I sometimes am just NOT nice enough to tell them....."shut up & don't say anything if you really care". Be honest with them & tell them that it's only making things worse because of what you said here......

Knowing it yourself is one thing but having others notice the weight gain is a whole other thing & wanting to look thin is still part of the issue that honestly doesn't go away that easily.

I know that even though I'm at a healthy weight now....I liked the thinner look of me & the thinner look of REAL others who I do tend to compare myself to. I always wished that I was naturally as thin as others were without having to NOT eat at times to get to that point. So having others say that they can see a gain in my weight....is definitely NOT a positive thing in my mind even though it's a healthy thing. Trying to keep my weight at that healthy balanced weight where I'm still satisfied with my looks & my weight is healthy takes more control than it takes to continually restrict & continually loose weight IMO.

I am sure you will be able to figure out how to explain it to them so that they WILL understand....because their understanding IS IMPORTANT....just as much as your understanding that being healthy is important.....it's a two way street.