The Messy Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery: What Healing Really Looks Like with Mallary Tenore

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 experience with eating disorders?

25:00 - 85% of individuals she interviewed resonated with the middle place

26:10 - How doctors dismissed atypical anorexia in people that don't fit the stereotype for anorexia

28:08 - First step to healing is breaking the silence

31:01 - Where can people purchase your book?

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Purchase Mallary’s book on Amazon:

https://a.co/d/7kHiMki

Follow and contact Mallary here:

https://www.instagram.com/mallarytenoretarpley/

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Disclaimer: The information on this channel is for educational purposes and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice or therapy. The views and opinions expressed by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Kristina Dobyns or Beyond Binge Eating.