I gained 10 pounds

It is an awkward situation, you are catching up with a friend that you have not seen in months at the little bistro on the corner when your friend tells you " I need to loose 10 pounds." I always wonder how you should respond to statements like these. One may automatically respond saying " Don't be silly, you have never looked skinnier in your life!" even if you can tell that your friend added a few fat caps to their hips and it appears that another chin has emerged from beneath the other two but big deal what are you suppose to say really. The main reason your friend may have said this was for you to tell them that they were fine just the way they are and don't need to beat themselves up for ordering the bacon burger with fries. People are just too nice, because who really wants to tell their friend that they look like a beached whale and may want to think about hitting the gym a couple times a week or live off some celery and grapefruit for a few days. 

So how do you go about telling a friend that they had put on some weight without killing their self-esteem and send them home to hang out with Ben and Jerry for the afternoon? Also agreeing with the person about gaining weight only makes the person hate you because that was not the answer they were looking for. They wanted you to tell them that they dropped 6 pounds and looked as slender as Jackie O. I try to change the subject or comment on how they are beautiful on the inside but somehow either we are back at the point where they are telling me how they gained all this weight or they give you a death stare. We could recommend a health book we just read and talk about how it completely changed our life  but still that is not the answer they are looking for. So as they stuff their face with cheesecake we sit back and sip our coffee saying "No, no you don't look like you have gained any weight" regretting every word that slips out of our mouth. But what are we suppose to do take away the cake and shake our finger saying "No, no you can't have that". Instead as friends we want to protect our friends and make them feel good about themselves. So to those of you who have gained weight don't ask us if you have increased your girth unless you are able to handle the truth because if not we are going to tell you that you are perfect the way you are and what is going to stop you from finishing of the bag of cookies?