I Was Pregnant and My Husband Forced Me to Starve Myself, Then Karma Hit Him Hard - Story of the Day

I gained some weight because I was pregnant, but my husband, who is obsessed with physical looks, forced me to starve myself. He learned his lesson the hard way.

My name is Maya, and I've always been one of those women who effortlessly loses weight. However, I've never been too slim; as far as I'm concerned, I fall between skinny and thick, which is why I caught Brad's attention.

He used to describe me as slim-thick because I have a small waist that flares into wide hips and shapely thighs. When we got married, he was always boasting to his friends about how hot I was. Those were the good times.

But about a year into our union, Brad started to tell me how unattractive I looked because I added weight, especially around my belly and legs.

One day, I was in our room getting dressed for a night out with the girls when Brad walked in, took one look at me, and scoffed in disgust. It triggered me, and I wanted to know why he did it.

"What is it now Brad?" I asked.

"You're asking me?" he answered, incredulous. "You're in front of a mirror, Maya, look at yourself, you can hardly fit in those clothes anymore."

I knew he would say that; I just didn't know what made me want to hear it. It broke my heart every time, and it only got worse. In response, I started to shower in our spare room to avoid his demeaning words.

Not that it helped; if anything, it only seemed to aggravate the situation because Brad would be waiting right outside the bathroom when I was finished to let me know how ridiculous I was for being so self-conscious without taking steps to rectify the wrongs.

As the days went by, his criticisms got worse. At some point, he started comparing me to other women whenever we went out. One day we were out having dinner with our family friend, Ryan, and his gorgeous wife Kira, when Brad suddenly made a ghastly comparison.

"Look at Ryan's wife. Kira looks like a supermodel!" he said. "You should ask her what she does to stay so fit."

Kira was a slim woman who looked like she would float away if the fan was turned on too high, and Brad wanted me to look like that!

When Brad noticed that I wasn't taking steps to get fit, he took matters into his own hands. He would make me run miles in the morning even though he didn't join me. He refused to buy me food, and when he had dinner, he would serve me a minuscule portion.

The refrigerator was also out of bounds. He kept this up for days, and eventually, it got me admitted to the hospital. The doctor first told me that I looked malnourished, and the second thing he said was that I was carrying a child.

I asked him if that could have been one of the reasons I seemed to be putting on more weight, and he answered that it could very well be the cause. So I called my husband to tell him the great news, but instead of his deep baritone, I heard a soft feminine voice.

It was Kira, and she had been spending unholy amounts of time with my hubby while I was recuperating in the hospital. My world turned upside down.

I remained at the hospital for the next couple of days, getting nourishment and nursing my broken heart. My husband did not bother visiting, but Ryan did.

He was the man I would have married had Brad not come around. Ryan and I had been great friends since our college days. He was a handsome man, but Brad had more superior looks, and I could never tell if Ryan's harmless flirting back then had hidden more.

When he visited me, he looked rough and a bit distraught. He had not been sleeping well because he was in the process of leaving his wife, whom he had caught cheating with Brad earlier that week.

He told me about it, and I revealed that I'd also made the discovery around the same time. He joked about how we were in sync, and that led to us discussing relationships and how we sucked at choosing partners.

But suddenly, he came out with a confession that forever changed my world. "Maya, I think you're the woman for me."

He said it so softly; I would surely have missed it if the hospital ward wasn't so quiet. In fact, I thought I misheard him, but he repeated himself, and suddenly it was like a dam had broken.

The words spilled out of him. He called me the woman of his dreams, and I almost cried at how sincere he sounded. I told him about the baby, and he smiled happily and let me know he would care for it like his own should I decide to be with him.

It was not a tough decision for me. Brad had made his decision, and I was done trying to please him. The following day, I sent him divorce documents and started dating Ryan.

Currently, Ryan and I are having the time of our lives and are expecting our own child. Brad now lives alone; apparently, Kira dumped him for gaining too much weight. Talk about karma at its finest.

What did we learn from this story?

• Don't body shame. Brad should not have made Maya go through all she did just to fit his idea of the perfect woman. He treated her terribly and made her despise her own body when she had simply been pregnant, and he eventually lost her.
• Be content. Brad was not content with his wife's body, so he started cheating on her with Kira, who later judged him for his body too. In the end, he lost both women because of it.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a husband who fat shames his wife and is taught a life lesson.

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