Gaining

I agree on the last sentence. You don't need to gain more weight it's enough to accept yourself in the way you are now. For me, I was very skinny and anorexic even, so a little more puffed look will not do me any harm.

Understood completely :-) You’ll find there’s an atmosphere of acceptance on here, though. It’s done wonders for many!

Even when gaining weight with heavy cream, the weight gain is too gradual for me to wake up and just notice a belly. I have never experienced bloat because I don't enjoy stuffing myself. It just feels uncomfortable and I get nauseous.

The first thing I notice while gaining weight is my clothing feeling tighter. I have also noticed other things, but they were much more gradual. While gaining weight on prednisone, I noticed my back aching when I washed the dishes.

I accidentally noticed that I can no longer jump or run. When I was near my highest weight of 295 pounds, I was very aware of the increasing amount of effort it took to tie my shoe laces.

I went from under 150 to about 200 now. I've gained fast at times. Then life gets in the way and it's a while before I gain another decent amount. About 20lbs in a month with heavy cream. Clothes getting tight was a big first sign. As someone else said, fat under your arms when you put them down and rolls forming when you sit are other noticeable bits. A quick way to notice if you gained... brush your teeth and go a little crazy. When you start gaining things start jiggling like crazy when brushing your teeth or even running down the stairs. Careful, don't trip! Even driving a car on a bumpy road will making things jiggle. But it's still a gradual process. Water weight and just eating a lot can cause the scale to show more than is really there as fat. You can also "feel fat" because you are very full. But that's not really being fat.

I'm in this situation now. I'm really skinny but I've gained 9lbs (especially) in the last 2-3 month and at first I thought my belly was just bloated because of my fast food stuffings. But this hard bloat didn't vanished it gets only squishier. Now I have a small little belly which is really soft and sticks out a bit.

Four years after my first post in this thread, I‘ve gained another 12 pounds and another 2 inches around my belly. My belly size no longer fluctuates as much during the day. Both my belly and - especially - my love handles jiggle when I walk. I feel like I can still mostly hide my belly in baggy clothes if I suck it in. If I don‘t, I have a visible belly outline in all my clothes, tho. When I stand, my belly now protrudes far enough that I can no longer see my feet when looking straight down. Sitting down, a thick roll of fat now bulges out and hangs over my pants though it doesn’t quite touch my thighs yet. Size M no longer fits, and for pants even size L is starting to feel tight around the waist. When buying new clothes, one of my first considerations is now whether they’re big enough to accommodate my round belly.

No cap?

Nice description.

A true belly (fat rather than bloating) grows gradually enough you don't suddenly notice it. I noticed the first bits of fat on the lower belly which turned me on feeling it and looking at it. Now it is a ball of fat in its entirety rather than a slim torso with a pooch but I'm used to it as long as I make extra holes in my belt of course.