Chip Chick
This 23-year-old man and his girlfriend, who is also 23, have been in a relationship for two years. During college, he was on the swim team, but after graduation, he gained some weight.
While in school, at 5’11”, he weighed roughly 145 pounds, and now he weighs 170 pounds. In the past, he had more defined abs. However, since finishing college, he hasn’t put as much time into exercising as he used to.
“I just feel comfortable in our relationship, and I know she doesn’t care what my body looks like,” he said.
Not long ago, he and his girlfriend were at a dinner double date with Jack and Erica, another couple with whom he was friends. He and Jack have been friends for quite a while, and they always joke around and playfully make jabs at each other, all in good fun. So, during dinner, they were all goofing around and having a lighthearted conversation.
“He makes fun of me and says that it looks like I’ve gotten a bit chubby since we last saw each other. I laugh it off since that’s how we’ve always been and since it’s not really true,” he explained.
Plus, he acknowledged that he has experienced a little weight gain and has more of a tummy than he used to when his stomach was more muscular. At this point, Erica contributed to the banter, joking that Jack was in the process of getting a “beer belly,” and he’d noticed that Jack had also gained weight since they last got together.
“Jack says that we’ve both put on some happy relationship weight gain and grown guts. I say that I got the ‘Boyfriend 20,’ joking that I’ve gained 20 pounds while dating my girlfriend,” he shared.
After dinner, he and his girlfriend went home, and she told him that he humiliated her in front of Erica and Jack by joking that she made him “fat.” It offended him that she used the word “fat” when no one called one another or themselves “fat” at dinner. All he’d done was acknowledge that he’d gained weight.
He asked his girlfriend not to take what was said at dinner to heart because he’d only been kidding, pointing out that Erica was kidding around and making similar remarks about Jack. The argument irritated him because his girlfriend began to make him feel ashamed of the fact that he’d gained weight, which he didn’t think he’d been insecure about before.
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