The Hunger Trap Podcast

19/10/2022

Hey there! Remember us?

We wanted to drop in and share the incredibly comprehensive and well-written article by Kate Siber published in the New York Times entitled “You Don’t Look Anorexic”: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/magazine/anorexia-obesity-eating-disorder.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR01Ag7_wYgDkTNAkwRWaMUoro_EIAoE5jsxJFu0j4au08xwLzZgJJjNBUM

This is a topic that is close to our hearts and we shared a story of lived experience with atypical anorexia in Episode 46: There’s Nothing ‘Atypical’ about Atypical Anorexia: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hunger-trap-podcast/id1542642470?i=1000535981697

Thank you, Kate, for shining more light on this crippling disease.

29/05/2022

Diana here, to remind you to enjoy some summer goodies.

Me? I whipped up this strawberry cobbler, recipe courtesy of . It’s good stuff!

13/04/2022

Diana here, with a quick link to an article that, I think, touches upon the unreasonable expectations and moralization of body types that are perpetuated on popular shows like the Real Housewives franchise.

https://www.sheknows.com/feature/rhonj-jackie-goldschneider-eating-disorder-2554794/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab

28/03/2022

This week Diana and Lisa connect with Vincenza, a straight-shootin’ Brooklyn-born lady who received a breast cancer diagnosis at only 36 years old. Vincenza opens up about body image struggles, a stint with an eating disorder, and how these complex issues interplay with her breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and her future as a survivor.

(Listener’s note: The terms “obesity” and “overweight” appear in this episode.)

True Life: I’m a Breast Cancer Survivor Who Struggled with My Body: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hunger-trap-podcast/id1542642470?i=1000555421635

26/03/2022

Diana here. I just listened to our last podcast episode (for now?) and got choked up.

What a journey this has been for us. Sharing our own stories, learning from experts, having people share their own experiences; it’s been a weekly slice of the human experience for over 70 weeks! I’m incredibly proud of this, and thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who took the time to chat with us.

Listen to our latest episode to hear how Lisa Whalen found healing through horses here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hunger-trap-podcast/id1542642470?i=1000554684296

And because I cannot sit still and have to learn new things all the time, I started an IG to document my sewing journey. I’m striving for body neutrality by making my own clothing. If that is of interest, follow me .

21/03/2022

Diana here, and you heard it from the horse’s mouth: The Hunger Trap Podcast is officially on hiatus. Our penultimate episode published today! This episode is such a gem because I know nothing about horses, and I loved learning about how our guest, Lisa Whalen, used her connection with horses to help in her eating disorder recovery. If the episode piques your interest, check out Lisa’s book Stable Weight: A Memoir of Hunger, Horses, and Hope. It is exquisitely written and it will captivate you even if your horse knowledge is limited to some haphazard trotting at a corny dude ranch and Mr. Ed re-runs. In fact, it will make you want to take up riding post-haste.

Side note: I’m incredibly proud of Lisa for listening to her needs and taking a step back. It shows admirable strength, and this podcast has fostered a lifelong kinship between us. I’ll always be grateful for that.

In the meantime I’m going full steam ahead with my sewing projects, and could you imagine a better suited notebook for me to catalog my trials and tribulations? Me either.

Horses and Healing: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hunger-trap-podcast/id1542642470?i=1000554684296

21/03/2022

After a year and a half, Diana and I have decided to take a hiatus from our podcast about eating disorders, The Hunger Trap Podcast. I could say we ran out of things to say, but we didn’t. I could say we weren’t getting downloads, but our numbers have grown exponentially since we started.
So I’m going to tell the truth. I asked for a hiatus because I needed to work on my own mental setbacks. That sounds very dramatic and just the act of typing that makes me roll my eyes at myself. But, look, we’re human and it happens. And when it does you put your oxygen mask on first and you love yourself enough to face yourself. You tell yourself the truth about what you’re feeling and you work through it because there is always a way through everything. I’ve loved doing this podcast with Diana. We have created more than 70 shows and I’m damn proud of us. Women are taught to play nice, but we vowed from the start to be brutally honest with each other, disagree when needed, and fight for what was important to us and what we wanted to convey. I love Diana like a sister and am so happy the universe brought us together. But the show gets heavy and sad sometimes. And it’s okay to need levity and lightness. It’s okay to turn off the news and laugh at something stupid because your heart requires it.

We will be publishing two more shows, this week and next. If you’ve been listening, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

18/03/2022

15/03/2022

Diana here, and I have a rare moment where my work for the day is complete and I don’t have to pick up my son for an hour. So, I’m diving into my 2022 hobby: Finally making clothes that fit my body.

This is part of my body acceptance journey. I’ve spent way too much time trying to make my body fit into spaces where it is not welcome in its current state. It’s time to take charge of the things I can fit to my body.
Plus-sized fashion has improved over the last two decades, but the world seems to not understand that people can be both fat AND short. I’m sick of wearing ill-fitted fast fashion that makes me feel sad.

14/03/2022

New episode alert! True Life: I Was a Dancer With an Eating Disorder

Michelle was a professional dancer in training with a secret: she suffered from an eating disorder that consumed her life and robbed her of her love of dance. Michelle opens up to Diana and Lisa about the prevalence of eating disorders in the dance world and how shifting from dance to yoga helped her heal and accept her body.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-life-i-was-a-dancer-with-an-eating-disorder/id1542642470?i=1000553914334

11/03/2022

Diana here to remind you to tune into our latest episode with the wonderful and talented Olivia, where we dive into the rigid body expectations for actors in the theatre.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-show-must-go-on/id1542642470?i=1000553138465

09/03/2022

Hey, good lookin’, whatcha got cookin’?

Diana here, and part of my ED recovery has focused on getting me reacquainted with my “fear foods”. Carbs — bread — is a big one. So, behold my pane bianco.

We’re eating this for lunch with soup (chicken for the hubs, lentil for me) and I’m super excited about it!

08/03/2022

Please join me in wishing my beautiful and smart co-host Diana the happiest of birthdays!!! We love you, girl!

07/03/2022

New Episode Alert!

Look, we all know that Hollywood enforces some pretty ridiculous body standards for actors. But Lisa and Diana were under the mistaken impression that in theater — where talent SHOULD reign supreme and trump physical appearance — looks and weight mattered less. But, they don’t.

Despite appearing in numerous theater productions and boasting the voice of an angel, Olivia was once fired from an acting job for gaining an insignificant amount of weight. In this episode, Diana and Lisa chat with the actor about the intense pressures that performers face to conform to rigid body standards, as well as how she manages to not let these expectations or rejection shake her self worth.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-show-must-go-on/id1542642470?i=1000553138465

04/03/2022

Diana here, to talk about food variety and leftovers. My husband could eat the same food every day for the rest of his life. Me? I need variety; even if I love a dish I grow tired of it by the third day. I had a ton of spaghetti leftover, some broccoli, so I decided to breathe new life into these leftovers and make a spaghetti frittata. Put some oil in your pan and scatter the spaghetti on it. Cook on the stovetop until crisp. Add your eggs, cheese, or whatever fixins you want. Cook for a few minutes and then transfer to the oven at 400 to finish it off. The result? A tasty frittata with a lovely charred, crunchy bottom. Boom! Resurrected pasta that was doomed for the trash.

Want a new dish? Check out our latest episode with Dr. Mudry where we explore how interesting interpersonal dynamics that developed during her study abroad period in France influenced her ED.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hunger-trap-podcast/id1542642470?i=1000552411251

01/03/2022

New episode alert!

We had another great conversation with Dr. Jessica Mudry where we explored how her study abroad environment contributed to a life-long struggle with food.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hunger-trap-podcast/id1542642470?i=1000552411251

25/02/2022

And when you think today is just today
And that maybe tomorrow will surprise you
Today becomes the surprise.

25/02/2022

Lisa here - here’s my bruise from kickboxing yesterday. I came home with bruises on my elbows, as well. Felt nothing at the time, was unable to walk a few hours later, acted like a big baby for a few hours, am totally fine now. No violins needed, that’s not the purpose of this post.

What I do want to address is this: there was a study done back in ’91, I think? One study, from a long time ago, that proposed people with anorexia and bulimia have a higher pain threshold. That something about our brains works slightly differently. And that this might help explain how those hunger triggers are able to be ignored (for some of us) more easily. I can only speak from experience here. I’ve always been able to detach my mind from my body in ways that sometimes serve me, but not usually.

During childbirth without drugs (not by choice, I’m no martyr).

When a fire happened at our house and my legs moved without my brain registering what had happened, and I pulled my mom away from her closet as she tried to rescue photo albums.

And certainly when I’m exercising and I make my brain go somewhere so that my body can keep taking pain.

I’d love to know how many of you share similar experiences.

And I’d love. LOVE. Really love. For more funding to exist so that the brains of people with mental disorders can be thoroughly examined. Who knows what solutions we can find when we better understand the brain.

25/02/2022

Lisa here. It’s that week again.
For a lot of us it’s every day, every week.

There are so many things we aren’t aware of yet when it comes to eating disorders:

**Like how they impact people of all sizes — yes, Anorexia, too.

** how the brain factors into these disorders

** how to save more people from the horrible outcomes, both physically and mentally, of these disorders.

I’m not a cynic. This week is important, but EDs also require FUNDING.
And constant awareness.

23/02/2022

Diana here, and this quote speaks to my soul because cooking is my love language.

Yesterday I made some oatmeal raisin cookies for a friend who’s in a rough patch. I also whipped up tomato sausage and spinach risotto because when I feel homesick for NY I crave Italian/Italian-American cuisine.

What’s cooking in your kitchen these days?

22/02/2022

This week’s Hunger Trap Podcast episode is called True Life: Battling Addiction and an Eating Disorder. We talk to Ashley, who details how her substance abuse and eating disorder were intertwined and the steps she is taking toward recovery. Here’s a link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-life-im-battling-addiction-and-an-eating-disorder/id1542642470?i=1000551729695

This episode is a bit of a Part Two-er that started with last week’s interview with Dr. Tamara Pryor about substance abuse and eating disorder comorbidity: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/substance-abuse-and-eating-disorder-comorbidity-with/id1542642470?i=1000551000988

Give both a listen to get a really rich picture of why this connection is prevalent and how recovery can be achieved.
(Photo: The Recovery Village)

18/02/2022

Every year around this time I get an email asking if I want to volunteer on Eating Disorders Advocacy Day, which happens every May in Washington D.C. The further I get from my past the less I want to engage in it. It’s not me anymore, I don’t recognize that girl anymore. I don’t want to remember what I put other people through and myself. It’s incredibly painful. But then something in me always makes me say “yes I’ll be there.” Because I don’t think the pain we go through is random. I think it serves a purpose, not just for ourselves but for others.

15/02/2022

Happy Valentine’s Day 💕 Lisa here - When I am going through anxious and/or manic spells, It helps me to shrink my world. I have to cut out most media, most social media, and most social activities until I pull out of that place. I find calm in tunnel vision. I think: what do my kids need, how can I connect with my husband, which book will I read before bed, how much does my dog love it when I brush his fur and talk to him, which work duties will I perform first, second and third - even: which moisturizer will I use that makes my skin feel really good.
The smaller and more focused my environment, the more serenity I feel. When I’m ready to open up my world I will. But there’s nothing wrong with taking the time YOU need for you.

During this specific spell, I have found cooking to be so calming. This was my V-day meal: Valentine’s Day dinner…Grilled rib eye steak with homemade walnut pesto garnish, baked asparagus marinated in lemon zest and olive oil, smashed cucumber and green apple salad with dates and toasted pine nuts, and a side serving of prosciutto focaccia bread. I did NOT bake the bread, that is Diana’s forte, and though she says it’s easy I’m not buying it (and I guess I’m not That anxious yet 😳)

14/02/2022

Eating disorders don’t usually happen in a vacuum — comorbid conditions are incredibly common. So on this week’s podcast we are exploring a common one that is often overlooked: eating disorders and substance abuse comorbidity. Our guest was the incredibly knowledgeable Dr. Tamara Pryor, who has worked in the field of eating disorders for 35 years and serves on the board of directors of the National Eating Disorders Association (among her many, many other accomplishments). We talk about the link between ED’s and addiction and treatment methods that work.

Here’s a link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/substance-abuse-and-eating-disorder-comorbidity-with/id1542642470?i=1000551000988

Please rate, review, and share!

13/02/2022

Diana here, with some mosaic brownies and mezze rigatoni bolognese that I cooked up for my two best fellas. We’re not much of a football family so I decided a house filled with the scent of a slow-cooked sauce and baked goods were a great way to spend my Sunday.

What’s on tap for you this fine Sunday?

10/02/2022

Hi, it’s Lisa. I’m posting a bit less lately because my mind is a knot of nervous energy. My little one just got over Covid and my brain likes to do this thing sometimes where it assumes control over logic and clarity. It spins me in a washing machine for a little bit and eventually spits me out. I know relief always follows, but I’m trying to do little things to get there quicker. For me, focusing on small details provides a calming outlet. With Valentine’s Day coming (and it’s a holiday I’ve always loved, married or single), here’s a special white fish wrapped in heart paper and my not-at-all-subtle living room table tribute to love. My maiden name means Cupid, by the way 💘 so it’s out of my control.

08/02/2022

We are SO excited about this week’s episode in which we chat with Jason Wood about his orthorexia diagnosis, male underrepresentation in the ED space, and his new book, Starving for Survival. Jason was so graciously honest about the trauma he experienced in his early life and how it led down a path to an obsession with healthy food and exercise, which is often used as an outlet for control that I think lots of us can relate to.

Listen to the episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/orthorexia-bites-jason-woods-journey-to-recovery/id1542642470?i=1000550273457

Follow Jason at

And please rate, review, and share the podcast if you find it helpful!

02/02/2022

Hi, Lisa here. We don’t often get very political on the podcast or here, but the recent news about book bannings in school libraries got me thinking about this book — Wasted by Marya Hornbacher. I stumbled upon it when it published in the late ‘90s and her memoir was the first book I read while in the middle of anorexia that made me feel understood and seen. By today’s standards, some of the content in this memoir would be frowned upon — we don’t talk numbers now, for example. I’ve even heard of it referred to as a “guidebook” for anorexia and bulimia, which sounds like the sort of thing written by someone who has never had an eating disorder (because, trust me, if you are dead set on restricting or purging, you don’t need a book of tips — you find ways to get creative about it all on your own).

I guess this is just a reminder that your scary book is someone else’s friend in a time of need and confusion.

recovery

02/02/2022

Happy Feb 1 — we made it! (it’s Lisa)
But, I’m going to be honest. This pandemic has been going on for so long and today I’m tired. Today my daughter tested positive. I expect my son to follow. And it will all be okay. These two years have taken a lot, but there’s still a lot left. I know the logic, I know the stats. I know how to play nurse and I know how to distract them. I know how to steal a few minutes to myself and breathe. These are skills we've all had to learn fast. And maybe that's a great thing. Maybe hindsight will show that.
But I think it’s okay some days to feel defeated and tired and throw up your hands and say “you win” to forces that are beyond your control. I think it’s okay to admit you’re afraid, even if the fear isn’t logical.
I remember hearing somewhere that you can create a horror movie in your mind — or a comedy, or a love story.
Whatever mental movie you create the universe will do what it does.
So you might as well write the script for a comedy or love story.

I don’t understand the logic of how I went from anorexia to finding comfort in cooking meals, but here’s my beef barley — not bad, right? I’m sure my therapist will say it’s just another side of the control impulse — the desire to heal someone from a virus with soups. But of all the things to “control,” if this ends with nourishing meals, it can’t be that bad, right?