An Overweight Gymnast (Patreon)

Another request from long time supporter James. The prompt this time was A gymnast discovering a sweet tooth/growing appetite after her season is over. It ends up going in an interesting direction. Happy Holidays and enjoy!

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“I’d like to thank Alyssa for being on the show tonight. Congratulations on winning your first ever gold medal in gymnastics. Alyssa Greene everybody!”

*Clap Clap Clap*

Alyssa stood, taking a bow for the large live studio audience before shaking the hand of the late night host that had just interviewed her. Alyssa, at the young age of 18, had just taken home her first gold medal, and was at the first stop on her publicity tour. She donned the same leotard she had worn the day of competition, and the crowd was going wild for her.

Backstage, Alyssa felt like she could finally breathe for the first time in hours. She had never done an interview like this, let alone in front of an audience and for millions who would be watching later at home. She just sat in her dressing room calming herself down.

Finally when she had gathered herself, she stepped out of her dressing room, looking for her mom, who had come with her to New York for support. The hallways here looked like a maze, so she tried not to wonder too far from her dressing room, but her mother was nowhere in sight.

What she did find though was a craft services. The table was bursting with snacks and drinks. Alyssa had been on a strict diet while she trained, never eating something that wasn’t part of her nutritional plan. Now that she was a gold medalist though, the reigns were a little bit more relaxed. Despite the temptation though, she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to even have any of these tasty looking morsels. That was until one of the staff members there saw her eyeing the spread and told her to take whatever she wanted, she was the talent after all.

She grabbed a bagel, as there were a ton of them, and they looked plump and delicious, plus Alyssa had a fondness for bread, which she was rarely allowed during her training. Smothering both sides with cream cheese, she took a bite and her stomach almost rolled over from how good it tasted. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a bagel with cream cheese, but she swore to herself this wouldn’t be the last time.

New York was only the first stop. Alyssa’s team PR manager had interviews lined up for weeks. After several days in New York, they started to make their way across the country to several smaller markets. With the whole team on a break for six months until competition training came back around, Alyssa had plenty of time for her interview circuit. And while that was happening Alyssa had decided to take it easy. Her days were filled with travel and preparing backstage, not a lot of time to work on staying in shape. While the rest of her team might have been keeping their form up, Alyssa lounged and enjoyed the comforts of the road.

She soon learned that the craft services out in these small little towns were even better than the ones in the big city. All sorts of fried nibbles she got her hands on, from donut bites, to popcorn chicken. And when going from city to city there were not a lot of healthy options, Alyssa found herself requesting stops at fast food joints for dinner. 

Now that she was 18 and a gold medalist, her parents had started to give her some space so she could bloom into a real adult. Her team leaders also gave her space. They were confident she knew what it took to get that gold medal, and that she would need to maintain it if she wished for another. So as she ordered double quarter pounders and milk shakes most nights of the week, no one really noticed.

They had arrived firmly in the midwest, a few weeks after setting off from New York. As buzz around Alyssa’s gold winning performance grew, her PR rep booked more and more shows. These early morning talk shows, that she was getting used to doing, were starting to look for more from this young star, and so they added a practical portion to the interview. After all the questions and answers, the talk show hosts would edge Alyssa into giving a small performance. They couldn’t do anything wild since they were in a staged area, but her and the team put something together that she could do in most places. A couple of flips and walkovers was all it took to wow the crowd. 

Alyssa would head straight to craft services after her performance, taking a big plate back to her dressing room. It nestled nicely on the empty plate that was there from when she was getting ready. Alyssa noticed her leotard started to become more difficult to take off. She figured it was just from the sweat of doing her performance.

Several more weeks past, as they finally arrived on the west coast, their final destination, Los Angeles. Alyssa had been excited for this final stop. She had a full week of interviews lined up. Her buzz had only been growing, but what she didn’t know was that there was some additional information flowing into those headlines. Rumors had started to come out about her ballooning waistline. The viewership in those smaller markets were not enough to make a splash, but here in LA, these programs went nationwide. America was about to get a glimpse at Alyssa for the first time since her stop in New York a couple months earlier. 

Alyssa ignored these sensational headlines, she knew they did anything they could to make a buck. Alyssa only bothered herself with where her next meal was coming from. She had spent the last week watching viral food videos from around LA. She knew this place was known for only two things, movies and restaurants. With a list of stops on her phone, she was ready to get her week in LA started. 

The week started off fine, but her managers tried to keep her from eating at any of the places she had on her list. In the end she always won, as they really had no power to stop her. She wolfed down the heart attack burger, tried every variant of street taco, not to mention starting each day with a stop at a new artisanal donut shop.

Her first several interviews went normally, but by midweek the topic of her weight came up. Alyssa donned her skin tight leotard like normal, but after over two months of indulging she was filling it out much more. The formly rail thin gymnast had gotten seriously chunky. Flat chested before, she now sported a full cup. Her abs had long been covered by a chubby belly that was starting to hang in front of her. Her legs and arms had thickened up considerably, compared to how toned they had been when she was competing.

“Alyssa, it looks like you’ve put on a little weight since your gold medal victory. Been enjoying those donuts a little too much?” Alyssa was shocked they would ask her something like this. She knew what had been stirring around in the headlines, but she didn’t think they would ask her about it live on the air. She knew she should have turned this interview down when she had the chance, they were known for getting attention anyway they knew how.

“Well you see, when you’re competing, it’s at a very high level, and a lot goes into that performance that day and the week leading up to it. After the competition is over, you get back to regular life, you’re hydration levels get back to normal.” Alyssa answered gracefully.

“So, just some water weight? That's what you’re saying?” The douchebag host said with a laugh. 

“Precisely.” Alyssa said with a smile. 

“Well then why did our cameras catch you with a large plate of donuts just earlier today. Let's take a look.” The host motioned over to a monitor that Alyssa could see what was being shown live. It was a shot of her at the craft services table, where she wasn’t aware that she was being filmed. Alyssa was perplexed, she looked wide for some reason. She almost felt like that wasn’t even her. She watched herself load several donuts and other baked goods on a plate and the waddle off to her dressing room.

The camera cut to a shot in her dressing room from an above corner. Alyssa set down the plate and then started to eat the baked goods one by one. With her free hand she started to rub her bulging belly. That was certainly her, she remembered doing all of that. But why did she look so chubby? Almost fat! 

She looked down at her round stomach, tightly packed in her leotard. She realized she had totally let herself go. She ran from the stage in tears. The rest of her interviews were subsequently canceled, and after the whole fiasco the gymnastics team informed her they would be dropping Alyssa from their roster. 

Alyssa had made a pretty penny from her time with the team, as well as a hefty sum for bringing home a gold medal at such a young age. She spent the following months and years away from the sport. She might have lost her gymnastics career, but the weight she gained was never lost.