It can be difficult broaching the subject of weight loss with your partner – you know that they need to lose weight but you don’t want to damage their self confidence or hurt their feelings. The trouble often lies in that asking someone to lose weight, however heartfelt the reasoning, can come across as sexist, unappreciative and demanding. It’s no wonder that men often feel it’s best to keep their mouths closed on the subject. However, there could be downsides to staying silent as well, such as your partner’s quality of life or life span being in jeopardy. So how can you bring up the subject of weight loss with your wife without her feeling as though it is a personal attack on her self esteem? The good news is that there are ways to do it – it simply requires some sensitivity and thought. Firstly, consider your motives and why you want your wife to lose weight – is it through concern for her health, her life span or for more personal reasons to you, such as you wanting her to have a tighter body? Before you begin any conversation about her weight and diet, make sure you know why you’re asking. It could well determine the outcome.
Changing your own eating habits is a great way to encourage someone else to change theirs, particularly if that person is someone you eat with most of the time. Women tend to gain weight more easily when they’re in a long-term relationship, as they follow the eating habits of the person they’re with. So make a few changes of your own – it will benefit both of you to eat better and up your intake to fruit and vegetables. You should try to make your dishes stand out against her choices in restaurants too. Restaurants are easy places to overindulge, so you may want to help your partner to make healthier choices by showing them the pros and cons of what you’re both ordering. You may find it useful to also decrease her level of comfort by cutting back on the lies about her weight. If she asks you if she looks fat, you don’t have to answer with a resounding yes, but you can be honest if she asks if that shirt looks a bit snug.
Try to request healthy selections if she does the shopping, or if you shop then bring home a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains so that making healthy meals is easier. You don’t need to throw out every tasty snack in the house, but the more readily available healthy choices are, the more likely you both are to choose something natural and fat-free over that lingering chocolate bar or a packet of crisps. Help out with dinner making, too. If your wife tends to make most of the meals, you could help her out by choosing to make a healthy meal once or twice a week. It will not only help her to eat lower-fat meals, but also gives her a few nights off from cooking. Lastly, be sure to compliment your wife regularly and make her feel good about herself. There’s nothing worse than feeling as though your partner doesn’t find you attractive, so don’t let her self esteem go down simply because you’re not showing attention where’s its due. Be kind when her weight is mentioned so that she doesn’t feel as though you’re against her, and be sure to encourage her when she does lose weight. Losing weight is a difficult thing to do and requires a lot of dedication and effort, so be sure to let her know that you’re behind her the whole way.
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