When I first stumbled upon GainerWeb in the late 90s, 300 pounds was the pinnacle of hugeness for gaining. 200 or 250 were considered pretty damn big to most people. Yeah, a few guys would talk about wanting to be immobile as a fantasy, but in reality, few people made it to 300, much less anything higher. Even getting to 200 seemed hard for a lot of guys trying to find a way to integrate their desire to be big with what pressures they felt from their every day life.
It seems that now that 300 is much more “doable” than it was 10 years ago, and a lot more gainers are eying 400 as an ambitious, but not entirely impossible goal for their gaining. There are more guys gaining younger, and it seems, many more guys actually hitting 300 than there ever have been before.
I think a lot of factors have contributed to this shift, and I’m gonna try to examine a few of them here.
First, I think that the simple fact that people are fatter than they were 10 years ago making every aspect of getting up to and over 300 easier. The average American is fatter than ever, and I guess that kind of provides a universal camouflage for someone that is intentionally gaining. If everyone around you isn’t bone thin, being a bit bigger than the other more average chubbies doesn’t seem so dramatic.
Kind of going hand in hand with my first point, portion sizes are bigger than ever and as a result, it’s easier for a gainer to pack away more calories on a daily basis without drawing any particular attention to themselves. Public transit is becoming more accommodating of bigger people, the world, at least in countries like U.S. are accommodating the expanding size of its citizens. As I mentioned before, the New York Times even did an article saying that beer guts were in!
I think the burgeoning of the community around gaining has been instrumental in letting gainers go bigger. Basically, the idea is that it’s tough to get to 300 on your own, but with a supportive group of like-minded people that share your interest in being bigger, it doesn’t feel as solitary a path. You often hear about guys that don’t want to gain on their own, or are waiting for Mr. Right, but few people ever talk about how the encouragement that people get from their pals on the internet, in addition to whatever gainer/encourager buddies they may have platonically around IRL really makes it easier to overeat and gain in a day to day capacity.
I also think that the general advances of the gay community, and the gay rights movement, are just as important to the normalizing of gaining and encouraging as anything. Gays as a whole are more visible, coming out at a younger age, being afforded more rights, and all of these factors make it easier for someone to be himself. I think this sort of has a transitive effect when it comes to gaining and encouraging –if someone is going to feel comfortable enough to come out of the closet, it’s much more likely someone who has taken that step is going to feel like they should have exactly the kind of sex they want to have, with exactly the right type of guy, in a body that makes them feel good.
Building on that, I think that we've kind of hit on a post-Twink sort of gay world, that allows for a lot more varied body ideals. With the increased visibility of gays, suddenly there are a lot more ways a gay guy can choose to look, and that's awesome. And if the way you are supposed to look isn't as clear cut as many felt it was before, why not choose to look how you want to?
What do you guys think? How have your goals and your relationship with the gaining and encouraging world changed in the past decade? Is 400 a goal you eventually aspire to? Or is it too big? Do you think it's easier to be a gainer or encourager today vs. 10 years ago? I’m fascinated to hear what your thoughts are!
9 comments:
There's definitely a much larger community and many more people to discuss gaining with now. I don't think that translates into gaining being "easier" though. Having so much weight-loss related junk in the media right now it's harder than ever to go against the grain weight-wise, well meaning family and friends feel it's their place to offer advice even to the point of surgery! The positive side of that is that the deluge of preachy dietitians is starting to stimulate a bit of rebellion in people that resent being told what's best for them. I think that's partially to blame for the belly being kinda trendy amongst the hipster crowd.
I'm way over 400. I'm happy and relatively healthy as well (some apnea but I had that when I was under 4). I would recommend anyone get as big as they would like - as long as they're being realistic about the possible consequences. I'm still growing :)
I would suggest that the huge growth in the bear community has also normalized weighing 300+ lbs. Yay bears!
As an encourager, I've become more attracted to guys over 300lbs than I used to be. Perhaps that's because I'm more comfortable with my preference for men of size than I was in, say, high school, but I also think it's because 300 pounds no longer seems quite as drastic a weight as it once did. I now fantasize about men 350lbs+ as often as I do about beefy ex-jocks.
In short, I agree completely - 400 is certainly the new 300.
Another reason is due to weight gaining supplements.
Thanks for the great post.
It's awesome that gainers are pushing themselves past the new normal and achieving previously somewhat out of reach weights.
I think it says a lot about encouragers as well who are now able to inspire and motivate gainers to really excel.
I was really lucky to spend last Saturday with a 460 pounder and it was insanely great. I was in complete awe of his mass and heft; the dude was so sexy and I spent all day exploring while he ate.
It struck me that once he crossed a magic line he was able to ingest so much, so steadily and his general immobility let him expand perfectly.
Looking forward to 500 being the new 400!
So gainers, keep eating.
Encourages, keep motivating and inspiring and keep the pantry stocked.
Hey,
I will take this chance to try my writing skills.
I certainly can have some agreement with what was written; but I also don’t know…. The MAJORITY of guys with a belly (that I have noticed information on) trying to grow their belly still seem to be around the big 300 Pounds - or 350 lbs. Ones over such a weight are adequately sprinkled throughout, but not as the greater part. Three-hundred is the big one, and weight that is much greater than that is the ultimate. I see what you mean about ‘guys gaining younger’, and I think for them mostly, as well as probably for the dudes who have been large framed for a while, 400 is the new 300.
Also, I’m not sure how a 10-year difference could make that big a difference on what is doable about one’s weight. I understand the validity of statitistics indicating average Americans’ fatness, but that still is very generalizing - none of the people round about me - save 2 (and 1 has lost some) - are fat.
While there has been growth in the ‘gainer’s community’, there has not been any implications/indications in real life, and the internet often makes things bigger than they actually are.
P.S. 250 pounds IS to be a large fella haha.
It's an interesting point that you're making and it's something that I too have noticed as the community has matured and evolved into the eclectic behemoth that it is today.
One thing that makes it easier for me to think about getting to 400 or more is the much better availability of nice clothes in big sizes, which I think is something that's only come about in the past few years. Before online stores like Jacamo popped up that stocked trendy clothes, the only things that were available in larger sizes tended be extremely ugly or plain, usually very badly cut for the obese guy, and quite expensive. Nowadays though you can get pretty awesome jeans, shirts, tshirts and hoodies right up to 6xl and 56" waist and it doesn't cost any more than it does on the high street.
I do wonder if impression that we have of gainers are generally going for higher and higher weights might be an illusion. I remember being 15 and hanging out online with all these gainers of the same age and 300 was considered to be absolutely HUGE! Few of my contemporaries at the time were over 200 lbs and many fewer were over 300, although there were a handful. Now tons of my friends (hah hah) in the gainer community weigh well over 300 lbs and several are way up there in the 400s. But the reason surely is that they're older and have had more time to gain, and have financial independence from their parents so they can choose what to eat when they want it. These are the people I mostly associate with and it kind of makes me feel like everyone is going bigger and bigger. So maybe it's not that gainers are generally aiming for higher weights, but that we've grown up and have more power to actually achieve our goals.
Hope that makes sense.
I must say that I am a living example of your points as to why it seems that there are so many more gainers in general, and particularly more "super-gainers" who are able to push their weight past 300 lbs than ever before.
As much as it helps that there is an easy access to large quantities of food for affordable prices and a plethora of fellow fatties out there, I credit my 90 lbs gain over the past half-decade to the increased presence of the gainer community online. I struggled through 5 years of ups and downs in my weight as I privately tried to gain but would always fail. Over the 5 years that followed my discovery of the gainer community, however, my belly has swollen to widths I never even thought feasible a few years ago.
As a pretty hefty guy already at 365 pounds, I'm not sure. I have run into a few twink-like encouragers who love to try and push me to put on pounds despite my begging them to stop. And, down deep, both they and I knew I loved it. But is 300+ really that difficult? I'm not sure.
Too often, I see fantasies for the muscle-bound fat guy. I'm just fat and soft. At times I wonder if there really is acceptance of all body-types.
Thoughts?
Post a Comment