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We were taught that thinness meant beauty, discipline, and good health. But what if some of those lessons were lies?

Women's health educator Nancy Fisher joins me for a talk about eating disorders, body image, and the beliefs about food and weight that have followed us for decades.

Nancy and I attended the same college, where academic excellence coexisted with rampant disordered eating. We revisit those years—the restrictive eating, the pressure to stay thin, and the painful contradiction of looking our best while feeling our worst.

Nancy shares how her eating disorder began in high school and went largely unnoticed by her parents. She also introduces the fascinating research of Cynthia Bulik on the genetic underpinnings of anorexia nervosa, challenging the assumption that eating disorders are simply about diet culture or even family dynamics.

We explore the relationship between undernourishment and mental health, including my own questions about restrictive eating, depression, and bipolar disorder. For Nancy, becoming a mother brought new urgency to learning how to eat healthfully. She wanted to nourish herself not just physically, but emotionally—to have a greater buffer against stress and more patience and stability for her children.

Decades later, we're still confronting old habits, from scrutinizing our bodies in gym mirrors to refusing to step on a scale.

Nancy also shares surprising research on weight and mortality, including findings that people classified as overweight have, in some large population studies, experienced lower mortality rates than those classified as normal weight. It's a provocative challenge to the assumption that thinner always means healthier. And it's a reminder that disordered eating can affect women at any point in their lives.

This is Part 1 of our conversation about eating disorders, the lies we learned about our bodies, and the hard work of unlearning them.

In Part 2, Nancy returns to discuss five pillars of women's midlife health.

Nancy Fisher's Substack: HERE

Research Mentioned

Cynthia Bulik and colleagues — Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa
Nature Genetics (2019)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6779477/

Katherine Flegal and colleagues — BMI and All-Cause Mortality
JAMA (2013)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4855514/

Please note: Guests on Bipolar She share their personal experiences, knowledge, and perspectives, which may differ from those of the host, Janine Noel. Our conversations are intended to inform and inspire, not to replace professional medical advice.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, for free, confidential support 24/7 in the United States.

Support the show

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain.

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

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Introducing the Nutty & Slutty Podcast. Hosts Janine & Isadora have candid conversations on sex, mental health and everything in between.

Links: Listen to N&S on Apple podcasts. Or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode of Nutty & Slutty, Janine and Isadora explore obsessive-compulsive disorder — and why it is far more complex than the familiar stereotypes of spotless houses, rigid organization, and repeatedly checking whether the stove is off. Isadora reflects on growing up with parents whose need for order once felt like criticism, while Janine shares how OCD became entangled with her experience of bipolar disorder.
Janine describes the relentless cycle of intrusive thoughts: unwanted ideas about sexuality, identity, violence, and other frightening subjects that can feel impossible to resolve. The two discuss an essential distinction — the thoughts that accompany OCD may be deeply upsetting precisely because they do not reflect the person’s character, desires, or intentions.
The conversation also examines treatment, including working with an OCD specialist and using exposure therapy to reduce the power of an obsession. Janine explains the counterintuitive process of allowing a distressing thought to exist without fighting it, analyzing it, or performing a compulsion — until what once felt like a hard ball ricocheting through the mind becomes something softer and easier to let pass.
With warmth, humor, and their characteristic honesty, Janine and Isadora reveal the exhausting private terrain that may be hidden behind an ordinary exterior. It is a conversation about stigma, empathy, and the courage required to speak aloud the thoughts that cause shame — and to discover that having a thought is not the same as wanting it or acting upon it.

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Welcome to NUTTY & SLUTTY. Where Mental Health, Sexuality and Unfiltered Truth Take Center Stage. NUTTY & SLUTTY is a bold, sex-positive podcast exploring the messy, complicated and often hilarious intersections of mental health, sexuality and real life — without shame, filters or pretense.
Hosted by Janine Noel (living with bipolar disorder) and Isadora O’Boto (ex-escort), this show brings together two radically honest perspectives for conversations that are as raw as they are insightful. From navigating mood swings and medication to unpacking the realities of sex work and desire, nothing is off-limits.
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Isadora O’Boto (co-host) is a Juilliard Drama grad. Under the pen name Sephe Haven, she is the author of two award-winning memoirs: My Whorizontal Life and A Someday Courtesan, and playwright/performer of the solo show: “My Whorizontal Life: The Show!” Isadora co-hosted the podcast My Index to Sex with Lynn Ferguson. Find her at: isadoraoboto.com
Janine Noel (co-host) is creator and host of Bipolar She podcast, where guests sh...

Support the show

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain.

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

What happens when the joyful arrival of a baby triggers postpartum bipolar disorder with psychosis? When Susan returned home with her newborn, she was in a manic state on the edge of psychosis. Fueled by little sleep with an infant to care for, her behavior became erratic--rushing around the house, even handling her baby carelessly. Her husband, David, told Susan that it felt like he was suddenly living with two strangers--a wife he didn't recognize and a child he didn't yet know.

It would take their doula's observation and advice that Susan was not just a fatigued new mother, but that she needed immediate psychiatric help.

However, without effective treatment for postpartum bipolar disorder and psychosis, Susan went back to work while experiencing bipolar mania. She would then alternate between a depressive fog and a manic state, ultimately landing her at McLean psychiatric hospital for a harrowing three week stay. Rebuilding her life would include Electroconvulsant Shock Therapy (ECT), years on disability, and finally getting care from expert providers.

Susan's mothering instinct now shines through in her most current work as a career navigator for neurodivergent clients with mental health disorders to help them meet their full potential, through increasing productivity, and designing a new life that reflects their Best Productive Self (BPS). More on Susan Munter's TruNeuro Here.

Susan's also a dedicated volunteer and facilitator with Bipolar Social Club, an online support group with weekly meetings, special programming and an online discussion board. As a member, I am grateful for the support BSC offers!

Perhaps most movingly, Susan developed a profound bond with her child, now eighteen years old despite such rough early years.

Support the show

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain.

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.