Even if you remove the 'encouraged' part, it's still quite interesting to think about! Like, I wonder how many people would choose to get fat if they'd spent their life in a society where it was just treated the same as dying your hair, or getting piercings/tattoos? I think it'd be a surprisingly high percentage.

Curious to hear some perspectives from people who have intentionally gained - what were your original goal sizes, back in your skinny (or at least, skinnier!) days? Did you stick to it, or end up somewhere completely different?

Anecdotally, I feel like a lot of gainers tend to have their upper limit be a bit of a moving (or rather, growing) target.

I'm very much in agreement with this - you don't hear people saying they have a 'skinny fetish', even though in most of our societies these days, being average/overweight is probably more common than being thin!

People are only ashamed to have fat partners or be attracted to fat people because they've internalised a lifetime of society being ridiculously fatphobic. If you can make an effort to get over that, not only will you feel more confident in your preferences, you'll probably be a better partner as well. I can guarantee, nobody wants to be dating someone who's embarrassed to be seen in public with them.

Not a guy (non-binary/maybe trans?), but this thought has crossed my mind quite a few times. Like, does the idea of having a fat body not appeal to me, or is it the idea of having a fat, 'male' body that doesn't appeal to me? If I eventually transition, would I want to look more like the femme people I'm attracted to, or would I still want to stay slim? I honestly don't know the answer to those questions - kinda interesting to think about.

Very much depends on the kind of person you are, I think, but I tend to cope best with tough times when I throw myself into something productive. A hobby, picking up a new skill, etc. Distract yourself and better yourself at the same time, y'know?

Given the sort of site we're on, I think you'll also get a fair few people preaching the virtues of comfort eating

Counting down the days till I get paid so I can get the new XCOM 2 expansion.

Probably going to suck at it just as badly as I did with the base game, just in new and exciting ways

I'm in a similar boat. I feel like if it turns out your partner isn't into gaining, them being fine with you talking about it and them occasionally using it to turn you on is pretty much the next best thing.

Two suggestions (with the caveat that I'm no expert):

a. Strategic food choices - if you're only having normal sized meals, make sure they're made up of calorie-dense stuff!

b. Ease yourself into it - if you go from normal meal size to stuffing your face out of nowhere, you'll probably feel like crap, but if you push your limit a little at each meal your capacity will most likely increase.