Skinny Guys Who Have Become 'Fat' Guys: Let's Commiserate!

I've always been in sway of about 25-50 pounds all my life with my latest weight gain to about 195lbs which I am struggling to wrestle down.

I am not that tall so I don't have the luxury to add a few pounds and still look good or decent.
I've always been the best looking at about 170-175. That is about a sz32 jeans size and about a 33 dress pant size generally. Clothes I have for heavier times I am not usually interested in getting the best just whatever fits.

that sucks man...when I was in hs i was a skinny prick, then went away to college and gained 50 lbs (205 lbs)...after seeing a pic one summer in a bathing suit (my junior year) I realized that BO (not body odor, or even belly overlap, but BACK overlap) was nasty, so I started running, lifting shitty home weights and watching my diet....was at 150 with a 33 inch waist wearing size 32 pants. Then I met my wife to be, and in four months of some great breakfasts she cooked me while we were dating I put on 25-30 lbs...over the next few years I kept gaining until I was 200 again (size 44 and 37 waist). Thats when I got into clothes and realized that people look significantly better in slimmer clothing, which I couldn't pull off. So I started running again and hit the gym...I'm now 165 with the same "skinny 33 inch waist (so my skinny frame plus about 15 lbs of muscle). Now I'm OCD about working out and eating so I can keep it off for good, for the look, and so I can live long and see some grandkids, and maybe even great grandkids...good uck man, and you can lose the lbs if you really put your mind to it.

dude, 50 lbs swing...well, I used to be a fat kid, now I am a skinny kid, I lost 40 lbs in high school, varsity swimming will do... gain probably 15 in college, got it down again after I saw the "handle"..., now I am at 145~lb with 31 waist (so all my older 32/33 even 34 stuff is all donate to someone else now...).

I swing between 170lbs to 220lbs. It just depends how much I care about fitness and my diet. I prefer to stay around 190lbs, but I can add 10-15 lbs without looking awful in my clothing. In your situation, I would just lose the weight rather than buy new clothes.

I've had some periods in my life when I gained as much as 25+lbs. That said, I've always maintained my ideal weight of 165-175 long-term. The greatest motivator: tons of expensive rather slim-fitting suits+jeans tailored for around 170lbs max. Anything more than that, and they look horrible. Replacing them is not an option.

yes exactly, it looks like rubbish, and thats another reason im on the losing weight kick (never should have started eating tons of junk and not taking care of myself, but oh well)

wearing more fitted clothes and the prevalent trend of heart disease in my family is what keeps me motivated to stay thin. after college i was 180lbs which is 30 lbs heavier than my ideal weight. i got back down to 150 lbs 2 years ago, but this summer lightened up on my usual routine bc of travel, vacations etc, so i was about 10-12 lbs heavier. "lightened up" is going too easy, i actual just stopped working out and ate whatever whenever, ha - so my metabolism went to shit - i got "skinny fat" i've managed to get back down to that 150 lbs in about a month. sure i went into 'combat mode' which usually means - running for 20-30 min 4 or 5 days a week or some kind of cardio - sandwiches instead of burgers - open faced sandwiches or lettuce wrapped sandwiches to cut down on unneccessary complex carbs - ginormous, filling salads (you can do it under 400 calories, just PM me i'll tell ya how) - pasta dishes using shiritaki noodles instead of traditional wheat based pasta - lean meat like chicken and fish - low fat filling dairy snacks like greek strained yogurt - using cooking spray instead of oil to grease pans the actual physical amount of food i eat now and the frequency that i eat is more than when i was 10 lbs heavier - it's all about choices. once you start seeing the physical changes in your body it's hard to stop. working out releases endorphins and you feel happy and accomplished. it's also great motivation when you can start wearing things like tshirts and skinny jeans again after you've been hiding the pudge under button ups and polos all summer ha. now that i'm back down, yeah sometimes i'll only run 3 or 4 days a week and have a couple cheat days to finish off a six pack or devour a chicken fried steak - but i can do that now bc my metabolism is up again and i know what i need to do to keep everything 'in balance' like this weekend there was a huge BBQ festival and i knew i was going to be pigging out on ribs, brisket and beer all day saturday. i made it a point to eat light 3 days before and get 5 really good cardio sessions in this week - so when i'm being wheeled out in a wheelchair from a BBQ coma this weekend i won't feel like a tub of lard. again, it's all about choices.

I'm used to weigh 200 lbs but then I got laid off from work. I was sittin at home for 3 months. During that time I went to visit family for about 2 weeks. We hit up happy hour every night, non-stop partyin and drinkin. I got called back to work and got into a weight loss cmpetition w/my co-workers. I weighed in at 234. I've been eatin chicken breast and veggies for dinner every weekday and I try to eat something healthy on the weekends but I'm always cheating. I walk/run atleast once a week and in 2 1/2 months I've lost 20 lbs.