chapter 4

Within the next few days, Brandon was convinced he was going insane. According to the app on his phone, he was eating around 2000 calories a day and burning around 700 with his quick sessions in the gym. Still, his clothes seemed to be getting tighter and tighter.

He'd never even heard of weight gain being that noticeable over such a short amount of time. He skipped class for the next few days, ignoring texts from friends. He didn't want to see anyone. By friday night, he was frustrated, sad and more than anything, hungry. He'd eaten dinner but grilled chicken and rice were bland and unsatisfying. He really wanted something more but he knew he shouldn't.

Still, eating well and exercising weren't helping. Maybe he was just ill and bloated. It wasn't like he was fat, he just looked a little rounder in the middle.

Brandon caved and picked up the phone.

"Hey, can I get a large meat lovers?" he asked.

"Sure, stuffed crust?" the worker asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

"We have a special tonight, one large pizza, choice of side, dessert and 2 litre for $15," the worker said. "It's $10 for the pizza on its own, did you want to add the extras?"

"Uh, yeah, can I get Coke? Just surprise me on the others."

When the food arrived, Brandon was surprised. The pizza smelled great but the other two boxes were much larger than he'd expected. He open the first to find 20 chicken strips and the second to see some sort of brownie sharer platter. He'd expected the sides and dessert to be for one person, not four.

Still, he was starving, so he stuck a movie on and dug in. He alternated between eating a few chicken strips and a slice or two of pizza. He managed to finish the chicken and five slices of the pizza before he really started to feel full. Then he started feeling guilty.

His jeans were really digging into him. The pressure hurt and it was something he wasn't used to. He dreaded to think how many calories and how many days of working out he'd just ruined. Brandon unbuttoned his jeans to get some relief and reached for his phone.

The app was already at 1900 calories for the day, before he'd decided to have a second dinner. He added the chicken strips and his eyes widened. 20 chicken strips came to 1,260 calories all on their own. The five slices of pizza were another 1,400 and the litre of Coke came to around 400. No wonder he felt like he was going to burst. The total on his app read 4960.

Brandon felt sick. He pushed the food away from himself and took off the rest of his clothes and looked at himself in the mirror.

His stomach was rounded, obviously showing his lack of restraint. He never realised how easy it was for him to eat so much. No wonder he was putting on weight.

He went to bed, feeling ashamed and way too full. Nearly 5000 calories in one day was sure to mess him up. He'd have to hit the gym in the morning.