# Weight gain since high school **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2011, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631 "2011-05-12T06:20:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/1 "2011-05-12T06:20:24Z")
According to my cardiologist, the average person gains two pounds every year after high school. Example: If you weighed 150 in high school, and you graduated 20 years ago, your current weight should be about 150 + 40 = 190. Obviously, “average” doesn’t apply to everyone, but my own weight is very close to this. How about you? ---
**Author:** ![Amasia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Amasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amasia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/2 "2011-05-12T06:26:47Z")
Any idea if that advice is for men, women or both? I can imagine a lot of guys haven’t even stopped growing at the end of high school, so that seems possible, but for people who all already full grown height and muscle mass wise, that’s a ton to gain. FTR, I graduated about 10 years ago and am about 10 pounds less than my end of high school weight. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/3 "2011-05-12T07:46:11Z")
Graduated 14 years ago. I think I weigh around 10 kgs _less_ than back then. I’ve never made a conscious effort to lose weight or anything. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/4 "2011-05-12T08:16:27Z")
Good lord, no. I weigh about the same (graduated in 2000). At most a couple kgs more. ---
**Author:** ![ImNotPaulAvery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@ImNotPaulAvery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ImNotPaulAvery)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/5 "2011-05-12T08:28:29Z")
Graduated '02. Somehow I always weighed exactly 140 in high school. I’m about 155-160 now. So the formula is pretty accurate for me. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/6 "2011-05-12T09:47:54Z")
Graduated in 1985, when I weighed about, oh, 155. My weight fluctuates a bit but hasn’t gone over 175, and I’m currently at 165. I still have clothes I wore in college and they fit just fine. I don’t diet but I also don’t drink much and I think the lack of beer calories has been my saving grace. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/7 "2011-05-12T10:11:48Z")
I gained much much more than that, and am currently losing. High school was 32 years ago, and I have no idea what I weighed then, but I suspect that I am not 64 pounds over that weight. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/8 "2011-05-12T11:39:07Z")
140 in high school. 175 now. Graduated in 1982…so that must mean it s 1999 now. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/9 "2011-05-12T12:23:12Z")
I was around 145 when I graduated in 1996. By the rule above I should have been 165 in 2006…oh, I wish I had been. I was more like 190. (Now I’m about 35 pounds less than that, thank goodness.) ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/10 "2011-05-12T12:46:18Z")
It’s actually pretty close to me, but since I was seriously underweight in high school it’s all good, not to mention most of the mass I’ve gained has been muscle. At this rate it’ll take over 20 years for me to be overweight, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/11 "2011-05-12T13:47:32Z")
I weigh 65# less than high school and holding for a bunch of decades. I eat all the calories I can, but only real food, no processed junk. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/12 "2011-05-12T13:48:34Z")
I was a bit underweight in high school. I weighed somewhere in the mid 90s and around college reached 100 pounds, which is where I am now. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/13 "2011-05-12T13:52:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > According to my cardiologist, the average person gains two pounds every year after high school. Example: If you weighed 150 in high school, and you graduated 20 years ago, your current weight should be about 150 + 40 = 190. > > Obviously, “average” doesn’t apply to everyone, but my own weight is very close to this. How about you? I ballooned from 180 to 280 in about seventeen years. From my peak I’ve knocked it back to 235 and am still working on it. I may be true as an average but I’d imagine the variance from person to person is so wide that it’s like the old joke about having one leg on fire and the other in a block of ice and on average you’re comfortable. It’s also most definitely not true later on in life. An 80-year-old is not likely to weigh 124 pounds more than they did at graduation. For one thing, at 80, most really fat people are dead. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/14 "2011-05-12T14:01:55Z")
Graduated high school almost 30 years ago. Was skinny then. I am fairly fit now. I might weigh five pounds more now but it’s muscle. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/15 "2011-05-12T14:06:42Z")
Graduated at about 150. Top weight, after 14 years, was 216. Current weight, after 16 years, is about 182. So, when not trying to lose weight, I averaged about 5 pounds a year. Actual average comes out to just about 2, but I’m actively trying to mitigate that. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/16 "2011-05-12T14:16:19Z")
I graduated 16 years ago and have put on about 20-25 pounds since then. More than I’d like, to be sure, but a little less than the formula. I’m hoping to lose some weight (but of course, I probably need to actually do something to make that happen, hey?). ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/17 "2011-05-12T14:43:46Z")
I weighed 110 lbs. or less all through my teens and half my 20’s. When I got my license and a car when I was about 24, we started going to McDonald’s for lunch every day. It was the slippery slope…that and getting married and having a baby and age (and inactivity) put on the weight. I’ve gained 20 lbs. over the years, a few one way or the other, and though not fat, I could stand to lose a few of those pounds! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/18 "2011-05-12T14:45:44Z")
Graduated in '87 weighing about 62 kg then. Now I’m at 68 kg, so gained 6 kg, about 12 pounds. According to your cardiologist’s formula I should weigh about 86 kg now, but I’m rather certain (knock on wood!) that I’ll never weigh that much in my lifetime if I keep my eating habits. ---
**Author:** ![RedBloom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@RedBloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedBloom)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/19 "2011-05-12T14:50:51Z")
Graduated 19 years ago weighing around 128… now a bit older and 2 kids later… averaging around 135. I’ve always had a pretty steady weight my whole life. I was never teeny-tiny and never really overweight… just “average”. Apparently I’m only good at maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631/20 "2011-05-12T14:51:48Z")
I was gaining at about half that rate (i.e. 1 pound per year since high school) until I took up distance running, and now I’m about where I was in high school. Although I was not a particularly skinny teenager, for what that’s worth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weight-gain-since-high-school/581631.md?page=2)