Faaaat:
Recently I have noticed my mind and character changing while gaining 13 lbs in a month and I was wondering if anyone has experienced the same either with short term or long term gaining and if yes, how did it look like for you?
Trigger warning for abuse and unhealthy body image issues Former gainer here. I got a lot bolder when I was on my weight gain journey.
I grew up in an abusive household. My mom had a lot of body image issues and would project that onto me since we look so much alike. I was underweight due to some lifelong health issues. I was between 110 and 115 for the most part, and I hated it. But any time I gained even 5 lbs, my mother would go off the deep end and body shame me back into compliance.
She used to model, but after having kids, she was no longer slim and hated it. She'd often tell me how much she wished she had my body and that one day she'll get back down to that size.
Meanwhile, I was miserable. I got cold all the time, I was sick a lot. I felt ugly even though everyone around me would gush about how pretty I was. I'd often fantasize about how pretty I'd be as a BBW.
Eventually, it dawned on me that I was an adult, and my mother's unhinged opinions about my body didn't matter. So I took the plunge.
It was a special kind of hell at first. She'd viciously fat shamed me at every turn even when I wasn't even in the normal BMI range. I considered stopping several times just to spare myself the pain. But it was my body to change - not hers. And I'd rather live in one that made me happy.
Over time, as I kept disregarding her opinions, I got better at making and enforcing my boundaries. I even got her to stop fat shaming me. I knew she had her opinions, but if you bite someone's head off enough, they learn to keep it to themselves.
After a while, we had an adult conversation where I confronted her about her projection and how it impacted me. I even got an apology out of it. My mom's been on a healing journey about her own hang ups and our relationship is doing better.
Despite the suffering, I am happy about the person I ended up being. It's been very useful in both my professional and personal life.