The Diet Diaries

You don’t lack motivation—you’re just motivated to do something else.
Scrolling TikTok. Sleeping in. Sitting on the couch.

In this episode, I’m breaking down:

• Why going to the gym is NOT a habit (and why that matters)
• The hidden reason you keep skipping workouts
• How to start exercising when it feels impossible

If you’ve ever said, “I just need to get motivated,” this one’s for you.

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Martha Stewart looks 24… at 84.

What does that even mean?

When we see photos like this, is it empowering? Harmful? Both?

This week, I’m breaking down:

• Why “looking younger” is never just about looking younger
• The slippery slope of interventions — from mascara to facelifts
• How to decide what you actually want vs. what society told you to want

And the one line from a blog post that completely reframed how I think about aging.

This isn’t about judging Martha or anyone else. It’s about learning how to navigate the insane expectations women face — and how to show up as the best version of you right through out it all. 

Here's the post I refer to 

Here's the article from The Cut about deep plane facelifts.

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Ever feel like everyone on Instagram is living a perfectly reset, “glowed-up” fall while you’re just trying to survive the back-to-school chaos?

Same.

This week, I’m breaking down:

* Why your fall doesn’t need a glow-up, no matter what social media says
* How influencers make change look effortless… when it’s actually anything but
* The viral reel about weighted vests that had me yelling at my phone
* A simple way to stop internalizing every piece of wellness advice you see online

This is part rant, part reality check, and part reminder that what’s “best” isn’t universal—it’s personal. And just because you saw it on Instagram doesn't make it true. 

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Weighted vests are everywhere right now--and that’s definitely not a bad thing. But there’s a lot of buzz going around out there and I know many of you are wondering:

👉 Will they make you stronger?
 👉 Will they actually build bone density?
 👉 Or is it just another overhyped “fitness hack”?

In this episode I’m cutting through the noise with what’s actually true (and what isn’t). I’ll share:

• The real benefits of weighted vests (hint: it’s not what TikTok says)
• How to know if your vest is actually doing anything for you
• Why intensity matters

If you’ve been tempted to buy one, or if you’re already walking around with 8 pounds strapped to your chest, this episode will give you the no bullshit breakdown you need to make the choice that’s right for you. 

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Remember The Biggest Loser? I was obsessed. That show was appointment TV if there ever was such a thing!

That show was everywhere in the 2000s—17 (!!) seasons of extreme workouts, starvation diets, and public weigh-ins packaged as “inspiration.”

Netflix just released a three-part documentary about it. And while it covered some drama behind the scenes, I was more shocked about what it didn’t cover:

• The food. Contestants were eating as little as 800 calories a day—yet the show framed it as “healthy” and barely glossed over it.
• The fallout. What did that kind of treatment do to contestants’ self-worth, body image, and relationship with food? (Spoiler: the doc barely touched it.)
• The viewers. Millions of us—including me—were glued to it every week. What did that obsession do to us culturally? And what echoes of it are still shaping diet culture today?

I share what I think the documentary missed, my own (kinda shocking) memories of being obsessed with the show, and the ripple effects we’re still living with.

Because the real story isn’t just about a TV show. It’s about the way we’re taught to believe weight loss equals happiness—and how that belief is still sold to us in new packaging today (including by this documentary). 

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Sometimes the reason you’re not doing the thing to you need or want to do…is because you’ve made it way too complicated.

I realized recently I’d turned a simple daily habit into a whole production — the “perfect” setup, the ideal conditions, all the steps to make it better — until it became so much work that I stopped doing it completely.

In this episode, I’m sharing:

• The sneaky way I overcomplicated something I’d been doing for years
• How chasing “perfect” often kills our ability to show up at all
• The good/better/best framework I use with clients to strip things down to the minimum viable version
• How to create your own “do less” plan so you can actually follow through

If doing less makes you feel uncomfortable—like you’re not doing enough—this episode will begin to change the way you think about making progress.

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I just got back from 10 days in Switzerland and Italy—and let’s just say this was not a “protein and veggies” kind of trip.

Think:

• Jet lag messing with my hunger
• Chocolate for “dinner” (more than once)
• Food noise cranking way up
• Learning to roll with tiny portions, weird mealtimes, and zero snacks
• Saying yes to gelato at 3 p.m. because it was the values-aligned choice

This isn’t about “staying on track” while traveling. It’s about using skills when routines fall apart—and knowing the difference between actually being “off” and just being human.

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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 diagnosed
• The way our culture normalizes disordered eating through “wellness"
• What support looks like when you’re no longer acutely sick
• Why food noise isn’t always the problem—and what’s really underneath it
• What true recovery looks like day to day

I 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 Slip

Connect with Mallary

Mallary 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. 

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We spend so much time wishing we could go back and do things differently—talking to the past version of ourselves who didn’t know better. But what if there’s way more power in looking forward instead of backward?

In this episode, I’m breaking down:

• Why thinking about your future self  (not just your past) changes everything
• How to create a clear, concrete plan to support the “you” who’s just minutes away
• A simple framework to stop living on autopilot and start making choices that feel good now and later

If you’ve ever felt stuck in regret or struggled to connect your actions today to the results you want tomorrow, this conversation will help you find a different way in.

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Ever wish you could just not have cravings? That you could flip a switch and never think about chocolate, chips, or cookies again?

I used to think that too. (I even ran a workshop called Conquer Cravings, no joke.) But here’s the thing: cravings aren’t a problem you need to fix. So if they're not a problem, then what are they?

In this episode, I’m sharing:

• Why cravings are actually information about your body and mind
• A simple way to “work backwards” to uncover what your cravings are trying to tell you
• When cravings move from normal to something that needs more attention
• How rethinking cravings can take you out of that all-or-nothing mindset

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Sign up for my weekly letter with personal stories and nutrition, body image and mindset tips
Schedule a free discovery call to talk more about working together
Listen to more episodes of The Diet Diaries