Lifestyle tips

When I was young, I developed the habit of 'sucking in' my gut because of the social stigma of being a 'fat kid' and trying to reduce this.

Even now this 'instinct' to suck it in remains, partially because of said instinct as I was doing it for so long and partially because I was concerned about the reaction to my 'sudden' weight gain (as opposed to months/years of slower gain).

Well today I decided to screw this and whilst at work tried to actively work against said 'instinct', making sure it was as 'loose' as possible resulting in a slightly bigger bulge and more 'jiggle' as I walk.

Guess what, no comments. So far it seems like all that fear was for nothing. So unless something happens I'm just going to continue and try to force myself to stop sucking it in.

I'd say my biggest concern for OP is where they're also actively denying themselves activities because of their concern, when they could be worrying over nothing like I was.

Happy to have helped that confidence, along with others here :-) Sounds like you all weee the hottest babes on the beach!

Update to my previous post.

So for the last couple of days I've been continuing to no longer suck my gut in after decades of doing so.

As before I've still yet to hear any comments.

But today I faced what I think was the ultimate challenge.....family.

In the end neither my parents nor my brothers seemed to notice or they didn't care, including the one who I especially thought would be the one to say something, in fact he joked about how I would be able to eat an entire Large pizza by myself (which of course I did).

Tl;dr: Nobody seems to care and I'm just going to continue being myself.

You will find that most people do not care about what you look like. Doesn't even matter what you look like. Most people won't give you a second glance. It's liberating to think about.

It is very liberating because the assumption is that people will stare and laugh but most don't really see you in a way. It is very trippy. The fatter I got it was like the less people cared and just chilled with the fact that I am really fat now.

As someone who used to be extremely fit and toned I’ll tell you that even I felt just as self conscious then as I do today and I’m 300 pounds heavier than I was back then… people are worried about themselves more than they are about you this insight helps mitigate some of that blow but ultimately it’s up to you to not worry about what others think and live your best life.

So go ahead get that hamburger and ice cream at the beach with your belly hanging out, let them be jealous if they actually do have a problem with you’re size and dietary choices