Motivation to lose weight - To nag or not to nag?

Over the years as we age we may look like our pet or we may look like our mate, Over time we lose muscle tone, our bodies bend, thin or overweight we increase our fat tissue and often lose our muscle tissue. In my marriage, I have gone to seed and Barb still looks great.

I was reading an article from the LA Times published two days ago, Instead of nagging your spouse to lose weight, try going on a diet yourself by Karen Kaplan. I followed as well the research behind the article which is fun to do. To get my mind back into the study of statistics, research; I can almost see my brain cells rerouting new connections. Where did I put my glasses?

One of the best examples of a nagging couple is the Lockhorns. They are brilliant in their ribs at each other and somewhere we all find common ground with them. They succeed in the funny papers because both nag. Nagging in marriage isn’t always successful. 

From Proverbs

15:17 “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.”

21:9 “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.” In Application a “quarrelsome husband” would fit too.

With married couples if one partner is obese or overweight 37% of the time the other is also obese. With the Lockhorns, Leroy and Loretta seem to mirror each other which is part of their charm. Antidotal examples like the Lockhorns or even a stats is not absolute truth. Couples come in all shapes and sizes. When weight becomes a problem in our health there are times when change is needed, but is hard to motivate the other. One of the best ways is to create positive change is to lead by example. 

Motivating our loved one to a healthier outcome is at the heart of the article. Ah, in marriage the lovely art of nagging, often it is tried and so little succeeds. Probably the best way to look at is true the funny pages. The Lockhorns come to mind.

In this study the spouses wanting to encourage a healthier diet were encouraged to enter a weight-watcher program themselves or given a handout  with information of diet and exercise. Those who entered weight-watcher lose 9.5 lbs. or 4.5% of their body weight and those who had handout loss 7 lbs. or 3.2% of their body weight. A loss of 3% of our body weight brings positive health change. 

What about their spouses? They on average loss 5 lbs. from the weight-watcher group and 4 lbs from the hand out group. That roughly calculated to 2.09% of their body weight. There were 32% of non-dieting parters achieved body mass drops by 3% benefiting from the weight loss in their health.

The participants, the dieters received $100 dollars for completing the study. A nice little behavioral motivation that had to affect the outcome. 

Leading by example rather than nagging would seem to be a better strategy. But I wonder from this study if paying people to lose weight wouldn't be a better strategy. Keep walking