This choice: It's real, it's happening. Changes at school begin immediately. • Go Back...Chapter #6It's real, it's happening. Changes at s... by: Adipose Rex   I forgot to go online when I got home, but when I woke up the next day I turned on a morning news show as I made breakfast. The changes to the education system, courtesy of Wentworth and Hojiko's findings, was the top story.
“And while a few people seem upset about these changes, raising questions like what this means for athletic scholarships or college sports programs, there are arguably more people who are happy about it. Check out of some of these tweets. 'The school kept telling my daughter she's too fat, but now they want her to eat more. #toldjaso.' 'My son was going to try for the football team next year. Now he wants to know if there'll be a sumo team.'”
Somehow, this made my chocolate pancakes and three bowls of Cookie Crisp even tastier.
When I got to school I half-expected everything to be topsy-turvy. How, I don't know, but I was a little disappointed to see the school looking the same, everyone acting the same. The only difference was the gymnasium was already fenced off as construction workers were starting on making it a new cafeteria.
Fourth period was homeroom, so before starting his lesson Mr. Goldberg handed out manila envelopes to every student. They contained packets for our parents going over what the principal had told us yesterday – no more PE or sports, study hall allowed food, everyone gets free cafeteria food – but there were also personalized forms giving us each a time and date to go to the nurse's office for a weigh-in, and tips on how to use or change our schedule to allow the best opportunity to meet the 3,000 calorie count.
For instance, it recommended that I sign up for a study hall class during second period, eating at least a full meal during that time in addition to a snack during the morning break and a full meal at lunch. There was even a sheet that listed all the food the cafeteria offered, with their corresponding calorie counts.
I overheard some other people say this sounded weirdly totalitarian, the government forcing people to eat, but technically they were all suggestions. And the 3,000 calories thing wouldn't go into effect until January anyway.
My weigh-in was for the next day, during first period. Convenient, since I also wanted to swing by the main office and get added to a study hall.
“155 pounds,” the nurse told me. “Not a bad start. You'll be hitting the XL sizes sooner or later.”
“I'm already working on it,” I said, smiling.
It was still the start of the year, so getting a class added to my schedule was no problem. And since the cafeteria was designed to serve the entire school, even if it was never completely full, there was even less reason not to let me in.
So I now had a second breakfast lined up Monday through Friday. I didn't really know anybody else taking study hall at that time, so I just loaded up a tray of food and noshed the hour away by myself. Then during lunch I took advantage of the now free cafeteria, grabbing a couple burgers and slices of pizza at once, plus some cake or pie for dessert.
Dmitri was outdoing me at lunch, no surprise there, but he seemed oddly laid back about the incoming requirement. I guess he thought he already had the minimum met without trying, so why put in any effort now?
Me, I was just enjoying watching my horizons broaden. All the food the cafeteria served was familiar to me already, but there was something fun about discovering how much I could eat at once.
I guess we were the only ones in our group to be loving this. Rebecca seemed almost hostile to the idea, still eating just a salad and maybe a yogurt for her lunch, while Celeste was not really angry but rather subdued. She had a ton of questions about the new system coming into place, but neither Dmitri or I could answer them, so the topic lost its appeal after a couple days.
What didn't lose appeal was eating. Just a couple weeks into my new lifestyle I was becoming quite the little piggy. Every meal for me was a full, this-will-leave-you-stuffed, capital-M Meal, and my in-between snacking was turning more into a form of grazing. If I wasn't in class or doing something with my hands, I was snacking on a bag of chips or cookies.
The results came slow and late. It was near the end of September that I looked in the mirror and saw how soft my face and chest had become. I was developing the start of a pair of moobs, and my belly was beginning to curve out a bit.
But it was just the start. As I got used to eating more and more, it became my normal. If I didn't have food on hand I felt things were out of place. And before long, I was eating more than I had been. Not because I was trying to push myself, but just because my stomach took longer to fill up and I had no reason to deny it anything.
According to the calorie chart for the cafeteria, I was already topping 3,000 calories a day without trying, but the changes in my approach to food had set me down a slide I couldn't just stop. Filling my belly was a habit for me now, a part of my day-to-day life. | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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