chapter 1

Carter cranked up the heat of his Ford Escape as he navigated it up the LeBlanc's snowy driveway. This December was too cold, even for someone like him. Cindy and Hunter LeBlanc were old family friends of his, and they had gone out of town for six weeks on a cruise. They wanted someone reliable to look after their cabin and feed their dog while they were away. The cabin was located 40 minutes out of an already remote town, and Carter was happy to offer to stay there to look after the place.

At 26, Carter still lived with his mom. It wasn't ideal, but trying to pay off student loans and rent and everything else while trying to make a living as a writer wasn't making ends meet, so his mother was happy to let him live with her. However, for the most part, Carter didn't get along well with the rest of his family, so when offered this house-sitting job, he was happy to have an excuse not to travel to Florida with his mom to visit with her family for Christmas.

Although the driveway had been recently plowed, it was still a difficult process to maneuver his SUV through the snow. The LeBlancs had told Carter that a neighbor would be happy to plow the driveway periodically, but he shouldn't expect to drive into town very often; it wouldn't be very safe. But that didn't bother him; the idea of having a house to himself for weeks was very appealing. He'd have all the time to write in the world. Not to mention, the LeBlancs promised they would stock up their pantry and he could help himself to anything he'd like. Carter knew he should be watching his weight but the idea of sitting around, relaxing, and snacking for six weeks sounded like just what he needed after a stressful year of writing.

"Dang, the house looks bigger than I remember," Carter mentioned to himself under his breath as he plodded through the snow up to the house. Trudging through the snow turned out to be quite the task and he found himself out of breath as he entered the house. A little out of shape, he thought, but no bother.

After unloading his SUV, he was thoroughly beat. It had been four hours of driving total that day. After he fed and played with the dog, Buster, he found himself baking a pizza and drinking some chocolate milk.

Man, these frozen pizzas sure are small, no way can this be a size large, as he noticed that he was on the last slice. He lounged in from of the TV for a while and then realized he needed desert.

The LeBlancs had really stocked up their kitchen. They had an extra freezer full of barbeque chicken wings, ice cream, and pizza. Their pantry had a seemingly endless supply of pasta, creamy soup, and cookies. Carter couldn't stop smiling at the prospect of being able to eat whatever he pleased without the disapproving glares from his mother. She nagged him every day about his weight, but by his age, he had learned to tune it out. Some days, he felt really awful about his fatness, but other days, he was too lazy to care.

Carter settled on some cherry pie that was left in the fridge. There was a note saying that it was fresh and that he should finish it off. Of course, that didn't mean he should finish it off all in one sitting, but he did anyway. There had only been two pieces missing and it was cherry, his favorite, so he had to. He enjoyed this pie over the course of an hour while watching game shows on the LeBlanc's big-screen TV. With the pie, he had a couple glasses of chocolate milk. Afterwards, he was too bloated to get up. He felt shameful as he massaged his huge gut, feeling taut on the inside but soft and squishy on his hands. I can't get carried away, he thought, I'd become a whale in no time.

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To his surprise the next morning, Carter awoke with a growling stomach. He couldn't believe he was so hungry after his stuffing the night before. He pleasure from the night before of stuffing until he felt tight was now a feeling of disgust. He vowed not to eat like that ever again. He knew had to keep his portions small, or else he'd be buying new pants every three weeks. However, in order to quiet the grumbling in his stomach, Carter fried a large ham, cheese, onion, and pepper omelet. Along with that, he had two glasses of milk, two bananas, and some peanut butter toast. That should last me until noon, he thought, I gotta keep my energy up while I write.

Something had been gnawing at Carter ever since he went into the bathroom the night before. There was a scale in there. Carter hadn't stepped on a scale since January of that year. His mom had actually thrown out her own scale so she would stop weighing herself, but that also meant that he was not able to keep tabs on his weight. He knew, however, that it had gone up, or at least migrated to his hips and belly, because he had gone through several pant sizes over the course of that year.

He sighed. But he was curious. How big had he gotten? He decided it was now or, maybe, never. He might not have enough courage later to find out. As much as Carter loved eating and stuffing his belly, he was often mortified by his own appearance. He hadn't dated in a year and a half due to his self-consciousness. But this never led to any downward changes in his weight. He kept overeating and getting fatter.

Cautiously, he stepped on the scale, but he didn't look down immediately. He took a deep breath and read the scale carefully. It read 314 pounds. That can't be right, he thought, there must be something wrong. But again and again he stepped on and off. Same reading. That meant Carter had gained about thirty-four pounds since January. And on his 5'8" frame, that was quite obvious. But he had been in denial.

The main reason, after he thought about this gain, must have been due to his habit of snacking while he writes. Carter had been working on several novels and some magazine articles that year, and he had developed a strange habit. If he ate while he worked, he would be quite productive. Without something to taste and chew on, he'd lose interest and get distracted. So, the solution was simple, eat while you work, he told himself. Sometimes he could get by on healthy snacks, such as fresh broccoli or celery, or even just drinking a lot of water to feel full. However, many times he was not in a healthy habit, he would choose potato chips or cookies instead.

"Well, I guess I should start on my new years resolution a bit early. I need to quit all this snacking, or at least move to healthy snacks," he said aloud to the empty house.