Gaining Weight in a Relationship

Why do people gain weight in relationships?

1. Dreamy dates are making you fat

Early in the relationship, when you start dating, you go out on dates to fancy places, try new restaurants and cuisines. You have delicious meals and desserts. You talk endlessly while sipping wine or cocktails. Bonding over meals is considered the most ideal way to spend time together. Initially, you are so enamored by each other, not realizing, how numerous dates involving wining and dining at restaurants have already packed up a few pounds up your waist.

2. You are more than your appearance

The couples no longer feel the need to keep up their appearances. The little black dresses are replaced by sweatpants and smart casuals by boxers. Once the relationship gets stronger, physical attributes take a back seat. You are no longer motivated to look your best to attract each other. With this pressure off your shoulder, you let go of a bit more and enjoy your pizzas and desserts guilt-free, without counting the calories.

3. Ease, comfort, and contentment

When the initial charm of the relationship wears off, it is replaced by a strong sense of familiarity and comfort. You let your guards down. You no longer care, that going overboard with food and alcohol, might make you throw up or upset your stomach. Burping, farting, vomiting, bloating in front of each other, does not disgust you and your partner. This feeling of contentment doesn’t really let you bother if you have grown a jelly roll around the waist.

4. Complacency becomes your second nature

Once the couples have the feeling of being in a meaningful relationship, it leads to a peaceful mind and fulfilled life. Contentment and comfort that your relationship offers, drive you into the complacency mode. The feeling of complacency is overpowering. Over the period, you don’t pay much heed to the bulging bellies. You are like ‘oh! Whatever, they love me, so I am good’.  You start believing, that your partner accepts you for who you are. Ultimately the gym session becomes an unnecessary burden, leading you to live an inactive life, resulting in weight gain.

5. Snuggles, Cuddles and Sleepless nights

As a single person, you are used to sleeping solo. Sleeping with a partner requires adjustments in sleeping positions and sharing the bed space. Moreover, there are problems like snoring partner or a partner who is a very fidgety sleeper. This will lead to a lack of sleep. There is a lot of cuddling and spooning and snuggling. But that also causes, a lot of discomfort and sleeplessness. As per the National Institute of Health, sleep deprivation can impact the hormones which govern the hunger and appetite adversely. The imbalance in the hormones because of sleeplessness may lead to additional weight gain.

6. You feel stressed out at times

Being in love and in a relationship can be extremely exhilarating. But, it is also accompanied by a lot of stress. In this fast-paced life, you are constantly coordinating around each other’s busy schedules. Spending time with your partner may not always be as convenient and as exciting as you like it to be. Slowly, the mutual urge to spend free time together leads to a lot of stress and pressure. Along with this, a host of negative emotions like jealousy and irrational behavior stresses out the couples to their wits end. The so-called “stress hormone” cortisol is released in the body during times of the stress. The stress may lead to a rise in cortisol levels, which stimulate your appetite, resulting in weight gain.

7. You get to make love and love handles

There is too much debate on whether sex helps you burn calories or gain weight. The simple reason to believe that fun in bed makes you fat is, the more sex you have, the hungrier you are. So, when you are famished after the lovemaking, you don’t bother about what you are feeding yourself. You end up eating not so healthy food and packing up those extra pounds.

8. You are happy and you know it

The biology of love is not so simple. When cupid strikes, there are a lot of chemical reactions in the body.At every different stage in a relationship, your body keeps releasing happy hormones; like Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and Endorphins.These happy hormones give you a constant feel good feeling, and also reduce stress or discomfort. Relationships give you solace and strength.An assurance of having your partner by your side makes you genuinely happy and content with yourself and your life. So, you let yourself loose and gain a few pounds unknowingly.

9. You double up your social circle

When you are in a relationship, you double up your social circle. There are two sets of friends, families, and colleagues. As a couple, everybody wants you to be at their birthday parties, wedding parties, baby showers, and anniversaries. You end up attending such parties quiet often. These parties are like an eating frenzy, having a whole lot of food. No matter how mindful you are, you just end up eating a lot more than you want to, and it ultimately shows on your body.

10. You feel special

In a healthy relationship, there is never a dearth of compliments or gifts. When you are constantly showered with compliments, despite the way you dress up, or how you smell, or how you look; you lose a track of your appearance. Also, you are showered with flowers and sweet savories, either to lift up your spirits or to celebrate milestones of your relationship. Ultimately, you happily gobble up the gooey chocolate truffles and red velvet cakes, which not only cheers you up but also piles up the weight.

11. You start imitating your partner

Weight gain is not a disease, but it definitely is contagious. In a relationship, you tend to spend most of your time with your significant other. Spending a lot of time together involves a lot of food. When you share meals, you end up trying new things, or you indulge in food you never eat otherwise. You cook up fancy meals to woo each other. You order each other’s favorite take-out. In most cases, diet plans turn into a disaster once you start dating. Both of you forget counting calories. According to a survey, two-thirds of the couple admitted, to have put on weight together. Apparently, women are eating as much as their boyfriends, and thus piling on those pounds.

12. Going down the unhealthy way

Couples unintentionally pick up unhealthy habits, once they are no longer on the prowl to attract a mate. You give up on the yoga sessions or fitness classes and other healthy habits to spend time with your partner. As per various studies, couples spend a lot of time staying in, lazing around or being curled up on the couch, binge watching shows, and drinking and snacking on junk all day (and night) long. These sure add up a little more squish around their tummies and hips.

Thus, being in a relationship is not just a life full of love, but also a life full of food and fat. To end it up, let’s say, Love makes you fat and fabulous.