Today was muggy and humid and I was in a foul mood to begin with. Perhaps that’s why this NYT article on “internet weight-loss goddess” Lisa Lillien, a.k.a. “Hungry Girl,” got under my skin. Hey there, inner bitch.
[Actually, last time I allowed my inner bitch to take over the blog it was kind of fun. So here she is. Meanwhile, outer-nice-girl is going to eat rainbow sprinkle cookies in bed and get crumbs all over her chest.
…thanks so much for whipping the camera out, there, hubs.]
Anyway. I’d heard of the Hungry Girl before – seen a clip of her on Rachael Ray, perhaps – and found her unoffensive enough. Cool, I thought. Sounds like a health blogger who hit the big time. Good for her. It’s always heartwarming when one of “your own” strikes gold.
Except…not. There’s nothing healthy about the Hungry Girl. And no blogger behind this marketing machine.
As the NYT reports, Lillien is getting a $10 million book advance for a series of “Hungry Girl” books. With three best-selling recipe books under her belt, that makes sense. But who is the woman behind this, and what does she actually have to offer?
As it turns out, not much. A peek at the Hungry Girl website reveals, for example, some hot new content – a grocery list:
Our Summer 2010 edition of The Official Hungry Girl Supermarket List!!! We’re forever updating our now famous list to bring you the most fantastic new market finds — plus all the essentials — in one super-convenient list.
So what’s on the list? Processed crap, basically. Hey, did you know that you can buy 100-calorie packs of things? And reduced fat cheeses? Because that’s what this list will give you. Packaged diet foods. Along with – seriously? – Kix.
No wonder she’s hungry.
I was literally floored when I read this. Ten million dollars? You’ve gotta be f*cking kidding me. Not only is most of the food on the list nutritionally void – it’s also completely obvious. This is the most unoriginal, uninspired grocery list I’ve ever seen.
And then there’s the problem of – ahem – authenticity.
As the NYT article reports:
Ms. Lillien herself has no tale of catastrophic weight gain or massive weight loss to share, no fat-burning cabbage soup recipe, no clinical experience, other than having managed to lose about 20 pounds on her own in her 30s.
And then:
Ms. Lillien launched the site only after months of strategizing and branding. “Hungry Girl was never just a housewife sitting around blogging in her bathrobe,” she said.
Clearly this isn’t a health blogger who made it big. Not even close. This is a brand that was created and cleverly packaged (Lillien herself works in marketing.) And a whole bunch of people have bought the schtick.
So, why do I care?
Well…one, I think it’s incredibly sad that a millions of people subscribe to this drivel and think that eating fat-free hot dogs and Special K bars is the path to a healthy body. Really, just sad. Food is a wonderful thing that can and should be enjoyed in life. And it’s totally possible to do it in a healthy way.
And two? It pisses me off to see this nonsense drawing big bucks when there are so many amazing health bloggers out there who do it so much better. For free.
Bloggers with real stories, real voices, and real value to add. Bloggers who have truly amazing and creative ways to make eating healthier and tastier. Bloggers who have triple-digits weight loss stories. Bloggers who make you laugh and cry – who make you feel like you know them even though you’ve only ever heard their voice in your head, as you read their musings.
Bloggers who would never settle for fake diet food in the place of real food. Who post wonderful gems of widsom, experience and inspiration every single day, with no million dollar – or even hundred dollar – paycheck waiting.
Take my rant with a grain of salt, if you want. After all, it’s coming from the girl with cookie crumbs all over her face who drinks beer and/or wine every single night.
But you know what? I’ve managed to drop 15-ish pounds in the last several months. Just by cooking more at home, eating less processed crap, and relying on my blogger friends for great recipes, tips and inspiration. And never, ever going hungry.
So take that, Hungry Girl. I hope your book advance affords you many a 100-calorie-pack of fake cookies.
[And, um, publishers? If you want to send me – or my inner bitch – a multi-million dollar advance, just say the word!]
Today’s EAT: I just didn’t feel like cooking tonight. So the hubs and I ventured out to eat to an oddball of a little restaurant in the neighborhood that we’ve been dying to try: Hakata Ton Ton.
It’s like a tiny sushi joint hooked up with a Japanese tapas place. And crafted a bevy of specialty dishes around pigs’ feet. Which are, as it turns out, delicious.
Also delicious: marinated yellowtail sashimi, curried soft-shell crab and grilled pork belly.
My tummy was happy and my inner bitch was thrilled that she didn’t have to cook tonight. Because she was far too busy being cranky.
Today’s DRINK: You guessed it – yet another seasonal beer! I’ve been trying as many as I can find and haven’t run out of options yet.
Smuttynose Summer Weizen Ale. Which, according to the label, contains a “hint of chamomile.” Not sure about that, but it’s a refreshing and enjoyable beer, similar to Hoegaarden but with a less lemony flavor. It would be great with a burger at a BBQ!
Today’s RUN: First off – I so loved getting everyone’s input on my shoe situation yesterday. 🙂 Seriously, thanks. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do, but I ran in the Ravennas again tonight. It felt alright. Still very very stiff and a little sore back in the calf/achilles area. On both legs.
I picked up the pace a bit tonight. Instead of relegating myself to a slow slog, I ran at a normal easy-medium jaunt. Interestingly, my calves felt much better with a slightly quicker stride. I covered my normal 5-mile route in 42 minutes, and aside from the crushing humidity, I felt pretty darn good.
Today’s QUESTION: Where do you stand on “diet” foods? I generally avoid them. They’re overpriced and over-processed. I’d rather have a small amount of the real thing – or an occasional splurge on a food that I love – than half-ass it with an inferior substitute!
eat, drink, run 
Aaaaaaand I think I love you.
I HATE the whole diet food concept. Um yes, lets get our body used to all sorts of chemical-filled processed crap! I ate that way for a few months in college and gained 10 pounds. Now I eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, and whole grains as I can, and I’m back to my high school weight.
I love the real-food health bloggers. Especially ones that don’t start every post with “xyz sent me this…” because honestly, I’m a little bitter that nobody is sending me tons of free food.
Haha, no one is sending me free stuff either. Maybe someday.
There are even words to describe how irked Hungry Girl makes me and that article today put me in such a sour mood!
I can’t believe she’s so flippantly acknowledging that she is all about the “middle of the supermarket” and seems to think it’s almost funny that she’s gotten rich by perpetuating eating over-processed junk food.
So yes, if you can’t already tell, I am not a fan of the “diet foods”. I got aspartame toxicity in college (yes this is a relatively widespread condition) and realized those fake foods have no place in my life anymore.
Here’s a couple great pieces with backlash on all the press she’s been getting. My favorite lines are:
http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/07/the-la-times-approves-of-hungry-girl-lisa-lilliens-crimes-against-food/
http://www.huliq.com/1/80133/hungry-girl-recipes-bring-lisa-lillien-national-spotlight
“But she’ll soon discover the best low-calorie diet of all; it’s called the peak oil diet. It’s the diet where you’re hungry all the time because the supermarkets are empty and you don’t know how to grow your own food, or store it, or cook it. Hungry Girl is sure to love it- she’ll be skinny as a rail.”
“You know we’re in trouble when the article starts “Lisa Lillien considers the bowl of cocktail wieners simmered in a quick-fix barbecue sauce as if she were appraising a fine wine.”
AND
Amen sister, yay for the real bloggers! I won’t be buying any Hungry Girl books! I also generally stay away from “diet” foods
This is the part that makes me want to barf the most: “Both the real world and the diet space are increasingly populated by virtual cheerleaders like Ms. Lillien, with nicknames like Skinnygirl and The Bikini Chef, who strive to make weight loss sound like as much girly fun as the third round of mojitos at a bachelorette party.”
I hate fake people AND fake food. People might be able to shed a few pounds but they’re going to be all sore and exhausted and angry from that toxic list of artificial ingredients.
Glad you brought it up so I could share in the inner bitchiness!
I think the fakeness of her person almost makes me angrier than the fakeness of her food. The whole thing is just infuriating.
And Bikini Chef? GAG.
I hope there’s room for two on the bitch couch. Scoot over!
Seriously, that Hungry Girl stuff almost scares me. It’s like a handbook–hey, anorexics, here’s a bunch of stuff you can eat that’s SUPER LOW CAL!!!!1! Ugh.
Ugh, I know – I loved the part of the article where it talks about eating as few calories as possible. It’s definitely a dangerous message.
oh man, you opened up my personal can of worms here. i saw that article too, and it completely disgusted me. all that ms. hungry girl has going for her are some damn good marketing and branding skills – otherwise she is making millions for being an untalented writer, uninspiring person, and offering a complete lack of nutritional and health advice to her millions of followers. i write for a living, and the whole situation is pretty sad for those of us (like you) who actually know how to write.
as far as diet foods go, it’s people like hungry girl that only perpetuate the growth of the diet industry, which means more processed foods hit the shelves, more people waste their money on specialty 100 calorie (or 80 calorie or whatever the magic number these days is) products, and more people are generally suffering in pursuit of thinness. i obviously don’t believe in processed anything, not to mention real food just tastes better. but our country has a lot of catching up to do in terms of realizing that, and it’s people like hungry girl that further the confusion about what health really is. when we have someone writing an entire series of books on how to avoid the outside aisles of the supermarket while still
being “healthy,” it’s no wonder so many people are misinformed about how to properly take care of themselves. there’s a huge difference between being truly healthy and just being skinny (not to mention nourished versus starving, which i’m sure anyone following hg’s advice would be).
aaaaand there i went on my diatribe. allow me to step off my soapbox before my comment takes nine hours to read.
I saw a commercial some some yogurt-cup thing that was 75 calories instead of the normal 90 (or something like that). I seriously thought it was a joke at first.
But sadly, no.
And you’re absolutely right that this is the industry HG is feeding (pun intended). It’s ridiculous.
Great post. I LOVE real food. I will admit that for a small portion of my college life, I was on the low-fat/low-cal everything plan and my H promptly vetoed that crap. And, it really didn’t change my weight at all anyhow. Our fridge is always full of REAL butter, cheese and (gasp!) even cream, along with the important stuff like fresh fruits, veggies, meats and such. Thanks for being a good health blogger. P.S. – do you know how I can get my pic to show up instead of a strange-o purple square? Do I need to hav ea wordpress blog for that to work??
Heh. I thought about posting on this, but figured someone else would do a better job of it. And so you have.
So I’m going to take the other side, which is this: this woman isn’t pretending to be anything other than what she is, which is a goofy peddler of low-calorie, sometimes tasty food. Is it natural, organic, whatever? Hell no. But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that half the stuff we buy at Whole Foods is eons better. I don’t think anyone is expected to eat HG food morning, day, and night – she’s giving options for people who are looking to lose weight. People lose weight in all kinds of wacky ways. Not going to say that eating Fiber One bars and weird noodles is that much worse than going on a juice cleanse.
Also…and I can’t fully articulate my thoughts on this, because it’s pretty nebulous, but I do wonder if the highly negative reaction is somehow laced with gender. Like, Lillien is betraying women by making a lot of money out of “unnatural” diets, and not being completely authentic herself. I wonder if you had a dude doing similar things if there would be a similar lashing out against him. Just wondering.
Really I think it’s the fact that she’s making so much money that irks me and blows my mind. I mean, other merits aside, telling people to drink diet soda and bake their chicken instead of frying it? Hello, Captain Obvious.
The gender point is an interesting one. Marketing stuff to women in general is just fascinating to me, actually. This whole space with the Bikini Chef and Hungry Girl and cutesy avatars and OMGs….it makes me shake my head, but millions of women obviously buy in to it.
Marketing stuff to women in general is just fascinating to me, actually.
God yeah. Self esteemy crap. Unoriginal, packaged “diet” tips like you mention above. Its all very…cookie cutter. (Reminds me of the time I sat down with a bunch of psychologists who were all in love with Oprah and the Secret. These women had PHds!!!)
I really need to make one of those blogger confessions posts, because I own a Hungry Girl cookbook. It was a gift in my defense! Even worse, I was obsessed with low fat fat free stuff in high school and ate a lot of that processed crap. Sooo glad I know better now. Since I am in super frugal mode – my beef (heh) with the “diet” foods are their prices. It’s not cheap to eat that junk! And fat free cheese sucks. Period.
Fat free cheese DOES suck. Word.
Yes, I find it very odd that one of Hungry Girl’s mantras is that “not everyone can afford to buy organic everything” and that’s why she shops the middle of the supermarket.
Um. Processed food is, like, expensive.
And I could not agree more – fat free cheese is waxy, nasty stuff!
This Hungry Girl broad seems like nothing so much as a slightly-less-drunk Sandra Lee, of “Semi Homemade” fame. Why do these bitches get 10million dollars, when there are people out there all the time doing better work with fewer resources?!
Also, the NY State government wanted to ban salt in restaurants. But they never talked about pulling low-cal items that are packed with sodium off the shelves.
Just because it’s low in fat and calories doesn’t make it healthy. And that makes me mad, because so many people don’t remember that, and then along comes Hungry Girl to perpetuate the myth a little longer.
LMAO @ “a slighly-less-drunk Sandra Lee.” 🙂
Oh my gosh, great post! I could not agree more about Hungry Girl, and posers like her. As a master’s nutrition student and soon-to-be RD, it drives me bananas when people like that, with no nutrition education or experience whatsoever, dole out information like that and people eat it right up (pun intended). It just helps the millions of nutritionaly misinformed become even more misinformed. GRRRR. Now I’m fired up.
Even the word “diet food” angers me – because you know it’s totally processed and full of crap. I’m with you on having the real thing, all the way.
Great that you got a decent run in!! 🙂
Thank you!! I hate what this woman stands for. I too saw her on Rachael Ray and her suggestions made me cringe. Then I subscribed to her newsletter to see what it was all about and I was horrified. It makes me sad that this processed-food queen is so unbelievable popular. UGH.
A) I love the fact that you posted a photo of yourself eating a cookie with crumbs on your chest. That is one reason why I keep coming back here…you’re REAL. And that’s awesome.
B) I will admit that I totally bought into Hungry Girl for a while. I subscribed to her newsletters and was even given one of her cookbooks as a gift. I mostly liked the way that she gave “swaps” of unhealthy restaurant food that you could make at home.
HOWEVER, since I started reading healthy living blogs like yours and others a few months back, I am now totally in agreeance with you about her strategies. You’re right about it being a brand…there are even FiberOne yogurts and the like with the “Hungry Girl Approved” seal on them. Seriously?!?
I’m glad that I started educating myself on what is truly healthy living and I wish more people would see that it’s not about the processed diet food. When I bought the “diet foods” I may have lost a few pounds but it always came right back on when I got sick of eating them. Now that I’m being truly healthy I’ve lost 5 pounds (and counting) but I FEEL stronger, leaner and better. I never got that feeling when I did the diet food thing.
Kudos to you and other health food bloggers for spreading the word about what it means to live a TRULY healthy (and fulfilling) lifestyle.
Thank you. I am happy that seeing my oily, unwashed, crumb-coated face keeps people comin’ back. 🙂
The branding thing bugs me too. It’s just seems…smarmy. Although I suppose if Trader Joe’s Wine Shop called me up and wanted to sponsor me, I wouldn’t say no. But there definitely seems to be a lack of disclosure about how the whole thing works going on with HG and her products.
I’m super behind on your blog; your got ravennas!! I need to go catch up. In the mean time, fight the power girlfriend. That hungry girl sounds like her BRAIN is hungry.
you* not your. sheesh
Excellent rant. I’ve had similar feelings about Hungry Girl and other people famous for dieting…I lost 100 pounds by eating a lot of processed, low calorie foods. The reason? Part of my obesity problem was portion control. Eating pre-packaged Lean Cuisines were a way to train myself to eat 1 portion. I learned a lot eating those processed foods.
Then when I lost the weight and started running, I quickly realized that I needed to be eating REAL food. My body craved it. It felt sick on processed foods. I need FUEL. I quickly changed my eating habits and haven’t looked back.
I am glad you weighed in! Your blog was definitely one of the first that popped to mind when I was trying to think of bloggers with amazing stories who have lost weight and found a healthy lifestyle but who still eat real food and drink beer. 🙂
Interesting that the packaged stuff helped you at first. There is definitely something to be said for learning portion control. And I do believe that Lean Cuisines and such have a place in the world – they’re better than fast food every day, right? I guess it’s all relative.
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This is a very well articulated rant, which sums up the feelings of many, who roll their eyes at Hungry Girl and all her “wisdom”….
I didn’t know much about HG, when I first saw her annoying image on something. I went to the library & checked out one one of her “cookbooks”, as I was curious to see what she was all about. Ha, complete and udder crap. So many chemicals, so little time, sums up HG.
That said, I also feel it is important to note that she is popular because people buy into her crap. It would seem that some love the idea because it is about eating as much as you can, with as few calories as possible. I despise what she represents, but I despise the people who have made her popular even more. It’s about time people start empowering themselves, instead of taking the advice of some lady who has no real story, no real knowledge of health and started out with one thing in mind – MONEY.
This is the first time I have read your blog, you can bet all the cookie crumbs & beer, that I will be back.
SOLDIER ON!!!!!!!
Love this post! Hungry Girl is the Sandra Lee of nutrition. That’s not a compliment by the way.
So. well. said.
Hate diet foods, btw. I make a lot of stupid nutritional choices out of laziness (i.e. sitting at my desk at work for 6 hours and forgetting to eat), but the one thing I always ALWAYS try and do is eat stuff that isn’t overly processed. I can’t do it anymore. Ever since I’ve made a concerted effort to avoid those foods, they just don’t taste real to me.
Thank you for writing this. Hungry Girl makes me FURIOUS. I get so upset thinking of all the impressionable women who think this is actual health advice. I wish someone would just say to them, “Eat REAL whole foods, mostly vegetables and fruits and real whole grain bread that HAS calories and you will be healthier and lose weight!”
Instead, we get this crap. I hope so much that as a country people will become more aware of real food and stop thinking this fake stuff is food, but thanks to Hungry Girl that won’t happen anytime soon.
I must have been living under a rock. I can’t say I have ever heard of Hungry Girl before Bess tweeted about the NY Times article.
I can’t believe she specifically suggests “Light English muffins”: there are only 20 calories difference between the regular variety and the light versions of the Thomas ones!! It’s sad to know her readership thinks she’s a genius for making this list. Anyone who can Google search “diet foods” or “100 calories packs” can do it.
I’m with you on the money aspect and the fact that there are FANTASTIC bloggers out there doing this for nothing, other than the love of writing. We will be paid with the honor that we gain along the way – which is much more valuable. Just remember that when looking at your bank account 🙂
I know – so much of “light” foods is just marketing, plain and simple. Those Laughing Cow cheeses come to mind as well. There is like a 15 or 20 calorie difference between the Regular and Light versions.
She advocates lo carb beer, which goes against everything I hold dear. How can you take eating advice from someone like that?
“Drink this tasteless beverage so you can eat a cardboard-like, sugar and salt preserved 100 calorie cookie pack later!”
No thanks.
I could not agree with you more. And, I usually find that I drink FAR more when I’m drinking “light” beer as opposed to a more-flavorful “real” beer. Light beers are so much easier to suck down mindlessly. More calories in the end – and I end up drunk and having to pee every twenty minutes. Awesome.
“No wonder she’s hungry.” SO WELL SAID.
That article made me SO ANGRY and I agree with everything you said above!!
I leafed through Hungry Girls cookbook last week and was less than impressed. I didn’t realize how much of a marketing scheme she had backing her though – that’s pretty pathetic. As for diet food, I used to seek these items out but that was before I actually started reading the ingredients lists and not just the calorie and fat counts. Yikes! The things people eat wrongly thinking it’s heathy … it’s just plain sad.
My H is a chef- enough said, right? 😉
We don’t do processed crap as a rule (though we may indulge in the odd fast food run for the kids) and believe in making real (good) food taste great!
Hungry girl, skinny b!tch and the various other gimmicks are just that..of course, who wants to believe that it takes effort and a bit of planning to lose weight? In our culture of quick fixes everyone is looking for a magic placebo- even if it means snack packs and hotdogs..
This is a wonderful, PG version of all of the words that exited my mouth when I read this article in the NYT. I was outraged, disgusted, and sick with the idea that this pig is profiting off of the SAD.
Now, armed with the knowledge that she wasn’t “just a blogger”, but rather that this whole thing was concocted ‘Pinky & The Brain’ style, I’m even more outraged.
I can’t believe that anyone could have a clear conscience about promoting that people eat processed, disease-causing junk food in order to become healthier.
AMEN!
Like everyone commenting before me I got pissed off when I read that article. I couldn’t believe that someone would with that kind of following put that kind of infomration out there.
It’s just unreal! Fantastic post!
Dude!! Thank you for that. I used to read the Hungry Girl blog until I was like…what the hell is this crap? So sad that there’s people out there who go by what she says.
I love you for this!! I actually work with a woman who refers to Special K bars and fat free ANYTHING as healthy snacks. I did buy 2 Hungry Girl books back in the day when I didn’t know better and have since given them away. Worthless.
HA! I am going to admit I was on the Hungry Girl bandwagon when she first came out. Then I realized-all of it is processed crap. I tried those 100 calorie yogurt parafits and they are gross.
I even tried the vitamuffin tops-BLECH.
I now know better and I am losing weight MY way.
Good article Ms. Shelby! I admit that I’ve tried a few Hungry Girl recipes in the past (for example, her butternut squash “fries” are pretty good AND they’re made of whole foods), but I am generally against “diet food”. I recently read Nina Planck’s “Real Food” and I highly recommend it. I even started drinking whole milk because of the book. It really got me thinking about why I consider some foods “healthy”. Low calorie & fat count does not necessarily mean healthy!
Hope your achilles is feelin’ better, run together soon?
Thanks! I am definitely going to pick up this Real Food book – I keep hearing great things about it. 🙂
Legs are doing alright. Still stiff and a little sore. Bleh. I’m picking up some new shoes tomorrow so hopefully that helps. I’m 75% on racing on Saturday though assuming it doesn’t get worse – you are too, right?
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Ahem. You forgot to mention your crazy amount of distance running, speed work, yoga sessions and weight training. I’m sure all that exercise worked hand in hand with the healthier eating to help you shed the pounds. Which is Awesome and As It Should Be, without a doubt! Just wanted to note it wasn’t just healthier eating.
That is a semi-fair point. 🙂 Although I was logging some pretty decent mileage with marathon training last fall and was still a solid 10 pounds heavier!
I started out my weight-loss journey on diet foods and convenience packaging. I just didn’t know any better. Then I joined Livestrong.com and was shown the light. I think that half of it is that people are misinformed. When is the last time you saw a tomato advertised on TV? Or a head of lettuce? Or a nice fuzzy peach? It all links back to government subsidies of soy, wheat, and corn but I won’t start my rant.
I think a lot of people “start out” on them and frankly that’s great. I totally realize that our little health-blogger world is skewed and there are many people out there for whom 100-cal packs are a huge improvement. And I think you’re totally right that it’s largely a lack of information – given the choice between a piece of fruit and a packaged snack that is clearly labeled with calories, points, whatever – many people opt for the latter. They definitely do not need an “internet weight-loss goddess” to help them with it. 🙂
Congrats on your transition to a healthy lifestyle! 🙂
I AGREE WITH YOU COMPLETELY!!! I’m actually planning a post for next week that references the Hungry Girl NYTimes article, so I won’t go into details here. But we’re definitely on the same page.
I definitely agree with you but I’m sure that you didn’t do research onto how she actually feels about all this either. There is a link here to a question someone asks in a newsletter
“Do you really eat processed food all the time? What do you have to say about this nickname?” and she answers it, here is the link:
http://www.hungry-girl.com/askhg/askhgdetails.php?isid=1768
she says
“Because let’s face it: America eats processed food. These foods tempt us all day, every day. It’s unrealistic to think that the average person, who’s faced with fast food and processed food on a regular basis, can flip a switch and start following a completely rigid diet of 100% “clean” foods. It just is. While it may work for some people, it’s not reasonable for the masses. So Hungry Girl provides a happy medium — a bridge between the average junk-food diet and the idealistic way of eating perfectly “healthy” at all times. It’s not about following an all-processed-food diet. It’s a REALISTIC approach to better-for-you eating that people can actually live with and feel good about.”
not trying to cause an argument and im not on her side I was just wondering if you’ve seen this 🙂
I appreciate your posting this and I think HG has a point – that for many people “diet” processed food might be better than whatever other junk they’re eating. A couple of commenters have mentioned that HG-esque food helped them get started in their weight loss – which I think is great!
No matter what her bio says, though, about her philosophy – personally, I’m skeptical. The woman’s a marketing machine – and obviously a good one 🙂 And her recipes and grocery lists kinda speak for themselves! I agree there’s a happy medium between a packaged diet and 100% clean, whole foods – heck, I’ve been known to bust open a box of Kraft now and then – but getting millions of dollars to tell people to eat Fat Free Pringles? Is ridiculous!
Anyway, thanks for commenting 🙂
I couldn’t agree more! Last year, I returned to Weight Watchers briefly and was totally fed up from this Hungry Girl nonsense. Who cares if you can have a “1 pt margarita” (made with diet sprite, crystal lite, and tequila)? I don’t want to think about how bad that stuff tastes. Not to mention that you can reduce points by adding diet sprite to your wine. Now that’s blasphemous! Who wants to live life like that? Real food is so much better.
Best post EVER! I wish the NYT would publish THIS! For years I struggled with binge eating and weight gain/loss because I restricted myself to crap fake diet food (and I was, I’ll admit, a Hungry Girl subscriber). It’s only been in the past year that I’ve stopped binging and lost weight (without trying! The natural consequence of just honoring your body and its hungers). And it’s all because I eat REAL food, real ingredients, even if they’re “bad” or full fat. Food is a blessing, not something that we’re supposed to wage a war on. This article turned my stomach, and I am glad you let your “inner bitch” out and spoke up about it! Thanks for doing your part to change this country’s perception of food and diet through your blog–it may not have the reach of Miss Hungry Girl’s site but it’s making a big difference to people like me, who have come over from the other side. 🙂
AMAAAAZING! I completely agree with you on this, thank you for putting my thoughts into words for me!
I bought her cookbook a long time ago thinking there would be great healthy recipes in it. Every single recipe is with artificial sweeteners and fake fake fake products. I haven’t made a single recipe from it and don’t really care to.
Thanks for that great post!
I completely agree. Diet foods are gross, Processed foods suck. Artificial sweeteners suck! Natural and Organic food rocks! Eating a healthy, nutritious meal, watching your portions, and working out are all anyone needs. 🙂