Weight Loss for Couples: Win in Weight Loss Together

My wife and I recently started out on a couple’s weight loss journey with great success.

While the program, Noom, wasn’t specifically branded for couple’s weight loss, the company gave us 2 free accounts to give it a try, and together we lost 45lbs.

I have struggled with weight issues for most of my life, and this is the biggest success I’ve seen in years. While the program was amazing in helping educate me on changing habits to keep the weight off for good, I think the biggest factor this time was that we were losing weight as a couple.

I’ve tried calorie counting programs before, namely MyFitnessPal, and while they don’t have the same strict educational emphasis, when it boils down, it’s core premise was the same as Noom. Count calories. Exercise. Be patient with yourself. Lose weight.

This time around Callie decided to give it a go with me to lose some of her post-pregnancy weight, and it really took.

We’ve lived the couple’s weight loss routine, and we wanted to share with you some success tips, and drawbacks, to trying to lose weight with your significant other (or someone else close to you in your life).

Why Having a Weight Loss Partner Helps

It is hard to lose weight when you are in a couple if you are going it alone.

Not to the fault of your partner, if they aren’t on board with some lifestyle changes you need to make, then it makes it all the harder to get and stay on the right track.

Case in point. I’ve tried various weight loss strategies over my lifetime. My first one was cutting out soda. I lost 40lbs in 30 days. And that’s where the weight loss stopped. My parents weren’t on board with the whole weight loss thing, and since they bought the groceries, my diet modification stopped there.

To no fault of Callie’s, she was already thin when we met, so she didn’t need to lose any weight. That meant she could pretty much eat what she wanted. When you are starting to date someone, it’s a lot of eating out at restaurants and ordering in pizza. Eating junk food. You know, the usual.

This made it hard, even when I was calorie counting with MyFitness Pal, there was still a lot of junk food in the house.

The Power of the Same Diet

This past go-around, Callie decided she needed to lose some weight from her 2 pregnancies, and honestly, she was still pretty damn skinny, but I was happy to have her on board during our 16 week weight loss program with Noom.

Having her on the plan with me meant we were shopping healthier. It meant better food were in the house. We made it a game to see how low-calorie we could make our favorite dishes while still getting our food fix from them.

Losing weight as a couple has helped get me results. Callie got results too and we both hit our weight goals.

She hit her weight goal a lot faster than I did, and that was okay. She still stuck out the 16 week plan and cheered me on the rest of the way.

The most important thing is to keep your weight loss as a couple as an encouraging thing, and not competitive. 

Making it a competition can create bitter feelings and sub-par results.

Someone will get hurt and discouraged and quit. Fights will happen. Don’t go there.

Exercising as a Family

Another thing we had going for us during our Noom program was a TON of walking.

The kids loved being strolled around the neighborhood every day.

My oldest loved being walked to school.

They loved going to the park.

Our dog loved extended walks.

If you are a couple with kids or a dog, spending time together can be some of the best exercise as you bond while exploring your neighborhood.

As winter sets in here in the Midwest, this has been a lot rougher for us to manage, but we can still chase the kids around the house, and the dog still gets walked rain or shine.

Now that we are in maintenance mode, we can eat a little more than we could while losing weight on the program because we are maintaining our weight instead of overcoming the deficit.

When you are on the Noom program, you will learn all about exercise, why it’s important, and get some other great ideas to simply get some extra joyful movement in your life.

Working Through the Hard Times Together

As with any weight loss journey and lifestyle change, you will go through a lot of ups and downs.

It inevitable. 

There’s no way out of it.

The good thing about losing weight as a couple is that you are there for each other to help guide and support each other through these valleys so you can get back up to the peaks.

In weight loss there is something called a plateau.

Even if you are doing the same thing you have been doing for the past 3 months, you can hit a period of 2 weeks or more where you stay around the exact some weight. A plateau. Flat line. Dead in the water.

It sucks and it is soul-crushing when you are making good progress but still so far off from your goal.

When you have a partner there to help remind you that plateaus happen and to stick to the plan, it makes it more bearable and eventually you pull through. 

Just keep reminding each other that plateaus happen. Weight loss isn’t really a number, it’s more a lifestyle change, so as long as you are continually being healthy, the stagnant number really isn’t an issue.

I know that when I hit my plateau towards the end, Callie had to constantly remind me that my goal was close. That I had come so far. And that weight loss was more than just hitting the 160lbs. We had made a lot of good changes, and I should be proud of where we were.

These encouraging words from my partner really helped me bring my weight loss into perspective, and to push through to reach my weight loss goal during the last week of Noom.

Disadvantages to Weight Loss as a Couple

While we had a good experience working together to lose weight, I know that there are some drawbacks to doing your weight loss program with another person.

One issue being that if one of you falls off, the other is likely to do the same.

Another is that men tend to lose weight easier than women. If you are a guy/girl couple trying to lose weight, this may cause some friction as the guy will likely see more or faster downward movement than the girl.

I’d like to keep this article mostly positive, as I think the benefits to losing weight as a couple are tremendous, but if you want to check out some more of the pitfalls, check out this article on WebMD.

Challenging Other Couples to Weight Loss

While it is important to help and support each other in your journey, being competitive with another couple may help to motivate you to tackle your weight loss program full force.

We didn’t compete with another couple during our program, but I can imagine trying to beat out another couple would help you to encourage each other to keep pushing through.

If the Hendersons are beating you by 3lbs at last weeks weigh-in, you are sure likely to help discourage your partner from picking up a box of Dunken Donuts and a latte on the way home from work.

If you have any interest in a couple’s weight loss challenge, sound off in the comments below. We may be able to cook up a fun challenge for you and your friends!

The Best Way To Know If Couple’s Weight Loss Is For You

You can read articles about how to lose weight as a couple all day, but in the end you just have to take the plunge and see if it is for you.

If you need a little more inspiration, check out our 16 Week Weight Loss Journey.

If you are ready and raring to go, I definitely recommend Noom. While Callie and I are affiliates to Noom, I truly would recommend the program even if we weren’t.

I’ve struggled with weight loss my entire life, and losing 35lbs has changed my life.

Ready to get started?

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