Jane Fonda, Demi Lovato, and more: ‘I Weigh with Jameela Jamil’ features guests to challenge norms and empower listeners

Earwolf & Jameela Jamil present the podcast, “I Weigh with Jameela Jamil.” She has become an advocate for mental health awareness who challenges standards that promote unhealthy messages about body image. To bring further awareness to mental health, Jameela is joined by an incredible list of diverse guests who share their deeply personal stories and align with Jameela’s advocacy on her podcast.

After seeing an online posting of the Kardashian sisters with all their weights listed, Jameela wanted others to realize that weight is not a defining factor of value, as implied in the pic. As a result, Jameela created an Instagram account to share her story, empower others, and build a safe, inclusive community. She invited followers to send in unaltered pics of themselves and created a social media movement called #iweigh. Her followers are encouraged to post what they enjoy about themselves and express gratitude in a positive format. The podcast is a crossover from her Instagram.

With Jameela’s online presence, she realized she could reach a great number of people, help them, and inspire change. On her podcast, Jameela features conversations to empower everyone, and “celebrate progress, not perfection.” Previous guests have included, Demi Lovato, Reese Witherspoon, Roxanne Gay, Gloria Steineim, Billy Porter, and Munroe Bergdorf, just to name a few.

Jameela interviews Jane Fonda

Jameela was ecstatic to have Jane Fonda on her show. Is this one of the first times we hear Jameela, might we say, starstruck?!? It’s adorable, really, to hear how Jameela interacts with one of her role models. Jameela has seemingly forever been inspired by Jane’s multi-hyphenate career. The actor, director, producer, workout video guru, and activist spoke about mental health. Jameela and Jane bonded over experiencing mental health issues through their family members. Jameela spoke about survival mechanisms she’s used since childhood.

Jane has some sage advice for young listeners, especially with relationships and self image. She said mental health is a life-long work in progress. She encourages people to be their authentic selves. Jane loves reading, and finds Alice Miller’s books to be particularly informative.

When Jameela asks Jane about her eating disorder, she said in her 40s, if she continued, she realized she would not be able to function. With her eating disorder interfering with her acting career, two children, and political activism work, Jane thought she was going to die. She didn’t go for treatment and stopped purging “cold turkey.” After this, she started the Jane Fonda workout program and turned to exercise. Over time, she no longer felt the need to purge. While she no longer purges, Jane said body image issues come and go from time to time.

In this episode, we hear how Jane funded grassroots activism campaigns with the money earned from her books and workout videos. She also discussed why climate justice is critical. And the scary times Jane received death threats and bomb scares.

Jameela is also an actress. She will join the Marvel universe in the upcoming She-Hulk film.

New episodes of “I Weigh with Jameela Jamil” are available on Fridays.