Paul and I had tried fad diets and things before, but they were too restrictive and we were just miserable trying to keep up with them. Ms. Wood finally decided to get help from a personal trainer. Since then, we've made it a joint effort by working out with the same personal trainer and eating well and putting more activity into our weekends. And it really helps that going to the gym has become a big stress reliever for both of us. That makes everything easier.
Experts say blending coupledom and weight loss can be a volatile mix.
But many couples just can't cooperate on this. They end up getting too competitive or they go in the opposite direction and fail to motivate each other. Dr. Bellamy and Ms. Engle agree that the top obstacle to couples losing weight is disproportionate motivation. And what happens is that as the more-motivated person begins drifting away from the program, there is no effort made to get back on track. Competition and motivation may be the major difficulties, but for couples trying to get healthy together, the simple logistics of when and where to work out and what to do with the kids during exercise time are almost enough to sidetrack a program.