Managing Peer Pressure to Achieve Weight Loss Goals

One of the problems many people face when trying to lose weight is the peer pressure from friends and family to eat at social occasions. The people around you play an important role in helping you stick to your plan or ignore it. There is no dearth of people among everyone’s friends and family, who despite best of intentions about your well-being, can’t help but detract you from following your weight loss plan. You need to manage them if you want to succeed in your aim.

Tips to manage peer pressure for achieving weight loss

• Request for special food on family gatherings – When you get together with your family, insist them to offer only lower calorie foods. Do not allow your host to offer what they have always done, based on habit or tradition. Be creative in blending your family favourites with healthier foods. You may plan ahead and offer to help in shopping or planning the menu so that you know what you will get to eat. Avoid alcohol come what may as it not only reduces your will power but one ounce of booze has 100 calories and a cocktail gives you more than 300 calories.
• Dealing with negative remarks – If anyone from friends or family makes discouraging remarks about your commitment, do not allow yourself to lapse into a series of negative thoughts. Instead, always correct such tendencies with positive reaffirmations. For example if someone says that you would not be able to sustain it, tell yourself and the person too that you are proud of the success you have already achieved and that it is important for you to stick to it.
• Social activities planned when you workout – It often happens that friends or family plan an outing or gathering when it is time for your workout. It is too tempting at times to give up your schedule for once, but then, it can become a habit. To avoid that possibility, you should try to engage your folks in what you do. If it is only one person, it should not be too difficult to perhaps, join you in your gym, or an activity such as a walk.
• Join a weight loss support group – Many weight loss programmes include peer group support. You can get support with a person in real or in the virtual world too. There is no dearth of online support groups for weight loss. These are advantageous to you as they provide non-judgemental feedback for the experiences that you need to share.

Keeping yourself motivated for weight loss goal is difficult enough without the detractors. That is why it is important that you manage peer group support with the tips given here.

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