I’m chubby at best. I fit into size 14-16 clothing, which can be found in most standard size stores, so I’m sorry if I shouldn’t be on this page! I just wanted to share some things that have happened to me ever since I’ve started gaining weight…

I’ve been thin most of my life. My whole family is rail thin and I always assumed I had a genetic predisposition to be thin like the rest of my family seemed to. But once I hit my late teens, I realized I’d have to keep up with a very strict diet and exercise regime if I wanted to stay as thin as my naturally thin sisters. By the time I hit 20, I just couldn’t be bothered anymore and stopped worrying about my weight.

It’s strange…even after gaining a little weight, I never really thought of myself as being that much different than when I was super thin. My face is a little rounder and my body is a little curvier, but I’m not that different, right? Well, apparently I am because ever since I’ve started to gain weight, I’ve noticed that people have started treating me differently. Here are a few examples I can think of…

- I no longer get complimented for my looks. This might sound selfish, but it hurts seeing my sisters get complimented for their attractiveness and their fitness, yet I get flat-out ignored now that I’m bigger. Even if I’m standing right next to my sisters, people won’t even compliment me out of politeness. It’s especially hurtful when my own family does it. My grandmother used to fawn over me and my sisters for how beautiful and well-dressed we were. Now she struggles to find anything nice to say about my looks at all.

- Even though a size 14-16 is a standard size (at least…I thought it was), I’ve started noticing that many stores don’t even stock it. Or their idea of a 14 is tiiiiiny. I’m scared that if I gain more weight, I won’t be able to shop locally anymore because my town only has a couple of clothing stores.

- Strangers don’t want to come near me. When I was thin, people would always sit next to me on public transport, and many would strike up a random conversation with me. Now that I’m bigger, people don’t even want to make eye contact with me. And few people actually <i>choose</i> to sit next to me. If they have to pick between sitting next to me or someone thinner, they always pick the thin person. This is something I never even noticed until it started happening to me.

- People now make comments about what I eat. During my teens, I ate a lot of food. And a lot of it was unhealthy. I could go to my local cafe and eat slices of cake for lunch, and nobody would comment. I could buy a big bag of candy and nobody would say a thing. I could eat a large plate of vegetables and meat and follow it up with a huge dessert, then go buy two large McDonalds meal 20 minutes later because I was still hungry, and nobody thought this was strange. But now that I’m bigger? People make comments. They shake their heads, they ask me if I’m “sure that’s a good idea?”, they say I should eat better “or else I’ll get fatter”, they give “health advice” without me asking for it. Just let me eat my damn food!

- My doctor keeps checking my blood pressure. I’ve been on the Pill for four years and when I was thin I never had any problems getting my prescription renewed. I used to just walk in, ask for a renewal, then walk out with a new prescription. But I put on ten kilograms about a year ago, and since then my doctor has made sure I get my blood pressure checked before she renews my prescription. Every. Single. Time. There is never anything wrong with my blood pressure, of course. But that doesn’t stop her from slapping that damn monitor around my arm every time I walk in the door.

- People assume I’m not in a relationship. When I was thin and people wanted to find out my relationship status, they’d usually phrase it like this: “I suppose you’re already taken though?” or “Someone as pretty as you must be taken?” Now that I’m bigger, people phrase it like this: “Have you found a man yet?” or “You must be single, right?”

These are only small things I’ve noticed. They might not seem like much, but they are definitely irritating. I’m sure people who are much bigger than me face much worse comments and discrimination from people. I just never realized just how suddenly peoples’ opinions (not only strangers, but friends and family too) on you can change if put on weight.