Lillien's enthusiasm in her e-mails is genuine: She said she enjoys prowling the aisles of supermarkets to hunt for new featured foods. She hardly needs to. Each week, she receives 20 to 30 boxes full of products from companies hoping that she'll give them a write-up and send her subscribers - whom Lillien calls "a powerful group" - rushing to the store to follow Hungry Girl's trusted advice.
In the past, subscribers have successfully lobbied Almond Breeze to create a new product and Trader Joe's to recall a snack with incorrect nutritional information. House Foods, makers of the low-calorie tofu noodles that, Lillien wrote, "WILL change your life," now proudly sports a "Hungry Girl-approved" logo on its packaging.
Back in 2002, Lillien did not yet have an army of calorie-counters she could mobilize with a single sentence, but she did have an idea.
Some have perpetuated a storybook narrative of a random, diet-conscious woman whose e-mail to 75 friends became a surprise hit, but the phenomenal success of Hungry Girl was no happy accident. Lillien, formerly a vice president of new media at Warner Brothers, recognized what she saw as a void left by mainstream nutritional advice, and she jumped at the opportunity.
"Most of the information about eating better is brought by nutritionists or dieticians, and it's not fun [or] realistic and relatable," Lillien said. "I wanted to create a brand in this space that would address every woman's needs."
At first, five new people would subscribe each day, then 10, then 100. Now, Lillien estimated, between 700 and 1,200 new people sign up for Hungry Girl every day.
