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The day you start your diet is the day your work-place puts on a free morning tea, with piles of delicious sweet cake and crispy sausage rolls on offer. Or maybe the day you decide to eat healthier your friend insists you have cake with them at a cafe and not just the coffee you've ordered. Has anything like this ever happened to you? What do these examples tell us?
The people around us can have a significant impact on our eating habits! In the above cases it's a significantly negative effect, but turn it around the other way and imagine the effect - your workplace decides that you will only have 'healthy food' at work social occasions, so instead of cake and sausage rolls they offer fruit, nuts, rice crackers, vege sticks and hummus. And your friend wants to be healthier too, so they suggest that instead of ordering coffee and cake you both order a take-out coffee and drink it while you take a healthy work outside in the fresh air. Our friends and colleagues can positively impact our eating and exercise habits too!
Weight Loss Support - An Important Key To Weight Loss Success
When we have strong social support networks to encourage us with our eating goals or weight loss goals we're more likely to succeed, say researchers. Social support - be it your family, friends or work colleagues - can encourage us to stick with our healthy eating goals during those hard times, they can help us to maintain our motivation by, for example, reminding us why we're trying to improve our health in the first place.
So while we might feel like we want to be strong and independent and get on with our weight loss programme or healthier eating goals privately, without any assistance from anyone else, the reality is we really do need support from other people.
Social Support - How Do We Create An Effective Support Network?
Friends, Family and Work Colleagues
No-one is suggesting that you tell everyone you know about your goals, but rather share your goals with a few like-minded people in your life for whom healthy living is also a priority, people you trust and respect, whether they are family, friends or work colleagues, and definitely your partner if you have one.
Explain to them what your goals are and chances are they'll be happy to encourage and motivate you to stay on track. If they're trying to be healthy and eat well too, then they'll be thrilled to have friends/colleagues/family members who are striving towards the same goals.
On the other hand, sadly, its important to recognise that some friends, family members and colleagues can actually sabotage our efforts - chances are you have a fair idea who the saboteurs in your life are. Perhaps they've tried weight loss themself and failed, or they're a negative type of person, we may never understand why, and we don't really need to, but you might need to limit the time you spend with these people or try a few other techniques to reduce the negative impact they have on you. Check out the following article from the Healthy Food Guide magazine, it offers plenty of practical advice on dealing with saboteurs:
Weight Loss Support Groups
Another great way to support your goals is to join a formal weight loss support group, this could be a group who meets together face to face each week, or even an online community. Either way its a terrific way to get support from like-minded people as you work towards your goals. Or maybe you could actually create your own mini-support group - you could start a lunch time walking group at work and together you can encourage each other to get fit and have fun in the process.
Qualified Nutritionists and Dietitians
Nutritionists and dietitians can also be a great source of motivation and encouragement. Perhaps you've thought of going to one for nutrition advice, well that's a great idea, but in addition to providing you with nutrition advice, meal plans, recipe ideas, and other practical information, most good nutritionists and dietitians also provide their clients with plenty of encouragement - and of course the knowledge that you've got a follow-up appointment in the near future is a great motivator to keep you on track with your eating!
 If you want the support and advice of a qualified nutritionist Thinking Nutrition can provide you with this through an Individual Consultation. Read our Client Testimonials and hear how other people have successfully achieved their diet and lifestyle goals through individual nutrition consultations with me, Jennifer Bowden. Then phone or email me today to discuss your needs and book your first appointment. I really am here to help, and yes to motivate and encourage you to success too...
About The Author
 Jennifer Bowden
Nutritionist, MSc (Dist), BSc (Hons) - Human Nutrition
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About The Author
Jennifer Bowden Nutritionist, MSc (Dist), BSc (Hons) - Human Nutrition
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