Gaining

I want to quickly gain ~25 lbs over a few months just for fun, but then lose it. I was thinking the easiest way to do this would be to use heavy cream, but I’m worried about long term effects. If I gain 25 pounds with heavy cream and then lose it, will I be the same as I was before the gain?

Tbh, gaining specifically with cream wouldn't make the difference, but gaining a lot of weight in a short length of time may lead to stretch marks emerging. Which, once those appear, are kinda permeant, even if they go from red to silver in colour.

Fat is fat. Heavy cream makes it easier to gain weight quickly, but the fat itself isn't anything special. How easier it is to lose the weight depends on you.

I will say most people experience weight lost after a gaining cycle due to a decrease in calorie consumption. I'm not going to say you'll lost all 25 lbs, but you might lose 5 lbs.

You do tend to gain subcutaneous fat with cream, which on average is harder and slower to lose than visceral fat. Any other changes will depend on your genetics, like where your fat accumulates and any changes to your body shape because of it.

How much your body changes will depend on your height too. 25 lbs is going to make a more dramatic change to someone that's 5'6 vs someone that's 6'2.

Heavy cream or no, 10 lbs is probably a better goal if you’re hoping to be able to lose it again. Larger gains tend to stick at least partially. I’d start with 10, see if you like it enough that you’d be comfortable keeping it just in case future diets fail, and then going for the next 15 if you decide you’d be OK keeping the weight.

Funny story: I broke through my plateau with HC and I used to be able to lose weight quite well, but this time is different.
I lost visceral fat, but the subcaneous fat has a lot of staying power on my body.

I used to plateau at 116kg and got to 121kg. After trying to lose due to feeling insecure, I got down to 111, then bounced back to around 114 pretty easily.

Even skipping breakfast feels more like stabilizing. So be careful what you wish for.

I'd also recommend setting a smaller weight gain goal first, just so you can get a feel for how much your body is changing.

There's likely no long term risk to gaining with heavy cream over a short period of time. Short term diet changes are usually not harmful. But! You may find that your body will change, even once you've lost the weight.

Gaining weight, especially if you have always been thin, will come with the addition of new fat cells. Fat cells replicate and grow when you gain, but they only shrink when you lose - the will not go away. This might make you look plumper as compared to when you were at the same weight before, and it may also make it easier for you to gain weight again.

Isn’t subcutaneous fat the soft, jiggly kind stored under the skin, while visceral fat is stored internally, around the organs, and appears harder because it’s under the muscles?

There’s no way of predicting where your body will store or lose fat. You can gain 25 pounds but you might not lose it from the same spots as you gained it.

👍🏾. Watching a friend experience this currently, he gained 45 pounds in a span of 6 months, he has issues with over eating and binging. He is trying to lose weight and has managed to gain another 8 pounds......

It honestly depends on the approach. If you gain 20 lbs, fall in love with the weight, and do not have a reason (or will) to lose it, it will be hard. But if you gain the weight and decide you don't like it, it won't be as hard to lose.