Episode
The Messy Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery: What Healing Really Looks Like with Mallary Tenore
- Podcast
- Beyond Binge Eating
- Published
- Jul 24, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 1909
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://www.BeyondBingeEating.com
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Summary
In this episode, I sit down with Mallary Tenore—journalist, professor, and author of Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery—to explore the nuanced, often-overlooked reality of what it means to live in ongoing recovery from an eating disorder. Diagnosed with anorexia as a child and having spent decades in treatment, Mallary knows the truth: recovery isn’t linear, and for many, it doesn’t end with a “happily ever after.” Instead, it exists in what she calls the middle place—the messy, in-between space where healing happens, but perfection is never the goal. Here’s what we cover in the episode: • What the “middle place” really is—and why most recovery stories leave it out • Why Mallary describes her book as a restorative narrative (not a redemptive one) • The danger of perfectionism in healing, and how letting go helped Mallary make real progress • How language like “full recovery” and “quasi-recovery” can do more harm than good • The role of shame and secrecy in keeping people stuck—and how to break the silence • The cultural and clinical blind spots that prevent many from getting diagnosed or treated Mallary’s work challenges conventional recovery narratives and opens the door to a more compassionate, realistic, and inclusive view of healing. If you’ve ever felt like you’re “not sick enough” or “not recovered enough,” this conversation is for you. 00:00 - Intro 2:12 - Why her book is a restorative narrative (not a redemptive one) 4:29 - What is the messy middle? 5:56 - The middle place where real healing happens 11:16 - Why quasi-recovery Is a harmful label 15:30 - Normative discontent 16:23 - Recovering in a fat-phobic society 20:20 - Is full recovery / being "fully recovered" even possible? 23:40 - How was it interviewing so many people with lived experi…