Weight gain occurs in various distributions due to a variety of factors. Some people have already hit on major factors such as genetics and how your clothes can impact the adipose distribution. A lot of the puzzle has to do with your bodies sensitivity to insulin. Healthy (if you can call it that) weight gain, where your body is still sensitive to insulin, will tend to cause fat accumulation sucutaneously (under the skin). This will mean you will develop more soft jiggly fat. As the body becomes accustomed to excess sugar in the blood, cells lose sensitivity to insulin and fat tends to deposite in the abdominal cavity which causes a bulge underneath the abdominal muscles and so the belly will be more firm due the muscular rigidity holding the fat inside. Along with that belly fat and diabetes often comes vascular disease, and so the parts of the body at the end of very long arteries (the arms and legs) become starved of blood and will lose muscle mass and become thin and lankey. Hence the typical huge belly with chicken legs look in some older folks.
As Mr. Bear stated above, trans fats and saturated fats can cause a more "stiff" fat becuase those molecules tend to cause insulin insensitivity in your body. The deposition will largely be intra-abdominal, inside your belly, and cause the harder apple shaped gut.
Testosterone also seems to affect fat distribution. More testosterone tends to cause intraabdominal fat deposition. This is often demonstrated in PCOS, a type of female hormonal disorder, where women produce an excess of sex hormones and are also often "apple" shaped. There isn't much you can do about that as long as you have you boy parts, and i am not advocating removing those any time soon.
A possible way to overcome this is to exercise a bit to prevent insulin insensitivity and therefore belly fat from forming while maintaining enough caloric comsumption to gain weight. You may put weight on in a more stereotypical pear shape. If you can also avoid the "bad fats" as Kat implied then you will also increase your odds of developing a softer fat. This is not a guarantee, as your genes, current insulin sensitivity, clothes, and perhaps other factors such as your manism also play a role in your general fat distribution, but best of luck to you.
Sorry to write so much, but i hope you may find it helpful.
As Mr. Bear stated above, trans fats and saturated fats can cause a more "stiff" fat becuase those molecules tend to cause insulin insensitivity in your body. The deposition will largely be intra-abdominal, inside your belly, and cause the harder apple shaped gut.
Testosterone also seems to affect fat distribution. More testosterone tends to cause intraabdominal fat deposition. This is often demonstrated in PCOS, a type of female hormonal disorder, where women produce an excess of sex hormones and are also often "apple" shaped. There isn't much you can do about that as long as you have you boy parts, and i am not advocating removing those any time soon.
A possible way to overcome this is to exercise a bit to prevent insulin insensitivity and therefore belly fat from forming while maintaining enough caloric comsumption to gain weight. You may put weight on in a more stereotypical pear shape. If you can also avoid the "bad fats" as Kat implied then you will also increase your odds of developing a softer fat. This is not a guarantee, as your genes, current insulin sensitivity, clothes, and perhaps other factors such as your manism also play a role in your general fat distribution, but best of luck to you.
Sorry to write so much, but i hope you may find it helpful.
17 years
