Content note: this episode contains discussions of diets, disordered eating and body image. 

Sinéad and Mel are cracking open a can of Diet Coke and diving headfirst into the 2000s diet industrial complex. It’s time to revisit the era of size zero, Heat magazine’s ‘circle of shame’, and the relentless pursuit of thinness. 

From ‘concerned’ paparazzi shots of Nicole Richie and the Olsen twins to the time they tried to convince us that Bridget Jones was fat, the 2000s sold us a single aspiration: be small. We’re talking weird maple syrup concoctions, ‘fridge pickers wear bigger knickers’ magnets, and glossy magazines promising you could drop a dress size by the weekend. Behind every aspirational celeb photo was a punishing routine and a generation of millennial women quietly absorbing it all.

While the buzzwords have changed from thinness to wellness, the pressure remains today. The bodies we see may be curvier, the marketing subtler, but the message still hums beneath it all: control, shrink, filter, perfect. This episode, we’re asking: how did the 2000s obsession with thinness shape our bodies, our appetites, and our sense of self? And can we ever stop mentally counting calories?

This is If Destroyed Still True: the podcast where millennial best friends Sinéad Kennedy Sklar and Melissa Murdock rewind the mixtape of their teenage years and press play on the moments that shaped who they are today. We ask ourselves: how does this show up in our lives now? And if you could talk to your teenage self: what would you tell her?

Hit follow, share your own teen chaos memories with us @IDSTpod, and get ready to laugh, cringe, and be a little kinder to yourself.

If Destroyed Still True is a Morley Radio and The Imposters Club production. Head to morleyradio.co.uk to listen to If Destroyed Still True and a whole host of exciting shows.