The infamous mother-daughter duo, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, are known around Stars Hollow for a few things: unbeatable wit, caffeine addiction and their seemingly bottomless stomachs.
Rory and Lorelai habitually order take-out, drink copious amounts of coffee and poke fun at women who exercise to stay in shape, all with an unchanging, thin body type.
Although some may be envious of the girls’ miraculous metabolism, the eating habits shown on Gilmore Girls might be setting an unattainable example for their viewers. Before turning that might into a definitely, let’s take a look at a few days of Rory and Lorelai’s normal intake.
Day 1
Breakfast
Lorelai, being the busy working mother that she is, does not grocery shop or cook, so normally she and Rory grab some Pop-Tarts for breakfast before work and school. One package of Strawberry Pop-Tarts, starts the each girl off with 400 calories, 10 grams of fat, 76 grams of carbs and only 4 grams of protein.
Lunch
Luke’s Diner doesn’t just have the best coffee in Stars Hollow, it also is the Gilmore Girls’ most frequent lunch spot. Because of their “frequent flyer” status, Luke knows what they want before Rory and Lorelai can even say “coffee please?”
The usual lunch at Luke’s is a cheeseburger and fries. This greasy combination fills the duo up with 1,190 calories, 62 grams of fat, 101 grams of carbs and 56 grams of protein each.
Dinner
Since there’s never a dull moment in Stars Hollow and Lorelai’s solution to any problem is “let’s order a pizza,” a few slices of pizza is always a favorite dinner choice. Their pizza nights don’t come calorie free. Two slices of pepperoni pizza have 360 calories, 14 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbs, and 20 grams of protein.
Don’t forget that Rory and Lorelai both guzzle about three cups of coffee a day, but because they usually drink it black, their caffeine addiction has a little nutritional value.
At the end of the day the girls consumed 1,950 calories, 86 grams of fat, 217 grams of carbohydrates and 80 grams of protein.
Day 2
Breakfast
When the girls go to Luke’s Diner for breakfast, the usual order is a tall stack of pancakes with a side of bacon. Although breakfast is the most important meal of the day, their breakfast with 689 calories, 13.3 grams of fat, 118 grams of carbs and 24 grams of protein might be overdoing it.
Lunch
When Rory and Lorelai aren’t at Luke’s, they grab takeout from Al’s Pancake World. They order Indian food, Chinese takeout or even Thai food—Al’s specializes in every type of cuisine, except for pancakes.
The girls’ philosophy on take-out is to order enough to last a week, but one serving of General Tso’s Chicken has 1,577 calories, 88 grams of fat, 128 grams of carbs and 69 grams of protein.
Dinner
Obligatory Friday dinners with Richard and Emily Gilmore are the only rounded meal the girls get all week. A typical meal consists of chicken, a vegetable and a carb like wild rice. Friday dinners are by far their most nutrient dense meal bringing about 555 calories, 9 grams of fat, 77 grams of carbs and 41 grams of protein.
All together a day like this comes to 2,821 calories, 110 grams of fat, 323 carbohydrates, and 134 grams of protein.
Rory at 17-years-old, about 5′ 9″ with the Gilmore Girl “anti-exercise” policy should be consuming 1,667 calories a day to maintain her weight. Lorelai at 33-years-old, 5′ 8″ and intentional low activity level should be consuming 1,639 calories a day to maintain her figure.
Because they consume an average of 2,385 calories a day, both of the girls, realistically, should be putting on weight due to their diet full of junk food and takeout.
Lorelai’s defiance society’s idea of a “perfect mother” and their eating habits revolted against societal pressure on women was a feminist stance. Since the show’s prime in the early 2000’s, the body image movement has risen. Body positivity has taken center stage and the health community is expanding exponentially.
Times have changed and now their habits are convincing young girls that staying unbelievably thin while consuming excess calories and without exercising is attainable.
Rory and Lorelai’s eating habits are so energy-dense and their lifestyle is so inactive, that I doubt even the greatest of the Gilmore genes could make up for it. They should take Miss Patty’s advice to try some fruits or vegetables every once and a while to not only improve their own health, but promote a positive body image.
As one of the most well known mother-daughter duos in television, Rory and Lorelai have the ability to empower their young viewers. With the revival on the way, we can count on copious amounts of coffee, family love and drama in Stars Hollow, but hopefully it will send a realistic message about eating healthy as a young woman.