Aug 14 2009
Is Your Spouse Sabotagging Your Diet?
Being on a diet is difficult enough, but being on a diet when the one you love can sit there and eat whatever they want is even MORE difficult. I’m envious when my fiance eats whatever he wants without a worry, whereas I constantly have to watch what I eat - especially on those “off” days when I don’t make it to the gym.
An article on Everyday Health called Lose Weight Despite Spouse Sabotage has tips to help you lose weight and stick to your diet when your spouse doesn’t need to or just isn’t interested.
“Convey a positive message. Simon tells her spouse, ‘I love you, you love me, and this is a form of self-love. I’m taking care of myself, and I know you want me to do that.’
Explain your process. If your family teases you about your diet strategies, like weighing portions, explain that you are more successful when you take these measures.
Talk about what you can eat instead of what you can’t. Avoid boring non-dieters with all the details of your plan.
Cook separate meals if necessary, but encourage your spouse to try some of the new dishes you are eating, especially if he has a weight problem too. He just might like them!”
The articles suggestions mainly focus on being positive and reassuring to your partner, and not pushing your lifestyle on them. To me, my own diet and health are very personal. As someone who knows what it was like to be overweight for so long, realizing that you need to exercise and have a healthy diet is a personal choice.
Three years ago, if someone told me that I needed to be on a diet (which they did!) I’d get very offended. I actually (briefly) dated this one guy in 2005, who had just gotten out of the fire academy. He was somewhat overweight, as was I, and he made it a point to tell me that I needed to lose 40 lbs. So, I listened to him and joined Weight Watchers. Because my heart wasn’t into it, I stuck with the program for about two weeks and lost a whopping 4 lbs. He, on the other hand, didn’t do anything about his weight. For two weeks I sacrificed my favorite foods while watching him eat anything that he wanted.
It wasn’t until nearly a year later that I realized that I need to lose weight. When it was MY OWN decision to lose weight, without anyone else telling me that I HAD to, that’s when I managed to see the scale move.
When you have the support from your spouse and those around you, it makes it a lot easier to lose the weight. “Communication and a mutual understanding of your goals will make it much easier to stick to your weight loss plan,” Read the article…
