Social gatherings can be difficult for dieters. Family food pushers like the grandmother who wants to care for you or the aunt who wants to be admired for a special recipe can make holidays and other family gatherings tricky. At other social gatherings it may be difficult to find things that fit within your food plan, friends may forget your diet, or acquaintances may not be aware of your goals. Medi-Weightloss Clinics recently commissioned a survey that they believe suggests that “it might be easier to lose weight these days if you live alone in a cave with no spouse, family, friends or colleagues.” As I look at the survey responses, though, I think there may be another interpretation.

The online survey was completed by 325 women between the ages of 25 and 55 who were currently dieting or had dieted in the past. It is unclear how these specific women were recruited or chosen. We are also missing further demographic information that might help us explain the results. When asked if they had ever felt others were not respecting their diet, 66 percent of participants agreed. Those most blamed for not respecting a diet were significant others, friends, and relatives; however, these are the people with whom we are most likely to have frequent interaction and most likely to share a meal. The more time we spend with someone, the more chance there is that person could disappoint us. Respondents were least likely (17 percent) to feel disappointed by their best friends.

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Weight loss is a touchy subject. It’s not exactly something you want to bring up in the company of, say, a friend who could stand to lose a little weight- especially if that conversation is directly geared at them. Although you may have good intentions, it’s not always easy to show concern for your friend’s weight without insulting them, but it is one worth having if you do so in a sensitive, non-judgmental way.

In fact, discussing the critical health risks that could be avoided by losing weight can be a very thoughtful thing to do, especially if you offer to change your way of eating, too. After all, there is always room for improvement in any meal plan you might follow.

Because of the difficulty of conversations like this, people may opt to avoid the topic all together. However, according to a recent UK poll, most individuals attempt the conversation anyway, the likelihood of which was related to the type of relationship. The UK poll results showed that men were more likely than women to talk about weight with their friends while women were more likely to talk about it with their spouses. People were also more likely to talk about the subject as their age increased.

Although it’s not the most pleasant conversation to have, it could possibly be the best gift you could give a friend. By encouraging small, achievable lifestyle changes and joining them in the process, you could find yourself at the beginnings of an even stronger and more meaningful  friendship.

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One common concern I hear about dieting is how to maintain both social relationships and weight when so many social gatherings include food.

Sometimes to obtain weight loss goals, you need to separate yourself from certain people, at least when food is involved.  The conundrum here is that dieting is tough work and a stresssor that requires physical, mental, and emotional energy. In the midst of such an undertaking, you need support more than ever. Often even our biggest cheerleaders are not confident in how to best support us when we travel roads they have not. While it can be difficult to ask for help, both you and your friend will be glad you did.

1. Accountability – Many people have a hard time doing things for themselves alone, but are more likely to follow through if they know someone else cares – or sometimes simply if someone else will know. Friends can join you in your exercise routine or ask you about how you are doing with your meal plan. You are much less likely to hit snooze if you know your friend will be waiting for you to workout at 6am. If you share your journey electronically, make sure you ask friends to specifically comment on your tweets or posts, so you know someone is paying attention and supporting you.

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It’s official: your friends can make you fat. While many studies have proven that social support promotes weight loss, there’s now evidence that obese friends can lead you to pack on the pounds. A new study from Harvard shows that the more obese friends you have, the more likely you are to be obese.

The study supports the hypothesis that obesity is socially contagious. About a third of all Americans are obese, and the Harvard researches projected that obesity will rise to 42 percent by 2050 before leveling off. They used the kind of modeling formula that is applied to infectious-diseases to come to their projection.

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