The Gilmore Girls Diet is Healing My Relationship with Food

Having grown tired of the social media influencers and the miscellaneous so-called experts constantly telling us what to eat and what to stop eating, I have turned to one of my favourite shows, Gilmore Girls, for some diet and lifestyle guidance. Where better than fiction to find inspiration for change?

In trying to move away from obsessing over my weight and working on repairing my relationship with food, I'm trying to adopt a more relaxed approach toward eating and living, or something I'm calling The Gilmore Girls Diet. 

Part of the affinity for the Gilmore Girls is the way in which Lorelai, the mother, and her daughter Rory eat. There's a running theme of them always being hungry and being able to eat whatever they want. But what's most alluring about that pattern is that they always remain thin. While some have criticized how the Gilmore Girls eat as setting a bad example for viewers or simply being a fantasy, closer examination reveals that their diet and lifestyle habits aren't all that unhealthy. 

For instance, Lorelai and Rory are not members of the clean plate club; they never finish what they're served, and their fridge is stocked with various leftover containers and cardboard pizza boxes. So even though it seems like they overeat, a viewer can assume these fictional women eat when hungry and stop eating when they're full. Wise.

While American portions are known worldwide for being larger than in other countries, the Gilmore Girls show us that it's okay not to finish your food. In leaving food on their plate, they exemplify hara hachi bu, or eating until you're only 80 percent full, a method developed by the Japanese to avoid overeating. I used to feel that not finishing what I was served was wasteful, but because I eat most of my leftovers later on, I’ve changed my thinking around the food left on my plate: I’m respecting my body and my wallet. How much money am I wasting anyway by not finishing 20 percent of a meal or snack, especially when I'll eat what's left later?

While at first glance it seems like the Gilmore Girls main food group is junk food, their meals are actually quite balanced when you factor in the obligatory Friday night dinners at Lorelai's parents' (Emily and Richard's), the near-constant smatterings of Sookie's cooking, and the cafeteria food that Rory has at Chilton and then Yale. Emily and Richard's meals, which usually consist of quality protein and vegetables, are healthy enough to balance out their weeknight meals. Then there's Luke's Diner, where the women eat most often. At breakfast, you'll always see fruit. At the same time, Luke's beloved burgers are an arguably balanced meal if you consider the toppings as a salad, the beef as a hefty source of protein, and some carbohydrates from the bun. A stretch, I know, but bear with me.

The same could be said for their delivery pizza and Chinese takeout, where an everything topping pizza will meet some vegetable and protein requirements. Chinese food is saucy meats, more veggies, and rice as carbs. And even during their movie night spreads of multiple candies and salty snacks, they never finish any of it!

So, while junk food fests obviously are not the best for you, worrying incessantly about what foods you can and can not eat is a disorder with a name: orthorexia. Coined in 1997, the term is defined as an obsession with proper or healthful eating. While it's not clear whether or not orthorexia is on the rise, awareness of the disorder is, which is likely because of our culture's current obsession over which foods are good and which are bad. Plus, it's no big secret that denying your cravings can lead to harmful binging. Allowing occasional indulgences rather than taking an all-or-nothing approach is the way to go. While we’re at it, stop thinking of foods as being good or bad: this mindset is defeatist and leads to feeling like a failure if you have a slip-up. We don’t have time for that.

The Mediterranean diet stands out amongst other diets for encouraging certain lifestyle practices, like adopting an active lifestyle. Even though the Gilmore Girls famously loathe and avoid exercise, they often walk to and from Luke's for many of their meals and regularly walk around Stars Hollow. At work, Lorelai is constantly on her feet and buzzing around the Inn, while Rory is always lugging her books up and down the halls of Chilton or Yale. They even dance together at home, just for fun. This type of constant movement throughout the day, especially after eating, is becoming more and more encouraged by health professionals as being equally if not more important than the previously recommended thirty-minutes of daily activity. Many health practitioners recommend finding enjoyable forms of movement, as those are the activities that most people will stick to over the course of their lives.

What's most important to notice about the Gilmore Girls is their happiness. The impact of our mental health on our physical health is finally being recognized more often in the medical community, as well as the detriments of chronic stress. The Gilmore Girls often eat together or with someone else, which is another lifestyle practice encouraged by the Mediterranean diet: share your meals with other people. Feelings of connection to one another and our community are proven to have beneficial effects on our well-being, which Lorelai and Rory can affirm between one another and their Stars Hollow friends. They are constantly connecting with each other and others through their witty dialogue and finding ways to make every situation lighter or funnier and, therefore, easier to process. Lorelai and Rory are always there for each other and the people they care about. There's a reason the show's theme song states, "If you need me to be with you, I will follow where you lead."

I've often joked that my one and only vice is coffee, or as Lorelai would say, "Coffee, coffee, coffee!" Coffee is an excellent example of something that no one can agree about being good or bad for you. While there's enough evidence for someone to argue either side, people will find the proof they seek. So I'll side with Harvard, Rory's original desired alma mater, in that moderate coffee intake, or two to five cups a day, has been linked to a lower likelihood of diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, Parkinson's, and even depression. It's like I always tell myself when I'm having a rough day, "Depresso? Espresso!" While the amount of coffee Lorelai drinks is criticized, closer examination reveals that just like her food, she rarely finishes all those cups of coffee.

After being on The Gilmore Girls Diet for a few months, I’m beginning to form a healthier relationship with food. What's most important, though, is that I am happier more often. Adopting the different aspects of the Gilmore Girls way of eating and life has helped me quiet the noise of the wellness world.

In allowing myself to listen to my body in the way of being hungry or full and fulfilling cravings that I've previously deemed as unhealthy, I can confidently report that I'm healing my own relationship with food, one lap around the neighbourhood, one meal with my family, and one cup of coffee at a time.