Fat experiences

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

I dealt with anorexia for a long time despite being attracted to the idea of gaining weight. But, two years ago I had finally dealt with my eating disorder enough to finally enjoy gaining some weight both for my health and my kink. Here's some things I learned for anyone coming to this situation after me.

• Stuffing yourself until you're sick just leaves you hating food, not getting fat. Even overeating is best in moderation.

• Flush is a thing that happens when you stuff yourself right before bed and it sucks. Leave time between eating and sleeping for your body to digest before you lay down.

• Gaining 50lbs in a year, but still being a normal weight is weird. You worked very hard for a lot of weight, and you still won't be fat because you were already so underweight to begin with.

• Stretch marks. I never would've thought I'd deal with stretch marks as small as I am, but that's the price of being so underweight for so long. My thighs/butt were covered in stretch marks even at a BMI of 23. Just kinda have to live with it.

• Being in-between straight and plus sizes is annoying, but Torrid carries some straight sizes which makes life in the middle easier. Especially if you're tall like me.

• Gaining weight gets easier. The first 20lbs were the hardest because your body is burning all those calories recovering vital processes in your body that it'd been neglecting during starvation brought on by anorexia. I was eating close to 3000cal a day and not gaining an ounce at the time.

• Gaining weight makes you healthier. I was known for staying sick prior to gaining weight. Now I never get sick. Turns out your body functions a lot better when it has resources to work with.

• Gaining weight on purpose gave me a sense of ownership over my own body that I'd never felt like I had.

Just some thoughts. If you have experienced similar, feel free to share your own.
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

ChubbySadie:

• Gaining 50lbs in a year, but still being a normal weight is weird. You worked very hard for a lot of weight, and you still won't be fat because you were already so underweight to begin with.

chubby1258:
Yes same for me! It's hard to believe I gained 40 pounds and still can barely pinch some belly fat.

Otherwise, I live in Northen Canada and I felt like the extreme cold was penetrating my soul. Now, I'm just cold, not losing my soul.
Also, I have way more energy than before, I sleep better, I'm starting to like showing my body to my girlfriend and most of all I'm starting to like myself.


I didn't even think of it before, but yeah, the cold doesn't cut through me like it used to. I used to shiver trying to swim in an 80° pool. Now I have more normal temperature ranges.
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

becomingoverweight:
You could actually heal your stretchmarks by using a derma-roller.


I've looked into them. From what I understand, they're a temporary fix that can cause long-term problems for the skin. I'm just applying lotion now and trying to let skin heal on its own.
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

ChubbySadie:
I didn't even think of it before, but yeah, the cold doesn't cut through me like it used to. I used to shiver trying to swim in an 80° pool. Now I have more normal temperature ranges.

chubby1258:
And to think here we sometimes swim into frozen rivers in winter. Never went into a hot natural water source, must feel weird like a big bath or something.[/quote]

I'm from southern USA so, pool water can get up to 80° in the summer heat.
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

Interesting thread. I've gone from a bmi of 19.6 to 24.5 since September. The biggest differences I've noticed is the feeling of clothes actually rubbing on me and just the physical sensation of there being more of me. Used to have a totally flat stomach and now size S shirts tend to hug my midsection a bit more.

I haven't noticed any temperature changes yet, unfortunately. I still get cold as ever. Maybe soon?
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

Never really thought much about stretch marks because I never got any.
People told me I would get them if I gained a lot of weight like some do during a pregnancy.
Over a few years I went from 115 to close to 200 lbs and I never got any stretch marks but did get cellulite here and there.
I wonder if cellulite and stretch marks have some correlation.
At over 400 lbs I still never got stretch marks just more cellulite.
At 340 lbs now still just remaining cellulite.
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

@Ditzy, my understanding is if you gain really slowly, you might not get stretch marks. Or maybe your body is just really unique in that way. No idea.

@enomalie, I went from a size 4 to a size 14 in a year and like someone else in the thread said, one of the weirdest things is clothes fitting snuggly. Especially as a girl because everything is made to fit right up against you.

If I had any advice, try to stick to stretchy clothes or buying clothes slightly too big for you because if you buy your size, then are able to gain some weight, you'll have already gotten too big for your new clothes. I've done it and it sucks. I bought size 10 jeans only to struggle to button them a month later. :/
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

Buying stretchy stuff is what I did too but once my weight really started to take off I would buy jeans a size or two larger for when I would fit in them.
I didn't like not having jeans that actually fit.
I gave soo many clothes to Goodwill when I got too big for them.
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

I totally get that excitement of actually filling out clothes the way you are supposed to.
When I started really gaining weight I was so excited to see my body getting some sexy curves.
I was always so stick thin and had no real curves which was really embarrassing sometimes.
4 years

Life lessons learned going from a bmi of 17 to 25

Ditzy:
I totally get that excitement of actually filling out clothes the way you are supposed to.
When I started really gaining weight I was so excited to see my body getting some sexy curves.
I was always so stick thin and had no real curves which was really embarrassing sometimes.
but look at you now, just fabulous smiley
4 years
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