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Gained Weight? Wait Until You Hear What Might Be Causing It

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Are you married and have gained weight? Don’t worry. That’s just a sign that you are happily married to your spouse. In fact, there’s a study that gives results that concludes with the more weight you gain during your marriage, the happier you and your partner are as a couple.

Studies confirmed - happy marriages caused gained weight

Researchers from Southern Methodist University in Dallas joined 169 newlywed couples and discovered some interesting things. They had the couples share their height, weight marital satisfaction, stress, and steps towards divorce eight different times. The results came back to find that the couples that felt happier in their marriage were less likely to watch their weight. They weren’t as concerned about their outer appearance since they were comfortable with their partner.

“Satisfaction is positively associated with weight gain,” says lead researcher, Andrea Meltzer . “Spouses who are more satisfied tend to gain more weight, and spouses who are less satisfied tend to gain less weight.”

If you are in a good relationship, Jenny Craig would like you to know that you’ve likely gained weight because of it. They refer to it as “love weight.”

A poll commissioned by the company was taken by 2000 people in relationships. A whopping 79% of those polled reported that they’ve gained weight since being in a relationship. In fact, people had gained an average of 36 pounds since they first started dating their current partner.

Thanks, Jenny Craig. We appreciate the news. I hope this doesn’t mean that you’re about to add a side hustle that sells divorce lawyer subscription services as a weight loss tool.

“With every 7 meals purchased you get 50% off 1 separation agreement!”

Here’s what the survey showed and what you do about it.

Why You May Have Gained Weight

1. You have become comfortable.

Remember when you and your spouse first started dating? Oh gosh. Couples usually look their best, are more charming than ever, and definitely try to hide the little bits of crazy we all have.

It’s work.

If you’ve ever eaten a big meal that you love, you know the joy of going home, tearing off those jeans and crawling into your favorite, comfy yoga pants.

It’s heaven. It feels like you can breathe!

Eventually, we find The One and we can relax a bit knowing that they love us. They are our comfy yoga pants. We can finally breathe.

Sometimes that means we let ourselves go a little bit. Happens to the best of us.

2. You eat out more.

People in the survey attribute a lot of the weight gain to eating out.

As a couple, it’s fun going out to delicious dinners in wonderful restaurants. You get to spend time together and treat yourselves.

3. You pick up takeout more often and you also cook at home more.

I get the takeout thing. It’s supper time and you’ve spent the day working only to come home and take one child to piano practice and another to buy a birthday present for a friend, you’re exhausted.

Bring on the takeout!

As far as cooking at home more, it makes sense. Great home cooked meals are not always diet friendly. If your kids love Rolo Brownies and your spouse is crazy about Beer Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip, you know you’re going to make it.

I love the feeling of making my family happy through the food I create for them! It’s as good as gold, right?

4. Drinking together can add pounds.

A nice glass of wine is a lovely way to wind down with your honey. Unfortunately, that’s not all we do sometimes. We might have more than a glass of wine, and when we do, we might want to eat snacks to go along with it.

All of those things, unfortunately, bring extra calories into your day.

How to Manage the Weight Gain

I’m happy to report there is some good news in this poll.

Couples who work together to change their lifestyles have an increased likelihood that they’ll be successful. Encouraging each other, holding each other accountable, making healthy food choices, and working out together are all things that can make weight loss easier.

It might be time for a courageous conversation with your partner.

Tell them how much weight you’ve gained, even though you may feel embarrassed. Hopefully, they’ll open up about their own struggles with healthy living.

Talk about the plans you have for losing the weight. Ask that they come alongside you so the two of you can help get one another to a healthier place in your life together.

You’d be amazed at how much easier it is to diet when someone you love is right there with you.

Have you gained weight since meeting your partner?

Do any of these reasons make sense to you? They really make sense to me. As with anything in life, being part of a couple can either make losing weight much harder or much easier.

What do you think about the Jenny Craig poll?

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