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Original poster

When you put on weight, did/do you notice?

70 replies

PsychoHotSauce · 12/04/2023 21:11

Apologies, I know weight threads can be a bit of a bun fight, but I need to know if others have had the same experience as me!

Up until around 2019 I was always the same healthy weight, around 9.5st. A bit of fluctuation but never less than 9st 3 and never more than 9st 10.

Then I changed jobs and started WFH, and I also started dating and we'd eat out/have takeaways 3-4 times a week.

In all that time I thought I'd put on "a few lbs" but didn't think anything of it. I bought clothes in my normal size and thought I filled jeans a bit more but no overhang or squeezing into them.

Then covid happened and I moved in with DM for company during lockdowns. She has scales and I don't, and I got the biggest shock when I saw they said 11st 2!

I overhauled my diet and got much more active, lost the weight and kept it off for months. But what I'm confused about is I still don't think I looked or felt 2st heavier than I am now (9st exactly). The scary bit is the measurements. I've lost 7 inches from my hips, 6 inches from my waist and 3 from my boobs. I put the tape measure round me the other day to check I was ordering the right size for something and "put" the 7 inches back on to compare.

It's not huge or anything, but if you measured yourself and put 7 inches on and said "I was this size but didn't know it had happened" people would think its nuts right? How could I not know?

Like those threads where the OP says x has put on weight, shall I say anything and the overwhelming response is "they already know". I really really didn't. and no, never say anything, it's rude as fuck

OP posts:
garlicandsapphires · 12/04/2023 21:16

I agree that it's easy to put weight on without realising. I put on a similar amount to you without eating noticeably more. Sadly I think regular weighing is a must from now on.

coloursquare · 12/04/2023 21:19

I do, but I think I go into denial and most clothes nowadays are stretchy. How tall
are you?

Brunilde · 12/04/2023 21:21

Yes I put on about 3 stone. I knew I'd put weight on but didn't really realise how much. Clothes stretched, I stopped looking in the mirror properly and must have been in denial. I can't believe now I didn't notice. Saw a picture one day and couldn't belive it-I was massive. Have struggled to lose it ever since.

thenightsky · 12/04/2023 21:21

I put on 2 stone easily after I believed those fools who said... 'throw away your scales', Bastards.

Original poster
PsychoHotSauce · 12/04/2023 21:22

5ft6 so I was just shy of overweight bmi.

thinking about it now I went for a routine appointment and was weighed there when I was my heaviest, but it was a quick glance and in kg so I didn't convert. The nurse started going on about weight going up and I was so confused, brushed it off and said oh I'm dating and eating out quite a bit, and I still didn't twig, I still thought she was making a fuss about a few lbs Blush

OP posts:
Original poster
PsychoHotSauce · 12/04/2023 21:22

Sorry meant to quote @coloursquare

OP posts:
whatsyourpoison12 · 12/04/2023 21:23

I can feel every pound

Tonkerbea · 12/04/2023 21:25

This is me. I honestly don't feel different, but still haven't lost that lockdown 1.5 stone I didn't notice putting on.

Itdjgsurchg · 12/04/2023 21:37

I’ve put on a stone over the last year or so. I got my summer clothes down from the loft last year and noticed they were feeling a bit snug so tried dieting but I keep losing a few pounds then putting more on. I haven’t dated tried try them on this year yet!

Im not sure why I am putting on more and weight (every time I check it’s going up) I think it’s because I am getting older but I am only 33 and also I used to walk so much but don’t walk as far or as quick now I have young children.

Polecat07 · 12/04/2023 21:37

I have noticed but definitely underestimated how much I'd actually gained.

Clothes felt less comfortable and dug in, bra started leaving deep, painful marks, feeling heavier of limb when walking and out of breath more easily. Just puffy and 'soft'.

I saw the double chin everyday.
My eyes looking beady in a larger face.
I'd be shocked when I looked massive in a photo. Even more shocked to see what the gaining amounted to on a scale!

It's easy to ignore and assume its just a few pounds, just an unflattering picture, you can turn things round whenever, soon, tomorrow maybe.
We're now years on and I am about 10kg bigger.
So I'm not sure people 'always know' either. Maybe they know they've gained but it's so easy to lie to yourself and underestimate/minimise it.

FuckKnowsMate · 12/04/2023 21:42

Yep, me. I lost loads of weight beginning of Covid after a breakup and was the slimmest I had been for years! Then over time I just started to put back on what I lost AND some without even realising. I look back at photos now and it shocks me how I never saw it myself. Tbf my sister and friends would make comments and hint but I was obvs in denial 😂 I’ve lost a bit of it now and weigh myself daily. I look at myself now and can see I still need to lose more so god knows how massive I actually was!! 🫣

bellac11 · 12/04/2023 21:42

I think its more likely in people that say 'I never weigh myself' or like someone says above 'throw away your scales'

Thats what the outcome is!

Reclining · 12/04/2023 21:42

No. I only noticed when trying to take a photo of myself wearing a headband a friend had sent me, and being unable to get an angle where I had a jawline. Lost it all with weight training though - v pleasant surprise seeing my waistline a few months later

RubbishHusband · 12/04/2023 22:04

I noticed when my clothes started not fitting. But I wouldn5 say I felt my body was that different, just that my clothes were tighter.

I can definitely see it in photos though!

Purgerbatty1 · 12/04/2023 22:17

Keep those scales!! It can be easy to kid yourself with stretchy clothes but the scales don't lie. I weight myself pretty regularly so I can't lie to myself!

Kanaloa · 12/04/2023 22:19

I knew I’d gained weight to an extent, but I didn’t for a second think I’d gained so much weight as I had. It was a horrible shock, I couldn’t believe it. Of course it was gradual and didn’t seem so much at the time.

Kanaloa · 12/04/2023 22:20

But yes, I did know I’d gotten a bit chubbier over a stressful time when I couldn’t access exercise and struggled with comfort eating. I just didn’t think it was so much. And I guess maybe you don’t notice it when it’s a little bit here, a little bit there.

bluesky45 · 12/04/2023 22:40

I noticed I'd put on a little bit of weight but didn't realise how much. Very very similar weights to you actually and similar attitude/not knowing etc. I got down to 9st7ish and then stupidly stopped dieting and put most of it back on. Last couple of weeks I've really noticed in the mirror again and feel ready to tackle it again. God knows when/how I became a bloody yo-yo dieter.

sheusesmagazines · 12/04/2023 22:47

whatsyourpoison12 · 12/04/2023 21:23

I can feel every pound

Me too.

Eatentoomanyroses · 12/04/2023 22:51

I can put on quite a bit without my clothes not fitting. Most of it goes on my arms and my thighs which tend to be the stretchy or loose fitting parts of clothing so it’s easy not to notice. I weigh myself ever day though so I always know. If I didn’t i’d put on tons quite easily

StopFeckingFaffing · 12/04/2023 22:58

I know when I have gained a few pounds as we have bathroom scales and I weigh myself regularly

If we didn't own the scales then it is hard to know at what point I would realise I was gaining weight and how much I could put on without feeling too much different

Seems like a good reason to weigh yourself now and then as its easier to 'nip it in the bud' when you have only gained 3 or 4lb rather than suddenly having a stone or more to lose!

Original poster
PsychoHotSauce · 13/04/2023 07:49

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one! Yes, I think I'd have stopped the bad habits a lot sooner if I'd weighed myself regularly and it would have been easier to get the weight off. It's worrying how we can so easily kid ourselves though. I remember trying on new jeans and thinking why does my shape look weird and different, must be the mirror, maybe I'm just having a fat day...

I think back to those days and how I felt in myself, I certainly didn't feel like I was lugging the equivalent of 8 bags of flour around with me every day!

OP posts:
Fuerza · 13/04/2023 07:54

I have a very similar story. My normal if not watching my weight at all was 9 stone 5lb to 9 stone 7lbs.
Then at the end of last year, 29th Dec I stepped on scales and discovered I was 10 stone 11.
I was shocked.
Still trying to reach 10 stone.
9 stone?
Ever?
Well I'll just keep going, keep doing my best. Never taking my eye off the ball like that again

Intuitive eating is what I told myself I was doing 🤣

CrystalCoco · 13/04/2023 07:56

Not myself, but a friend would look at photos of herself and comment that she just doesn't see herself like that - she was around 5-6 stone overweight.

So, no, I don't think people always do realise.

Divorcedalongtime · 13/04/2023 07:56

My sister said exactly that. She always felt like she was big since her teenage years so when she started putting weight on she didn’t notice.
I do notice slightest difference in myself but I am a recovered eating disordered so I think that part of the control won’t go away easily.