Chapter 1 - a balanced diet part 1

Anna is the middle child of a family with three girls: Elise, two years older, and Grace, one year younger. The three of them grew up in a wealthy suburb, never having wanted for anything thanks to their dad Bill's job as a hedge fund manager.

He and their mother, Mary, had met in grad school working on business degrees. They dated for three years before getting married, and had Elise two years after that. They tried to manage both working full time but soon decided it was best that one of them stay home to raise her, and Mary wanted that position.

Though an active and fit cheerleader in college, Mary had a hard time losing the baby weight, and over the years the scale crept upwards. 150 lbs after having Anna, Mary was 200 by the time she was in Kindergarten, 250 by middle school, 300 by college, and is now nearing 350 after Anna's graduation.

Though they got along very well, the three girls were as physically different as sisters could be: Elise was tall, stocky, and brunette; Anna was medium height, chubby and blonde; and Grace was short, stick thin, and had raven black hair.

Elise had come to terms with being large at a very young age, and took advantage of it. She thrived in contact sports, playing hockey in high school and college, as well as being the only girl on the intramural (American) football team.

Grace was the opposite. Short and petite, she was a track star from the beginning, and set three school records before going on to compete in Division III in college.

Anna, however, was far from an athlete. Lacking Grace's speed and Elise's power, Anna fell into an inconvenient middle area where she was okay at most things but excelled at none. This only discouraged her when she compared herself to her sisters, and as a consequence she never really enjoyed sports, and stopped playing at all in college.

She'd yo-yo dieted her entire life, pressured by society to be thin. At any given time she fluctuated between average and pudgy, never quite thin enough to be confident in herself, but not fat enough to be ridiculed either. But now, a few days after completing her undergraduate degree, Anna is at her highest weight ever, and can't remain oblivious for long...