Research consistently shows that family/roommate support is crucial when making behavior changes. If you are trying to overhaul your diet, the ice-cream in the freezer is often hard to refuse. Genetics does play a role in body phenotypes but we cannot discount the role the environment plays in families expanding waistlines. Therefore, it is crucial that spouses and housemates talk to each other about the importance of their goals. Even if your husband or wife is not trying to go ice-cream free during the week both spouses need to respect each other’s weight-loss efforts by keeping ice-cream out of the house. You both will appreciate the extra effort when you visit your favorite ice-cream hang-out together on the weekend. In addition to sweets and salty indulgences, ideal portion sizes for a man versus women can be very different. A 120 pound woman may only require 2,000 calories/day whereas a 160 pound man may require 2,900. If husband and wife both indulged on a “serving” of General Tso’s chicken at their favorite local Chinese joint (560 calories), the man consumed 19% of his daily calories while the women consumed a whopping 28% of her daily calories. Meanwhile, it would take the man 5.5 hours to burn off these extra calories while it would take the women 7.5 hours. It is easy to see how women eating the same diets as their husbands will put on more weight.
Rather than despising your spouse, appreciate your differences. At dinner, take half of your serving home. Not only have you saved 230 calories (30 minutes on the treadmill), but you have a delicious lunch to take to the office the following day. Ask your spouse eat desert at lunchtime when you are not around to be tempted by his/her indulgence. If your trying to avoid sweet snacks, ask your spouse keep his/her Tasty Cakes at work and encourage them to swap out extra rice for extra veggies at dinner.
Don’t let eating be the highlight of you and your housemate’s time together. Find other ways to enjoy each other’s company such as bike rides, a game of tennis, or a nightly walk. Having the support of loved one’s is crucial for success. In the end, asking for support will not only add years to your life but will often end up inspiring changes in the ones you love.
