chapter 1

Laura stood in front of her wardrobe, frowning. She had just gotten back from a week-long cruise, which, unfortunately for her figure, had an all-you-can-eat buffet for every meal. For the first thirty-some years of her life, she had been blessed with a fast metabolism and a naturally trim physique. However, in the last couple years, she had noticed the ease with which extra pounds came if she was careless in her eating habits. Her weight had been a roller coaster between 115 and 130 pounds. She would get busy with work, winter would come, she would gain a bit of weight, and then she'd shed it in the spring, and the cycle would repeat.
However, it was April; the snow had all melted away, but her belly fat had not. Laura gave up briefly deciding on clothes, and went into her on-suite bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror and examined her body with some distaste. Clad only in her bra and panties, she ran her gaze across her doughy middle. Her pudgy belly had a little fold in the middle, just around her belly button, and the lower fold hung over her panties. But it was not just the front of her gut that hung over them - she had a rather large muffin top that hung on the sides and rear of her. Turning around, she noticed her butt cheeks were spilling out of the bottom of her panties. Her front matched her rear, as her bra was getting a little too tight for comfort, and her breasts spilled over the top and sides.
She tore herself away from the mirror and pulled out the scale from under the sink. She took a deep breath and stepped on. 135, the scale read. Laura looked long and hard at those numbers, disappointed in herself. 135 was three pounds heavier than she had ever been. As she put back the scale, she swore to herself that she would restart her usual nice-weather runs.

The rest of the day didn't improve much. Her work pants cut into her middle, and her fly repeatedly unzipped itself throughout the day. Even the sleeves on her blouse were snug around her arms, which made the day quite uncomfortable for her.
"This is probably good for you," her friend Sandra told her over lunch. "You've always been so skinny. It's about time you got some curves." Laura smiled. She had known Sandra for many years, and during that time Sandra had grown quite a bit. Laura estimated that she now must be in the deep 200-pound range. "Men like meat. They leave the bones for the dogs." Sandra ran a hand over her hip. Laura laughed out loud.
"Maybe it's not as bad as I think. I'm just a little self conscious, that's all!"
"It's only a couple pounds, so it shouldn't be a problem to shed that, if that's what you want. You can diet all you want. Myself, on the other hand," she waved a hand at her sizable lunch, "I love to eat."

(To be continued)