✨Episode Summary: From Mean Girls to Love Island to the endless “hot girl” eras, diet culture has been hiding in plain sight — and pop culture’s been serving it up for decades.

In this episode, we take a nostalgic (and slightly cringe) walk down memory lane, unpacking how our favorite TV shows, movies, and celebrities shaped the way we think about bodies, food, and worth. We talk about early 2000s media moments that fueled disordered eating messages, how “wellness” has become diet culture’s chic rebrand, and the generational ripple effects of those messages.

You’ll hear honest reflections, a few laughs, and some serious “wow, I didn’t even realize that was diet culture” moments — plus thoughts on what it might look like to create a new narrative around body image, one that actually leaves room for real life and real bodies. And, we hear from fellow CCN clinician, Brenna Barnard, with her take on The Real Housewives and Love Island.

🧰 Takeaways:

• Shows like Gilmore Girls and Love Island reflect (and reinforce) diet culture messages.
• Early 2000s media made disordered eating and fat shaming feel “normal.”
• Today’s “wellness” trends are often diet culture in disguise.

• Body image struggles often trace back through generations.
• Awareness is the first step toward change — you can’t challenge what you don’t notice.
• We deserve media that shows real, diverse, and dynamic bodies.
• Healing means questioning the stories we were raised on — and writing new ones.

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