100 things that taste better than skinny feels (because somehow we're back here)

Did we ever really leave?

I have a LOT of feelings about where contemporary body politics are.¹ The term ‘mid-size’ has no function but to serve anti-fatness; Ozempic is everywhere; people who built their platforms and businesses off of fat people are now turning their backs on them. I find myself rolling my eyes and choosing “no interested” on A LOT of content. The drive to be ‘thin’ is rooted in the maintenance of whiteness and white supremacy and that is simply a fact. With the resurgence of all this nightmare fuel, I am reminded of the damage done by Kate Moss’s famous “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”.²

Below you will find a list of 100 things that taste better than skinny feels³, from me, a current (and future) fat, whose eating disorder once ran their entire life. That is: I was fucking skinny and it sucked ass (not in a good way). There is no particular order to this list. My tummy is grumbling!!!⁴.

In the immortal words of Lady Miss Kay: “You need to eat”.

1. 1-2 babybels while you ponder what other snack to have

2. Toast. with margarine (YEAH I SAID IT) or butter, plus honey, cut diagonally

3. A spoonful of slightly cooled down mashed potatoes that are still left in the pot

4. Doritos (I still cannot eat crunchy food because of stupid oral surgery and GOD I YEARN FOR THE CRUNCH)

5. Grilled cheese made with cheese slices

6. Dosa

7. Mac and cheese & hot dogs

8. Any hot dogs

9. Poutine
   

   

   some excellent poutines L-R: I ate this at the Potato Museum in Cavendish, PEI on an East Coast trip with my sister | these middle poutines are me & my friend Lisi when she was visiting from Austria | and more poutine with Lisi, these ones in Montreal.

10. Crispy potatoes + sour cream + chives

11. A marble cheese string

12. Oikos lemon meringue yogurt

13. Greek rice with potatoes and a nice chicken skewer

14. Makhani paneer

15. Saag paneer

16. Sashi paneer

17. Pakoras

18. Pasta alfredo

19. Pizza (cheap) with dipping sauce

20. Pizza (fancy) with dipping sauce

21. A cheese burger with bacon

22. French fries

23. Tater tots

24. Sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and kale with rice + tahini dressing

25. Popcorn

26. Chocolate covered raisins

27. A bowl of cereal (which is A SNACK)

28. Carrot cake (any cake, really)

29. A turkey sandwich with aged cheddar, mayo, and shredded lettuce

30. A handful of skittles

31. Hint of lime tortilla chips

32. A nice travel PB&J

33. Cinnamon buns

34. My partner’s homemade pasta sauce (my favourite food)

35. Discount chocolate (post-Halloween, post-Valentine, post-Easter, you get it)

36. York peppermint patties

37. Pierogies with sour cream and bacon

38. Pancakes

39. Sausage, potatoes, and kale topped with poached eggs and feta

40. A snack pack of pudding

41. Freezer pizza

42. Microwavable burritos

43. Plain rice with butter

44. Spaghetti

45. All pasta

    

    This was my first time having carbonara and it was amazing — and yes this is GF!!! At a restaurant in Halifax with my sister.

46. Muffins

47. The groovin’ gravy fries from Meet

48. Cookies

49. Literally any curry

50. Pad thai

51. Tacos

52. Fish and chips

53. Coleslaw

54. BBQ’d ribs

55. Viennese potato salad

56. Kinder sticks

57. Schar ondule hazelnut cream bars (basically a gf bueno bar)

58. A nice cold iced tea (made with REAL SUGAR)

59. Caesar salad with a side of fries

60. Any food shared with your favourite people

61. Red jujubes

62. Apple pie a la mode

63. Coffee & a little treat

64. Crab cakes

65. Spinach & artichoke dip

66. The cashew cheeseball Sophie made for our Oscar viewing two years ago

67. Fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce

68. A bagel-based breakfast sandwich

69. The rickshaw bowl from Chau’s Veggie Express

70. A crisp apple

71. Old Dutch popcorn twists

72. Stir-fry (however you like it)

73. Steak with potatoes and green beans

74. Eggs benny (or the sweet potato benny from Nourish)

75. The entire menu at Almond Butterly

76. An omlete

77. Cavendish potato patties

78. Non “breakfast foods” for breakfast

79. Perfectly crunchy grapes

80. The first meal after you get home from being away

81. Mac and cheese with broccoli

82. Carrots with hummus

83. Guacamole with your favourite chip

84. Plain potato chips

85. Cheesecake

86. Hot chocolate with whipped cream or marshmallows

87. Any sort of well-prepared cauliflower (NOT cauliflower rice or cauliflower mash — both are essentially water)

    

    ate this cauliflower in Nova Scotia and I still think about it

88. Take-out that lasts two days

89. Well prepared salmon

90. Crab dip

91. Tzatziki with whatever the fuck you want

92. Za’atar fries with toum

93. Any food somebody else makes for you

94. Chicken pot pie

95. Cheese and crackers

96. A smoothie (NOT AS A MEAL)

97. Polenta

98. A granola bar that you stashed in your bag just in case and you remember it when you really need a snack

99. Any sort of lemon loaf

100. Jello with whipped cream

1. And that’s why I’m writing a dissertation lol

2. No I don’t care if she now thinks this was stupid to say

3. Skinny is not a feeling or an affect — fat is not a feeling either. I know the intention behind this phrase means “how it feels to ‘be’ skinny” but it is still worth nothing that neither of these corporeal states are, themselves, feelings.

4. And btw, I literally cannot eat gluten/wheat and so I know for a fact you can still ENJOY FOOD with this limitation and I will not accept the mobilization of it to endorse diet culture.