diet

Friends can be your worst enemy when it comes to trying to keep control of your waistline. Even if they aren’t overtly using peer pressure to coax you into eating unhealthily, they can be doing so through their own actions.

Most of us know them: people who can eat and eat and not gain an ounce. That fraternity gets a little smaller after 30 when everyone’s metabolism begins to slow. But, while they still maintain this seemingly impossible dietary feat, they do so at the expense of the rest of us.

That’s because according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, thin friends who eat a lot may unwittingly make you eat more in the process. Call it subliminal peer pressure.

Time magazine recently published an article, reviewing research discussed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on how the eating habits of teens and tweens are influenced by how much their friends weigh. Observing the participants in this study, the researchers found that the children ate more when they were with a friend than when they were with a peer they did not know; however, they also found that children who were overweight ate up to 300 calories more when with a friend who is also overweight.

My uncle has always been a large man, the kind that has to duck to go through many doorways. He is used to respect and likes being in control. He is also full of advice, wanting to share with people the things that he has learned throughout his life. I am sure when he was diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago, it took some time for him to adjust because this was uncharted territory, not something he knew already or knew how to control. He has learned how to manage his diet and glucose levels. He has even learned how to indulge in small portions of favorite desserts without causing any health issues. As a result his disease is not at a severe level.

It’s almost time for another season of The Biggest Loser. In anticipation, I am dedicating my blogs this week to tips for how you can get The Biggest Loser experience at home. As the experts behind the show explain, one of the reasons the people lose so much weight consistently is because of their new environment. But you can change your environment at home, too. Biggest Loser success is within everyone’s reach. Earlier this week, I blogged about how you can change your nutrition and exercise environments, today I’m going to review a series of important behavior changes that will help you lose weight with the contestants.

Since the first season, experts behind the scenes of the show found the contestants shared many characteristics, which I listed below along with tips for changes you can make along with the contestants:

It’s almost time for another season of The Biggest Loser. One of the things I think makes this show unique is that more people watch it for inspiration rather than entertainment. As a nutrition and fitness expert who tunes in religiously, I get tons of questions about my impressions of the show. My favorite is the epiphanies and “a-ha” moments people experience on camera. You can tell they’ve reached the point of no return. The new behaviors they pick up on the show help them add years to their life and life to their years. Could there be a better “prize” than that?