Is Social Support the Key to Weight Loss?

Although healthy eating and exercise are a big part of any weight-loss plan, there’s a third (pretty important) factor you may be missing: social support. They’re an underrated weight-loss tool, but social support systems or programs may have a bigger effect on your weight-loss success than you think. Learn how, exactly, social support can help you reach your goals and where you can find it.

3 Reasons Social Support Helps With Weight Loss

1. It Keeps You Motivated One of the biggest benefits of having a social support system is motivation. Weight-loss progress isn’t always linear (one week you may lose a pound, only to gain it back two weeks later). Especially when you feel discouraged, knowing you have friends or a community in your corner can help you keep progressing toward your goal, Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, an obesity medicine physician-scientist, tells LIVESTRONG.com.

Excerpted from LiveStrong

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