Fat experiences

I asked an employee at a store today if they had any t-shirts over size L because I was having trouble finding a shirt with the character I wanted. She went over to a rack and pulled out a men’s size 3XL. I’m a regular XL. I guess I look bigger than I thought!

Well, you asked for over L. 3XL is over L.

The family that gave me XL and XXL clothes for Christmas but I have 3XL - 4XL clothes. Of course, there were no clothes for me.

My aunt gifted me a oversized hoodie which was like XXL size. I tend to prefer wearing L or XL sized clothing. Not a big deal though since I like to wear it as a layer or around the house.

Recently a friend of mine (he’s not part of the community) was complaining about his weight. The funny thing is, next to him I look skinny. Plot twist: I actually weigh 10 kg more than him. When we talked about body weight in a bigger group and I said that out loud, everyone was shocked 😂

While trying on jackets in a clothing store, my wife first brought me an XL. I couldn’t even close it. Then she got the same model in 2XL. That one did close, but she laughed and said I looked like a “sausage in its skin.”
When she came back with the 3XL version, she joked that I’d better not get any fatter, because there were no larger sizes available in that style. Internally, I actually found the idea pretty exciting, but as a cover I replied that I wasn’t planning on getting any bigger.

Yes, actual weight and appearance are two different things for sure.

I have always weighed more than others think look where as my wife always weighs much less than everyone would think.

It’s crazy because one of the things early on that was extremely arousing with weight gain to me was the scale. Every time my wife would weigh herself in front of me I was in awe at how low it seems compared to what I thought it would register.

I have experienced both. Clothed: “You’re looking slim af” → they massively underestimate my weight.
Shirtless sitting: “Damn, you’re definitely the chonkiest/heaviest one here” → while next to objectively fatter ones.
I think this is because my fat is unionized in the midsection: soft belly rolls that hijack the whole silhouette.
Clothes = instant skinny illusion.
No shirt = gut becomes the main character, people fixate and overcompensate like crazy.
We live in a hyper-visual world. People hang up on the one loud detail (the protruding belly) and ignore the rest. Classic optical troll.

This is another argument as to why the BMI chart is essentially useless as a medical indicator.

I was always pretty thin, but with more muscular thighs. When I put on weight, my coworkers had no idea what I weighed. I went from 130 to 170 and at one point my 150lb coworker who's my same height guessed 200, I was like really? But of course in my head I was like I wish I was at 200 already. But even when I was 130, my legs were much thicker than his. His shoulders were much broader, but I had arguably a more muscular upper body. Everyone is just built different.

A friend at another job once mentioned that he was 250. He's into weight lifting and he's a little chubby, but certainly not what I'd call fat. I thought I misheard him and he said 215, but recently he mentioned it again. Either he's got a really dense muscular build or he doesn't know his weight. Side by side you'd say he's maybe 40lbs more than me, we're about the same height and I'm 180 now and fairly muscular, so I don't think anyone would guess he's 70lbs heavier. If he is, that just goes to show how much of a difference there is from person to person, and why gauging health via BMI is absolutely stupid.