Spouse Support Weight Loss

It isn’t easy losing weight. This fact is obvious. but, when you’re determined to lose the weight and your partner isn’t willing to help or even support you, then losing weight becomes more difficult.

How A Partner Can Affect Diet Efforts

So, you have been eating less, eating right, and doing more exercise, but your partner, who may be able to lose a few pounds his or herself, is knowingly or unknowingly making things worse. Here is a list of things that your partner could be doing to harm your efforts:

  • Not participating in your fitness program.
  • Eating burgers and fries while you are nibbling on a salad.
  • Not complimenting you on your efforts.
  • Not using PhenQ or any other weight loss supplement.
  • Acting like your diet is an inconvenience to him or her.
  • Succeeding at a diet, especially a fast weight loss diet, takes motivation and determination. A partner can make succeeding much more difficult. So Now What?

How To Get Your Partner To Support A Diet

  • Communication

The first step in getting support from your partner is communication. You need to spell out the reasons you are losing weight. Let your partner know why weight loss is so important to you. You also need to ask, and then listen, to why your partner is being resistant to you making these changes. There may be deeper needs that each of you has for the choices that you are making. For example, you may be wanting to lose weight for health or looks, but your partner may be resistant due to relationship insecurity or self-pity.

  • Ask For Support

After the communication is figured out and both partners know the reasons why each partner is making their respective choices, you need to ask your partner for support. It is important to ask and not tell. You don’t want to say, “Both of us are going to eat right all year.” Make the diet a shared event by asking something like, “Is it okay to eliminate junk food from the house for one week?” Then, after the weekends, ask your partner for another week without junk food. Doing this will make the sacrifice easier for your partner to manage. Plus, it allows the partner to be a partner.

  • Forgive Easily

If your spouse makes a mistake or goes against the plans that both of you talked about, don’t criticize, place blame, or shame your partner. By doing this, when your partner slips and starts eating potato chips and ice cream in front of you, it will only create a rift between both of you and make your diet a constant argument.

If this type of behavior becomes a constant issue, you may have to find support elsewhere.

Look Outside The Relationship

When it comes to losing weight, it’s important to have a support system that is outside of the relationship. This could be through friends, other dieters, or even through online diets like eDiets which caters to peer support. Just be careful to keep emotionally involved with your partner. Relying too much on friends or other dieters can create an emotional hole in the relationship.

Written by 

Christine Reay is a veteran journalist from Chicago. She works for ANR Miami as the Head of Editorial Content.