It may have been all about the size 4 skinny jeans or the muscle shirt when you were dating. Now that you have been married awhile, the skinny jeans have been replaced by sweats and the muscle shirt by a baggy sweatshirt.
What has happened, say researchers of a new study, is that with the honeymoon phase well behind them, some happily married people let it all go to “pot”, so to speak. We get comfortable, plain and simple, and that comfort leads to weight gain and other weight related health complications.
When researchers at Southern Methodist University in Dallas took a look at marital happiness and weight gain they discovered that spouses who were happily married were less likely to leave their marriage and also gained weight as their anniversaries passed. These findings, say researchers, challenge the long held belief that marital happiness is directly correlated to good health. It appears as though the happier a spouse is the less desire they have to want to attract another mate. This leads to relaxed efforts to maintain optimal weight.
Besides the fact that there are a host of negative consequences associated with being in an unhappy marriage; the focus that unhappy spouses put on maintaining their weight may be more about looks than health. It is important to want to stay fit for health first, looks second, say health experts.
Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone
Even people who are not married but have been overweight their whole life find it exceedingly difficult to step out of their comfort zone and tackle weight issues. For some people, weight is something to hide behind, and even though they may know it is not healthy, it is all they know. Taking responsibility for one’s own health should start with children. Healthy lifestyle choices modeled by parents will have a spillover effect on children, who in turn will develop good habits that will last their entire life.
Health Implications of Obesity
We are a sedentary nation full of people who have become far too comfortable in our own expanding skin. The cultural acceptance in our nation for obesity is not a motivator as it is in some other countries where obesity is not as well accepted. Obesity-related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and even cancer could be avoided. The bottom line remains the same, we should eat better, move more, and value good health.
Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. You have the power to change at any time. If something makes you uncomfortable, look into it, there may be a deeper lesson just waiting to be explored.
– The Alternative Daily
