Hi! My name is Julia Tannenbaum, and I’m ½ of Nourish.
I was born on May 8th, 2000 in Pasadena, California. I moved to Connecticut when I was three and currently live in West Hartford with my two mothers, younger brother, and four cats. Although I grew up on the East Coast, I still consider myself a Californian at heart. I’ll take palm trees and beaches over snowstorms any day of the week.
I’ve always been a creative person. As a kid, I had an active imagination and often created make-believe stories in my head. In eighth grade, I discovered I loved to write and began to put those stories onto paper. Eighth grade was also the year I started to struggle with an eating disorder. I was under a tremendous amount of pressure and felt that my life was spiraling out of control, so I turned to dieting to cope. While I tried to keep my disorder a secret, it wasn’t long until my parents caught on, resulting in several years of inpatient and outpatient treatment.
My parents have been my biggest supporters throughout my recovery. My stay-at-home mom Katherine—and the other half of Nourish—in particular has stayed by my side no matter what. From playing board games with me in the hospital to sitting with me at meals and not leaving until my plate was empty to cooking foods that gave me some sense of comfort and security, I owe her a lot of credit.
Writing, as well, played a huge role in me getting better. I had a difficult time verbalizing what I was going through, but when I wrote about it, it was like a weight was lifted off my chest. When I discharged from my last inpatient treatment facility in early 2016, I continued to write diligently—and I still do. Finding something that I was passionate about and that made me feel worthy and accomplished has truly made all the difference.
In September of 2018, I published my debut novel Changing Ways: a contemporary young adult story about a sixteen-year-old who spirals into mental illness and must travel the long road to recovery with the help of her friends, family, and those like her that she meets along the way. One year later, I published the sequel Breaking Free. While marketed as fiction, my books are largely based on my mental health struggles. Both are available on Amazon in paperback and eBook format.
My mom and I collectively came up with the idea for Nourish. Her cooking literally nourished me when I was starving, and we believe that her recipes and my personal experiences can help others who are struggling with disordered eating, as well as anyone else who’s simply seeking balance, moderation, and quality cooking in their life. Nourish is more than just a cooking blog; it’s a platform for us to take everything we’ve learned—be it recovery or food—and share it with the world.
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