At a time when everyone seems obsessed with getting smaller, loving food feels kind of radical. As women, many of us learn from the TV we watch, the magazines we read, or the social media we consume that eating is something you control rather than enjoy.
Where were you when you heard "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" for the first time? How many times were you told to "work it off" in the gym or encouraged to buy a "guilt-free" snack? This story of fatphobia and restriction certainly isn't new. But with diet culture once again rearing its ugly head, it's refreshing to see women food creators operating from a place of joy — not judgment.
Over on TikTok, Karissa Dumbacher (@karissaeats) documents her mouth-watering eats to over five million followers. Think: cream-filled mochi in Japan, truffle mac n' cheese burgers in New York City, and spicy pad thai in Bangkok. You can tell from her detailed descriptions that she genuinely enjoys the food she's eating, and according to her, that's a gift that comes quite naturally. "I've always been the biggest foodie ever," Dumbacher tells Popsugar. She credits this, in part, to her parents promoting a love for food — particularly as an extension of culture. "My dad used to live in China [and] my mom has traveled all over the world as a doctor, so they were always introducing me to new foods growing up," Dumbacher says.
To her, food is not just fuel, it's something to be explored (and her content does just that). "It's culture, it's the way we pass down heritage, it's so much of your nostalgia, your childhood, your past . . . and at this point, with how creative people are, it's becoming an art form," Dumbacher says.
Beyond her food content, Dumbacher also gives occasional insights into her fitness routine, sharing her unique perspective as someone who eats for a living. Her most recent regimen includes weight training, high-energy HIIT sessions, walks around New York City, and outdoor runs. But although she's clearly passionate about fitness, Dumbacher's approach to wellness centers more around balance and consistency — not total perfection. Of course, that doesn't mean she's totally immune from societal pressure.
"It's been harder with the Ozempidemic of it all to not slip into that mindset of, 'Well, why don't I look like that?'" Dumbacher says. "It's like, no, you're healthy, you're strong. As long as you feel good, that's all that matters."
Cailee Fischer (@caileeeeats) got into food content creation after being diagnosed with insulin-resistant PCOS (now referred to as PMOS). "I needed to learn how to cook for myself and make meals that supported my body and hopefully helped manage some of my symptoms," Fischer tells Popsugar. But while her research provided plenty examples of what not to eat, she rarely found meal ideas that would both support her health and taste good.
In 2021, Fischer decided to post her own 30 days of PCOS-friendly dinners, and as her content started to take off, her relationship with food started to evolve. She grew tired of only hearing about what foods she had to cut out. So instead of hyper-fixating on what she couldn't have, she decided to focus on what she could add to fuel her body and balance her blood sugar. "Does that mean every meal I eat is perfectly balanced? Absolutely not," Fischer says. "Balance isn't about being perfect. It's about having habits that support my health while still leaving plenty of room to enjoy my life."
These days, Fischer's meals might include juicy balsamic steak bites, cozy brown butter pumpkin pasta, or a flavorful summer sausage skillet. "PCOS is something I'll manage for the rest of my life, so whatever I do has to be sustainable," she says. "I want to take care of my body, but I also want to cook, travel, go out to dinner, and genuinely enjoy food."
We talk a lot about food in relation to physical health, but Jjanga Weir (@thetofumom) also shines a light on how it affects our mental health. "What I eat and do as a tofu mom to feel better on a recharge day," she captions a September TikTok highlighting her feel-good eats. In another video, Weir shows what she eats before getting tattooed, holding up a bowl that looks less like a meal and more like a work of art. Some standout morsels include juicy fig and mangosteen, sea snail, and hamachi sushi topped with bae (Korean pear) and wasabi mayo on a bed of seared dubu (Korean soybean curd).
Weir's social media handle "The Tofu Mom" serves as a foil to the viral (and famously restrictive) "almond mom" trope so many of us have come across in real life or in pop culture. "People were sharing how to eat a certain way so they could stay a certain size," Weir tells Popsugar. "I created Tofu Mom to counteract that — to allow women to see the balance that we can have."
Like the creators before her, Weir agrees that balance plays a key role in her mental and physical health. That means following people that make her feel good, allowing herself to indulge from time to time, and finding more ways to make food joyful. "For a while, it was so overwhelming, and I was like, 'I can't keep this as a stressor in my life. How can I make this fun again?'" Weir says.
"I thought it was important, especially for women, to have a place where we see food, not just as something to get us by, not as something to keep us a certain size . . . but more as an experience," she says. "It's not just about nourishing yourself. The biggest message I want to send is how to actually love yourself."
Chandler Plante (she/her) is a staff writer and PS Fit Producer. She has over six years of industry experience, previously working as an editorial assistant for People magazine, a social media manager for Millie magazine, and a contributor for Bustle Digital Group. She has a degree in magazine journalism from Syracuse University and is based in Los Angeles.
