Motherhood & the Messy Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery with Mallary Tenore Tarpley

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For the 254th episode of Private Parts Unknown, host Courtney Kocak welcomes writer, journalist, and professor Mallary Tenore Tarpley.
Mallary is the author of Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery, and her work reframes recovery not as a clean, finished destination, but as a messy, ongoing “middle place” where progress and setbacks coexist. In this episode, we talk about how grief, control, and perfectionism shaped her eating disorder after losing her mother at a young age, what treatment actually looks like behind the scenes, the concept of normative discontent (the cultural reality that most of us struggle with our bodies), how slips can become opportunities for growth instead of shame spirals, and how she talks to her kids about food, bodies, and emotions in a way that breaks generational cycles. Plus, we dive into the complexities of pregnancy and postpartum recovery with an eating disorder history.
For more from today's guest, Mallary Tenore Tarpley:
- Buy Mallary's book Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery
- Follow Mallary on Instagram @mallarytenoretarpley
- Subscribe to Mallary's Substack https://mallary.substack.com/welcome
Get your copy of Girl Gone Wild from Bookshop.org or Amazon.
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