Lisa Lee
Perhaps one of the most divisive voices in the health world, Lisa Lee is the host of her own nationally syndicated radio show, where she is known for her shoot from the hip attitude that aims to wake people up from their overly processed food comas and start taking control of their own health. Touted by the likes of Morgan Spurlock, and demonized by the shareholders of KFC, Lee's battle-cry "Eat Fast Food, You're Totally screwed," boils down her message and takes her fight directly to those she views as responsible for the clogging of our nation's arteries.
Though her place in the cultural zeitgeist has been fairly solidified for the past decade or so, Lee had never planned on taking on the role of a public advocate. Lee had planned on a career as a general practitioner, expecting to spend her days treating families in some small town practice. In her autobiography, Lee states that the death of her father from a severe heart attack drove her to realize that people truly weren't aware of the damage a bad diet could do to their bodies.
Starting out with a modest approach of writing letters to the editor to her local paper, she soon began receiving letters of her own from fans who appreciated her lack of sugar coating, and some of those letters were offers for work as a columnist and speaker at health events. Almost two years to the date of her father's passing, Lee found herself so busy traveling the country for speaking engagements, television appearances, and hard at work on her first book, when she was forced to temporarily pause her ambitions for becoming a local GP and focus on her new role, as the "defiant voice of the bodies we seem intent on destroying."
The book, named after her famous battle-cry, became an Amazon Bestseller, and was followed by Devil's Food: The Hidden Evils In Your Shopping Cart, and Lisa's Gamechangers, a guide to homemade and healthier versions of popular restaurant fare, and of course her popular radio show. Though she occasionally falls under criticism for her sometimes harsh way of speaking, Lee embraces her image in pop culture, even going so far as to appear in a Saturday Night Live sketch that lampooned herself, as portrayed by Kirsten Wig.
Recently, Lee signed a deal to executive produce and star in Food For Life a new travel series that she touts as "Man Versus Food for those who don't want to kill themselves," where she will travel the country in search of the healthiest and tastiest meals in America. She also is reportedly in talks to launch her own frozen health food line.
Lee still lives in Columbus, OH, where she tapes her syndicated show. When she manages to find some free time, she enjoys cooking and exercising with her loving husband of 25 years, and her two teenage children, who she claims are the hardest two people to convince to put down the fast food.
“I've never thought much about whether I was happy or if I had fun as a child. I was a so-so girl who lived with a so-so family in a so-so village. I didn't know that there might be another way to live, and I didn't worry about it either. But I remember the day I began to notice and think about what was around me. I had just turned five and felt as though I had crossed a big threshold. I woke up before dawn with something like a tickle in my brain. That bit of irritation made me alert to everything I saw and experienced that day.”