Haha, what if…bubbly, energetic thin hardworking go-getter who has trouble sitting still, puts their 100% into everything no matter how small, and feels compelled to go out on a run at least once a day slowly gets corrupted into a slow-as-molasses perpetually lethargic fatass who’s hardwired to be lazy and sedentary, can’t even fathom the idea of putting even in the slightest bit of effort anymore, sweats at the thought of having to take more than fifty steps in a single day, and has completely forgotten what it feels like to run and how to even do it at this point…
Oh yeah, what if... there would have to be some fair amount of rewiring and manipulation involved...
What if it started small, with some slightly suspicious ads sneaking into their life, advertising food in large quantities?
What if colleagues brought pastries to work all the time and it felt rude to refuse? After all, they are trying to advance their career and these people are important!
What if they got a partner who encouraged them to stay at home with them more? "You can go on a run tomorrow, but I'm here today" kind of thing?
What if the ads gradually got more frequent? The donuts at work larger? The sedentary pasttimes with their partner more and more enticing?
After some time of these subtle changes, the person might find that they no longer have troubles sitting still in one place, and actually feel better and less frantic. They now notice that it's quite pleasant to spend their afternoons on the couch, resting after a day of work. They go on runs from time to time, but the distance keeps getting shorter, and they realize it's not as much fun as it once was.
This is just the beginning - and it could end there if the day came that the person realized their clothes don't fit right, and decided to go back to the strict routine.
But that day never comes, because a dilligent partner exchanges their clothes for larger sizes regularly, and distracts them with new shows, movies, and games. A promotion at work comes, and that means long hours sitting in the chair with snacks consumed mindlessly during work. And they now have several takeout apps installed on their phone.
And when the day of realization finally comes - maybe six months later, maybe a year - it's too late. Our former go-getter hasn't been on a run in months, hasn't taken the stairs in a couple weeks, and their belly spills out of their XL pants.
They should really go running... but the sheer idea makes them sweat.
So they eat more. Sit down more. And another year passes.
"I really should go running" turns into "I really should walk a bit more" turns into "Let's try for 50 steps today"... they now have to rock to get out of their bed.
But it's okay, isn't it? Their partner dotes on them, they got the promotion at work... maybe next time they could ask about accomodations. Like a bigger chair, for example.
They make a mental note of that as they munch on another candy bar, double chin rippling.