Rachelle Hampton’s Grub Street Diet
The host of the Normal Gossip podcast has been excavating other people’s business for two years, a schedule that dictates her own eating habits. Rachelle Hampton says there is an advantage to this setup: she avoids the news cycle entirely. Because the show focuses on “utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet,” Hampton says she doesn’t have to engage with current events. She records on Fridays to maintain a rhythm that includes spending those evenings alone, though this routine changes when the podcast moves to video.
Hampton prefers to eat solid food after noon, often starting her day with coffee around 10 a.m. When she records video in Manhattan, she needs protein before the commute to Tribeca. She avoids hot food at 9:30 a.m. because it nauseates her, opting instead for a bowl of Fage Greek yogurt (blueberry, lactose-free). She usually eats directly from the container, but today she incorporates homemade granola from a friend’s engagement party. She prepares a bootleg iced latte using Café Bustelo instant espresso, lactose-free milk, and Starbucks oat-milk hazelnut creamer. She also drinks water with a Magna electrolyte packet, a recommendation from a former co-host. The recording with guest George Civeris goes well, though he misses lunch with them due to his own schedule. Hampton ends the day eating at Altro Paradiso, where she enjoys a fennel salad with Castelvetrano olives and provolone, noting the pasta dish is likely her favorite part of the meal.
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After returning home from the city, Hampton is often hungry and dehydrated. She makes a smoothie using a banana, frozen fruit, coconut water, and lactose-free yogurt.
On weekends, Hampton sleeps late, waking around 9:30 a.m. for her cat’s inhaler and returning to bed until 1:45 p.m. She avoids social media on weekends, deleting Slack and Gmail from her phone to prevent checking in on co-workers. She heats up her Popeyes in the oven, noting that leftovers taste better that way. Her reading time includes Isabel Allende’s House of the Spirits, a 460-page book she finished after a month of reading short books.
Hampton often spends her Saturdays with best friend Danielle in Prospect Park, where they eat at Smorgasburg. On a hot day, she stops at Tang Hulu for shaved ice and fruit.
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By Monday, her schedule shifts back to a video recording, and the fridge reflects the toll. She runs out of smoothie supplies, forcing her to eat an English muffin and a soft-boiled egg for a late breakfast. For lunch, she consumes a chocolate Fairlife Core Power protein shake, which she admits feels “degenerate” if used too often.
On Tuesday, she eats a packet of Kodiak protein oatmeal at 2 p.m. because she forces herself to eat. The texture is described as “wet chalk,” but therapy that afternoon provides a distraction.
