Reason Why Marriage Makes People fat

Reason Why Marriage Makes People fat

You may have heard of the freshman 15-those inevitable pounds college students are likely to gain in their first year. But what about the newlywed 30? 1,200 couples over a five-year period, married people gained six to nine pounds more than their single counterparts. Why does marriage lead to weight gain?

The Honeymoon Period. In the time surrounding a wedding, many couples are engaged in an endless eating-and-drinking bacchanal: the bridal shower; the bachelor and bachelorette parties; the rehearsal dinner; the wedding itself with its appetizers, carving stations, three-course meals, four-tier cake, and open bar; the honeymoon, which is all about decadent overindulgence. And when you're madly in love, who has time to cook? But if you keep up this behavior, pounds will soon follow. Dining at a restaurant more than once a week can increase the risk of obesity.

The Company You Keep. If your friends and family members are obese, the likelihood that you will become overweight as well is rather high. What does that mean for couples? If your spouse is overweight, your obesity risk increases by 37 percent.

Pregnancy.A woman can expect to gain an average of 25 to 40 pounds before giving birth. This weight is important, since much of it is needed to provide nourishment for the baby. Approximately 10 pounds are lost in the birthing process, and additional weight due to fluid retention is shed in the week following the birth. The rest can be lost by good, old-fashioned diet and exercise. The jury is still out on whether breastfeeding helps mothers lose weight; in fact, a 2004 study found that there was no significant difference in weight loss between women who breastfed and those who didn't. And women aren't the only ones to gain weight during pregnancy: Men up their risk of obesity by 4 percent with the birth of each child.

Complacency. It's the biological imperative in action: When you're single, you'll do everything you can to attract the opposite sex. Once you're married, the need to remain slim and attractive can be easily sidelined by other concerns--work, kids, household chores. Some people think when they get married, couple usually think that they didn't have to do any thing because either she/he got him to things for each other.By doing that ;it can be a surefire ticket to weight gain.