As noted on the main page, the basic desires of gainers and encouragers are pretty much the same (to make someone fatter), but that doesn't mean that all gainers and encouragers are alike. Different people react differently to their desires and often have other sexual interests that they mix with their gaining or encouraging desires. The list below is an attempt to explain the most common variations within the gainer community.
| ball belly | a large, nearly spherical belly | |
| belly play | touching or fondling of another person's belly mutual belly touching, as in a belly bump |
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| belly rub | the physical act of rubbing another person's belly, which is generally
very erotic for both gainers and encouragers (even rubbing one's own
belly) a friendly greeting within the gaining community even when there is no physical contact ("sending you a belly rub") |
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| bloating | drinking large quantities of liquid (e.g., water, soda, milk) to temporarily expand one's belly | |
| button popping | the practice of squeezing into old clothes that no longer fit to emphasize weight gain and to fantasize about getting even larger | |
| chaser | a person who is sexually attracted to overweight men (not generally a member of the gaining community) | |
| chub | an overweight gay man (not generally a member of the gaining community) | |
| civilian | a person who is not part of the gaining community | |
| daddy | an older gay man (typically 40+) who becomes a mentor or lover or partner of a younger gainer or encourager | |
| dominant feeder | a feeder who makes the decisions about when and how much a gainer will eat | |
| encourager | a person who is sexually aroused by the idea of helping another person
get fatter a person who is helping someone get fatter |
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| feeder | a person who is sexually aroused by feeding another person | |
| food coma | a state of exhaustion that comes after stuffing oneself almost to the limit | |
| force feeding | when one person takes control and forces another to eat (often involving restraints and devices like a funnel) | |
| gainer | a person who is sexually aroused by the idea of getting fatter a person who is getting fatter on purpose |
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| gainer/encourager | a person who is both a gainer and an encourager a person who wants a relationship in which two people get fat together |
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| gainer shake | a high-calorie drink consumed by gainers to put on weight, often consumed close to bedtime, with a variety of ingredients (ice cream, milk, heavy creme, pudding mix, cake mix, brownie mix, etc.) | |
| gaining to immobility | an extreme form of gaining where one gains so much weight that one becomes unable to function normally in society | |
| grazing | an approach to gaining that involves eating a little bit at a time all day long by consuming candy, nuts, chips, and other snacks (compare to gorging) | |
| gorging | an approach to gaining that involves eating a large quantity of food all at once whenever it is convenient to do so (compare to grazing) | |
| grommoff | a local gathering of gainers and encouragers, typically going to a restaurant together for a meal or meeting at a bar | |
| inflation | filling one's stomach with air to temporarily expand one's belly | |
| instant gaining | a fantasy involving instantaneous weight gain | |
| morphing | modifying a photograph to make a person appear fatter | |
| muscle and gut | a balance of muscle and fat that is common in former athletes, power lifters, football players, and wrestlers | |
| muscle gaining | similar to gaining fat, but more socially acceptable and more overtly masculine; many gainers will cycle between periods of muscle gaining and periods of gaining fat | |
| padding | placing cushions, pillows, or other items under one's clothes to make it appear that a person is fatter | |
| pig | a submissive gainer who obeys the wishes of a dominant feeder a gainer who makes a mess when he eats |
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| sighting | a glimpse or photograph of a fat man or a man who is conspicously
eating a glimpse of a man's fat, as in seeing the lower part of a fat belly that peeks out when a shirt is too short or, from behind, seeing the love handles and butt crack of a fat man leaning over |
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| starter belly | a term used in an encouraging manner to refer to a belly that is just starting to become noticeable | |
| stats | any of a number of measurements that gainers like to track for themselves and share with others (just hearing these numbers can be sexually arousing), including weight, waist size, belly circumference (standing, sitting, empty vs full), bmi, calories consumed, and percent body fat | |
| stuffing | the act of overeating, especially overeating to the point where one cannot eat any more | |
| superchub | a super obese man (e.g., weighing over 400 pounds or having a bmi of 55 or more) | |
| teasing | comments about weight gain or messy eating that are just playful for some but sexually arousing for others, as in, "You've become such a fatty," or, "You're my fat little piggy, aren't you?" |