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Have you ever tried to diet with your significant other, only to fail miserably? There might be a real reason why that is.
Jennifer Harman, PhD, an associate professor at Colorado State University, and her colleagues gathered 50 couples that wanted to lose weight for the New Year. They found that the more one succeeded in eating small healthy portions, the more their partner found it more difficult to do so.
Why is that?
"Watching someone achieve a goal that's important to you may threaten your self-esteem," Harman explains. "The people we studied were married, so distancing themselves from their partners wasn't easy (or desirable)," says Harman. "So the other option was to lose confidence in their ability to control portion sizes and lose weight."
Harman explains that this was a huge surprise. One would think that any kind of social support would encourage one to lose weight. Sadly, that's simply not true. Studies show that self-esteem drops when someone performs better than you when you're working just as hard toward a common goal.
Case in point: when the husbands in the Colorado State study (who were successful in the weight-loss realm) monitored their weight by stepping on a scale or checking themselves out in the mirror, their wives became more negative about dieting and monitored their own weight less.
If you are dieting with a partner, a friend, or a family member, gaining confidence in regulating your portion sizes is absolutely critical.
"Only put the right portion size on your plate, as getting up to get more food takes effort," Harman says. "If it seems like the portion size was too small, and you still don't feel full after eating it, wait a few minutes so that your stomach has enough time to tell the brain whether you've eaten enough to feel full."
Just remember: not everyone loses weight the same way.
"Your confidence will build over time as weight-loss goals are reached," Harman says. "It just takes a lot of careful monitoring—and patience!"
What do you think about this study? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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