"It's not a diet—it's a lifestyle. " Yeah, I'll remember that when I'm sweating over a food scale weighing four ounces of sodium-free deli meat to put on my 50-calorie rice cake.
Weight Watchers, or 'WW' as they now call it to avoid being labeled a diet, has been a staple of diet culture for decades - it evolved from a community of women looking to slim down to a cult-like corporation worth hundreds of millions of dollars - inspiring eating disorders around the globe.
Madi Mayfield (who I interviewed in the last episode - check it out!) sits down with me to discuss the history, pitfalls, and personal experiences we've both had with Weight Watchers. We go over its villain origin story, why Oprah resigned from the board, and why the FTC is fining the company 1.5 million dollars for an app affectionately named Kurbo. Brilliant.
Share your personal experiences or submit questions for the pod at mybodymyjokespod@gmail.com
Follow Madi Mayfield:@mindfulmadijane
Follow your host Morgan Lorraine Gallo: https://linktr.ee/morganlorrainegallo
@morganlorrainegallo
0:00 Intro to Weight Watchers
1:00 The Origin of Weight Watchers
03:44 What is Weight Watchers Today
05:54 WW is a Cult
09:09 Personal Experience With WW
18:03 The Controversy of Kurbo
23:31 The Shift of Diet Culture
25:31 Madi's Experience with Ozempic
30:16 Getting to Body Neutrality
33:28 Morgan's Experience with Weight Watchers
36:46 Weight Watchers is a Game
39:17 My Last ED Hoorah
41:57 Recipes
42:50 Resources
43:42 Listener Question
46:58 First Time I Felt Fat
50:16 Where To Find Madi
