I found the readings from the Fat Studies Reader and Jack/Judith Halberstam's book to be very good. I hadn't realized how medicalized weight and gender had become. Especially weight- everyone today is bombarded on the news about the obesity epidemic and the ensuing health problems. 

Growing up my mom was a personal trainer and swim coach, my sister was a ballerina. My grandmother is a former model. We were always encouraged to watch what we eat and work out, a lot. I was on the swim team and swam two-a-day practices for a total of about 4 hours, 5 days a week. Obviously it was easy to remain trim then, now not so much. 

Struggling with my weight is a daily issue- so I work out, I watch what I eat, I lament about certain body parts in front of the mirror. Being overweight in my family would not be acceptable, so I do my best. I'm still tall and powerful for a woman, but I don't take as much pride in that as I should. My muscular legs should be source of strength, instead I'm embarrassed that they won't fit in skinny jeans.

I think one of my favorite lines is on page 88 where she writes, "We can recognize failure as a way of refusing to acquiesce to dominant logics of power and discipline and as a form of critique." Those dominant logics of power for me are the voices in my head that say, 'Never thin enough.'