Episode 238: Dieting is not a way of life with Mallary Tenore Tarpley

Most struggles with food and eating don’t come with a diagnosis.After all we're taught since birth that wanting to lose weight and eat healthy is good thing…right?But what if it’s not? What if the constant guilt, rules, and second-guessing aren’t just “part of being a woman”—but signs of a deeper struggle that most people never name?This week, I’m joined by University of Texas journalism professor and author Mallary Tenore Tarpley to talk about her memoir Slip—and the messy, quiet reality of disordered eating that lives in the space between full-blown illness and full recovery.Mallary shares what it was like to move from treatment for anorexia into what she calls the middle place:The part no one talks about.The part with fewer rules, but more doubt.Where you look fine… but don't always feel or behave fine.We get into:Why so many women are suffering without ever getting diagnosedThe way our culture normalizes disordered eating through “wellness"What support looks like when you’re no longer acutely sickWhy food noise isn’t always the problem—and what’s really underneath itWhat true recovery looks like day to dayI am truly honored to have Mallary as a guest today and hope her story and this conversation help you feel seen and to know you aren’t alone. This is truly a must listen for every woman who has ever been on a diet, felt guilty for eating something “bad,” hated how their body looked or knows a woman who has….so that’s all of us 💗Buy SlipConnect with MallaryMallary Tenore Tarpley is a journalism and writing professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication and McCombs School of Business. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The Dallas Morning News, among other publications. She is the recipient of a prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant, which helped support her research and writing. Mallary graduated from Providence College and has a master’s of fine arts in nonfiction writing from Goucher College. She lives outside of Austin, Texas, with her husband and two children. Slip is her first book. Connect with JordanaFind me on InstagramSign up for my weekly letter with personal stories and nutrition, body image and mindset tipsSchedule a free discovery call to talk more about working together Listen to more episodes of The Diet Diaries