chapter 5

Discovering I could eat certain foods without being ill came as quite a relevation. The introduction of dairy produce was welcome. I could use butter instead of margarine and it tasted so much better. Admittedly it was a bit of a pain when it didn't spread very well straight out of the fridge, but ithat usually meant I ended up with considerably more on my bread. Bread! That was another new thing! It was so quick easy to make a sandwich when I got home when I could use bread. That white sliced stuff was only good for toast. I liked the wholemeal with added seeds...with melted cheese! Oh! I felt so decadent as I bit into it and chewed the warm salty fat laden cheese!
Milk was new too. Whole milk on wholemeal cereal was another quick and easy nutritious meal. Whole milk on sugary cinnamon crisp cereal was even better! I could even afford to be even more decadent and add a little bit of single cream! Wow! It was a taste sensation! It became a daily staple.
My body was already changing. My hollow cheeked, artificially tanned face was replaced by a much paler filled out version. My firm musculature was fading away and was being replaced by a slim scarred frame.
Time not spent struggling with the daily chores was spent in front of the telly or dozing. I got tired so easily because my body was so busy repairing itself.
I got to know who all the characters were in all the soaps and what they were getting up to. I became fascinated by how cheap a house could be bought at auction and how much profit could be gleaned if you had the means to do it up. I had not realised how many people cheated the system. I was fascinated at everything from the inner workings of the legal system to how to paint a landscape in watercolour. I got myself wound up in the morning debates about men with two wives or politicians expenses.
The structure of my entire day changed as it revolved around game shows, dramas and sitcoms. I got cable installed and became fascinated by documentaries on nazi megastructures and fly-on-the-wall documentaries about the strict border patrols in Australia and the difficulties faced by British transport police. The contents of a locked storage container in Alabama became interesting.

In the evenings, I relaxed with a glass of wine, or two. I was not in training. I was allowed. It was not against the law. It was one such evening that I rang for my first takeaway delivery.
Unfortunately the pizzeria would not deliver if the order was less than £10, so I had to order more than one. I decided to order for Pete as well. Pete liked chips with his pizza and a coke and a piece of cake.
Thus, when the delivery man came I was swamped with boxes! I would never get through this lot, but maybe I could save some for tomorrow. That would save me going out.
I sat down with my glass of wine and my first slice of a plain margarita pizza. I doubted if I would get through the whole thing, but that didn't matter.

I can't honestly remember how I did it, but several hours later I'd finished the bottle of wine and started in the Coke. I'd also eaten the entire 10 inch margarita pizza and eaten the cheese and toppings off the second one. Now I felt bloated. I could feel how tight my belly was. It was painful where it pulled on my healing scar. I gave my tight full belly mound a pat. I felt strangely proud and satisfied with myself. I shouldn't have eaten quite so much, but I had enjoyed it!