Gaining

I served in the military reserves for over twenty five years. I had to stay in pretty good shape. When I retired in 2013 , started putting on weight and have really enjoyed it. I'm up over 220 lbs. with a forty six inch waist. I'm still fairly active, jogging or an elliptical, but enjoying my pudge!

I spent most of my formative years in sports. I ran track in high school, and kept training hard on my own through college and into adult life. But work and life have started to get in the way lately and its starting to show for sure.

I've had to start editing my wardrobe a bit to stay away from tighter fitting shirt (that would show my newly paunchy stomach), and spend most of the day walking around with my gut sucked in. I'm still constantly surprised by little changes and signs of fat-ness that have crept into my life. Run up a flight of stairs? I can feel my belly jiggle. Crouch down to grab something? I can feel my fat rolls rubbing against my belt.

I found an old pair of workout clothes from when I was really in the height of my fitness (about 12 years/20 lbs ago). I could barely squeeze into the shorts and fat spilling out all over the place. Which wasn't surprising. What's really taken me aback is that some of the workout clothes I've bought in the last couple years are starting to do the same. I haven't gained much weight in numbers lately, but I seem to be loosing muscle and gaining fat at a comparable rate, so I am getting softer, and softer

I wasn't an athlete but I ran track in school, ate lots and have always thought I had a fast metabolism as I was thin..

After school I went to uni where I was free to get into this and combined with stopping all sport, standard student junk food and actively gaining I quickly became overweight, I had a fat gut, love handles, fitness had gone but my appetite for food and fat was there.

I gained fast but lost it too as I became more active with work.

Now I am in a very physically active job I find it hard to maintain, even eating 6+ times a day and 3500-4500 calories, but as soon as I slow down even for a few days it piles on, already 12 lbs up in a few weeks this xmas!