Vote in This Week's Poll: Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
Obviously, the people we spend time with can influence what we do and it may be that, if one friend is overweight, the other friend may feel it's more acceptable to gain weight as well. Still, this is an interesting idea and one that many of us probably don't consider. After all, what we weigh shouldn't be influenced by who we hang out with, right?
I'm curious to know about your situation. Do you think your friends influence your weight or that you may influence theirs? Vote in this week's poll and tell us - are your friends making you fat?
Poll: Do your friends influence your weight?
1. Yes - if my friends are overweight, it's easier for me to be overweight as well
2. Yes - we all tend to have the same eating and exercise behaviors
3. No - I do my own thing regardless of what my friends do
4. I'm not sure
5. Other - please explain in comments
Comments
ive seen this happen with myself… if u have friends that are over weight.. specially the friends that like to go out to eat alot… u will get fat with them. and i know thats mean but thats the truth lol
In my last relationship, all we did was eat at restaurants. I was about 5 pounds heavier. Not obese, but it goes to show you how friends/ lovers can influence your eating habits!
My friends dine out more often than I do, and I perceive eating out with them as an occasion, an exception, an excuse not to stick so closely to my eating plan. It’s oh-so-easy to have another drink or another serving or a bigger portion when socializing with friends, whether eating a home-cooked meal or out and about. For me, it has nothing to do with whether I am with heavy friends or thin friends; it’s the social aspect of it.
Sounds like another excuse to ostracize fat people to me.
I’ve seen this with my better half,He is not that fat but his boss is too fat and the only thing what their doing all over the day is eating short eats so day by day he is getting fat so i belive friends help you to get fat fo sure
I used to be slender, but gained 80 pounds due to medications. So I am “other.”
And I’m proud to say that I’ve recently lost 15 of those pounds
Marcia
It’s true. I’ve experienced it. To some extent, you become like the people you hang out with. Whether it’s similar preferences, beliefs, or behaviors, it still happens. If you hang out with someone who sits around eating Doritos all day, what are you going to do? Jog in place and drink water while you talk? Probably not. Go to the park on a busy day and look around. You can see it for yourself.
yes and no… during the time that I was obese (175lbs ago) it was. I would eat with my friends and we all ate the same thing. When I started exercising and creating a lifestyle change and eating healthy they were a huge pressure on me when we went out. Making little jibs and comments about my healthier lifestyle up until I had made a huge dent in my weight. Now that the world is becoming more health orientated, I’ve lost and stayed in the healthier lifestyle, and my friends are seeing the health benefits to losing the weight, they now ask questions and try to do same. Only a few who don’t care and want to stay obese make the remarks, but I just let it go in one ear and out the other.
My wife fills the house with an endless stream of junk food. I’ve given up trying to get her to stop buying it and feeding it to our children. My kids will end up fat. My nine-year-old son is already a bit overweight. She’s such a complete b&*#& about it, it is just amazing. Pretty funny, during three years of dating, she was miss health and exercise.
I eat some of the junk, too, but I am doing a better job of eating more carefully this year and have lost some weight and my Body Mass Index is now within a healthy range. Eh, if you want to stay thin, don’t get married. If you want to be happy, don’t get married. Really.
I took responsibility for my life a long time ago and blaming other people for your gluttony is just another excuse. It’s much easier to justify behavior by saying it’s because of them, instead of saying I’m weak and I need help. If anything, hanging around your friends that are obese, will help them see how to be thin if you keep drilling them with excercise and diet talk and encourage them to get moving. No one wants to be fat and most overweight people are very miserable, but are ashamed to ask for help. So guide your friends, be sensitive, but encouraging and eventually they will want good health.
I have noticed that if I spend more time with my overweight friends or even the friends who eat unhealthily (?) I end up eating and behaving like they do. Being overweight is not the only issue. My sister weighs about 105 pounds but only eats complete junk so she is not a healthy eater but she is by no means overweight. So back to the original point, when with unhealthy eaters, a normally healthy person tends to fall of the health food wagon. I guess it is harder to say no to the midnight ice cream when everyone else is eating it to. I have gotten better at it by reminding myself that I don’t want to be a size 18, like some of my friends, so I better stop eating or I will be.
My heavy friends helped me loose or maintain my normal weight because every time I looked at them it made me stop & think - that could be me if I mess up !
Why isn’t the other way around? My obese friends tend to emulate my eating habits when we go out together. I know that they don’t continue at home, or they would not be obese. I don’t try to put any pressure on them to eat better, but , try to set a healthy example.
I feel that my friends donot influence what I eat.Relatives, too they try I have a life where I donot have to succumb to their lifestyle. I have my own that I share with many friends
All of my friends are pretty health conscious, they eat well and exercise. I know that my lifestyle interests have greatly influenced my social connections, and my social connections influence and reinforce a healthier lifestyle. I had a friend who was over weight, a diabetic, and ate atrociously…however she was one of the most beautiful people that i have ever met. We would go out and she would, invariable eat the most unhealthy choices on the restaurant menu…i didn’t. She ate what she wanted to eat, and i didn’t influence her; neither did she influence my eating patterns. Unfortunately, she died very suddenly of a massive heart attack 31/2 years ago, at the age of 42, leaving a husband and then 10 year old daughter. I only wish that i had had some influence on her health and lifestyle choices…i miss her dearly.