“Even in the aughts, you guys were like, ‘What, are you crazy?’”

Mindy Kaling was ‘so happy’ when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler pushed back on her weight loss goal: ‘Are you crazy?’

"Even in the aughts, you guys were like, 'What, are you crazy?'"

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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July 2, 2026 5:23 p.m. ET

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Mindy Kaling in 2026; Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in 2025. Credit:

Neilson Barnard/Getty; Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

- Mindy Kaling says Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were shocked when she revealed her weight loss goal.

- The *Office *breakout told the *Parks and Rec *star that she was "so happy" when the funny ladies reacted to her desire to lose 30 pounds with a blunt, "Are you crazy?"

- "I think that that really was a kindness," Kaling told Poehler on her *Good Hang *podcast.

When a friend's in need, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are friends indeed.

Mindy Kaling fondly recalled a perspective-shifting conversation with the funny ladies from 20 years back on Tuesday's episode of Poehler's *Good Hang *podcast.

Before Kaling made it big as a writer and star on *The Office*, she was a guest writer on *Saturday Night Live*, which Fey appeared on from 2000-2006, and which Poehler appeared on from 2001-2008. Kaling told Poehler that in 2005, when the three all overlapped, "We were somewhere, and I was like, 'Yeah I just want to lose 30 pounds.' And the two of you stopped and were like, 'What?! That is too much weight.'"

"I remember I was so happy for like three weeks after that. I was like, 'Wow, Amy and Tina don't think I'm a fat load,'" Kaling joked. "Even in the aughts, you guys were like, 'What, are you crazy?'"

Mindy Kaling and Amy Poehler in Cannes in 2015.

George Pimentel/WireImage

Kaling recalled how discourse around weight loss and impossible beauty standards saturated the culture at the time. "Weight Watchers! It was because at the time there was a conversation about Weight Watchers," she said, pointing to the wellness program that assigns points to food based on calorie count.

Poehler added that there is a particular focus on body image among on-camera entertainers. "We, just like everybody else, were constantly trying to figure out everybody's relationship to being on camera, and I do think that for better or for worse, what women do for each other and to each other is they talk about their bodies to each other," she reasoned.

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Kaling brought it back around to praising Poehler and Fey for their support, particularly at a time when empathy around fuller figures was scarce. "I think to be able to be with two of my heroes and have them acknowledge — because you could have easily been like, 'We don’t ever think about it. We're naturally thin.' Do you know what I mean?" she told Poehler. "I think that that really was a kindness for you to acknowledge."

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Mindy Kaling at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Running Point' in 2026.

Maya Dehlin Spach/FilmMagic

In May, Kaling opened up about her recent weight loss journey. She cited a desire to "live at least 20 more years" for her three children, Katherine, Spencer, and Anne, as among the chief instigators for the decision.

"When I was younger, I would want to lose weight because of vanity reasons. Now I want to lose weight or have lost weight because I want to stave off things like diabetes," she said. "I had it on both sides of my family, and trying to avoid those kinds of things will, I think, help longevity for me, and that's my goal."

You can watch Kaling's full appearance on the *Good Hang *podcast above.

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