Chapter 5 - Bulking Not Sulking

I continued my bulk into my second year at college. I had a good balance of studying and training going. I felt good. It was also nice when people commented on my body. ‘Wow Grace, you’ve gotten massive!’ ‘Damn girl, you haven’t been sitting on your ass all summer!’ My favourite was when I walked into my house I was sharing with Paige and Hayley. Their faces were a sight when they saw how big I had gotten over summer. I put my gym bag down on the floor and began eating some fried chicken and rice I’d prepared before I left. Paige laughed, ‘what the fuck, Grace? Did you eat everything in Missouri and had to come back here?’ I grinned, checking Paige out. She had gotten a little soft over the summer. I could see her belly sticking out the bottom of her top.

I continued to wolf down my food. ‘How many calories you consuming a day now?’ Paige asked. ‘Somewhere between 5500 to 5700, depending how active I’ve been. I’m weighing 208 lbs at the moment.’ Paige nodded with approval. She got up and lifted up her top. ‘Look at me, honey. I’m fat,’ Paige sulked with a sad face. I smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, ‘it’s OK. You look great --’ Hayley chimed in, ‘this is what I said!’ I nodded to her, before returning to Paige, ‘but we can get you back into fighting shape.’ Paige stroked my shoulders. ‘I want what you’ve got!’ She said excitedly. I pulled out another tupperware of fried chicken and rice and gave it to Paige. ‘Go on. Eat up.’ Paige ripped the lid off and started to eat it.

This trend continued throughout our first semester. Paige and I bulked, eating as much as we could, whilst training harder than ever. I was steadily increasing weight, but Paige shot up. She went from being dumpy looking back to fit, with a layer of fat covering her. By the time we reached Christmas, we were both reaching our peak weights in the 220 lbs area. I was a little disappointed because I was starting to develop a bigger belly. Like, when I did box jumps, I could feel it jiggle with every movement. My thighs and bum were flabbier too, but Craig was really good at reassuring me that I still looked great and that it was all part of the process. He had made some good headway on his goals, eating more now. He’d lost his definition slightly, but put on a lot of muscle.

I went home for Christmas to spend time with my parents. They were happy to see me, and even happier to see I was eating good. I explained my diet to them and how I was thrilled with the progress I was making in the gym. My parents weren’t athletic people, quite the opposite really, but both of them loved to watch sports so I guess seeing their daughter start to take the shape of a sportstar made them proud. They gave me a new weightlifting belt and a recipe book they had written themselves, as well as a few new items of clothes. The belt would be great for helping hide my belly in the gym, I thought with a giggle. My exercise regime slipped a little over the Holidays and my pooch grew. I noticed this when I went to the bathroom on New Year's Eve. My parents and I were having a low key night, watching films and eating garbage. I looked at my sweatpants bulging in the mirror. ‘Woah,’ I said to myself. I pulled them down and saw how much bigger my belly had gotten over the Christmas period. I poked at it and it jiggled back. I laughed, prodding it some more. I bounced up and down, watching it return the favour, still going even after I stopped. My boobs continued on too, now bigger than I’d ever seen them. I liked this, and I knew Craig would too; he fancies girls with big boobs.

I drove back to Harvard with him just after New Years, both of us missing the freedom of university. I stayed at his house for the following week until Paige and Hayley came back. We got up early to get in and out of the gym before the resolutioners came and stole the equipment from us. That gave us a lot of time to kill. I was a really motivated student, so suggested we get a headstart on the semester and go to the library to study our reading list. It was about 30 books long. Craig was one of those annoying people who can just show up on exam day and crush the questions on as little paper as possible. So my extra studying went down like a lead balloon. Instead, he spent his days watching TV and playing Xbox. Each to their own I guess.

After Paige and Hayley got back, term began and we got back into the swing of things: Paige and I hit the weights hard, ate loads and started to plan for our cut. Hayley had a new boyfriend so she was a bit distant this term. Paige was a bit gutted because leading up to Spring Break, she was the only single one of the three of us, with most of the other girls we went with last year also loved up. Regardless, Hayley and I assured Paige we’d all still have a good time, even if we weren’t sleeping with boys every night.

The term pressed on and we booked the same hotel as last year on a return deal they offered up. Smart, I thought. This confirmed the time I had been dreading: the cut. I had to reduce my caloric intake drastically if I wanted to get the physique I was dreaming of. So, gradually I started to wean myself off the excessive amount of food I was eating. Well, I tried. My discipline was shocking. I even surprised myself given I was religiously at the gym for 6:00 in the morning and at the library by 9:30. I couldn’t help myself. It was as if I was addicted to food. Whenever I’d pass a food truck, I’d buy the biggest amount of food they had. Whenever I was shopping, I had to stop for McDonald’s. Whenever I was hungry, a snack of peanuts or crisps were in my hands. This meant my cut went disastrously.