What Type of Weight Loss Buddy Do You Need?

It doesn't take a genius to realize that it's 'easier' to lose weight when you are doing it with someone else who has the same goal. If you go it alone, you aren't destined to fail necessarily, but you are more likely to give up before the end. But what type of person do you need to be on your side in your weight loss pursuit? Here's a list of some qualities to look for, so you don't end up losing more than weight.

Support & Accountability

Losing weight is ten times as difficult when you don't have at least the support of one other person. If your weight loss 'buddy' is going to help you to succeed, than they need to be supportive of healthy living, not just dropping the pounds. This focus gets everyone involved off the concept that you have to look a certain way to truly achieve your goal. Most people aren't going to look like a supermodel; this is not a measure of success. You need someone who will believe in healthier choices and give you encouragement even when the scale isn't going down as quickly as you would like.

Having someone around to be a support also helps you with accountability. The act of reporting your progress to someone other than yourself is a way of making you take the responsibility you hold more seriously-because ultimately it is still up to you to make it work. This is how diets like Weight Watchers work, by weighing in and thus reporting to someone every week. Use this same concept, but without the money spent when you gain weight. This routine checkup on how you are coming along with your diet and exercise plan, is essential in keeping you consciously thinking about what you need to do on a daily basis. Do you really want to fess up to cheating all week? Doesn't it feel great to tell someone, honestly, that you have stuck with something and are seeing results?

On the other hand, you shouldn't select a friend that makes you feel awful, just guilty enough to change. There is a subtle difference. A true friend would be disapproving of a break in your plan, but be understanding enough to know that encouragement, rather than discipline is needed in most cases. This is a careful balance.

Temptation

Your friend should be someone who will be at most social gatherings you go to. This is to ensure that they will help you to make good food choices. The type of friend you need to assist you will not make statements like, "Just this once" or "It's not a big deal, you should go for it." They won't make you feel like you are a horrible person for refusing Aunt Maggie's Lard filled Egg Nog that she slaved over all day. They will stick up for you in such settings and emphasize that it's okay not to eat the unhealthy options presented.

This is not to say that they will taunt you when you start to make a bad choice. They are only allowed to indicate that 'it's not worth it', but you still have your autonomy.

Reciprocity

The best weight loss buddy is, of course, someone with the same values as you in wanting to be healthy, and especially someone who is losing weight also. When someone is in the same boat as you, you don't tend to want to tip it over-being a mutual disadvantage. But if your friend is also losing weight, than the relationship is supportive and is less likely to take an ugly turn.

These are some tough shoes to fill, but if you can select someone from your group of friends that fits this bill, than you have a buddy that's going to see it through.