Oct 3, 2026 · 47 min · 17 segments
*This episode was originally released on June 11, 2018.* Her doctor categorized her as overweight when she was 5 years old. Her grandmother always introduced her as the “chubby one.” As an adult, she…
Cheryl StrayedHostDana SturtevantGuest
Steve AlmondHost
Hilary KinaveyGuest
I don't think I can string two days together when I was not starting a diet, thinking about starting a diet, on a diet, or falling off the wagon.
I was in fifth or sixth grade at the time of that first diet, and guest jeans were popular.
I'd fantasize about buying the jeans and wearing them to school with my shirt tucked in so that all of the kids could see the symbol on my back pocket.
Over time, they became a symbol of what losing weight would feel and look like for me.
Guest jeans turned into a new basketball uniform to play on the team in junior high, new jeans for my first day of college, or a whole new me for law school.
After 25 years of dieting, I feel like an accidental expert, but I'm so tired of it.
Hmm.
When I read this letter, Steve, I felt like this woman in so many ways was telling the story of my life and the story of the lives of so many women I know.
Yeah.
I don't think I can string two days together when I was not starting a diet, thinking about starting a diet, on a diet, or falling off the wagon.
I was in fifth or sixth grade at the time of that first diet, and guest jeans were popular.
I'd fantasize about buying the jeans and wearing them to school with my shirt tucked in so that all of the kids could see the symbol on my back pocket.
Over time, they became a symbol of what losing weight would feel and look like for me.
Guest jeans turned into a new basketball uniform to play on the team in junior high, new jeans for my first day of college, or a whole new me for law school.
After 25 years of dieting, I feel like an accidental expert, but I'm so tired of it.
Hmm.
When I read this letter, Steve, I felt like this woman in so many ways was telling the story of my life and the story of the lives of so many women I know.
Yeah.
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