Our friendships can have quite an influence on how we live our lives. There’s a tangible link between the way we behave and the men and women we have friendships with. And yet we’re likely to have presumed this commonality concerned our likes and dislikes – for example we enjoy the same musical tastes as our friends, or hold similar political views.

However, it now seems that we also have weight challenges in common with those we associate with. The amount we eat is closely related to how much our best friends eat. An interesting study looking at how young people eat found that oversized children eat more when in the company of other oversized friends.

Everyone in the group actually devoured more when they were in the company of friends, regardless of their size. But pairing up overweight friends led to the biggest consumption of all. The study was undertaken by researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo. It highlighted the role friends play in influencing how much youngsters eat.

Candidly it’s no great revelation that many ate more when in the company of friends. That would doubtless be the same if adults had been surveyed. What’s more, as our friends don’t usually challenge what we do, we assume that means they condone our behaviour. Subconsciously we’re placing the permission ball in someone else’s court.

The researchers observed a whole mix of young people for this study. They were split into groups of two friends, or groups of two strangers. All were furnished with nibbles, fruit and vegetables. They also had various games to keep them occupied.

The familiar couples put away more food than the unfamiliar ones. But overweight friends ate the most of all. Below is an illustration of what was consumed.

An average of seven hundred and thirty eight calories was eaten by overweight teens who paired with a friend. But the overweight youngsters with slimmer friends ate nearly three hundred calories less. The slimmer ones ate a fairly stable five hundred calories whatever the size of their friends. This ties in with the commonly held view that in early teens many kids’ decisions to smoke or drink alcohol are strongly influenced by what their friends do.

This led the researchers to suggest that young people’s eating habits are largely determined by their social network. Yet this power of association can be beneficial, as positive influences are just as possible as negative ones. Healthy nutrition then should be part of every child’s curriculum.

(C) Scott Edwards. Pop over to WeightLossDietWar.com for great information on body slimming and medical weight management.

Both my wife Katie and I were desperate to reduce our weight, so we had a little heart to heart about why we wanted to be thinner, and what that would mean to us. Our little tete-a-tete revealed a rather basic wish-list. As far as my wife was concerned, she wanted more get-up-and-go when the kids wanted to do things. Also, she wanted to feel more confident revealing herself to me.

Predominantly for me it was about buying stylish off-the-peg clothes again, instead of the dreary ageing ranges available for ‘over size’ people. Oh, and I also REALLY wanted to get to the third floor of our house without gasping for breath!

Going through this process revealed that how we perceive ourselves is a key factor in how we actually look. Those of us who are obese tend to have a very low self-image. It’s a popular assumption that reducing weight will make everything in life good again. I want you to know how much I understand this thought process. Here are some observations…

Medical research tells us that our sub conscious mind has no scope to differentiate between actual reality, and perceived reality. This means it ‘tells’ our conscious mind anything that pre-dominates. Tell it the same notion many times; it becomes the principal thought and consequently the reality.

Reflect on that for a little while – have you been sabotaging your hopes of a slimmer self by constantly telling yourself that you are fat? We should tell our sub conscious what we want, not what we don’t want.

If we concentrate on the positive things we’ll enjoy when we’re slimmer, it’s easier to get through the tough times. And so each of us thought of activities and things that would be enhanced by being slimmer. We realised we wanted to do things like going for long walks, going to dances, being flirtatious, having great sex, swimming, having more fun, playing with the kids, beach games, cycling, confidence and excitement.

And then we visualised trips away, wearing lovely summer outfits. Others smiled and welcomed us where-ever we went. We truly started to live…

Accordingly, both of us are a lot lighter and fitter – though not as thin as rakes! We’re feeling great and can honestly say the fun is back!

(C) Scott Edwards. Visit WeightLossDietWar.com for intelligent advice on slimming beauty and health weight management.

A good weight loss programme can be put in place simply by keeping a food diary. Begin by consuming your regular diet for seven days. Write down everything you eat and drink (be honest!) throughout the day. When a week has passed, analyse the contents of your diary. Try to identify any patterns where poor food choices are more evident.

If it’s evident you’re eating fast food meals and too many cakes, then those should be the first to go. It’s possible that you are eating good food – but just too much of it. Whichever it is, your dietary record will help to identify what you need to change.

Make notes about how you intend the following seven days to pan out. This should include food, drink and exercise. If some foods are to be forbidden or limited, write that down. And follow on with the food that you will be eating plentiful supplies of.

Next comes drink – which often contains more calories than people imagine. Restrict alcoholic beverages to four small drinks a week, and write down the days you will have them. Rule out all sweet carbonated drinks. You’ll need to commit to a fitness regime, so next write in your diary which days you plan to exercise and how.

Get on the scales just before you’re about to start your program. Then repeat the process each week. If necessary, modify parts of the plan for better results. Don’t be tempted to weigh yourself too often – once every week at the same time is sufficient.

With a plan like this, you’re in complete control. It’s a good idea to add useful comments each day to illustrate what’s helpful and what’s not. Mark down which days you completed your proposed exercises. Monitoring your weight and health is so much more manageable with a personal record.

It’s vital however not to look for an instantaneous result. Although you may not be able to see evidence of weight loss in the first couple of weeks, you should be starting to feel fitter. Try to exercise patience, and do persevere. Motivating yourself over a long period has it’s challenges – but if you concentrate on the prize instead of the price it becomes much easier.

If you lose your way for a short while, try to get back on track quickly. It could be that you should look at altering your diet. There are some relatively easy ways to introduce more exercise. A thirty minute routine three times a week is a good habit to get into.

Be proud of your achievements. Your efforts will be much more sustainable if you do. New clothes may need to wait until your goals have been reached. But what about booking the best seats in the house when you’re quarter or half-way there?

(C) Scott Edwards. Hop over to WeightLossDietWar.com for logical information on diet foods and weight loss forum.