Thank you for sharing! I'd say that's a recipe for a few extra pounds, particularly the Dairy Queen shake.

I also love that your avatar is Germaine from 'Neurotically Yours!'

Absolutely! I gained quite a bit of weight during my first 3 years of college - a combination of unlimited meal plan, lots of studying, and no phys-ed classes. I also met several friends from high school (and their significant others) who gained a modest few pounds during college.

I think there are quite a few of us who go through similar issues - we like gaining, eating, whatever, but we find it at odds with our desire to exercise, or what have you.

Myself for example: I love the feeling of gaining and extra pounds, but overeating makes me extremely uncomfortable (in a bad way,) I feel terrible if I eat too much junk food, and I really enjoy swimming a few times a week.

I would second sethman - check out some Health at Every Size info. Fit and fat is totally possible, and while exercise makes gaining difficult, it can be done!

That's definitely more open than I am, Greywinter, you're brave indeed! Only three people know about my preference - my wife, and my besties who I know will never judge me for it.

I think a lot of us are ashamed of being FA's, especially depending on where we live and/or grew up. I grew up in an upper middle-class, white, athletic neighborhood east of Seattle, and the number of fat people in school could be counted on one hand. I also grew up with friends who had pretty strict beauty standards, and liked to show me their favorites from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. "That's great," I'd say, quietly thinking that nobody in the picture was my type.

Thankfully, as I got older and saw more of the world, I found that there are a lot of size-positive people at large, and most people (in my experience,) couldn't care less about one's sexual preferences, so long as they aren't hurting anyone/anything.

Still, it's interesting to reveal one's preferences to someone - you never quite know how they'll react.

Sounds a bit like my beginnings, probably around age 13, figuring myself out, search results led me to Betsy (and eventually to Mandy Blake.) Though, I'd have to say that my first fat girl crush was a girl in junior high. In 9th grade, I took a term as a student technology intern, and one of my duties was to videotape a dance class' routines every week. There was one girl who stood out among the rest - she was taller, and much wider. I never introduced myself, never caught her name, but she was absolutely gorgeous.

I just hope that wherever she is, she's happy and has someone who loves her the way she is (or rather, was.)

I'm starting small - 275, then to 300, and we'll see from there. This is the first time in my life I've intentionally gained, and I'm still testing the waters.

- your belts or waistbands become curved from being rolled over all the time.

- you have to hike your pants up all the time because you zip/button/whatever them below your belly.

- your special someone grabs your belly from behind and says something like "Aren't we getting a little chubby" in that voice that makes you melt like ice cream on the hottest day of summer ^.^

I just laughed because the lady who asked if I was expecting clearly wasn't looking at the 5 o'clock shadow on my face, and hadn't heard my baritone man voice. She muttered "oh, sorry" when she heard my voice, then walked away.

My wife poked me in the belly, and we went about our business.

I only buy belts with rounded edges; the sharp-edged belt buckles hurt like hell. I also find buckling on the side to be helpful, and if I'm in a place where I know I'll be sitting for a good long while (eg: at the computer,) I just unbuckle.

I also try to find canvas belts. They wear out a tad faster, but conform a lot better, and if there's a stiffness problem with a leather belt, this will fix it.

You might also try some dairy alternatives. While I'm not totally dairy-free, I've had to move away from cow's milk, and I've found almond milk to be a very viable alternative. It's great for baking (I've tried this with cakes, cookies, brownies...) I haven't tried making ice cream with it, though.

Happy baking!