Fattening While Flattening

Chapter 1

Lori had bought the box of donuts on a whim. It was the first time she'd really gone out since the state started reopening. She really shouldn't have, but she had such a craving, and it was free donut week at Krispy Kreme! She'd gone just to get a freebie. It was hot, fresh, and very sweet — as perfect a donut as could be. Now, she had a newly baked dozen, growing cold in the cardboard container resting on the countertop. And she wanted them all.

Her thoughts drifted, as they often do, to her weight. For most of her life, Lori had described herself as a bigger girl, and while she had worked to develop a healthy relationship with her body image, she was self-conscious nevertheless. Quarantine had only exacerbated this, as the sudden upheaval following the initial stay-at-home order and social-distancing guidelines had interrupted Lori's fitness routine. Though she had gotten her life together somewhat in recent weeks, it seemed Lori had put on a couple pounds in the interim chaos, as evidenced by her having recently split two pairs of rather snug jeans. And now here she was, with an entire dozen donuts all to herself.

Maybe just one more. That couldn't hurt, right? They were so small, after all, and she'd been so good about her eating. It's not like two were gonna cause her to go completely off the rails. She was already opening the lid before the justifications started running through her head. One more, just one more. She brought a donut to her lips and took a generous bite.

Ecstasy. They still had a bit of warmth to them. She felt the flavor wash over her tongue, felt her mouth alight in absolute bliss. For a moment, all her anxieties about eating the donuts melted away, and all she could think of was just the pleasure. And just like that, she'd finished her second donut and picked up a third.

Then a fourth.

Then a fifth and sixth, one in each hand, alternating between them in a strange, probably counterintuitive form of bicep curls — left, right, left, right, fifth, sixth, fifth, sixth.

By this point, she was starting to get full. Six donuts was a lot of food, and these donuts were particularly rich. Lori was about to reach for a seventh when she stopped. Her belly had started to round out from her indulgence, so much so that she could feel a sliver of it peeking out from beneath her sweater. The waistband of her jeans felt uncomfortably tight, so much so she reached down and unbuttoned them.

What was she doing? She'd already ripped two pairs of jeans, she really didn't need to add a third. Scarfing down pastries chock full of sugar and fat certainly wasn't going to help with that. She should just close the box and stop right there, probably go for a run to work those excess calories off. That should be okay now that the stay-at-home order was over, right? At this point, she noticed the sun setting through her window, and figured it was too late anyway. No matter — there was one thing she could do, and that was to get out of these tight pants. She stripped off her jeans and headed to her bedroom to change, throwing a quick glance at the still-open box of donuts behind her.