The thing I do that immediately comes to mind is that I have to have the right stuffing clothes. If I know I am going to be eating a lot, I spend a lot more time and thought on what to wear than I do 90% of the time. If I am going out, I want tight over loose. If I am staying home, I want pants or shorts with elastic and multiple layers of shirts to peel off as I expand until I am eating with no shirt on, which really is the mark of a stuffer.

I gained about 30 pounds right at the beginning of quarantine from 255- 285. I was not intending to gain at all, but stress and cancelling my gym membership had me at my highest weight in years in early May of last year. I was conflicted about it, since it is heavier than I like to live my everyday life, but I did find it sexy., and while I felt sexy, being at home all day with my kids around meant I never got to put that to use with my wife or by myself. I used the good summer weather to get active outside and lose about half, and have maintained there since. I am still about 15 pounds heavier than I would normally like to be but am OK with it, and had to really adjust my eating and set up a home gym to get through the holidays last year.

I don't know who else is in this boat, but what has changed is that I have a confidence now that if I were to really lean into trying to gain weight, I would be really good at it. That also makes me want to do it less as if I did gain a bunch of weight there is no one in my life to show it off to. My wife wouldn't care; she knows I don't ever want to be skinny, but she also wouldn't appreciate it like I would want.

I gained about 30 pounds right at the beginning of quarantine from 255- 285. I was not intending to gain at all, but stress and cancelling my gym membership had me at my highest weight in years in early May of last year. I was conflicted about it, since it is heavier than I like to live my everyday life, but I did find it sexy., and while I felt sexy, being at home all day with my kids around meant I never got to put that to use with my wife or by myself. I used the good summer weather to get active outside and lose about half, and have maintained there since. I am still about 15 pounds heavier than I would normally like to be but am OK with it, and had to really adjust my eating and set up a home gym to get through the holidays last year.

I don't know who else is in this boat, but what has changed is that I have a confidence now that if I were to really lean into trying to gain weight, I would be really good at it. That also makes me want to do it less as if I did gain a bunch of weight there is no one in my life to show it off to. My wife wouldn't care; she knows I don't ever want to be skinny, but she also wouldn't appreciate it like I would want.

I was unhappy with my capacity about a year ago and made a point to do a water bloat every morning when I first woke up. Before bed the night before, I would pour myself a two liter pitcher of water and let it sit out overnight, then drink it before getting in the shower in the morning. I pushed the speed every day for two weeks until I could do it all in one go. I had no side effects other than not being hungry and having to pee a lot early in the day. I noticed that I was able to eat a lot more at lunch though, which was typically when I pushed myself anyway. I did keep those lunches low calorie high volume because I was not trying to gain, so it was eating three apples and a pear instead of one apple and one pear.

1. This weekend should be the beginning of stomach stretching to prepare.

2.You need to clear out your fridge of the existing food to make room for Thanksgiving leftovers.

3. You need to test some new recipes. Then you need to eat the whole thing, because you need the pan for the real thing.

4. It is very difficult to scale down your recipes for those Thanksgiving sides. If your gathering is limited due to Covid, you should still make the same amount of food as if it wasn't.

I wasn't going to say anything about this, but I fell like maybe I can not let this descend any further into division.

I appreciate this community for what it provides in that we do all have common interests. I also recognize that in spaces catering to the African diaspora or just Black American perspectives (which are totally two different things) have a more open appreciation for fatness than society at large, which I think may have been the original point. I don't think that is any kind of knock on this place to say that somewhere else offers a breath of fresh air that isn't offered here.

John Smith - You post a lot, and you often write in very dense heavy language that I have to read and re-read before I think I understand.
I don't know about some of the details you provided on different cultures and didn't assume you were putting anyone down, but if you did, I don't agree with that. I hope I haven't misrepresented your original point.

Thank you all. I appreciate everyone that takes the time to contribute here.

1. Drink plenty of water and mix in some fiber. You will otherwise get backed up and lose the will to keep eating, especially after day three.
2. Get some light physical activity and sleep. You don't want to be too tired to maintain an appetite.
3. Be flexible. You might be trying to push yourself by sticking to a menu or a schedule, but don't get so wrapped up in sticking to the plan that you aren't enjoying your binge or listening to your body.
Find some distractions. If you get bored or have nothing else to focus on, you will get fuller faster. Binge watch some TV, get some social time with others (eating with them or not), cook, read, or do something to stimulate your mind.

Good luck!

I don't know how much you can tolerate eating one thing for multiple meals, but have you considered doing takeout as a catering order? Even the minimum catering order is obviously more expensive up front and more than most people can eat in a day, but the amount of food per dollar is usually a lot less.

If I want to feel the most stuffed for the longest amount of time, here are some pointers I use:

1. Start with bland dry and starchy. I don't mean so bland that there is no flavor, but spiciness, saltiness, tartness, acidity, and herbal flavors build up and eventually become overwhelming. Only drink enough liquid to keep things going down smoothly. Eat with pace until you get to the point where you start chipmunking or overchewing.
2. Then switch to the main course. This is actually the opposite of what competitive eaters do, because they are trying to not feel fullness. You will get a bit of a second wind for this because it is good food.
3. Chase with non-carbonated room temperature liquid. I usually will sip warm peppermint tea or a slightly cool, but not cold gatorade. Bubbles will put too much pressure on you too quickly and are more likely to make you sick. The liquid will help everything in you settle at first, and then when it hits your starchy first course, it will get soaked up and you will really feel full, but not like you ate too much too fast.
4. Take your time picking and grazing and moving around and rubbing your belly. Eventually the feeling of fullness will subside and you should keep topping off with a few bites every couple of minutes until you get to the point where all the food is gone or you don't want any more of any of it.
5. There is always room for dessert - After some time, when you do want to eat again to stay stuffed, but you don't want any more of what you've been eating, have a sweet treat.

Good luck.

There used to be a stereotype of the rich fat person. It would be someone well-traveled, who enjoyed fine dining, luxury, and high art. A gourmand of rich french cuisine and fancy tea cakes. I feel like I haven't seen that type of fat person portrayed in the media in recent years. What does modern high-class obesity look like?