She describes herself as a "foodie who sometimes abuses hair care products." After graduating in 1997 with a B.A. in English , she worked as an interactive art director in advertising for eight years. While serving time behind a desk in midtown Manhattan, she realized she actually liked her job but didn't see it as a career. 

Then, in January 2004, she began the blog, Greek Tragedy, where she "tells things straight up and unfiltered" -- writing about love, relationships, fashion, family, and strength.  Between 2004 and 2005, she was determined to write a memoir about moving on after a failed marriage -- and her first memoir Straight Up And Dirty was born. Her latest book, MOOSE, another memoir is based off her experiences at fat camp. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Name: Stephanie Klein

Birthday: September 29

Location: Austin, TX

Website:  www. stephanieklein.com

Diet Detective: Hello Stephanie, what a treat to have you answer several of our probing questions. I was an overweight child too – and was constantly made fun of. Obviously now you’ve lost the weight – how’d you do it?

Stephanie: Very slowly. I’ve spent way too much time in my life being obsessive. Now, I really try to eat whatever I’d like, only eating until I’m sated, not stuffed, and no matter how good it is, I stop when I’m no longer eating out of hunger. At least, I try to do this.

Diet Detective:  The title for the book – Moose (a childhood nickname) – do you get uncomfortable when you hear it? Or are you over that?

Stephanie: No matter what any of our childhood nicknames were, I think all of us, to some degree, still hold onto them a bit as adults. It still does sting, actually. Intellectually, I know that was a long time ago, but emotionally it feels closer.

Diet Detective: Why’d you write this book now? Was it tough to go back to those “chubby” days? I know it would be for me.

Stephanie: I began writing Moose because the subject of fat camp always leads to laughs around the dinner table with new friends. A lot of people don’t realize “fat camps” really exist. The book became bigger than just a summer at fat camp though, when pregnant with twins, I was told by my doctor that I’d need to gain fifty pounds. All those scared, lonesome moments of my adolescence came flooding back along with a wardrobe of elastic-waist pants. It’s so bothersome that such a happy time in my life (pregnancy and new motherhood) brought about such misery just because of my weight. It all went back to my childhood.

Diet Detective:  What was it like being in fat camp? Was it comforting being around others that were overweight?

Stephanie:  What was it like? It was the greatest thing to ever happen to my social life, ever. For the first time, the opposite sex was interested in me romantically. Everyone at fat camp was gettin’ busy, and I know it sounds ridiculously cliché to say “I felt so much less alone,” so I won’t say so. I will say there was still a social hierarchy at fat camp, a place where the fat should have been completely factored out of the popularity equation.

Diet Detective:  I read on Newsweek.com that they used to weigh the kids at fat camp on meat scales. How did that make you feel at the time?  Do you know if they still do that?

Stephanie:  Being weighed in a bathing suit is humiliating enough. Being weighed on a meat scale made me half-wonder if they’d slip a piece of wax paper down before I stepped up. I highly doubt they do this anymore.

Diet Detective: Are you afraid that your children will be overweight and suffer what you suffered?

Stephanie:  All parents are afraid their children will suffer, and the fact is, we all suffer from one thing or another at some point. I hope with all I’ve learned my children don’t suffer from low self-esteem. I also don’t want them growing up with a complete psycho-obsessive mother, so rather than harp on my children, I’ll try to direct my energy inward and be the best, healthiest (mentally and physically) role model I can be.

Diet Detective: I remember having difficulty buying clothing – what was that experience like for you? Also, did you have certain “slimming” clothes that you wore?

Stephanie:  I despised shopping. I loved fashion, but the clothes I wanted to wear wouldn’t fit. I screamed at my mother, at anyone within earshot. I was miserable with who I was, and I wanted everyone around me to feel it. I’ve spent way too much of my life crying, sweating, and grunting my way through hot fitting rooms, parched and miserable.

Diet Detective: What prompted your parents to send you to fat camp? Did you want to go?

Stephanie:  My parents knew how miserable I was at school, so they suggested fat camp. I write about my reaction to that moment in Moose.

Diet Detective: If you could go back and talk to young Stephanie – what would you tell her – what would your sage advice be?

Stephanie:  Knowing what I know now, I’d want to convince my younger self not to let her weight “weigh her down.” Too many amazing moments were discolored by my weight. I let it hold me back from doing more. I stayed with lousy men and mean “friends” because of my weight. I’d tell her to drink more water, to stick to three meals a day without snacking (because she had very little self-control), and to move more, even if it was just walking.

Diet Detective: What physical activity do you do to keep yourself in shape?

Stephanie:  I masturbate. Sadly, I’m not sure this burns as many calories as I’d like to think. I chase after my children, play tennis with my husband, and I love listening to new music on the elliptical. Anything in the pool is fun too, but usually, I emerge from the water ravenous. 

Diet Detective: Do you have a Calorie Bargain? What food did it replace? Was that an important food in your diet, since you ate it so often? [Calorie Bargains are foods that are relatively low in calories/ carbs or fat but still taste great and satisfy our strongest temptations, and we use them to substitute for "higher-priced" foods we normally eat (otherwise we'd be adding calories and gaining weight).

Stephanie:  Sashimi feels like a “cheat meal” even though it’s just fish. I love it. I rarely do the super low-cal version of things, and prefer to eat much less of the real thing than a whole lot of the substitute.

Diet Detective: Do you cook? Have a healthy cooking tip?

Stephanie:  I used to be a food critic (worked at zagat), and I’ve taken many a cooking class, including Spa Techniques. Now that I’m a mother of sixteen-month-old twins, I find myself motivated to cook healthfully, using unbleached, blended flours that mix oat and wheat flours “Ultragrain” that bake up tasting like white. I wouldn’t call myself a sneaky chef, mixing vegetable purees into cookies, but I would say that we often overeat when foods are bland, thinking each next bite might satisfy us, and it never does. It’s why I use lots of fresh herbs and acids, keeping foods bright. A lot of it is presentation as well. Oh the things I can do with a biscuit cutter!

Diet Detective: What’s in your refrigerator right now?

Stephanie:  Flour (always keep it in the fridge, otherwise, eggs can hatch and soon it looks like you’ve got pepper in your flour…bugs), confit of shallots, turkey burgers, fresh cherries, homemade eggplant lasagna with fresh basil, Fresca, Sake, Wasabi, chervil, goat’s cheese, almonds (nuts can go rancid), fresh roasted turkey, cherry preserves with orange zest, havarti cheese, calvados jelly, lavender lemonade

Diet Detective: Your favorite “junk food?”

Stephanie: French Fries (extra well done). Close seconds: Cheese Doodles, tater tots, onion rings, an ironed grilled cheese sandwich. Basically, you could fry a napkin, and I’d eat it.

Diet Detective: Your favorite “healthy food?”

Stephanie:  Artichokes, Mangos, and Sushi. Together or alone.

Diet Detective: What did you have for breakfast today?

Stephanie:  Scrambled eggs mixed with a tablespoon of melted artichoke spinach dip, followed by a bowl of fresh berries.

Diet Detective: Which historical figure can you relate to most?

Stephanie:   Georgia O’Keefe and Miss Piggy

Diet Detective: Who’s your hero?

Stephanie:  Oprah. It might be cliché, but it’s honest.

Diet Detective: Your worst summer job?

Stephanie:  Working as an intern in criminal court. It made me feel disgusted in the human race. This was tied, very closely, with a summer spent selling overpriced pies.

Diet Detective: What’s your motto?

Stephanie:  Destiny isn’t a matter of chance. It’s a matter of choice. It’s not a thing to be waited for. It’s a thing to be achieved.

AND… Beware of short men.

Diet Detective: As a child you wanted to be:

Stephanie:  Orphan Annie

Thank you!!!!

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