Ellen tried to put a halt to her snacking, but half the time wasn't even aware of the food her hands were guiding into her mouth. There was no way Pauline would buy this little 'compulsion' of hers. She had to do something to break it. But what? Ellen was pondering this as she overheard the customers at a particularly nearby table, one ear perking up and homing in like a radar dish.
"Come on honey, don't you want dessert?"
"Oof, no thanks, I couldn't eat another bite."
"But they have your favorite!"
"Hun, they could serve it on a gold platter for all I care. If I'm stuffed, I'm stuffed."
This little conversation caused an epiphany in Ellen. She nearly squealed in excitement. Of course! The problem was that her constant grazing kept her at a comfortable level of fullness, but never full enough that she felt the need to stop. What she needed was to simply make more food seem so unappetizing to her that she'd soon break her little habit. Ellen kept her plan in mind right until her own lunch break, which naturally came sometime later than usual to account for the restaurant's lunchtime rush. The mere thought of how much she'd eat kept Ellen occupied enough that she stopped her constant munching. For the first time in what felt like weeks, she was actually decently hungry when she sat down for her meal. She had cooked herself a meal right off the restaurant's menu, which was what she was quite used to. A meatball sandwich, an entire plate of fries, of course one of their stew-of-the-day stews, and a lunch omelet to err on the side of caution. Such a mini-feast didn't even garner her any looks from the rest of the kitchen staff - really, Ellen wasn't alone in her eating habits, simply the worst offender. She dug in with gusto.
To Ellen's surprise, she didn't have nearly the appetite she expected. Oh, sure, over the course of the average work day she might put away a few thousand calories' worth of food, but never much at once. She had never pushed her stomach's capacity. Still, she was determined. Eating a regular sized meal would just make her get back to snacking thirty minutes later. So she forced it all down. First the sandwich, which she truly enjoyed. She alternated with the stew and fries, and that she began to struggle with. She figured the stew would go down easy, giving her a more complete fullness, but it sat so heavy in her stomach. By the time she finished, she was eying the omelet with trepidation. Still, that was the point. To, for once in her life, not want to eat. So she began to cut up the omelet and cram it down, bite after bite. It nearly brought tears to her eyes. A couple of disturbed (and barely hidden) burps made things easier, but not for long. Ellen was getting some looks from the staff now, some put-off, others curious or even interested. Finally, with a clatter of knife and fork, Ellen finished the last of her meal. She sat back with a groan. It looked like half her fellow cooks were about to applaud her. Ellen just sat there and tried to comfort her bloated stomach, which was trying its best to churn with so much in it. She glanced at her watch. Only a few minutes before their lunch break was over. Ellen was not looking forward to getting up. But at least she could already see herself refusing her usual snacks.
Over the next two weeks, Ellen soon learned that a big lunch wasn't enough. She started getting up earlier to give her time to eat a positively huge breakfast to tie her over to lunch. Her dinners started getting a lot bigger too, although that was less about work and more about her quickly-changing eating habits. By the end of two weeks, she's....
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