Andie Bradley (Amy Jo Johnson) is a gymnast whose ambition is to participate in the Olympics. When offered the opportunity to train with one of the leading coaches in the U.S., she gratefully accepts. This requires her to move to Seattle from Portland. When she attends her first session, she is scrutinized by the coach about her weight and feels the pressure to lose the pounds. At first she adopts a sensible diet, but it soon leads to excessive calorie restriction. When she hangs out with a fellow team member, Leslie (Tara Boger), Leslie tells her that there are ways around it and encourages her to self-induce vomiting, saying, "You can eat what you want, and not gain a pound." Andie continues restricting her calories, but when she cannot help eating due to extreme hunger, she resorts to purging methods.