I am trans-friendly! I don't tend to post many trans-specific content because I tend to post broader topic content as a way to be inclusive. But I'm completely accepting of ANYONE who wants to connect on a variety of topics!

Sorry to hear that you don't feel as if many have connected with you. I echo the sentiments above - use the forums versus waiting to hear from DMs!

If your experience is like mine, it can be a bit daunting to undo a lifetime of culture norms and go from being thin or fit into a state where you can relax the belly and not suck it in while out and about. It took me a long time to adjust my mindset that it was "okay" to be fatter - I now am so.much more relaxed about letting my belly expand and hang out.

But it has taken some practice.

I HIGHLY advise you to go to Walmart if you need some practice just letting your belly and/or curves be fat in public. I found a really high proportion of overweight customers at my local Walmart. Like everywhere else, you eventually stsrt to realize that nobody at Walmart cares if you are fit or fat, but it seemed easier to be relaxed when I was one of many fat customers in the store.

It's such a liberating experience to relax the belly and just exist as a fatter version of yourself - you soon learn that nobody really gives a flip. And with more practice, you eventually realize that it doesn't matter... even if anyone DID care, it's such a small blip on your life's timeline and you will likely never see them again.

I know that there must be plenty of fat-phobic customers and employees at Walmart, so i dont want to make careless sweeping generalizations, but mine has been so helpful for the transition from slim to fst.

I can vouch for this experience a bit - I was 180 about 2 years ago and have jumped up over the last two years to my current weight of 228 (knocking on 230).

At first, it seemed to take so much longer than I initially expected to "fatten" up because the stories that I was accustomed to reading and the pictures that we favorite on feeder sites seemed to show a magical type of gain. I didn't experience this. I initially experienced the highs of intentionally overeating and stuffing, and then imagining how big I was going to be the next day - only to find that nothing seemed to stick. I was getting a lot of short-term gratification in just loading up with calories, but I didn't feel like it was working.

And then, one day - my clothing felt a bit uncomfortable. Like seriously - just out of the blue.

I didn't feel "fat" - it just felt like my clothing was a bit snug to the point of being just a little annoying.

That's hiw it started for me, anyway. I ended up buying one size up and rejoiced in a milestone, but I didn't look or feel fat. So I kept up the overeating and secretly stuffing and buying double of everything.

The next phase felt like I was doing something wrong because my portions were disappearing faster and I still had capacity (and a new feeling of "bottomless pit" when eating).

It wasn't until I hit 200 at the end of.my first year that I felt like I was making any real progress.

Year 2 for me was when I first started feeling like the weight was showing up as fat. My love handles softened a bit first before I noticed some softer fat on my belly. I was stuffed all the time so the belly growth really only felt like a full gut until one random morning when I woke up and couldn't button my "fat pants" because I couldn't suck in the squish of my waistline.

So... my experience was a lot more gradual than I thought it would be - even though 50 pounds in 2 years is a lot.

Be ready for your doctor to start raising an eyebrow, too.

I liked fatness even as a little kid. I had an overstuffed plush bear called "Roly Poly" that I preferred, and I remember being drawn to plus-size teachers and adults who I thought were soft and warm in both body and spirit.

Honestly my first "awakening" moment was when I worked on a sewing project in my early teens and had the chance to create a stuffed animal. I promptly overfilled it with poly - I remember feeling a wonderful sense of nonsexual admiration both for this chunky little stuffie and for my deliberate choice to make it as fat as its seams would allow.

I also found an Overeaters Anonymous book that described people's stories with food addiction - I'm embarrassed to admit that I found the sections describing the members weight gain and binge eating to be erotic and being confused about why I found these sections to be more compelling than the contributors' subsequent weight loss stories.

When I started dating I found that I was most attracted to overweight girls, and that food and feeding were my love language. I found a feeder website in college, and that was the first time that I was able to learn that I wasn't alone in how I felt, and that there were even people out there who liked being fed as much as I liked feeding.

[slowly raises hand]

Me. I need new... everything.

(Except socks. I'm okay in the socks department.)

I agree - not the best look to hit on the clientele or their family. Probably a tale best left to the fantasy fiction section...

While I'm inclined to agree with Munchies, we ARE out there... It's possible that you've found a feeder who is enjoying the opportunity to feed you a bit while he's there to help your grandmother.

You could indirectly test the waters a bit to see his reaction. For example - after the next enormous meal, thank him and then say something like, "You know, I think that if I was here more often than just Mondays and Wednesdays, this amazing cooking of yours might start to add up. Am I going to have to upsize my wardrobe?" If you do it with a laugh and a smile, you'll come across as complimentary of his cooking and not necessarily as a feedee. But... it would leave the door open for a possible "That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world" type response.

It's unlikely that he's a feeder... but it's possible!

One Piece is daunting. So... much... content. Lol

I haven't watched any sports-based anime - thanks for the suggestion. Do you have a favorite in that list? What makes it a standout, in your opinion?

Glad that it worked out okay and that you didn't break it - it would admittedly be an awkward time to experience something like that for the first time.

I hope you got the job if it was the right fit (no pun intended - lol) for you!

It's also a good reminder of how weight gain and weight in general can impact your employment experiences! While weight should never be a factor in employment if the candidate can perform all duties of the job - I know that fat discrimination exists all over the workforce. Anyone who hasn't previously experienced fat bias needs to understand how weight gain potentially presents a challenge from a quality of life and from an employment perspective.