https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAQr77QMJiw
However, I changed it up so that the participants had to gain way more weight in a longer period of time.
“First of all I want to thank you
all for coming. We realize that we are asking for quite a bit of sacrifice on
your part, but we want to ensure you that it’s going towards a great study.
When I call your name please take your binder. It will contain nutrition
guidelines and general information you need to follow for the next nine
months.” Said a slender grad student in a lab coat. He’s trying to calm anyone
down with cold feet meanwhile the only thing keeping me in this building is the
money. “Get paid to eat” that was the subject line of the email my roommate
sent me for the application to be apart of this study. Little did I know that
it was a study on obesity and that applicants have to agree to gain weight every
month in order to get the paycheck. Not only that but I have to be poked and
prodded by doctors checking my overall health. But living in the city is
expensive and working as a barista paid jack squat. “Thomas?” The grad student
called my name. I walked up to the Doctor McDreamy wannabe and received a
binder with my name on it. Inside were some general guidelines on nutrition so
participants wouldn’t need a coronary bypass, a credit card with our monthly
allowance for groceries, and also some rules for the study. For my body type I
needed to eat at least 3000 calories a day, just to start off with! I skipped
to the back of the binder and was horrified to see by month eight I wouldn’t be
allowed to eat less than 9000 calories a day. “I’m going to have to buy
maternity clothes.” I muttered under my breath. A man beside me laughed. He
must have heard me. I tried not to blush with embarrassment as his name was
being called, “Axl?”
“That’s me.” He lightly replied.
Axl was slender, as were all the participants for the study. One of the
requirements was to be no higher than 11% body fat if you were a man and no
higher than 18% body fat if you were a woman. All twenty participants had the
same slender frame, including myself. My beer loving roommate Joey wanted to earn
some extra cash doing these crazy experiments, but his gut got him rejected
from this one, so of course he sends it to me. I looked down at my flat
stomach, “I’m going to get a gut like Joey’s aren’t I?” I thought to myself. It
sent a shiver down my spine. Axl comes back with his binder, “Hey, I’m Axl. You
look nervous.”
“Oh… maybe a little. I really need
the money, but I’ve always watched what I’ve ate, y’know?” I replied.
Axl smiled, “It’s alright. The way
I see it, even if they kick you out half way that’s still a lot of money. And
how hard can it be to shed a few pounds?”
“So what’s your reason for doing
this?” I asked.
“I’m a little short for cash too,
but also I just broke up with my gym freak of a boyfriend. I need to let go a
little. Despite what he thinks my life shouldn’t revolve around my six pack.”
The grad student gave out the last
binder to a tiny woman with the narrowest face I have ever seen. “Alright
that’s everyone! Thanks so much again. You’ll notice that your monthly
allowance for food is probably higher than you expected, but trust me you will
go through it quickly. I hope your appetites are good because your nine month
journey starts now.” With that, the participants started leaving the building.
Some lifted up their shirts, jokingly saying goodbye to their abs. Do people
think this is funny? “I think you need to lighten up.” Axl said to me as we
leave the building. “It’s going to be a little disturbing, but it’s just
getting fat. Is that really a big deal?”
“I guess not.” I replied, unsure of
myself.
“Let’s go grocery shopping
together, shake off some of the nerves and I’ll give you a ride home.” Sure
beats taking the bus, I thought.
“That actually sounds great. Thank
you.”
That afternoon Axl and I got our
own grocery carts and filled them to the brim with what we had to eat. Our
guidelines suggested chicken breasts and coconut milk, but Axl filled his cart
with donuts and pastries. I threw in some butter tarts into my cart too, a
secret indulgence of mine, but now I was free to eat the entire box. Axl
dropped me off in front of my apartment. My arms weighed down by the bags upon
bags of high calorie food I needed to eat that week. I squeezed my way through
to the front door, my roommate Joey waiting for me. “So how was your first day
man?! You look fatter already.”
“I haven’t started yet you knob.” I
laughed, “I have to eat all this by next Monday.” Joey took a glimpse upon the
mountain of food I was storing away in our kitchen.
“Aw man, I can’t wait to compare
beer guts with you!”
I made tortellini that night with
the heaviest cream sauce I could find at the grocery store. I had to eat the
entire pot to make my quota for that day. As I shoved the last morsel into my
mouth I could see Joey staring at me with the utmost delight. He thought this
was hilarious. His skinny roommate Thomas was going to get as fat he was. I put
my hand over my bloated stomach and tried not to think too much of it.
One week into the experiment and I
could feel a difference. I could not remember what it was like to not be
bloated. In order to meet my daily calorie intake, I had to gorge myself with a
huge breakfast of pancakes and sausage immediately followed by my shifts at the
café. Joey all the while laughing everyday at the feasts I have to prepare for
myself as he sits on the couch drinking beer. I know for a fact he’s sneaking
into my groceries, picking out bacon and pastries for himself. After my shift
at work I went down to the grocery store to restock. “Hi there stranger.” It
was Axl. “Need to stock up again eh?”
“I do. I didn’t think it was
possible, but I ate everything in my cart last week.” I looked up at Axl. His
face was fuller. You could even see button down shirt straining on his build.
“Wow you’re really taking this seriously, you’ve filled out a little since I
last saw you.”
“Ha!” He replied, “Believe me it
wasn’t easy. Listen, you don’t have to stock up at the grocery store every
week, there’s more than enough money in our allowance to eat out.”
“Is it allowed?”
“Of course silly! Me and a few other
participants from the study are getting pizza and beer tonight, you should join
us. Getting down those last few bites is a lot easier with help.”
“That sounds amazing, I could
really use a break from my roommate.”
That night I met Axl and few of the
other participants at a bar downtown. Everyone seemed to have a story about
their first week. One guy named Andrew said he ate so much the first day he
puked. Another girl named Jessie was doing this to get back at her ex who said
she wasn’t curvy enough. It seemed the one thing in common with everyone is
that they were enjoying this gluttonous time. The beer felt bottomless and it
felt like our group ordered one of everything off the menu. I scarfed down as
much pizza as I could, but I was bloated beyond belief from the beer. Axl and
Andrew looked at me and then looked at my final slice. They immediately ran
over to me. Andrew held my bloated stomach and Axl lifted the pizza off the
plate. “C’mon you can do it.” yelled Axl. “We believe in you!” joked Andrew. It
might have been the fact I was piss drunk, but I was excited for this help. I
slowly but surely swallowed bite by bite of the pizza Axl fed me as the rest of
the group cheered on. After the last bite there was a loud “huzzah” from the
group and I rest my hands on my stomach. My face was red and sweaty from the
endeavor. I just ate an entire large pizza by myself. “Thomas just doubled his
quota today everybody!” screamed a drunken Jessie. Another loud “huzzah” came
from our group. Double? I thought. If I keep to my quota I should already be
gaining quite of bit of weight. I unbuttoned my jeans and looked forward to the
next month.
A month goes by and I meet up with
the rest of the group at the research building to get our monthly checkup. Joey
insisted he come with me to my first weigh in. Axl finally got to meet him
today after a month of me ranting about my drunken roommate. I change into
skintight boxer-briefs for the weigh in and body fat test. I walk into the room
and Joey’s face lights up with a horrible grin. “What?” I ask.
“Dude look at that!” he points to
my stomach. It had been protruding more and more over the past month, but I
didn’t think it was that bad. I started to pat my newfound gut, shaking it up
and down. “As least it’s not as big as yours.” I lifted up Joey’s shirt his
furry beer belly flopped down over the waist of his jeans. “You’ve been
stealing my food haven’t you? You’ve definitely gotten chubbier too.” Axl then
walks in, just finished with his checkup. “Are we comparing bellies?” Axl
lifted up the front his shirt revealing a soft paunch. The outlines of a six
pack were faded and his pecs were softer too. “I gained 21 pounds this month.
Doctor says that’s the highest of all the participants so far.”
“My god!” I exclaimed. “Is that normal?”
“The first month is supposed to be
a little extreme. And it looks like you’re not far behind me buddy.” Axl patted
the top of my belly and watched it jiggle. The doctor walked and Axl, Joey and
I pull down our shirts. “Alright Thomas, first thing I’m going to do is weigh
you. You’re friends can stay as long as you don’t mind the company.”
“No way I’m missing this.” Replied
Joey. The doctor and I both look at him. “They can stay. I don’t mind.”
I hopped on the scale and I could
sense the doctor observing my paunch and my ass for signs of weight
distribution. “At the beginning of the experiment you were 160 pounds, today
you are… 179. Very interesting.” Joey and Axl burst out laughing. “I’ve gained
almost twenty pounds? In a month…” I responded. “Yes.” The doctor replied, “You
and another young lad are tied for second for rapid weight gain.”
“Number one being me.” Axl boasted
patting his stomach.
“You realize that you will have to
increase your daily calorie intake…” The doctor exclaimed as he began to
measure my waist, “both of you.” Pointing to me and Axl. “As for you.” Looking
at Joey, “You should consider switching to light beer.”
The three of us walked to the lobby
to pick up our paychecks. Joey left leaving Axl and I waiting in line with the
other participants who had just gotten out of their examinations. “My boobs
have gotten so big.” One girl exclaimed. “I can’t even button my slacks.” Said
another guy. I picked up my check and I’m immediately bombarded with invites to
go out and eat. I couldn’t resist the company of these people and Axl was
buying.
For my second examination, I had to
schedule the day after everyone else’s due to a work emergency. I didn’t get to
see Axl or the rest of the expanding gang. This month I was forced to eat no
less than 4000 calories a day. Apparently I had no trouble because I managed to
get up to 193 pounds. I had gained over 30 pounds since the experiment started
and I wasn’t even halfway done. A portion of this month’s paycheck had to go
into buying new clothes. None of my pants could button and the black polo I
wore to work was riding up. If I wasn’t wearing an apron people would see the
underside of my gut. When it comes to any humiliating aspect of this process,
naturally Joey wants to come along. Joey took the doctor’s advice to heart this
month. He switched to light beer. He’s just as drunk, but not getting any
fatter. Good for Joey… I guess. I squeezed my ass into a pair of 34’s lifting
up my paunch in order to get better a view of the button. Joey waited outside the
changing room with his devilish smirk, holding my bags of medium to large
shirts and enjoying himself a little too much. “Did you say those are 34’s?”
asked Joey.
“Yeah.” I replied, “But there a
little snug, I think I’ll go up a size, maybe some room to grow.”
“That’s kinda funny.” Joey smirked,
“Because 34’s are what I wear buddy. You’re just as big as me!”
“There’s no way.” I replied.
“Wanna bet?” Joey pulled me to the
change room mirror. He lifted up his shirt and gestured for me to lift up mine.
Low and behold, my gut was almost as big as Joey’s beer belly. His was
remarkably more furry, but the size was undeniably close. “You’re still a
little bigger.” I exclaimed.
“Yeah maybe, but you’re catching up
pretty quick tubby.” He replied patting my gut.
After I got home, I quickly changed
into my comfortable size clothes and headed to the grocery store. I found it
harder and harder to follow the nutrition plan while still consuming enough
calories. I had to resort to donuts and bacon and other super fatty, sugary
goods on top of the chicken breasts and potatoes just to make the quota. I
pushed my overloaded cart to the checkout aisle when a familiar face walked up
to me. “Hey man I haven’t seen you in a couple weeks.” Axl was behind me with
his cart. He gut protruded a little more, but he didn’t look much bigger. “How
was your checkup? Any big changes?” I asked.
“I only gained 11 pounds this
month. I had a little bit of a cold. Slowed down my eating. But look at you,
you’ve got a proper gut there!”
I could feel myself blushing, “Yeah
I know. I had to buy new clothes today.”
“Oh my god. I need to get some new
jeans stat.” Axl lifted the front part of his shirt to reveal that his jeans
were only done up to the second button. The rest strained to support his belly.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Listen, you should come by my
place. I’ll cook dinner and we can catch up.”
I took up on Axl’s offer and went
over to his apartment for what I imagine to be a feast of a dinner. The second
I walked in the door he threw me a beer. Axl laid out a platter of meat and
cheese and told me to dive in while he was cooking the pasta. I stuffed myself
with almost every bite of the fettuccini. “I feel like I’m going to burst. I
can’t possibly eat anymore.” I exclaimed. Axl, put down his fork finishing off
his meal. Axl’s pants had become completely unbuttoned during the meal to make
room for his bloated stomach. “C’mon, we’re almost at our quota. Here, let me
help you.” Axl hoisted himself out of his seat and waddled towards me. He bent
down and unbuttoned my new jeans. “There. Now you have some room.” I felt the
zipper sliding down from the pressure of my bloated gut. Axl then grabbed the
last forkful of pasta and lifted it up to my mouth. With a great amount of
strength I swallowed the last morsel and sighed with relief. Axl and I sat on
his couch watching TV burping and letting the meal settle. I headed home around
midnight that night. When I got through the front door I turned on the light
and to my surprise Joey was sitting on the couch. “Oh hey.” He says with a
muffled tone, “I thought you were spending the night at Axl’s.” Joey was
shirtless his mouth, chest, and beer gut covered in crumbs and smears of chocolate.
“You’re eating my food? Joey, the reason I bought this stuff is because it’s
all super high in calories in fat. I need it for my diet.”
“I dunno. It seems like you’re
doing pretty well without it.” He responded pointing and my unbuttoned jeans.
“Yes. Axl stuffed me with pasta
tonight. Now move over.” I collapsed on the couch beside Joey, my medium black
t-shirt riding up over my navel. I took an éclair out of the box and started
scarfing it down. “I thought you said you were stuffed?” asked Joey. “I said I was stuffed… about an hour ago. I’m
hungry all the time now.” Joey looked at his gut and than looked at mine. For
the first time since the experiment started, Joey’s smirk faded away. “Dang
dude. You’re… you’re going to get fat.”
“I know.” I swallowed the last bite
of the éclair and immediately grabbed another from the box, “believe me dude I
know.”
Third month’s examination was more
intense than the first two. Blood tests and fitness tests were included. I had
to wear track shorts and an under armor shirt I hadn’t worn since the
experiment began. I wheezed running on the treadmill as the doctor waited
eagerly to check my vitals. He could not stop staring at my belly, which hung
on my waist, the underside exposed by the tight shirt. After being poked and
prodded I was given a towel and was told I could wait in the lobby for my paycheck.
Joey was waiting outside wearing the same sweatpants for the past week. A lot
of his pants barely close ever since I started letting him eat from my
groceries. He handed me a hoodie to cover up my protruding belly, but it gets
swiped away from Axl who just got out of his physical. “Hold on there buddy
don’t cover up just yet, I haven’t got a chance to look at you yet!” Axl pushed
my shirt up towards my softening pecs to expose my gut fully. He cupped the
bottom and started chuckling. “Great process buddy! Where are you at now?”
“I broke 200. Doc says I’m
overweight now.” I replied.
“Ha! I broke 200 last month, but
good for you it means you’re still qualified for the money! A couple girls and
one guy dropped out. Couldn’t handle embracing the lack of vanity I guess.” All
the participants were getting just as fat as I was. Girls’ breasts and hips
were bulging out of their sides, stomachs protruding out of their shirts, while
the guys’ paunches were turning into solid beer guts. “Just gotta keep thinking
about that paycheck I guess.” I exclaimed.
“Yeah the money’s great, but I’m
loving this.” Axl lifted his sweatshirt to reveal his belly, pushing it out to
emphasize its roundness. It hung over his the waistband of his tight
sweatpants. This month I spent a lot of time with Axl. I would go over to his
place for meals or he would come visit mine. We go out to eat with the other
participants or sometimes just with each other. No matter what, however, Axl
would always end up feeding me after I felt like I was going to pop. I never
had to do the same for him. Axl had a ferocious appetite and it was rubbing off
on me.
Two months later into the
experiment and even though I had to buy bigger clothes again, I was really
enjoying my time with Axl. My weight gain had steadied putting me at around 215
pounds at my last examination. Axl who was a couple inches taller than me
weighed in at 234 pounds. No matter how many times we compared guts his was
always bigger. It felt like I was never going to catch up. Joey and I got to
the examination early. It was evident that we both had gotten noticeably bigger
as we squeezed through the turnstile doors. I changed into my boxer briefs and
waited for the doctor to arrive. I sat in the chair and let my belly sit on my
lap. Joey sat across from me, eyes glaring. “See something you like?” I asked.
“Dude, you’re really fat now. Like…
it’s not even the gut anymore. Your face is rounder and by God your thighs are
getting enormous. I think you’re bigger than me now.”
“Joey, I let you eat my food. You
must have gained 20 pounds since I started.” I got up and felt my gut shake. I
pointed to my protruding belly. “This is a desperate attempt to get some cash.
This however…” I lifted up Joey’s shirt. “This is from being a total pig.”
“Vent all you want dude.” Joey
replied pulling his shirt down over his furry beer gut, “That’s not going to
change the fact that we are the same height, but I weigh only 215 pounds when
you clearly weight more than that.” The doctor walked in with his morning
coffee. “Hello Thomas. You’re making quite some progress. It’s not a race you
know.” I looked down and my swollen pudge hanging over the waistband of my
boxerbriefs and laughed uncomfortably. Joey smirked as I got on the scale. “229
pounds.” Said the doctor. “Told ya you were bigger than me.” Joey exclaimed. I
had gained almost 70 pounds since this experiment had started. I changed into
my sweat pants and a large hoodie and was about to leave when Axl popped his
head into the doctor’s office door, “Hey! Sorry are you done, I was little late
to my physical today.” I smiled and nodded as I let Axl into the room.
“You can stay if you like.” Axl
said as he started stripping into his underwear. “I’m not shy.” Axl stood in
the doctor’s office with nothing but skin-tight boxer briefs. He must’ve had them
when the experiment started because they barely covered his ass.. The doctor
gestured him to hop on the scale. “230 pounds.” Everyone’s expression dropped.
“I lost weight?” Axl asked.
“It appears so.” The Doctor
replied, “Have you been consuming enough calories?”
“And then some.” Axl responded,
“Just ask Thomas.”
“Believe me he’s been eating just
as much as me.” I replied.
“This happens a lot, especially
with young men. Your metabolism has kicked into overdrive and it makes it
harder to put on weight. Unfortunately, this is an overeating and obesity
experiment and it requires all participants to gain a steady amount of weight
for nine months. If you plateau we’ll have to ask you to leave.”
“C’mon doc!” I exclaimed. “Look at him. Feel the size of
his gut, look how big his ass has gotten and his second chin is coming in. He’s
gained a ton of weight and now you’re kicking him out ‘cause he had bad month?”
“Axl has been on our watch for the
most rapid body fat percentage increase… If he gains weight this month… we can
keep him in the experiment.” Axl and I sighed with relief. There’s no way I
could continue on without my encourager. “Thanks buddy.” said Axl as he put his
jeans and t-shirt on. “Don’t mention it. And don’t worry we’re going to help
each other. I going to get you busting out of those jeans before this month is
over.” That night Axl came over to my apartment. We ordered a mountain of thai
food and then I stuffed him full of donuts that I swiped out of Joey’s hands.
There was one more donut left. “Thanks Thomas, but I couldn’t possibly eat
another bite.”
I bent down and unbuttoned Axl’s
jeans and watched the force of his swollen gut push down the fly. “There. Now
you have more room.” We both smiled as I lifted the last donut to his mouth.
That night Joey, Axl and I passed out on my futon.
A month of almost daily
encouragement later, I took Axl out for a large, heavy breakfast before our
weigh in, just to be safe. The diner beside the research building had great
pancakes and waffles. We ate like pigs, but I made a special effort to stuff Axl.
The button on his jeans haven’t been able to close for the past week, as I had
promised. As we were about to leave we bumped into Andrew and Jessie, “Hey
guys! We haven’t seen you in a while. You got… big” They said as they were
getting up from their table. They both had gotten noticeably fatter, Jessie
with her wide hips and double chin and Andrew with his ball belly, but it was
true, no one could compare to Axl and I. We walked into the research building
together. Joey was waiting on bench outside the doctor’s office. “Where were
you guys? I’ve been waiting.”
“Sorry Joey, we got breakfast for
one final stuffing session.” I replied.
“And you didn’t invite me?” He
asked.
“I don’t think you need any more
big breakfasts pal.” I poked Joey’s beer belly that was pushing out of his
extra large plaid shirt. “You’re not even getting paid.” Joey sucked in his gut
the best he could and tried to adjust his shirt out of embarrassment. Andrew,
Jessie, Axl, and I decided we would do our weigh ins together this time. Even
Joey wanted in on the action. We walked into the doctor’s office and stripped.
A big “woof” came from everyone when I took of my shirt. I did a quick truffle
shuffle, my newest and now most common party trick. The doctor walked in
slightly shocked by the small group of half naked fat people in his office. Axl
was the first to get up on the scale. Everyone gave his gut a slap for good
luck. “248 pounds.” Said the doctor. Axl cheered and immediately gave me a hug.
I our bellies pressed together and I could feel my breakfast coming up so I
pushed him aside so we could get to my turn. “251 pounds.” Said the doctor. For
the first time in six months I was heavier than Axl..Joey walked over to me
like a proud father. “Look at that monster! I remember when this one freaked
out when we had the same size jeans. Now look.” He shoved his gut up against
mine. Mine was definitely larger and I got love handles and a bigger ass to
boot. After everyone was done getting examined – Joey weighed in at 230 pounds
– I changed into my jeans. They were a stretched out size 38. I squeezed the
button close and let my belly flop over the waist. I looked at myself in the
mirror. I grabbed my gut and shook it up and down. I was able to lift the
entire thing with my hands. I turned to look at my love handles that had become
more prominent as well as my beefier thighs and ass. Axl stepped beside me and
started to do similar things. “Yep, They’re real.” He joked. He gave my gut a
good slap and left the doctor’s office. I put my sweater on and looked at myself
in the mirror again. When I pictured myself fat and I imagined something more
horrifying than what I saw in front of me. I thought it was going to be gross,
but I liked my larger frame. I like how soft my man boobs felt, I liked the way
my gut protruded out of everything I owned. I walked into the lobby letting my
gut relax, showing off what I had accomplished in the past 6 months. I was
surprised to see a mountain of pizza boxes. The researchers decided to give us
a little extra thanks this month. For the next two hours I watched 15 overfed,
overstuffed participants pig out on pizza. I was forced to unbutton my jeans
and have everyone come up to me asking if they could feel my gut.
The final three months of the
experiment were not easy. Axl and I had to eat up to 10,000 calories a day.
Luckily we had each other to help. Joey grew out a scraggly beard, went back to
regular beer and took up the same eating habits I had. He was constantly trying
to best Axl in eating contests, but would always lose. The pigging out really
impacted is waistline. Joey was fatter than ever and he didn’t even get paid
for it. For the final examination the participants were encouraged to wear the
clothes they wore on the first day. I waddled into the building jeans
unbuttoned and below my ass. The shirt I wore on my first day barely covered my
navel and would roll up underneath my supple man boobs. Joey was behind me
wearing track pants and a t-shirt that barely covered his huge, furry gut. “Let
me take a look you… one last time.” He told me.
“I’m not going to be able to lose
the weight over night Joey. You’re going to be seeing this for quite a while.”
Joey grabbed my gut and started rubbing it.
“I know dude, but I just feels like
yesterday that this monster was just a little guy and now look at it!”
I lifted Joey’s shirt. “Yours isn’t
bad either pal.” Joey looked down and started lifting his beer belly up and
down, feeling the weight. Axl then walked in wearing the same jeans that were
not completely unbuttoned and rided below his ass. He also wore a button down
shirt that only buttoned in the middle exposing his massive gut. All the
participants wore similar things, exposing all the places they gained weight.
It was clear everyone was obese as the experiment entailed. Axl came up to me,
gave me a kiss, and immediately started lifting my gut up and down. “You’re
looking good Thomas. Still nervous?”
“Nah. You look good too buddy.”
“Hey lover boys!” yelled Joey from
the doctor’s office. “Research guy is waiting for ya.” I hopped on the scale.
While I waited for the numbers to adjust I noticed the grad student who handed
me my binder on the first day was weighing me. His face was fuller though and
he had a small gut protruding out of his button down shirt. “Gained a little
weight too eh?” I asked jokingly.
“Yeah, a little. You folks have
been rubbing off on me.” The numbers finally stopped.
“Thomas your final weight is, 304
pounds.”
“I broke 300?!”
“First one today. You proud of
yourself?” The grad student asked.
I smiled and hopped off the scale.
After some more tests I found out I had tripled my body fat percentage as well.
I looked at myself in the mirror as I pulled up my impossibly tight jeans. I
had become a genuine fat ass. It was Axl’s turn to get on the scale.”Axl your
final weight is 315 pounds.”
“I put on 150 pounds?”
“Yep. Heaviest so far.” Exclaimed
the grad student.
Axl started to chuckle, his belly
shaking simultaneously. Afterwards everyone moved into the lobby for a few
photos. Everyone was laughing and comparing bellies. The grad student got up
and started to make a speech. “I want to thank everyone here again. I’m so glad
you were able to treat this entire process with a great sense of humor. And to
show my support I will confess that I’ve gained 20 pounds as well.” The grad
student lifted his shirt to show off his paunch and the entire group cheered.
He pulled down his shirt and continued to speak. “I also have some good news
for anyone who is interested. I know some of you are eager to hit the gym and
to shed these extra pounds, but the lab is offering an extended research
participant contract to anyone in this study who is obese, which luckily is all
of you.” Everyone looked at each other puzzled. “You would continue to get paid
and all you would have to do is maintain or gain weight for the next year. Any
takers?” Axl’s hand shot straight up. Mine quickly followed.
