I was reading online just now about a couple who has set the goal to lose weight together. After seven weeks, he has lost twenty-three pounds and she has lost seventeen. They’re ecstatic about their progress and plan to continue on until they’ve reached their goals.
Reading their story got me to thinking, is it a good idea or a bad idea to diet along with your spouse?
On the plus side, if both you and your spouse are dieting, you only have to cook one meal. You can make up that chicken breast and salad and not be staring longingly at his plate, wanting his cheese sandwich.
If you are both dieting, you can cheer each other on. If one of you starts to feel like quitting, the other can remind you of all the reasons why you so badly want to succeed.
If you’re dieting at the same time, your spouse will know exactly what you’re going through. He will appreciate your successes more and he will commiserate over the plateaus more. No more of this patting you on the head and saying, “There, there” before walking away – he’ll really get what you’re saying.
You can keep each other on track with the diet. If you go out to eat, you’re more likely to order something healthy if your spouse is doing it too. If you’re tempted to cave and get that cheesecake, he can either talk you out of it, or you can share a piece and cut the calories that way.
However, and I have to throw this in just because of my own jealous nature . . .
Did you notice at the beginning of this article that the husband had lost twenty-three pounds in the same amount of time as it took the wife to lose seventeen? Men do typically lose weight more quickly. Their bodies are structured to be made of muscles, and muscles burn fat more efficiently. Women have a natural tendency to hang on to fat, and it’s harder for us to lose it. I think it’s vastly unfair that a man can lose weight more quickly than his wife when they’re both doing the exact same things to accomplish it.
This, to me, would be the downfall of dieting together—that of comparison. The wife might feel depressed because her husband is losing more quickly than she is. The husband might feel that his wife isn’t trying as hard as he is.
If the husband and wife were to sit down together and discuss the different ways in which men and women lose weight and what their expectations are, I think that would go a long way toward helping them achieve weight loss success. Also entering into a dialogue about the cravings each person is most likely to experience, and what kinds of encouragement they would like to receive, and how they can best support each other.
I think it could be a very good thing for a couple to lose weight together. But I don’t know if it would be such a good idea for me . . . I just might resent every pound my husband lost . . . twice as fast as me . . . with not as much effort . . . plus he’s not as fat as I am . . . where’s the ice cream . . . yeah, for me, not such a good idea.
Related Blogs:
Men and Women Do Not Lose Weight Equally
Body for Life Success Story: Jayne Cox
Dad’s Losing It: It was Good While It Lasted