Chapter 32 - Brianna Makes Progress

Chapter 99

Brianna was fat. And had been that way for at least a decade. And despite her ups and downs with mobility, we find her walking - yes, walking - down the street.

Brianna and Alex had recently gotten married at their city’s courthouse, and were promptly invited by Brianna’s parents to come celebrate at their home in San Antonio. Given that she hadn’t flown since their trip to Italy, Brianna insisted that they drive. Clocking in at 18 hours, Alex and Brianna chose to make it a road trip.

Now walking down a cute street in Roswell, New Mexico, Brianna scanned each shop she passed, doing a bit of window shopping. She was on her way to meet up with Alex, who had checked out of the B&B, and was ready to get back on the road.

It had been about 15 months since the fire alarm incident, or as Brianna liked to think of it, rock bottom. After the fire department determined faulty wiring to be the cause, the building’s tenants were allowed back into their homes. And so everyone did - except Brianna, who had been too busy gorging out of her backpack to pay attention, only snapping back when neighbors had come over, offering to help her up.

Brianna had accepted their offer, knowing she really did need the help, yet neglected to follow them upstairs. She knew there was no doing that without Alex. And so, it was half an hour later that he arrived home to find her taking up half a bench, teary eyed, over an empty backpack.

When they’d returned upstairs together, Alex having held and guided her the whole way up, Brianna said, “Let’s sit down”. She’d had time to think while waiting for Alex, particularly once the food had run out. She loved eating, she loved being lazy. It was “her life now”, after all, but she didn’t want to be trapped at home - she wanted to be able to climb the stairs by herself and have the strength, stamina, and mobility to do it.

And so - Brianna set rules for both herself and Alex. The stuffings and big meals had to slow down. Once a week, maybe, instead of multiple times a day. She also insisted that walking, especially up and down the stairs, become part of her daily routine. There were others, but essentially, Brianna wanted to eat a bit less and move a lot more. And it actually worked…

Chapter 100

The past year+ had agreed with Brianna. She was, certainly, still a big lady, despite having lost a little weight. These days, she hovered around 320 and felt better for it.

At first, she struggled with limiting her eating, and broke the rules countless times. After the first 4 months, she’d actually gained weight - crossing the 340 mark. She and Alex even did a stuffing to celebrate. But, no one was forcing her, and she just kept trying. After all, the goal wasn’t necessarily weight loss, just mobility.

Slowly, her body caught on to the fact that stuffings were special treats, rather than the norms, and began to calm down. Meanwhile, the stairs work and the walks were absolute torture. And slowly, but surely, Brianna began to build some stamina.

Passing a bakery as she walked down the street, Brianna marveled at how far she’d come. A year and a half ago, she’d have a hand up on the building to catch her breath, while she’d make Alex get the door open - all so she could waddle into the shop and eat as much as she could. But these were new days, and despite a nice long ogle at a batch of cupcakes, Brianna was able to let them be. After all, her cheat day wasn’t for another 4 days.

Sure, she missed her days of mindless eating, and even wished her weight had stayed at 350. Heck, she still fantasized about 415 pound from time to time. But, being able to walk down a street was nice too.

As Brianna reached and rounded the corner, Alex came into view. He was standing outside their year-old SUV, one which Brianna could sit with space to spare. Even at her biggest, at 340, there’d been a good amount of room.

Upon reaching the car, Alex asked, “Good walk?”, to which Brianna replied, “Yeah, l passed a bakery and didn’t even go inside. Can you believe it? We’ve gotta come back sometime”. Then, the couple got in the car and moved on to their next destination.