Haida splayed out on his couch with a sigh. He wasn’t really sure where to begin with this. Just going to a restaurant, throwing himself into his fridge and pantry? That all seemed contradictory to getting in shape. All that stuff was bad for you, right? He turned his head to the TV to relax a bit. After a couple of hours, he was starting to forget the whole idea.
“Ultra Supplement Market dot com!”
The booming voice of an ad jolted him out of indifference. He was paying close attention to the TV now. A shirtless lion with rippling muscles stood tall in the center of television screen, staring Haida down.
“Have you ever wanted to get into shape but didn’t know where to start?”
Haida sat up now and leaned closer to the screen. This was the information he needed.
“Head over to Ultra Supplement Market dot com and find the vitamins and minerals you need to build up your new rockin’ bod!”
The camera panned from the lion to a fox that was just as built as the lion.
“Before I went to Ultra Supplement Market dot com I was a lanky dork!”
A “before” picture of the fox flashed on the screen. Haida gasps. That fox used to look almost exactly like him! And yet that fox was before him now with a washboard stomach and huge biceps. Haida jumped from the couch and took off towards his room to grab his laptop before the commercial ended.
Haida quickly started up his laptop and entered the address from the ad. Finding a page that was basically what the address described. A large marketplace of various nutritional powders, vitamins, and mineral capsules. What was he looking for? The fox on TV said something about bulking powders. Haida looked them up to find a lot of them. There were low carb and “meal replacement” powders that were quite expensive. On the lower end of the price spectrum, there were mixtures of various vitamins and minerals that contained 3,000 calories per serving. This was closer to Haida’s price range.
“3,000 calories… how many calories were you supposed to get in a day again? Probably less than that…” he thought aloud. “And some of them come in flavors like vanilla or chocolate, but that doesn’t seem right. Then again, this is in a fitness store. Eating 3,000 calories of a vitamin and mineral blend is probably different than 3,000 calories worth of microwave noodles.” Satisfied with this justification, Haida placed an order. His order would arrive in two days, just in time for the weekend.
The next two days of work were uneventful. He came in, did his work, talked with Retsuko and Fenneko, then went home. He never discussed this plan with Fenneko in the meantime. And she just assumed that he had given up another plan to win Retsuko over without really trying once again.
When Haida came home from work that Friday, a box was waiting for him. He cheered to himself and placed the box on the coffee table. Ripping it open to reveal it’s contents, two huge plastic jars filled with the supplement powder. He wrapped his arms around one of the jars and took it to the kitchen. “So, if I’m understanding correctly. I mix this into a shake to drink after meals. Then once I’ve done this for awhile I start working out.
After a sizable takeout dinner, Haida returned to the powder in the kitchen. Making a shake as best he could, perhaps using more protein powder than the recommended serving size. Though the shake came out looking pretty sorry, Haida seemed to mostly get it right. “Hey, this is actually pretty good!” the hyena said upon taking a sip. He quickly finished the shake up, and felt immensely full. “Well, this might be easier than I thought.” He slept easy after that.
The next day was a typical Saturday for Haida, aside from fitting the shakes into his schedule. He hung out at home most of the time, as he didn’t have a lot of friends outside work. Sunday was largely similar. Though Haida helped himself to an extra shake or two. Finding that they were actually really good.
Haida woke up on Monday morning, with the weekend having come and gone, he started to prepare for work and found himself having some difficulty with it. First, it took him a bit of going to get his shirt buttons done up. The bottom two just did not seem to want to go through the holes. But without thinking much on it, he sucked his gut in and managed to get buttoned up. Then the button on his pants gave Haida some trouble as well, but not quite as much as the shirt, all it took was a bit of gumption to get that. After a quick breakfast and an after breakfast protein shake, Haida went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and freshen up a bit before work.
Haida jumped back when he saw himself in the mirror. With a second chin and two soft cheeks staring back at him, it was impossible to ignore that he had gotten fat. He lloked down to see his softer belly hanging over the waistband of his pants and straining against his work shirt, he figured that he had to have gained at least 20 pounds. “Alright… no big deal. Must be time to start hitting the gym. I’ll just… get there after work.”
*Huff!* *Puff!* Haida ran for the train. Perspiration had pooled under his armpits and he found himself gasping to catch his breath while his heart pounded against his chest. But he caught his train at least. Even if it was more crowded than ever before and it wasn’t a pleasant ride. In addition to being cramped, he could practically feel the eyes of other passengers traveling over him. But Haida knew that this wasn’t going to be the worst part of his work day. That would be getting through the day without Retsuko noticing that he had gained weight.
*Crrrk* the office chair automatically lowered itself when it’s occupants more burdensome weight filled the seat. Fenneko’s laughter filled Haida’s ears. He winced. “What’s… all this?” she asked, clearly still bemused, making a motion as though she were going over the curve of a belly. “I-I’m working out! We talked about this!” Fenneko blinked. “You’re still doing that?” Haida nodded, his second chin swaying. “Of course… even if Retsuko doesn’t notice me for the effort, I think I should still try and improve myself.” Fenneko was clearly still amused, but listening. “Right…” Haida continues. “But still… could you help me avoid Retsuko. You know, keep her occupied, maybe go somewhere else for lunch.” Fenneko laughs again. “I can try. But I can’t guarantee she won’t notice all of you.” Haida’s fuller cheeks turned an indignant dark red. He couldn’t find a comeback, so he shut up and started his work. Knowing that Fenneko meant it, even if she joked.
As the day went on, the plan was going well. Haida kept his distance, and he didn’t run into Retsuko. He kept his head down and poured himself into his work so much that most of his other co-workers didn’t notice either. However, he may have raised a few eyebrows at lunch. When Haida finished his meal and found that he was left unsatisfied, he remembered that he left the protein powder at home. He knew that maybe he should avoid it. But after taking in so many calories, his capacity had increased so much. Haida couldn’t help but head for the vending machines and scrounge up a small fest of snacks. The glutting went surprisingly unnoticed, as everyone mostly kept to their own table. However Haida’s overeating overburdened his already out stretched shirt and he found an oval of soft flab parting the space between two buttons and exposing itself. Haida hurried back to his desk, hoping that no one noticed.
With that being his only mishap, Haida was feeling pretty good as the end of the day approached. He kept an eye on the clock while finishing up his work and packing up.
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
