I've been skinny/fit for almost my entire life. I started to intentionally gain weight a few years ago, back when I was almsost at my lowest at about 130 lbs and very fit. Eventually I gained a few pounds back and forth, but managed to reach kind of a plateau at about 150 lbs.
Back then I already experimented a bit with the use of Heavy cream and loved to stuff myself until exhaustion - even though the amounts I was consuming seem cute compared to what I get down nowadays, it was fun and very enjoyable. At that size, you will notice even the slightest changes in bodyshape and that was a huge turn on for me.
So my gains have always been kinda rapid, but irregular and that's mostly what I enjoy to this day.
Whenever I chose to go for another gaining-cycle I pretty much go all in, over-eating my regular meals as much as I can, getting snacks and desserts and chug heavy cream on top of it for a few weeks. I should maybe note that, during the times I'm not intentionally gaining, I eat very healthy, take care of my nutrition-intake and do regular exercise.
So for my gains - they are definetely noticable and quite rapid and even though I lose most of it just after a few weeks or months, it seems to get increasingly easier to get back to where I left oft highest before.
The last time I gained a significant amount of weight was at the beginning of this year where I went from 165 to 200 lbs in less than 2 months. Even though there were moments before this experience that I felt like "holy shit, I'm getting fat" - this one hit a bit different, because I not only scrached the surface to be considered obese (BMI >30), but it started to undeniable show that I was not only gaining a bit rounder but actually fat and at the end of the cycle I had to get new pants in a hurry, because there was just no way I could squeeze my *** into any of my old ones. I also lost a significant amount of underwear (those tiny size M boxers just ripped apart).
But yeah, so much for the introduction and my experience. As for your questions:
"Is it scary, exciting?"
-It's always exciting and getting less scary. At my first attemps even a few more pounds and tight clothes would freak me out - now, I'm just getting excited by it. The thought of going up beyond >30 BMI mark (/>200 lbs) scares me a little bit, but I'm also excited to find out how it will turn out for me.
"Can you feel yourself getting bigger"
-Yes, absolutely. I sometimes get to take in >6000 kcal/day for 2-3 weeks and there are days I'm sure I can absolutely feel there's more fat growing on me day by day.
Especially notable would be situations like feeling there's suddenly a role of fat forming at your back or that you spread your legs differently, because the fat of your thighs now fill out all the space where there was once a huge gap. Feeling the weight itself increasing is also something that I noticed when I gained a lot in a short time. Not just that the gravity seems to pull harder, but also the shifting of the masses when you roll aroung on the mattress for example. Whenever I reach this point though, I decide to let it be for a while to let my muscles adjust and see how I feel like. Sometimes I will a bit further or take a break for a few months to just go all in again.
"How do you get past the social stigma of wanting to gain weight?"
-this is a hard one for me. I actually still don't really, but slowly getting more comfortable with it over time. When I first gained a (for me) significant amount of weight it seemed like people didn't even notice it and when I put on some more and slight comments started, it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would.
"How do you prepare and finally decide to go for it?"
-Whenever I feel like, basically. When I go for another gaining cycle, it obviously shows in my shopping-choices and I would generally pick a time of the year without any important appointments that would require me to be more active than usual over a period of time. It also comes naturally for me to be more active during summer. So even though I may push for some gains during summer, theyre not as radical as the ones I do during the rest of the year.
2 months