How to be Considerate to Your Friends Who Are Trying To Lose Weight
As I have stated above, this whole text that I would be talking about would be based on that. However, it could also apply to your family members who are going through the same thing. The ways that I am about to share are not facts or information that I have gained from any research by a group of professors or educators. This is all based on my own experiences and feelings. So, this article (or whatever this is) may be biased and not accurate. I would like all of you to know that before reading this.
I am sure that all of us have that one friend who is overweight, but they look like they do not care about how they look and did not put effort into trying to lose weight. Believe me when I tell you this. We, overweight people, know more than anyone else that we have to change our lifestyle. We could make an excuse that it would be for the sake of health but for sure, a huge reason for it is also because of the opinions of other people. It is common for those who are overweight to be insecure about their weight and how they look. Some of us are even in denial of the condition of our own bodies. We act as if we do not care about how we look and there is no need to change it. Some of us try to fool ourselves, telling ourselves that we do not need to change for the sake of looking good in people’s eyes and we do not care what people think about us. However, at the end of the day, people’s opinions still matter. So, a lot of us would attempt losing weight discreetly.
There are a few things that you can and cannot do when you have an insecure friend who is trying to lose weight. One of the things that they would probably start with when they want to lose weight is skipping meals and dinner. When you notice your friend is doing this, you do not ask them if they are going on a diet. Why do you think they do not declare the moment they decided to go on a diet? Why do you think they started doing it quietly without letting anyone know? By asking that forbidden question, you would only make them upset. Normally, when you declare that you are going on a diet, expectations would be put on you. People would expect changes in you after for some time. Knowing this, some would choose an unhealthy diet plan such as not eating at all to meet the expectations. For those who are not able to meet the expectations, they would only be discouraged. As I said, this may not be the same with everyone but it is better to be careful. For some of us, asking if we are going on a diet is offensive. It is worst if you are asking that taboo question in a joking manner. It would appear as if you are making fun of them in their attempt to lose weight.
In another scenario, if your friend does inform you that they are going on a diet and is trying to lose weight, support them. Losing weight is not a simple matter. There are a lot of things that they have to change in their daily lives and that is definitely not easy. Therefore, if they told you that they were on a diet but you did not see any changes even after for some time, do not ask questions such as, “You said you were on a diet. So, why did I see no changes in you?”. That type of question would only crush their resolve and courage to change. In some cases, they would give up on trying to change because they believe that it is meaningless and that is not what we are trying to do as friends. If they do not have any changes, you could start by recommending some healthy foods that they can eat to help them with their diet plan. Do not mention anything about their appearance. However, if they do succeed in losing some weight, feel free to compliment them because that would boost their courage to work harder.
If you are trying to help your friend who is trying to diet, you could start by introducing good eating habits. Of course, you have to make a good approach too in this kind of situation. For those who are insecure, any topics that would involve their weight is sensitive. Therefore, if you want to bring up topics about eating habits, make sure to bring it out naturally. Imagine that you are talking to one of your friends that is not overweight. You have to be careful to not mention their weight. Talk about it as if it was just another random topic. Normally, your friend would be interested and eventually be immersed in the topic and you might notice that they would probably even follow the tips that you have mentioned. If you want to invite them together to do an exercise, you have to be careful with how you invite them as well. If there is more than one person in the room including your friend, try inviting everyone. Do not specifically invite your overweight friends because that would make it seem as if you’re telling them to slim down right to their faces. I remind you again, overweight people, they know more than anyone that they should be losing weight. So, try to be more smooth and natural with the invitation. Moreover, if there are a lot of people going, surely your friend would be more motivated and excited to join.
These are just a few out of the many matters that you need to consider. I know it may sound like a pain since you need to be very observant and careful with your wording. However, for those who really want to support and help your friends, this is the least you could do. All of these can be simplified as “be considerate of your friends’ feelings”. Whether or not this is helpful, I just wanted to share this. As I have said in the beginning, these are merely from my own experiences and it is not based on research or anything. Surely, there would be some things that you would think are not accurate but for those that can be applied, I hope it could help even if just a little.
Thank you for spending your time reading this messy writing of mine.