Comments on: Diet Pop Culture – Choice Quotes from Diet Paperbacks

By: CheckeredFoxglove

CheckeredFoxglove — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:35:24 +0000

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17600911/ns/health-womens_health/t/female-fat-talk-socially-mandatory-study-finds/?

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 03:27:12 +0000

I’ve read that book…I bought a copy of it several years ago and read it a couple of times, and then I think I sold it to a used bookstore. I liked it, but it just…I don’t know, didn’t really stick with me the way other things have.

I don’t recall the reducing risk of dying thing. What was the claim, specifically?

By: Elizabeth G.

Elizabeth G. — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:28:41 +0000

I was reading the book “Intuitive Eating” recently (which actually isn’t a bad book — it does have weight loss in there as a potential goal, but the main focus is on restoring a normal relationship with food, which is why I bought it), and I noticed towards the end that it mentioned reducing the risk of dying. I was like, “what?”

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:02:49 +0000

BUT SHE’S A FEMINIST, JUST LIKE SARAH PALIN

By: Sarah R

Sarah R — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:57:32 +0000

I remember Ms. Magazine publishing a profile of Powter and being all like “Whaaa?”

By: erica

erica — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:57:59 +0000

yes. THIS. And it seems in the media the “we’re telling you this FOR YOUR OWN GOOD” attitude is common. Like, they are going to tell me the fifteen different ways I am likely to die early according to their research, and how it’s really my fault that I will, because I couldn’t tolerate walking around hungry and crabby all the time, like grown women are apparently supposed to.

By: SingOut

SingOut — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:01:16 +0000

OMG! I meant the microwave should never enter the equation. Please forgive. :)

By: SingOut

SingOut — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:59:21 +0000

The magic is chicken + cheese + salami, but yeah. The microwave should enter into this equation.

By: closetpuritan

closetpuritan — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:08:55 +0000

That pretty much sums it up.

And pretty much sums up why FA is so threatening to such people.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:48:24 +0000

The Protein Power couple has apparently seen the light and now they no longer recommend culinary horrors or low-fat cheese.

Their latest book recommends full fat foods (though it also recommends some awful protein shakes….ugh) and they are also the creators of a Sous Vide machine that makes some kick-ass juicy damn meat. It’s used by some top chefs apparently.

Microwaving totally negates the deliciousness that is chicken + cheese.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 17:20:47 +0000

As recently as five years ago? Angels and ministers of grace, defend us. Good on you for calling bullshit on that one. Reminds me of the Richard Simmons book I owned back in the late 1970′s/early 1980′s, in which he suggested that, if you don’t enjoy salad greens without dressing (and really, who does?), try lemon juice with a little artificial sweetener added.

I didn’t like them that way, either.

By: Emgee

Emgee — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:38:15 +0000

Crap. That was supposed to go under Meredith’s comment with her quote: “If the MIL nags you again, tell her you don’t take diet advice from people who’ve never been fat, because they don’t know what they’re talking about.” Sorry about that.

By: Emgee

Emgee — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:36:52 +0000

OMG, Meredith, I love this, I will be shamelessly stealing it to use with my mother. Who, I believe, is a long-lost twin sister of Miss B’s mother. Which reminds me, has anyone mentioned the illustrious “Grapefruit Diet”–pretty much a protein diet, no dairy, no starch, no fruit except you had to eat a half grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice with each meal to “burn the fat”. My mom made me do this with her every summer starting about age 9 or 10. I did lose about 10 lbs in 10 days, but was so ravenous for carbs I regained it almost instantaneously. And hate grapefruit.

By: SingOut

SingOut — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 01:54:54 +0000

I’ve sold all my diet books, but I remember the sense of hope that came along with the purchase of each one. *sigh*

A note about Protein Power: this book is awful and absurd, and the authors are truly deranged, but I have to admit, there’s a recipe I got from that book that I make to this day: they call it Chicken Parmesan, but it’s SO MUCH MORE.

You take a boneless, skinless chicken breast and pound it flat. Lay on a couple slices of salami and a couple slices of mozzarella, roll it up, toothpick it shut, cover it with marinara, and bake.

Now, I made a couple of adjustments. The original recipe said to cook the chicken in the microwave. (seriously! are we being punked?!) Also, it specified a low-fat cheese and sugar-free marinara.

When I make it now, I sear the chicken in a little olive oil, pour on my homemade marinara, then top it with a handful of part-skim shredded mozzarella, cover it with foil, and bake. I take off the foil for the last few minutes to brown the cheese.

My Splenda requests this meal every year on his birthday. Thank you, Protein Power!

By: Sandrad

Sandrad — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:00:33 +0000

May I suggest “Terrors of the table : the curious history of nutrition” by Walter Gratzer. Its a wild ride and also introduced me to my personal public health hero – Harriet Chick: Lets see, cured rickets, prooved the existance of vitamin C, water clorination? She da woman. AND still made keynote speeches at 100 years old!!!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:23:44 +0000

Hahha, awesome! Thanks for the explanation!

By: NicNac

NicNac — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:34:14 +0000

A Betty is a member of the crew that reads/posts on http://lucymarch.com/. We all tend to be wild, raucous, smart, kick-ass women, so we kinda evolved into a interweb family/sisterhood led by our AlphaBetty, Lucy.
After I first read your blog I posted the link over at Lucy’s because I knew it would resonate with so many of us (plus you’re hilarious!) It’s good to know The Betties are visiting.

By: NicNac

NicNac — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:27:56 +0000

I am BaDahBoom Betty!! I knew when I saw ‘assvice’ that i had met a sister in the Bettysphere.

By: julie

julie — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:33:31 +0000

I never took AYDS, but I remember dexatrim. It was speed. I played cards all night, except for a midnight jog (what was I, 15, if even that old?), when I’d hide behind bushes whenever cars went by, as I knew it would be suspicious for a teenage girl to be jogging in the middle of the night. I didn’t have to eat, and after a few days, my head would spin so much from standing up, that I’d have to lay down, wherever I was. Lucky thing I lived in some safe, boring suburbs.

By: KellyK

KellyK — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:37:24 +0000

Also, depending on who owns the chair, a Saws-All could fix that problem right quick.