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.
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