WEBVTT - Dissecting Diet Culture 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:07.840 I have dealt with my body image my entire life, 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:10.960 and then when I came into the television world, it 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:12.879 was like whoa, it was magnified. 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.560 We get these messages now about diet and health. The 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:20.080 word health is kind of a stand in for weight loss. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:22.840 You hear it all the time, so it really is 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:23.919 the air we breathe. 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:26.400 For me, I would go to my grandma's house and 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:29.479 it's like, here, eat this in this huge plate, and 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:31.760 if you don't eat it, you don't love me. And 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:34.239 it's almost like I want to say, that's kind of 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:40.559 where it started. Hello, my beautiful people, and welcome to 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:44.880 the Cheeky's and Chill Podcast. So last week, the Makutura 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:49.639 Podcast Network hosted its first live event, and guys, it 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.559 was so much fun. It was so nice seeing so 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.560 many of your faces at the iHeartRadio Theater in Burbing, 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:58.560 and I really enjoyed answering your questions. So for those 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:00.880 of you who missed the event, or for those of 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.560 you who want to experience it again, we're going to 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.880 air an episode of the live event here on my 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:08.520 podcast in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that. 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:10.560 I just want to give you guys, a heads up 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:13.959 about that, Okay, But moving on to today's episode. Today 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:17.080 we're going to be talking about something almost everyone thinks about, 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.720 food and dieting. We're also going to be talking about 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:24.280 eating disorders. So if you find any of these things triggering, 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:26.880 you might want to skip the episode and listen to 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:31.080 a previous episode. Okay, let's jump into today's episode. This 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:43.959 is Cheeky's and Chill. Sitting here with me today is 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:47.800 Cole Kasten. She's an award winning journalist and author of 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:51.400 the new book What's Eating Us Women, Food and the 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:55.080 Epidemic of Body Anxiety. In the book, Cole talks a 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.680 lot about diet culture here in America and our relationship 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:02.080 to food. Oh. I am so happy you're here with us. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.880 Congratulations on publishing your first book. 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:07.400 Thank you so much, and I'm so happy to be 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:07.840 here to you. 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.040 I thank you. No. I think this is a very 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:14.720 important topic, especially for women. I think men and women, 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:18.400 but as women were told you're not thin enough, you're 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.040 this or that, and me being in the industry. So 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:22.520 we'll get into all of that in a little bit. 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.639 But I want to know from you, what inspired you, 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:29.440 what made you say I need to write my very 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:31.560 first book and publish it about this topic. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.480 Well, I had written some smaller, shorter pieces about my 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:38.919 personal experience with eating disorders, and I had also written 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:42.120 some pieces as a journalist about these issues. And I 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.760 never really wanted to write a book because I didn't 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.840 want to sit in these issues any longer than I 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:51.360 had to write. I wanted to talk about them, but 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:57.640 not too much. And then I realized that these ideas, 0:02:57.680 --> 0:02:59.760 these thoughts in my head, these things I was telling 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:02.040 my self in my head, the trouble I was having 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:06.840 living what I was hoping to be like a more normal, peaceful, 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.800 balanced life. It was not changing whether I wrote about 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:13.160 it or not. So I became more curious. Am I 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.000 the only one that can't resolve this? Am I the 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:19.480 only one that doesn't feel like I'm on the other 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:23.200 side of this? After struggling for so long? And so 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.520 I decided to approach this like I would a journalist, 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.920 instead of looking at it just as a patient or 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.280 as a woman. I thought, I'm going to do this 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.760 like a journalist and talk to people, and every single 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:40.400 woman I interviewed for the book had some version. We 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.600 all come from different backgrounds, we're all different people, but 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:46.800 we shared so much, and so much of that was 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.400 am I crazy? Is this in my head? Is this 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.960 my fault? Same stuff over and over again. And that's 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:56.920 when I felt this urgency to write a book, like 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.920 let's get more information, let's get empowered from the information, 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:03.720 let's find out what's missing, which is a lot, and 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:05.720 let's try to fix it. 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.280 Well, thank you, first of all, thank you so much 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:14.440 for doing this, because I have dealt with my body 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:19.479 image for my entire life, and then you know, being 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.719 in the industry and being a singer, being on television, 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:25.120 it was even more so where I knew I was 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.440 always thicker than all the rest of the girls at school, 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:31.159 but then when I came into the television world, it 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:33.680 was like whoa, it was magnified and even to the 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.839 point where I feel and I saw in your book. 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:39.159 I read in your book that also it's almost like 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.719 those words get they get so attached to you and 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:44.840 you believe them so much that instead of you even 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:47.600 losing weight, you gain more weight. Like it's like this, 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:50.359 like I feel like that's what happened to me, you 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.240 know what I mean. And I also saw that there's 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:57.320 thirty million Americans that have eating disorders. 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.000 And that statistic is pre pandemic, so it's kind of 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:04.120 of the old statistic, like we really saw eating disorders 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:08.839 and hospitalizations for eating disorders just explode during the pandemic. 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:12.320 So those numbers, most of the researchers I spoke with 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.840 agreed that they're pretty it's a low ball. 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:20.960 Yeah, And what about kids, Like, how early are they 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:23.280 developing these eating disorders now? 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.200 Well, being a teenager is a really common time to 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:28.600 develop an eating disorder, and that's usually when we think 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:30.799 about eating disorders. That's what we have, that's the picture 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:32.720 we have in our mind of like a teenager. Right, 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:37.080 kids start to have these feelings sometimes around six or 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:40.159 seven they want to lose weight. And then women who 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:44.560 are eighty have eating disorders. So even though it happens, 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:48.640 you know, it's very common. But teenagers, kids that are 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.280 pretty young are starting to have these thoughts, these feelings, 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.039 and of course they are because we're all walking the 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:55.600 same earth, you know. 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.200 Yeah, And where do you think they're picking this up from? 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:00.800 You think it's social media, families in school. 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:03.719 Well, I think it's so complex and it's all of 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.880 those things and more things, right, so we also are 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.320 just born into a world that is telling us from 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:14.520 the second we are born we have to be thinner. 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:18.480 I mean, your weight is evaluated from the second you 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.479 can step on a scale. Right, So we get these 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:25.360 messages now about diet and health too, Like the word 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:29.039 health is kind of a stand in for weight loss now, 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.200 so it's all very very blurry. But I think that 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:37.640 we have a really complex attitude about our bodies because 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.640 we get these diet messages, we get these health messages. 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.880 Doesn't everyone have someone in their family, one way or 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.719 another who was either on a diet, thinking about a diet, 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.400 talking about what was on their plate, talking about they 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.680 had to eat less. You hear it all the time. 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.720 So it really is the air we breathe. And then 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.880 if you add to that any sort of stress or 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:05.920 trauma in your life, done right. So these are very complex, 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:10.040 but it's like we have so many factors leading into 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.120 it that can put us on this course to develop 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:17.400 really unhealthy behaviors that can harm our bodies through restricting. 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.000 And that's what I was going to ask my next question, 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.720 what exactly does an eating disorder look like? 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:25.120 I mean, that is the question of the hour I'm 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.880 not doshing the question. But we know that there are 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:33.040 some official eating disorders, like anorexia, which is really severely 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.840 restricting your food intake until you get to a certain 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.520 very low weight where you're really restricting food. There's bolima, 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.120 where you're binging food and then purging it, and then 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:47.920 binge eating, which is eating large, large amounts of food 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.560 that the average person would probably not eat. It's kind 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.680 of not really perfectly defined, right, But those are the 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:56.520 three eating disorders we think of. But there's this whole 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:01.880 other category of eating disorders that is based on everything else. 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:05.320 And if you don't fit into one of those perfect 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:10.040 meat categories, then you're in the everything else category. So 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:13.720 I'll use myself as an example. I starved myself constantly. 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:17.040 I was I guess you could say anorexic because I 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:21.440 got very very very thin and didn't eat, But because 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:25.960 I didn't have a particular BMI, I would not have 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:31.200 been officially classified as anorexic. Oh wow, So it's called 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.560 a typical anorexia, which is man. I make a joke 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.200 about this in my book. It's not funny, not skinny 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.640 enough for real anorexia. Geez. So you are forcing your 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.280 body to get to a weight that's way below what 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.480 it wants to be, and that's an eating disorder, but 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:50.480 not really officially. So there are so many more disorders 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.559 than there are definitions. 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:56.760 And you feel that it's all it's like mental emotional, 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.360 like it's all, you know, because I wonder, I'm like, 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:01.920 is it emotional? I mean, I feel like I for 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:04.800 a long time, I was an emotional eater. Sure, if 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.560 I was really sad, it made me feel better to eat, 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:09.920 you know, especially after losing my mom. That's when I 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:11.720 feel I gained the most weight and I was holding 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.080 onto it almost as if it was like, no, this 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:16.000 is what makes me feel safe. And then I went 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.079 through a divorce and it was even worse and it's 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:20.560 like no matter what, like and I would just eat, 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:22.400 and I would eat because it made me feel better. 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.439 I mean, I know, is it both mental and emotional? 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.760 I mean A lot of the new research is pointing 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.240 to the fact that these for many people have like 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:36.120 a brain predisposition, like your brain may not trigger fullness 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.600 the way the average person triggers fullness, or your brain 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:43.720 may not register hunger the way the average person registers hunger. 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.559 So you may not have a chemical regulation. So if 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:49.520 some people tell you, oh, just kind of eat what 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:52.880 you want, but your brain isn't giving you the accurate 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:56.040 messages about hunger and what your body needs, you can't 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.920 really do that intuitive eating thing. Another thing on tip 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.720 top of that is, I mean you talk about your divorce, 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:08.400 you talk about losing your mother, that's trauma, that's stress. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:14.000 So trauma sends us towards this as well. Right, So 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.720 it's very complicated. We can't just say because a lot 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.280 of people like to talk about social media, which is fair. 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:23.400 Social media is not helping anyone with their body image. Yeah, 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.960 but it's so much more complex than that. 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.360 I feel like some people confuse eating healthy with having 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.439 a problem with with an eating disorder. For example, if 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.480 you are eliminating carbs or fats, is that just eating healthy? 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:42.920 You know? 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:47.439 So the research from you know, I'm not a doctor, 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.280 I'm a journalist, but the researchers I spoke with who 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.360 are doctors who do research this say that when you 0:10:54.440 --> 0:11:00.120 eliminate one food or one food group, your brain and 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:06.280 starts to notice that food group more So, let's say 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.320 you give up bread and you're like, I'm seeing bread everywhere. Well, 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:12.280 that's not just you and your willpower, that's your brain. 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.240 Because like your brain doesn't care what you're wearing to 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:17.800 the Grammys. You know what I'm saying, Like your brain 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:20.520 doesn't care. She's trying to just keep you alive. So 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:23.480 when you say I'm giving up bread, your body's like, 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:24.839 we gotta find some bread. 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:28.480 It's it's so true. I did. Yeah, and I did 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:31.480 keto for so long, which is very like high protein, 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.439 high fats, and like absolutely like no carbs, very little carbs. 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:37.600 And it worked, don't get me wrong. And I liked it, 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:39.840 and that's what I prefer most of the time. But 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:41.800 you're absolutely right. It's like my body was craving it 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:43.559 even more than when I would have it. Instead of 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:45.280 having a little bit, I would have a whole lot 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.600 of it. You know. So I've learned. I'm telling you, 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:50.760 it's been a journey my entire life. Now I finally 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:53.559 got him. Like, oh, it's portion control, you know. It's 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.400 like I can have everything, it's just having a little 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:58.920 bit of everything. If I deprive myself. And I say 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.760 even the word diet for me, it's been where it's 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.480 h I'm on a diet. It becomes like this negative 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:07.720 connotation where it should be it's a lifestyle. WI change. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.520 I want to be healthy like I had. It was 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:11.840 a whole switch in my mind. It's like, this is 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.720 my lifestyle. I want to live longer, I want to 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:16.880 feel good, and in order to do that, then I 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:18.880 got to make these little changes. But if I want 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:20.199 to have a little bit of cake, I'm going to 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:22.880 have it, you know what I mean. It's all saying, okay, 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:24.959 instead of having the entire slice, I'm going to have 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:28.640 a few fork fools, you know what I mean. But 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:33.240 it's been it's been a journey, so I get it completely. 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:34.480 But also it's hard. 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:34.720 You know. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:37.760 What you're talking about is really important to kind of 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.440 highlight because when we change what the goal is, which 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.480 is really really really hard. We change the goal in 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.040 our head from like I'm trying to be smaller, which look, 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.640 I understand if you're a human being in the entertainment industry, 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.880 that is hard, you know, to actually think because you 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:55.880 have people are If you're not thinking about your body 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.640 all the time, other people around you are right. But 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:01.920 I think if you think I want to have more energy, 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.840 I want to feel good, I want to sleep better, 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:09.040 whatever those goals are. If you can create goals that 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:13.640 are not around the size of your body, it would 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:17.440 serve you well. Because we can't control, especially as we 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.720 get older, we can control less and less with that, 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.440 so we might as well just be like, Okay, let 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.199 me see how I can set some different goals. 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:27.640 Yeah, for me, it was more than anything. As I'm 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:30.880 getting more mature, getting older, you know, I'm more of 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.440 like concerned about my poops. It's just the truth. I'm like, 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:35.680 I want to poop better, you know what I mean. Like, 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:37.360 I want to have a better digesto system. And that's 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.240 something that I've had an issue with. Again, I've been 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.960 very like constipated. I'm always looking for fiber and all 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:44.800 this stuff. I'm like, I need to start maybe my 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:46.720 day off with like a green juice. I just I 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.760 want to get things going and flowing. And that helped 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:51.800 me a lot. Is like I had to remove like 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.400 you said, I want to be thinner and to please 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.520 other people. I'm like, if that, I want to feel good. 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.160 I want to have more energy, I want to sleep better. 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.840 And all this stuff gets harder to sustain, Like as 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.920 we get older. So when I was younger, and I 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:09.360 was starving myself, and I would eat an apple and 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:11.920 throw up that apple because I was so afraid of 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.240 what that would do to me. I mean, it's sick. 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:18.200 It's sick. I probably could not have sustained that much 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:20.040 longer than I did, even though I was able to 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.280 for a long time. When you are doing behaviors that 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.000 are that extreme, h it happened, you go to the 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.320 hospital a second, it's not like you slowly start to 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:31.880 feel like you are in an ambulance, no notice, right, 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:33.800 So I know people don't want to talk about that 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:35.640 piece of it because it's like, oh, it's fine, I 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:38.000 just do that. It's like, we really have to talk 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.640 about that. You don't know until you know, but it 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:46.040 gets real fast, and so we have to start. It's 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:50.480 a practice to if we can identify that something's going on, 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.760 if we are able to seek treatment, which is really 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:56.200 really hard. I wish it were obvious and easier, but 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.760 it is not. That's another reason why I wrote the 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.600 book to like this this information. If you or someone 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.360 you love is struggling with this, like this is what 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:05.880 you have to do. You have to do a lot 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:09.120 of work because our culture is not set up to 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:13.720 help people get well from this unfortunately, but to set 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.040 when you're better, to you're getting better, to set different 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:19.960 goals around eating an exercise, just like you're talking about 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:21.040 and cool. 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:24.760 Okay, so the diet industry is a multi milli actually 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.000 billion dollar industry. What do you think about that? Do 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.640 you think that that says like what we value in 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:31.240 this world? 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.560 I mean, I think, yeah, we do have those values 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.840 as a culture, of course, but I also think that 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:45.440 these companies put more money than we could even imagine 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:51.359 into advertising, into selling us this, and we're being very manipulated. 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.840 And so that's when I talk to other people. I 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.280 want to always tell everyone it's not your fault, like 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.480 it's you know, I don't want to think about all 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.760 the money as on diets and trainers all this stuff 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:05.360 to make them, you know, like to change my body 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.360 and not what I was thinking about health but really 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:10.520 just thinking about one goal and one goal only, and 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.800 that was getting smaller. But we are being really I 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.280 don't want to say manipulated only because that makes it 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:19.480 seem like we're not smart enough to figure it out. 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:23.040 It's everywhere, it is everywhere, and it's not an accident. 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:26.040 Companies are spending billions and billions and billions and billions 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:31.040 of dollars to separate us from our money to lose weight. Right. 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.920 And most of the people who seek weight loss treatments, 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:38.920 weight loss programs, I'm one of them. Most people are 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:42.400 repeat customers. That's where diet companies get most of the business. 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:47.760 So if it's repeat customers, that means it's not working. 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:52.040 Otherwise every weightless company would go out of business. Instead, 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:54.360 it's a multi billion dollar industry. 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.200 Yeah. And I have a nutrition company, right, And obviously 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.320 I have something it's called this s guinea stick, right, 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.720 that's like it's supposed to help you like burn fat 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.359 or whatnot. But it's like, our whole thing is wellness. 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:10.040 It's just really wanting to be healthy and not do 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:14.159 it just to be physically okay, but also internally the 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:19.080 most importantly internally being healthy. And do you feel that 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:23.520 the body positivity movement is changing anything at all? 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:28.240 Yeah? I Mean what's so tricky is this goes so deep. 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.560 So I think it's important that we see women of 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:35.760 different sizes. I think that's really important. I also think, 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:40.560 though we have to learn which I didn't know that 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:44.000 people who are in larger bodies can be fired from 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.560 their jobs for being in a larger body like legally, 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.879 I didn't know that there were not legal protections for people. 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.600 So many many years ago, a group of cocktail servers 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.280 at a casino in Atlantic City. They sued because their 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.600 boss was weighing them when they went back to work, 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:01.720 and if they gained way, they were told they had 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:04.040 to leave and come back when they lost the weight. 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:09.720 That's legal. The case was dismissed because there's no protection. 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:15.560 We have protections for gender, you know, sexual orientation, identity, ethnicity. 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:19.440 No one can fire you because you are Mexican or Italian, 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:23.720 but they can fire you for gaining twenty pounds. 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:24.720 That's insane. 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.719 So like the laws need to change, right, Like New 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:29.600 York City just passed a law that will go into 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.320 effect I think next year, of making height and weight 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:36.760 discrimination illegal, and so those are now protected classes, but 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.560 they're not protected federally. So I know I'm getting so 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:44.399 knitting gritty here, but that connects to why doesn't someone 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:47.560 like their body? Well, they may not know that they 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.640 can be fired, but they can probably feel it, right, 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.040 and that affects even though these weight issues definitely affect 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:59.760 men to they affect women so much more, and some 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.600 affects women in the workplace in a negative way and 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:07.760 men sometimes in a positive way. There was a study 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:12.560 of female political candidates and women who were larger heavier 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:16.280 were not considered as trustworthy, and men who were larger 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:17.879 were considered more powerful. 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:22.600 Oh my gosh, that's crazy. What the heck? And I'm 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:25.240 going to tell you, like my personal experience now that 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:28.600 I've lost about sixty something pounds, sixty seven pounds, I 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:31.720 feel I see the difference in the industry how people 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:34.240 treat me people in the industry like it's now it's 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:36.359 kind of like and I had a whole episode on 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:41.280 this and it's literally, oh my gosh, now you're so beautiful. 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:45.520 And I'm like what, Like it's just like now they 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:47.480 want to touch you and hug you, and it's like, oh, 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:49.440 now you can come to dinner with us and you're 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:51.960 part of our group. And I'm like, no, if you 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:55.080 don't want me at my biggest, at my largest, at 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:58.080 my beautifulness, then no, I'm not gonna be your friend. 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:00.800 It just has to change as a whole, Like you said, 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:04.800 like all these companies everything, everything, like that's why with 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:06.480 even with everything that I do. I'm like, I'm going 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:08.520 to have a casting call for for a body shape, 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.320 and I want to bring in the real woman, the 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.359 woman with the satellite, the curvy woman, even if there 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:16.960 is a size six model next to you. But it's like 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.080 coming together and uniting and showing the beauty that we 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.560 can be beautiful all shapes and sizes. It could say 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:25.440 something has to change. We all have to be intentional 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:26.000 in doing this. 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:29.280 And that's the thing I mean. That was another reason 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:32.119 I was hoping that the book could at least inspire 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:35.520 this that community is the way out of all of this. 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:37.800 Community there you go, right. 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:41.040 That is the key. Like I kept coming back to that, like, yes, 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:43.959 there's you know, some scientific research and news studies and 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:46.639 there are some great people doing some great work to 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:52.640 help people. Yes, but community is where this is at. 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:56.199 That is the way out. You need other people around you, 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:59.600 maybe who have shared your lived experience, who you can 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:03.119 connect with, who you can say exactly what you just 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:05.600 said to me, Why weren't you coming up and hugging 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:09.439 me when I was bigger? Right? Why why didn't you 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:14.080 see me? Beautiful them? That has to happen, but we 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:15.160 can't do that alone. 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:24.159 Yeah, we can't. I talk about social media because I'm 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:27.320 in the world and I've noticed that sometimes when I'm 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.600 on you know, people's pages, you feel a little anxious 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:32.320 and you feel like, you know, I'm like, I had 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:34.160 to kind of remove myself and say I'm just gonna 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:37.000