the guise of "concern" and I think it would be interesting to hear you talk about it.

It does seem that she’s kept her food/diet to herself and let her daughter live a normal life with food. Which I commend her for.

I can’t imagine the intense pressure for a woman on daily television to look a certain way. It’s incredibly cruel and unnecessary. Would Kelly Ripa be any less entertaining at 9:00 am if she was larger than a size 0?

Loved the conversation around Antoni and gay culture with diet. Antoni has also openly discussed his feeling of being an imposter (especially in relation to being on queer eye) because he doesn’t identify as gay, but more so as bi/queer. I just wonder about him specifically and bi men generally, how the pressure to be validated by gay men’s culture could lead them to following a diet/lifestyle to look this way. Not sure that makes sense, just came to me while I was listening! Great ep!!

Off topic, and I know it's a shit show but can yall talk about the Tyra Banks/Rachel Hargrove mess? Or just Tyra and ANTM as a whole? There is SO MUCH to unpack. And I am internally screaming at all the bad takes I'm seeing.

I know I’m still young so who knows if this will remain true, but I’m a woman who has never dieted (unless you count my veggie/vegan phase). I’ve had issues around disordered eating and my relationship with food goes up and down, but there were enough resources at an early age to tell me dieting doesn’t work, it makes people sad, and there is no “quick fix”. Despite having a mother who diets on and off, talks down about her perfectly healthy body, and often questions the eating habits of the people around her, I always knew it wasn’t worth it. A little bit of hope for the future 🤞🏼🫶🏼

I loved this episode and wanted it to last forever, but also it brought flashbacks to high school health class where we did a food log for a week or something (in addition to BMI calculations, body fat measurements) and it would have been a prime opportunity for an adult to intervene in my blossoming eating disorder, as I honestly logged my days eating nothing but grape nuts and almond milk, lentil soup, and rice. But the teacher was not concerned🙃 because that’s just how teen girls are, right?

#teambeanie

Guys PLZ talk about the beanie feldstein Lea Michele drama

Great episode. They make me a bit sad too; so much bad has been internalized and it's really showing in not only the daily eating but what's been eliminated, and why. I feel there's another magazine that does this concept, but the twist is a nutritionist critiques the choices and habits. Maybe People? Also: seed oils. Can we talk (we might have already and I missed it xD) about the basically conspiracy-level "don't eat seed oils!" trend that's started up?

Would love an episode on Heavy Metal Detoxing! Will worms really come out of my nose??

I am dying to hear an episode on "French Women Don't Get Fat" and the "European paradox!

Hi! Have you looked into the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon? It was huge among my friends about 15 years ago. It's ridiculous. But I did make my own fermented ketchup and strained yogurt for whey 🙄. It also told me my children were basically doomed because they had a dairy allergy.

This is off topic but I’m not sure how else to send a message to Aubrey and Michael. Someone on my Twitter feed just posted a link to a show called “Secret Eaters” on Amazon Prime and while I didn’t even click on the link, the show looks to be snarky and unkind. I’d be curious to hear your takes on it.

I've always been told that cutting bread into triangles makes your sandwich taste better because of the ratio of crust to inner bread.

Thank you first off to Aubrey for pronouncing Brendan Fraser’s last name correctly. I can’t imagine how frustrated he gets after decades in the industry! Second, Kumail was on an ep of Off Menu (great podcast) during the time he was preparing for the Marvel role and I was so worried he’d be clearly disordered in his choices. So glad he’s honest about it. You can always tell the people who have problematic relationships with food on that show. Reggie Watts’ ep was particularly upsetting.

Hello! Thank you so much for doing this episode. Those "what I eat in a day" videos always made me feel weird and I couldn't pinpoint why. Also, just want to give a general thank you for this podcast. I write the course content for an online RTO and today I was asked to include details about the BMI and waist circumference as an indicator for chronic health conditions within a course for personal trainers. EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T ASSESSABLE INFORMATION. I just want to thank you for putting out information about the flaws in these measuring systems as health indicators and hope one day courses will teach why the BMI is flawed more than why it's a good indicator of why fat is bad.

OH MY GOD MY DREAM HAS COME TRUE! You found Pete Evans! You poor things and thank you from Australia!

There are services to get IV drips after hangovers and stuff. Very much part of the Hollywood milieu, but becoming more mainstream, probably to our detriment. I see ads for it in nyc all the time now.

Please do a Jamie Oliver one!! He is so hated in the uk for taking away our turkey twizzlers in school to “combat childhood obesity”🤢

This is off-topic, but have y'all ever considered doing an episode about Woman's World magazine? I work at a library and every time i check it in it makes me so angry. It is SO harmful. One issue i just saw said "lose 45 pounds this month". Holy hell.

I’ve been told women should have a waist of 35” or less and men need a 40” waist or less. Is there any decent science behind this, or is it more made up numbers? I’ve always been a curvy gal and in between sizes, so always was stressed about my weight. Sigh, I shouldn’t have been. I look at pics of young me and I was fine. I just didn’t have a body like Kate Moss. Now I’m 56, and after 11 years of chronic familial hemiplegic migraines, and all kinds of off-the-mark treatments, like anti-seizure meds, I’ve gained 70 pounds. I stay as active as I can, but it really was challenging. This podcast has helped me so much. It has been life changing. I don’t beat myself up anymore. The goal is to remain as physically fit as I can muster. I don’t let the doctor’s office weigh me every time I come in. They can weigh me once a year and that is it. My doctor knows exactly how I feel about the BMI. She also was the first doctor that listened to me about my migraines and what I thought they were. It’s why I’m on the right medication. A big thank you for all this amazing content. It’s changed my life.

Please do an episode on the holistic psychologist. She’s giving the rest of us a bad name

sorry all of that needs to come with a massive content warning, of course. The articles I linked to there are suuuuuuuuuuper toxic.

"2011's most heartbreaking debut": https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/22/bed-david-whitehouse-first-review oh the sound of breaking hearts. It comes just before it dawns on you that maybe you should actually talk to the people you’re breaking your heart over.

ah here we go. an article about the 'trend' around 10 years ago for thin writers to write "compassionate" novels "teeming with sympathy" about fat people: https://www.thedailybeast.com/weighty-matters-the-rise-of-obesity-in-american-fiction

(another one would be Big Brother by Lionel Shriver. I'm not talking about novels which just hate their fat characters - eg Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - but books that think they're being sympathetic and thoughtful about the Question Of Fat)

here's something in case you ever run out of topics (because fatphobia suddenly goes away forever hahahah): there was a spate a few years ago of Novels About Fat People by Thin People. the one that I remember particularly was The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg which I got sent to blurb ("as a novelist...") and which offended and upset me so much I didn't even take it to Goodwill, I just put it in the bin. The idea was: a fat lady and her thin husband, he can't be expected to stay with her! She's so fat! She's eating herself to death!

I know this is super late: but did anyone listen to the latest episode of On the Media? Really good! Backs up and builds on this podcast and Aubrey's book....

Just became aware of this funny interview with the guy who plays Mac on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia talking about how much work it is to get Hollywood jacked. https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a21285961/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-rob-mcelhenney-jacked-fit/

I dunno what this says about me and my journey as a fat lady, but as soon as they gave the ED TW at the top of the episode my reaction was "I've been putting off breakfast too long, I'm getting tacos." I think I'm at a point where hearing about highly restrictive celebrity diet culture makes me give in to the fact that I need to eat something to function and that restricting it to just yogurt when I haven't eaten all morning is not gonna be enough.

It sounds like Tiffany Haddish was making fun of the whole project and I love her for that.

Am I getting the wrong idea or do they honestly sound afraid of food and eating? It’s not toxic waste. It’s food. I’m about to turn 50 and I can’t imagine going through my life afraid to enjoy something as sublime delicious as a buttered biscuit.

In addition to all the other ways these are weird, are these really "a" day but every day? I wouldn't be able to do a food diary like this I'm all over the place.

Did not know this was a thing. I will remember "Chew Foods" OMG,

I swear I said "who's that" at the same time as Michael 🙃

I really appreciate the palate cleansers Aubrey brings to the episodes 💛 these are important conversations but it’s nice to have some surprise fun moments

so add to the “dieting is universal woman experience” thing: i’m someone who has never dieting and actively tries to avoid that kinda messaging and relationship with food but it’s seen as so universal that other women constantly talk about their diets with me and assume i’m doing the same cycle of dieting/bingeing and it’s literally impossible to avoid and i hate it but bc it’s seen as so universal whenever i’ve pushed back on it there’s genuine surprise/confusion that i’m not dieting and that I don’t want to talk about food in that way (for context i am a UK size 10 woman)

Kelly Ripa’s video is so sad. Even just the word “chewing food” seems like a big red flag to me.

As far as I know, it’s pretty “easy” for a rich person in LA to get an IV. Apparently that’s a thing lots of rich people have started to do especially after hangovers, but it doesn’t do anything more than just drinking something. Plus it comes with the risk of inserting a NEEDLE for no reason. Kumail Nanjianis transformation is also controversial, because it is pretty clear that he (and many other actors) used PEDs to achieve what he did, but he obviously doesn’t talk about that (and noone else either). I hate that. It’s not “just” working out hard.

Absolutely amazing episode! I’m a new subscriber and this showed me that it is worth every penny and getting to support two great journalist and their work!! A tik toker @ Meredithmlynch has a whole series on these videos that are interesting if anyone wants to see more about them from an anti diet perspective

Here's an IV clinic if you are looking for one LOL

Of course toast is cut into triangles. Unless you are a sociopath 😉

EDIT: it has been years since I read the article I recommend below and I did not remember it is wildly fatphobic, read at your own risk. Great episode! Three things I was reminded of: Brendan Fraser disappeared from public view partly bc he suffered a serious back injury while filming Looney Tunes Back in Action iirc and he was also groped by a studio exec and (of course) nothing came of his attempts to speak out about it. So a whole swirl of intersecting shittiness including SA, fatphobia, and ableism. And there’s something to be said about expectations of masculinity there too, bc part of why he was so impressive in the 90s/00s was that he did a lot of stunts. Until he couldn’t. Second thing: I read an incredible article a couple years ago called “everyone is beautiful and no one is horny” which talks about how everyone but especially dudes in Hollywood are expected to look absurdly shredded but this physical fitness is also sexless. Third thing: this is why I respect Robert Pattinson so much for refusing to work out for The Batman. Like in the film he looks fit, but it’s on par with Hugh Jackman in the first X-Men movie. Which might also be unreasonable now that I think about it, but it looks fine compared to today’s expectations.

I think that there is a pressure on gay/queer men/AMAB folks to diet but it’s surrounded by the working out, bulking/cutting, protein powder everything stuff Michael mentioned. It may not be talked about in the same way that it is by folks of other genders, but I have known tons of gay men who are doing keto or paleo, WW, NOOM, etc. It’s just the emphasis on working out kind of obscures it.

I lost it when i heard about chewing foods. Like why can’t we just eat normal 🥲😂😩

I’m not sure how to put this exactly, but did anyone else feel like nothing but coffee + ghee + vitamins on an empty stomach at 4am was a backdoor way to purge? There’s no way my stomach would accept that combo.

I absolutely agree with what Aubrey said about how people most susceptible to dieting are people who date men. Even just in my own life I have experienced that. When I exclusively dated men I had all of the usual eating disorder/dieting/general insecurity shit that I consider pretty standard for a LOT of women in college, but once I came out and started dating other women, it was so strange how so much of that changed for me. That's not to say that there aren't beauty standards for lesbians, because there absolutely are. And I still struggle with the effects of my ED and work towards recovery every day—it was not some magic switch that cured me. But so much of the immense pressure I felt to look a certain way kind of evaporated once I started consciously de-centering men in my life. I think maybe it has something to do with the idea that since I was already bucking what society said was "normal" by dating other women, it was easier to buck other societal expectations of beauty and thinness.

I just love you guys.

sorry is Ghee? in Coffee? a trend? I've never heard of that but it does not sound tasty. Like putting butter in coffee.

Two seconds in and already dying at “Unless she’s hungover and then she’ll eat an egg sandwich or an IV.” This show is the best.

I watched a few of these food diary videos and was not prepared for the level of product placement. The ones I watched were just an excuse to shill for their sponsors or product lines.

If anyone needs a palate cleanser from this (not from Aubrey and Mike, of course, but from the icky food restriction), check out NY Mag’s Grub Street Diet column, which tends to be really celebratory and passionate about food

True story: I went to college with kumail nanjiani (Grinnell College class of '01 - a very small liberal arts college full of smart and socially conscious kids) and I was SHOCKED that he was in a marvel movie. Nice guy, lots of friends, not pretentious that I recall. Makes total sense that he would give that interview.

I hope you see this Aubrey and Michael. A song that catches the destructive nature of our celeb/diet culture. Love you 2 ❤️ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMNBDYTpj/?k=1

The IV thing is totally a thing, I’ve definitely seen it in Las Vegas, last time I went I saw a big banner advertising them for hangovers with the slogan “detox, retox, repeat.”

Can anyone point me to the Kumail Nanjiani interview they referenced in this episode. I’ve been googling but haven’t had much luck.

I’m 100% here for anything and everything Tiffany Haddish. Your podcast is my fave. Chefs kiss to you two!

This is fantastic. Your best episodes are the Patreon ones (and your free ones are amazing). I’d love to know more of your thoughts on Bake Off and the people involves. It’s already resulted in some cook books. I’m curious how it’s changed things in the UK.

Another celebrity who is really open about celebrity diet culture who left it and let his body just do what it naturally wants is Matt McGorry! He talks pretty openly about how letting himself just LIVE and listen to his body and let himself gain weight has brought him more confidence and happiness with himself than being shredded ever did

Growing up, I was encouraged to have disordered eating habits. Weight gain in my family was considered a punishable offense. Some of these restrictive diets sounded similar to how I used to eat.

OK, I want an "everlywell" food sensitivity as disordered eating episode!

Love this episode. I remember many years ago I saw an interview with Raquel Welch and she was great. She said I have been on a diet for 40 years and it is grim but I want this life and this is the price I pay. She was very honest. Loved her for it.

Helllllppp My sister is asking my opinion on her taking the weight loss tablet/appetite suppressant “Contrave”. How are these things legal? It’s an antidepressant. Side effects include seizures!!! Why would a doctor prescribe this for her? She’s probably 20 lbs overweight, if that. I’m her go to medical consult because I’m a nurse, but I’m also thin so I don’t really understand the passion behind taking drugs to lose weight.

on the “women who haven’t dieted” question that Michael asks Aubrey: in my experience, a lot of female athletes fall more under the umbrella of “exercise all the time” than “restrictive eating,” which is why disordered eating in athletes goes unnoticed a lot. I know a lot of women who never “restricted” calories in a crazy way but were in the gym for 2+ hours a day outside of practice.

OMG! I had the same reaction when I found out about at-home IVs! I mean, really?

Can I just say I deeply appreciate that Michael doesn’t know who anyone is because I always need the explanation of who any particular current celebrity is

The Queer Eye guy is legitimately so sad! Have a crispy egg, dude! I'd be interested to know sort of how we got to this unhinged male beauty standard of being insanely ripped with like no body fat. Most athletes who literally do physical activity for their job do not look anything like this! I feel like I noticed it becoming a much bigger cultural ideal after the movie 300 came out and when everyone started doing CrossFit, but that may just be my perception.

I know of a company called “youth haus” that does in home IV for $200 a pop. There’s also an influencer family, The Culpos (Olivia is most famous) and one of them gets a 200k full body MRI every year “just to be safe”

On a light note, Lil Yachty’s what I eat in a day is hysterical and he just deadpans the whole thing

Did anyone else notice that Kelly Ripa said that she enjoys A chocolate covered almond? 😿

Aubrey’s description of her fancy avocado toast (which is basically a vegan quiche) makes me want a Maintenance Phase cooking spinoff

I've never conscientiously, purposely dieted, bc I'm quite short and small and have had a fairly high metabolism. However, I've struggled with A LOT of disordered eating thanks to mental illness, so for a long time, I've hated people commenting on my food intake and just all of the bullshit of diet culture.

Tiffany Haddish forever and always! I wish she were my life coach.

The thing for me is like… I couldn’t even tell you all the things I eat in a day because I don’t eat the same thing every day. I generally have the same things for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner? Snacks? Coffees? There’s no routine. Sometimes I sleep in so late so I don’t bother with breakfast. Sometimes I get up at 5am and I have 2 breakfasts.

But yeah! I’m sure I’m not the only fat person who’s never been involved with this sort of activism in the past, and would find it helpful/illuminating to get a look inside.

One thing I would love as a bonus episode is some kind of primer on fat activist spaces! I know the small fat/super fat terminology has come up in some episodes, and hearing them for the first time without knowing they were activist terms was a little confusing for me. I thought small fat was just a weird bit of cattiness until I heard super fat and finally realized they were probably codified categories.

also I want to add that you two have been such an incredible bright spot for me this last year and sometimes the only thing I laughed at in a long time. Thank you for all you do! ❤️

I feel Aubrey’s comments about not being able to voice a dislike of water when you’re fat so hard. Not only do people get extremely sanctimonious about water consumption and hydration, but I feared getting hit with this particular, soda-related strain of fatphobia and classism: “See? This is why you’re fat! People have no idea how much sugar is in soda, or even juice! You’re drinking all your calories!”

I think you should do a show where Michael and Aubrey each come with separate “myths” and each guesses if the other’s are real before hearing the research. Things like “You need eight glasses of water a day,” “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” etc.

I think the more traditional concept of “dieting” (like say Weight Watchers) is a feminine thing, but men have always been SUPER into different types of restriction, food rules, fasting, etc. Men seem to get more obsessed with things like Keto and Paleo and intermittent fasting where they stick to these predetermined restrictive diets for YEARS and the one they pick is like their identity and also they will bark about it to anyone in ear shot and think that everyone else has chosen the wrong way to eat. OR men will get on like one single idea or self designed diets like “I’m not going eat anything but chicken and spinach” or “I’m only going to have one meal a day” or whatever. I think as you get into middle age too women have been there done that and if they are “dieting” in some way it’s more of a just part of their life, more quiet thing whereas men might be putting on weight for the first time ever and they’re like omg I’m fat I have to come up with some bizarre way to eat and it’s like a big deal. I’ve dated plenty of guys with super disordered eating habits who have no idea that’s what it is and just have known so many men in my life who are obsessed with weight and dieting in some way.

I would say gay performance is actually very different to Aubrey’s interpretation. It’s quite embarrassing to admit that you’re not naturally very thin, and so you use justifications and humour to cover up disordered eating. Don’t get me started on bottom culture lol.

I want to watch Bad Vegan with Mike and Aubrey. Really, I will watch anything with these two!

Just to add as well, as an "average" sized white cisgender lady, I have absolutely dieted many times and was instructed to by my mother. Dieting is a universal white lady thing.

Avocado toast recommendation- sour dough toast, a layer of Vegemite, mushed avo and then some delicious marinated goats cheese. It brings me so much pleasure! Also I have a friend who has never dieted. She got married a few years ago and actually got so stressed at the idea she should and couldn’t wrap her head around it as a concept. I find her so inspirational and shows how simple it is if that thinking just never gets implanted in your brain!

This GenXer appreciates Millennials for introducing me to avocado toast. My absolute favorite thing for breakfast is 2 over easy eggs on toast with avocado. Never would have thought to try it otherwise.

https://www.bonappetit.com/people/article/kelly-wearstler-interview-with-bon-appetit *mike drop*

I am apparently a true heathen and don't cut my toast at all, I just put peanut butter or some jam on it and fold it in half

Antoni really made a what I DON’T eat in a day video

Also I’m British and I had no idea about the toast cutting. Worried I’ve been a toast heathen all these years.

Oh jeeez someone I follow on Instagram gets vitamin drips like it’s the most regular thing in the world. 😹 Gwyneth is also my favourite brand of unhinged. Obsessed.

Dave's Killer Bread mention FTW!

Michael representing peak millennial podcast at 33:43 with a “that’s fucked up” 😂😂

I think I might be one of the unicorn middle class white women, not particularly thin, who has never been on a diet... But regardless, I still know and think a lot about diets (more recently how much diets are bullshit, thank you MP!)

Not sure this warrants an entire episode, but I'd be very interested to hear what your take on body building is. I never thought about how their diets are often an ED until my boyfriend brought it up. Wild to think that didn't even cross my mind.

Anyone else think that Aubrey should have a maintenance phase recipe blog? She makes ice cream, she has a garden, she’s a baker…I’d totally watch/read any content she put out!!!!

I recommend Danny Lavery's reactions to Duane Johnson's food diary. https://the-toast.net/2015/04/03/my-real-time-response-to-learning-what-the-rock-eats-every-day/

Any other Kardashian watchers think about Kendall Jenner & Hailey Beiber's IV Drip party during this episode??

Same.

Also, Kelly Ripa definitely said she eats A (singular) chocolate covered almond or cashew. One. Also, I have no beef with her either! None! lol.

So so so glad you've covered these videos. The first time I watched one (which of course was "what a model eats in a day") I thought "this would have been my inspiration back when I was heavily restricting food." These make me sad too, especially remembering that feeling of constant hunger paired with meticulous planning and compulsively thinking about everything I put in my mouth every single day.

okay i’m only like two minutes in but there is a thing called liquid IV normal non celebrity people can buy in the store and it actually works super well for hangovers. though i wouldn’t put it past gwyneth to get an actual saline drip every time

Always here for a bit of Ruby Tandoh love, she is wonderful, and I really recommend her books - she takes so much pleasure from food and makes cooking so lovely and accessible! (Also, I’m British and not posh in the slightest, but I cut my sandwiches and toast into triangles because it just tastes nicer! 😂)

I've had body image issues and definitely disordered eating, but I've avoided dieting with the exception of when I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes, so the doctor had me restricting carbohydrates in specific ways to manage my blood sugar levels. I watched my mom and her friends do a variety of diets, and I think it just put me off of them. I'm pretty sure I have ADHD and my ability to get distracted probably contributed. Like, my spouse and I have cut beef out of our diets and try to eat less meat overall because of the environment, and I have to be thoughtful about dairy b/c I'm lactose intolerant (either skipping it or using lactase pills), but the closest I get to dieting is forgetting to eat because food was feeling difficult to do, which is more of an ADHD/anxiety thing for me. I try to remember to do exercise because it makes me feel better overall but setting out to lose weight via exercise always seems to last about two days before I just give up.

CHEWING FOODS.

Aubrey: Antoni Porowski Mike: Who? Aubrey: Tiffany Haddish Mike: Who? You're the best, Mike. I had no idea either. :P

On women dieting, there are a lot of women who have a disordered relationship with food. Buuut! I do remember seeing excerpts of that study about men and women who date men usually deal with more judgement about looks and weight. Whereas women who date women deal with more body acceptance.

I am English and had never heard of the 'cutting toast class distinction' rule before, and neither has my partner. We are from Cheshire in the North West so I was wondering if it is a North - South difference? Then again we are both from working class backgrounds so maybe it's just the bourgeois who have this rule :)

I've met VERY judgy people who spit on people who don't even try to get that perfect bod, nevermind people who can't or don't want to, or out right disgusts from certain bodies, or rate people's worth based on how perfect their bodies are. And it's like...excuse me I'm sorry I have other things to do than worry about a body that's only accessible to like 10 people? Sounds like a sad way to live.

This reminded me, I just started watching Queer Eye Germany, and their food guy is more of an overall health and wellness guy but in a good way?? I think it was episode 2 but the lady they were helping talked about wishing she could lose weight, and he didn't really engage with that but instead asked what kind of exercise she liked to do and helped her make time for it and really stressed to think of it as a mental health thing — I was really pleasantly surprised! I'm curious what the pod would think!

Michael mentioning Vogue's "Get ready with me" videos made me remember the Gwenyth one wherein she only put sunscreen on the parts of her face "the sun touches" so she like dabbed a tiny bit on the bridge of her nose and a little on her cheeks. I screamed in dermatology/skin cancer.

I'm a fat autistic person who cannot stand the taste of water and I totally get what Aubrey was saying about feeling like you're not allowed as a fat person to not like water. I learned very quickly that I cannot tell thin people that I don't like water or they will assume that's why I'm fat despite that not making any sense. As a child, my mom had a friend who would regularly tell me I needed to get over my aversion and drink water or I would never be thin. It's an association that doesn't really make sense but it definitely exists.

The way Kelly Ripa talks about food reminds me exactly of how my mom talks about food (who once told me “older people don’t eat dessert anymore”) and it just makes me sad for that entire generation of women. Virginia Sole-Smith also has a great essay on how diet culture screwed up Boomer women specifically called “The Grandparents Are Not Okay.”

Does anyone feel like Mike's use of the word "hot" sometimes sounds like it's meaning the opposite of fat? I don't think it's intentional at all and might just be me taking it this way, my fat ass is always looking for insults!

Not to bring darkness to a delightful chat, but a large reason Brendan Fraser dropped out of sight was because he was sexually assaulted by a Hollywood exec. When he came forward he was blacklisted. There’s a GQ article that discusses how all these things compounded and derailed his career and marriage.

This episode is EVERYTHING. The toast cutting, Michael not knowing who Anthony is, or caring. Gweneth and her IV - I just imagine her administering her own IV like a junkie - a WELLNESS JUNKIE, HAAAYYY!!! I've been laughing so hard, at work, and all my colleagues think I'm crazy. Why are celebrities SO WEIRD. Thank you :) :) :)

Where can I find the kumail nanjiani article?

Ok, look at Sean Connery as James Bond vs. Daniel Craig, then go *read* Ian Fleming. James Bond doesn't go to the gym! It's ridiculous! His workout is swilling martinis, bedding women, and he did "Judo" in school (who knows how much Fleming really knew about Asian martial arts???) The whole idea of a "ripped" James Bond is beyond absurd.

Can we get more of these fun pop-culture takes on the main pod? I lived for your Rachel Hollis episodes ❤️.

Lol on the toast thing coming back up! I'm British (English) and always cut my toast/ sandwiches into triangles. I don't think it's actually a class thing though, just an aesthetic/ mouthfeel preference! Stopped on my walk to type this but loving the episode so far!

Remember when Matt Damon lost a bunch of weight to play a heroin addict in Courage Under Fire? He's been very open about the damage it did to his heart. Then in the Martian, when he appeared super thin to convey how long he had been on Mars without adequate food, they did it all with CGI. We can criticize Damon for all kinds of other things, but I agree that it's nice to hear men talk about how crappy these things are. Also love Jonah Hill for asking people to stop talking about his body.

I hate the taste of water too... I usually excuse it by being "forever 12 years old" but honestly... I much prefer having some flavoring in my water or it's like the drinking version of eating plain shredded wheat.

Eff yea on Aubrey's avo toast. That sounds epic. As an elder millennial, I'm partial to the poached egg with Dave's Killer Bread.

Michael I corroborate the toast/sandwich cutting thing. My very proper Canadian mother (born when Canada was still part of the British Empire, and we colonials still emulated everything British) ALWAYS cut my 1970s kid lunchbox sandwiches on the diagonal. Cutting them down the middle was simply unthinkable.

I’m so happy Michael’s dramatic sneeze was left in

Omg IVs 😂 I bet Gwyneth gets hers home delivered like the kardashians

representation for dave’s killer bread

Oh wow! No Martha Stewart ... Her food diary was hilarious and so bougee 🤣. It's the only What I Eat In A Day video that I rewatch

Thank you so much for mentioning Ian Somerhalder’s WIEIAD video, because I just watched it and I cannot stop screaming. WHAT is he talking about?! It’s a gold mine. I am going to be thinking about ocean fish, cacao nibs and the word “gobbling” all day.

You brought up the fat suit issue again so I have to ask something that's been bothering me recently: does it seem like female actors in fat suits get more press/criticism than men and if so, is that because it's more commonly seen or just another example of misogyny? I am bothered that I have seen literally no press about Tom Hanks in the new Elvis movie and other than him being a beloved figure, what would account for that lack of criticism?

Kelly Ripa’s day of eating was so sad 😞

I think it adds to the enjoyment of this to know that in Ireland "gee" is slang for vagina.

There’s actually a place opening up here in Georgia that’s an IV clinic where you can get vitamin drops. Not in a particularly bougie area. It’s oddly more accessible than you would *think*

I have to be honest every time I cut toast now I think about Mike’s argument with his ex-boyfriend.

I am 8 minutes in and I'm not British, I'm Australian and i cut my toast in triangles as a rule. I have no idea if it's a class thing here at all, I just think it's a delicious way to eat my toast, and squares would be deranged.

Y'all are purely delightful, I look forward to new episodes all the time ❤️❤️❤️

somehow my first impulse was to suggest a bonus where you read listener mails that describe what they/we eat in a day. i think i was mostly longing for someone's honest description of some actual food. did someone get why Mike didn't believe the last person they talked about? w/ chicken in the oven and fresh strawberries and so on. i felt like i missed some red flag on why that one seemed fake/unrealistic

Hi, just listening to your deworming ep now. As a researcher in colonialism of development and humanitarianism --- THANK YOUUUUU!!! I worked in dev, and teach undergrads here in the UK, and the saviorism reaches 'Lawrence of Arabia' levels so dang fast! This is also why researchers and doctors in the rest of the world (aka not US/Canada/Europe and Australia) struggle to get funding. Bc we have to deal with this colonial mentality and disbelief that brown and black people - 1) are juggling historically rooted/ structural issues. And 2) are ACTIVELY trying to address them/not waiting on magical whyte ppl. Anyway, if you could maybe not call the rest of the globe "developing" (it de-historizes struggles; implies that countries choose to be/ are 'backwards'; spreads myth of a linear path to "progress" without brutality of capitalism) and maybe just say "the majority of the world", or if you want to keep it really real 😎, 'postcolonial societies struggling with ongoing resource extractivism from the global north -- :) that'd be cool too!! You both rock so hard. So much enby love - Nat

Also I literally was on a treadmill next to Antoni from Queer Eye like two weeks ago and ALSO was like “holy shit when did he get so ripped?!” so this episode is particularly topical for me 😂

I just read the Kelly Wearstler one on Bon Appetit, and the interviewer actually was finally promoted to ask “what about real, solid food?” It’s so disturbing. Once again, 👏 juice 👏 is 👏 not 👏 a 👏 meal👏

Loving this so far and also want to point out that an IV as a hangover treatment is a very NYC thing 😂 there are hangover services that will literally come to your apartment and do this for you, I get targeted Instagram ads about them a lot lmao

Just watched the Carpool Karaoke episode with Lizzo (and Weight Watchers spokesman James Corden). As I learned from this podcast WW is trash. But, it was really nice to 1) see two fat people on screen at the same time (maybe there's an episode in that?) and 2) they didn't talk about weight. It was really refreshing and Lizzo was charming as ever.

I think it was the Kelly Ripa segment where she said her "treat" was a chocolate covered almond, not because it's her favourite but because she "feels like there's something healthy in it" and she hasn't have to feel guilty. That really stuck out to me. Also I love Queer Eye and it is so sad that Antoni spends the entire time on the show teaching people how to engage with food in a fun accessible way but apparently doesn't get to do that himself.

I don’t know if this is anything, but my whole life, my family’s concern trolling mantra around my weight has been, “but what about your knees!?”. Is there any research about whether fat people actually have a higher risk for knee (and other joint) problems?

I would love to hear an episode about online therapy programs. Specifically ones like NOCD that make huge claims about the success of the service. I am curious to hear info on the methodology behind how they determined the app was successful. I think it would be so interesting since its not just talk therapy like Better Help that is available, now there are many versions of streamlined therapy and treatment for different mental health conditions and in my experience with NOCD it was more harmful than helpful. I have another request idea but it seriously has left me so im going to enjoy this episode and hope my memory works later.

Don't worry Mike, as a younger millennial myself, I'm 90% certain avocado toast was codified as a concept with the econ dude being like "this is why millennial can't buy a house." Like I'm sure people ate avocado on toast, but I had never heard of it before then either.

As a British person, I cut my sandwiches into rectangles not triangles!

this reminds me of how i recently fell down the rabbit hole of mums on tiktok packing lunch for their kids to take to school and found the two opposite sides of the spectrum where one lady was like "if i can get food in my kid i don't care if she wants to eat the same thing every day or if it's weird it's still a win" and then another woman who was tracking her CHILD'S calorie intake. i was HORRIFIED.

When talking about Brendan Fraser you guys completely missed the part where he was sexually assaulted by a Hollywood exec and blacklisted in the industry!

Something about a Maintenance Phase episode dropping on a bad day for me makes it feel like it'll get better ❤️

Perfect timing for an episode drop. I've got an hour long flight

One of the only people I don't think is lying on these is Grimes. Hers is wild. Another wild one that comes off as "hello fellow humans" is Tyra Banks. Also, please yes do an episode on cheat meals

Before even listening to this episode, I bet none of these beat Hunter S Thompson’s daily diet. (NOT an endorsement, but it’s pretty badass guys…) #sexdust #MPDeepcut

Tiffany Haddish may sound nice but her book contains like a thirty minute point story of her making fun of a developmentally disabled coworker she once had. She does,,, a voice for him in the audiobook and it is really hard to stomach her after hearing that

I'm 24 and have never once gone on a diet and I'm asexual and aromantic. Most of the women in my family are dieting and have very toxic ideals around body image and they're all hetero. So there might be some truth to that

Ah you have to watch youtuber Abbey Sharp's absolute takedown of these what I eat in a day videos. She completely pulls apart all the celery juice, supplement, fasting crap. The one on Kelly Ripa has a back story as Kelly's team asked Abbey to take the video down.

I thought the deworming ep was going to mention the new wellness trend on TikTok for westerners to buy these pills and take them and then talk about what they see and find in their 💩. Haha my mom got super into it a couple months ago and tried to tell me that all my chronic illness symptoms are actually not from my diagnoses at all, and that I'm probably just infested with parasites. Hah! I was hoping to get something debunking this TikTok health advice. 😅

Hurray! :)

I personally love you guys for posting these at ass in the morning because this is when I'm at work, I was just about to go re-listen to eps but now I got one fresh outta the oven B)

yay!