Chapter #5Stress Eating Cheerilee by: Unknown There was no mistaking it. Adjusting to the new facilities was difficult. Dealing with her class size quickly quadrupling over the course of a year was difficult. Dealing with the new students from exotic lands, who had none of the respect for her that she’s spent so long fostering in the Ponyville community, was difficult. But in the end, if she was able to brighten and enlighten her student’s lives, she was happy. And besides, she had her ways of ‘coping’ with difficult times.
Cheerilee just couldn’t help but stuff her face, even when she was at the head of her class. Whenever some disrespectful colt started talking back to her, she busted out a chocolate bar and starting chewing. Whenever parents rush in loudly blaming her because their foal isn’t trying at all and thus is getting bad grades, she goes and binges on ice cream. She figures it’s not that unhealthy of a response, when you really think about. Some people get depressed. Some people get angry. Cheerilee… just eats. Surely, that’s not so bad, right?
Well… to be honest, she has been putting on a worrying amount of weight over the last year. Nothing that bad, honest! It’s just… her cheeks have been getting a little rounder, her legs a little thicker, her tummy a little squishier, her flanks a little jigglier. She’s gone from being a sprightly young mare to having more of a… ‘doughy’ look. It certainly didn’t earn her any extra favor with her new students. Many of them cracked jokes about her behind her back, especially saying that her flank won’t be able to fit through doorways soon. At this rate, they may be right...
She had to admit, she had a bit of a potbelly going on. When she walked, it swung back and forth beneath her slightly, and her rump jiggled just the slightest bit. Still, she keeps telling herself she’s not fat, only plump! And while that may be true, she knows that this is but a taste of what’s to come. If her job keeps stressing her out this much, there was no way she was going to lose all this weight any time soon, or even stop gaining. She shudders to imagine just how fat she might get if something doesn’t give soon!
Today, her class is unruly. Yeah, what else is new? All these new students seemed to have no respect for her, and the problem only worsened as she gained weight. Worse still, she can’t really punish any of them or their parents will come running, and their parents are almost more rude than their foals. Every time one of her students blows her off and disrespects her, it hurts. Every time one of her students makes fun of her behind her back, it hurts. But instead of getting upset, she reminds herself to take a snack from her desk drawer and try to calm herself down.
They were just foals, after all. They might not respect her now, but eventually, with hard work and dedication, she’ll get through to them, and show them that learning can be fun and fulfilling. Enlightening her student’s lives was her talent, after all. Her days weren’t all bad; watching her brighter students make progress and excitedly learn new things was always heartwarming and exciting for her. Still, over the course of an average day’s work, she probably packs away about 2,500 calories.
After an eight hour day, she still lingers around the school for about three hours or so to grade papers, counsel students, meet with parents and all that. That builds up her appetite for after hours, when she really lets loose. She likes to stop by sugar cube corner on her way home for a big, delicious pastry feast just to unwind after work. At home, she tends to binge on ice cream, chocolate, and other snacks just to keep her mind off her anxiety. At this point, she was probably eating over 5,000 calories a day.
She’s completely given up on keeping track of her weight. Just stepping on a scale fills her with anxiety. What’s she supposed to do? Exercise? She worked over twelve hours a day! Where would she find the time for proper exercise? Portion control? She just didn’t know of any other ways to cope with the stress. Eating made her feel better, and not eating made her feel worse, ergo, through sheer Pavlovian condition, she just can’t help but eat.
The main problem; the incredible amounts of snacks she burns through every day is killer on her budget. She’s already being paid a pitiful amount, and worried percentage of that is going to food. If she wants to maintain her appetite, she’ll have to find a way to avoid breaking her budget...  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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