Losing weight is an individual task – you’re the only one who can do it – yet it would be nice to think that you could rely on your friends and family for support. This isn’t always the case, though, and sometimes you find that instead of supporting you your friends can be more of a hindrance than a help. It may be inadvertent, but there are times when it seems as though your friends are actually trying to sabotage your weight-loss efforts, thus adding another layer of difficulty to your weight-loss attempts and increasing the likelihood that you’ll give up trying to lose weight altogether.
In order to stick to a reduced-calorie diet it obviously helps to have a certain amount of willpower, as you can’t simply expect everyone to eat only the foods you’re eating just so you can avoid dealing with temptation. You therefore can’t expect your friends to eat salads and avoid drinking alcohol when you go out with them because they’re free to do exactly what they want, though this doesn’t make restricting yourself in order to lose weight any easier.
However, your friends should at least make an effort to be supportive of your attempts to lose weight, rather than teasing you for going on another diet. You need positive reinforcement; not to be told that you’re going to fail before you’ve even started. Also, your friends may be free to eat whatever they want, but they don’t have to rub your face in it, making a point of waving their cheesecake under your nose. It would also be helpful if they didn’t buy you drinks all the time. It might be generous, but it makes controlling your calorie intake harder, as you don’t want to be rude and say ‘no, thanks’.
Losing weight not only requires you to consume fewer calories, as you also have to get burning more as well. It can be difficult to motivate yourself to exercise, especially if your friends seem to be able to eat whatever they want without gaining a pound, but it’s something you have to do. Your friends may enjoy eating at restaurants and going to night clubs with you, but they may be less inclined to go to the gym, even though this could really help you with your weight-loss aims. It is obviously up to you to do more exercise, but it would make things easier if the activities you chose to do with your friends didn’t always revolve around eating and drinking.
When you’re trying to lose weight it can really help to have your friends’ support, but there are occasions when they seem to make the whole process even harder than usual, though you can’t really do much about this unless you choose to avoid their company altogether!