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If You Have Been Gaining Weight Should You Blame Your Best Friend?
What company are you keeping and are they encouraging weight loss or weight gain? A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that a person's chance of becoming obese may increase by 57% if he or she has a friend who became obese in a given period.
I think it makes sense that whom we spend our social time with does have some influence on what we eat and drink to some extent. For example if you run in a social circle where social drinking is a big part of what you do when you get together, you are likely going to be taking in a lot of alcohol calories.
Cocktail hour friends
For this social situation, would it help to make a plan ahead of time so that you are prepared to order or bring alternative drinks that are low calorie but still "festive" and social? Would it be a big deal if you were drinking something like light cranberry juice blended with club soda or a coffee or seltzer water with a slice of lemon or lime? Maybe you could join your friends for one glass of wine and then switch to something with few calories after that.
Friends that workout together stay healthy together
Another way to discourage weight gain over time is to stick to an exercise plan so if your social group is at all interested in a particular sport or activity I would put this into motion right about now. Plan some of your social occasions or visits around physical activity like meeting in the gym at a certain time, taking a weekly yoga or Pilates class together, planning a "talk and walk" so you are catching up while you walk instead of in a coffee shop or on the couch. You can even plan this so you are both talking on the phone together and walking in separate cities!
[New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 357: 370-379]
I think it makes sense that whom we spend our social time with does have some influence on what we eat and drink to some extent. For example if you run in a social circle where social drinking is a big part of what you do when you get together, you are likely going to be taking in a lot of alcohol calories.
Cocktail hour friends
For this social situation, would it help to make a plan ahead of time so that you are prepared to order or bring alternative drinks that are low calorie but still "festive" and social? Would it be a big deal if you were drinking something like light cranberry juice blended with club soda or a coffee or seltzer water with a slice of lemon or lime? Maybe you could join your friends for one glass of wine and then switch to something with few calories after that.
Friends that workout together stay healthy together
Another way to discourage weight gain over time is to stick to an exercise plan so if your social group is at all interested in a particular sport or activity I would put this into motion right about now. Plan some of your social occasions or visits around physical activity like meeting in the gym at a certain time, taking a weekly yoga or Pilates class together, planning a "talk and walk" so you are catching up while you walk instead of in a coffee shop or on the couch. You can even plan this so you are both talking on the phone together and walking in separate cities!
[New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 357: 370-379]
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Labels: fitness, healthy diet, weight loss
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