You and your spouse are making each other fat

We know that, on the whole, we are pre-dispositioned to pair up with partners’ long term. We crave the closeness and familiarity of being with someone. We fall in love, and either stay in long term relationships or get married… Then we put on weight, gross each other out and get divorced!

Maybe a bit over the top, but a study done in America gave a pretty dismal picture of what happens when we couple up long term.

Approx 80% of people gained fat when they started dating their long term partner.

In the 1st year, people averaged a 17lb increase in weight. Over the long term, that rose to 36lb.
Men gain more weight than women, 22lb in the 1st year of marriage to 13lb with women.
Younger couples gained weight and fat quicker than older couples.

Why?

• Getting comfortable and content, the hunt is over, he/she is mine.

• Priorities shift after having kids. Time and energy are taken up with looking after them and not yourself.

• Eating out often with your partner instead of cooking at home or ordering that takeaway after a night on the tear.

The funny thing is, the complacency that leads to this weight gain is the same complacency that might lead to a divorce😔. Weight gain was in the top 5 reasons in the survey as to why people divorced. Now it’s not just that you don’t fancy them anymore with the extra weight on, you probably do but weight gain leads to low self-esteem and depression, mood swings, resentment and arguments. It can also lead to a turn off in intimate relations and erectile dysfunction.

Don’t give up thou, this is fixable. By doing the opposite of what got you into this mess you can get yourself out of it.

• Don’t get complacent. They might love you for better or worse, but if you don’t look after yourself then you won’t love yourself and this will have a negative impact on others you love!
• Go to the gym, together or separately. Those that train together, stay together. You’re also the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with (kids excluded)

• Eat at home more often. Cook together and don’t have that bottle of wine with every meal.

• Don’t have kids! Ok, I'm most definitely joking here but remember, you’re still a person, not just a parent. Make time for you, figure out when you can train around the times the kids are off doing whatever after school activity they do and very importantly, make time for ‘date’ nights with your significant other.