chapter 3 - 2011

Despite her best efforts, I was able to avoid meeting up with Gina. When she tried showing up at my apartment unannounced I turned off the lights and pretended not to be home. There was no way I'd let her see me until I got back to my normal weight.
Getting back to my normal weight, however, proved to be much more difficult than I'd thought. I started everyday in January with the best of intentions of eating right and getting good exercise, and by every night in January I would succumb to the hypnotic pull of fast food, pizza, ice cream.....sometimes all three. Meanwhile, Tyler was always texting photos from the gym with captions like "Lost two pounds" or "three pounds this week". His success did keep me mentally motivated, as I knew that if he lost his weight and I didn't I would never hear the end of it.
One day, in the beginning of February I had a harder than usual time buttoning my jeans. I pulled out the scale that I hadn't seen since my original weigh in, and stepped on. I was surprised to see the numbers read "190". A six pound gain in a month! This didn't seem like too much, but after I did the math I realized that if I kept this up I would be almost 250 by next Christmas. I inspected my chubby body in the mirror, and tried to imagine what another sixty pounds would look and feel like.
That night I had a very vivid dream. In the dream I arrived at Tyler's family home for our holiday visit. When I went in I saw that Tyler had gotten back to his slim cut physique. He led me into the living room where his parents were sitting at a table full of food. His mom was her usual large and round self, while his Dad not only had his enormous belly, but had also filled out all over, matching the shape of his wife. Jane sat across from her mom and dad, but she had completely ballooned to a size even larger than her rotund parents. I caught my reflection in a nearby mirror, and notice that I too had grown almost as big as Jane! I took a seat next to her, and the four of us dug in to the amazing feast. As we ate and ate our bodies expanded, stretching our clothes to the point of bursting, while Tyler teased us all about our extreme weight gains.
That dream kicked me into high gear, and I was able to focus on my diet and workout plan. I stayed very strict throughout February and that month was able to drop ten pounds. The success lulled me into a false sense of security, and in March I slipped, gaining back six pounds. But, in April I was able to get back at it, losing another ten. In May I slipped again, adding seven pounds back on. Then in June I slipped even further, and gained six more pounds. In July I started strong, but slowly gave in to my hunger and laziness, and by the end of the month was up another four.
It was around that time that Tyler called me to say he had some time off and invited me out to Oregon for a camping trip. We didn't get a lot of opportunities for summer trips anymore, so I of course said I'd be there. I realized that not only had I not lost any weight since the holidays, at 193 I had manage to gain almost ten pounds since Tyler saw me last. Slightly embarrassed, I decided to text him so it wouldn't be a surprise.

Me: " Can't wait for the trip...just FYI I havent been able to lose any weight yet...but I've still got a few months before Christmas!."

Tyler: "Haha. Don't worry, I've fallen off my workouts the last couple months too. See you in a week!"

His response made me feel better. As long as Tyler hadn't lost all of his added weight yet, I didn't have to feel that embarrassed about my diet shortcomings.


As my plane landed in Oregon I wondered what kind of shape Tyler would be in. I knew he'd lost some weight since I last saw him, but hoped it wasn't too much. Since I had gained some weight, the possibility that he would be smaller than me definitely existed.
I walked out to the pick up area at the airport and heard Tyler call my name from his car. He hopped out to greet me, and I knew right away that I had nothing to worry about. There was no denying it, he was noticeably bigger than the last time I saw him. I blurted out the only thing I could think to say.
"You look fat!" I said.
"YOU look fat!" Tyler responded. We both laughed and got in the car. Tyler filled me in that though he worked out hard in January, the second he let up mid February all his lost pounds came right back, and then on top of that he had gained twenty more, bringing him up to 230. I told him how I struggled to stay motivated and had gained some more too, but I couldn't imagine getting over 200.
"You'll get there sooner than you think" he said confidently. "You'll see."

We spent a great week camping. Tyler had packed tons of food, so we spent our time gorging on hot dogs, hamburgers, cookies, chips, soda, beer....you name it. Neither of us brought it up but there seemed to be an unspoken rule that we were just gonna let ourselves pig out this week, and not worry about anything.
The only day I felt a little bit shy about my new pudge was the day we rented kayaks. I put on my new swimsuit that I had just bought for the trip, but stopped myself before taking off my shirt. I hadn't been shirtless around anyone but myself since my gain. Tyler however, was much less shy. he stripped his right off, threw it on the shore, and pushed his kayak into the water. For the first time I could really see how much he'd changed. His Belly, Love Handles, and man boobs jiggled with every step. Seeing my formally fit friend with all this flab was a little shocking, I must admit.
"You don't have to be shy, I can tell how fat you are with your shirt on." Tyler laughed. He was right, I was being dumb. After all both of us were in the same boat (no pun intended). I took off my shirt and let my doughy body display itself in all it's glory.
As Tyler was driving me back to the airport, I looked down and thought my belly seemed to be pushing out more than before. My too tight shirt was riding up the slightest bit, so I lifted it up revealing my entire gut. I watched how it jiggled with every bump of the car. I told Tyler I must have gained five more pounds on this trip alone. He laughed and said he felt the same way. He felt this year had pretty much become a wash, and proposed that we should wait to really try to lose weight next year, and just relax about it for the rest of the year.
I agreed. The thought of not worrying about diet or exercise or Travis getting in shape without me was music to my ears. I texted Tyler once I got on the plane.

Me: "Oh man, they made me buy two Seats! JK"

Tyler: " Haha. I bet. Thanks for coming out here! I had a great week."

Me: "Same here."

Tyler: "See you when you're over 200"

Me: " Yeah right. See YOU when you're over 300...."