Weight and The Power of Friendship

Recently I was fondly reflecting on how fortunate I am to have such a wonderful network of friends who live and promote a healthy plant based lifestyle! Throughout the past seven years these friends, despite my chronic struggle with morbid obesity and increasing weight gain, never gave up on me!  Even when I had given up on myself and was increasingly becoming more and more disabled from psoriatic arthritis and weight gain, these friends continued to love me unconditionally and encouraged me to in turn love myself enough to change my unhealthy eating habits and avoid an early demise.    

After spending a wonderful afternoon with some of my vegan/plant based friends I was fondly recalling the many acts of kindness that they have showered on me during my pursuit to regain health and mobility and I decided to Google the role friends play in our weight loss and weight gain. 

After a brief Internet search I stumbled up on a JULY 2007 issue of Time magazine entitled "Obesity Is Contagious, Study Finds."  The article noted the following quote, "Your close friends can influence your weight even more than genes or your family members, according to new research appearing in the July 26 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The study's authors suggest that obesity isn't just spreading; rather, it may be contagious between people, like a common cold."

Wow!! I know all of my friends play a powerful role in my life, but I had no idea that they play a greater role in my weight loss and/or weight gain than my genetics and family! And I must admit while I was reading the article I was hoping that others reading it would not draw the false conclusion that they should "lose" their fat friends before they caught a few "pounds/stones" from them!  Because I for one, as a fat friend, for sure did not want to lose any of my friends - thin or chubby! :)

As I further pondered the article, I realized there are so many ways, both big and small, that we can make a difference health wise in the lives of our friends and loved ones.  In fact, just the other day we had a vegetarian fellowship meal at church and while the vast majority of the food was healthy....there were still ingredients that I was choosing to avoid.  As a vegan, who is also eating gluten free (to decrease inflammation)....I knew one stroll down the smorgasbord, even with the best intentions to avoid wheat and dairy, would set me up to inadvertently ingest non-vegan and wheat based items. 

However, it was my lucky day!  My good friend Kathy, an avid athlete and fellow plant based diet enthusiast, with a well toned physique, emailed me the day before the fellowship dinner to let me know that she would be preparing a special low fat vegan and gluten free meal for us to share.  And boy was I in for a treat!  She had prepared a flavorful quinoa salad and a side of delicious homemade roasted beet hummus with fresh carrot and celery sticks for dipping.  Her act of kindness allowed me to fully enjoy my meal with friends without feeling deprived, plus it encouraged me to continue my new healthy lifestyle. 

The power of friendship is invaluable health wise in all of our lives and the influence of friendship works both ways - it can motivate friends to lose weight  or gain weight. So my friends, if you are someone that enjoys optimal health from a healthy lifestyle than you are in the perfect position to influence, unconditionally love and encourage someone who is struggling with obesity. By showing them small and simple acts of kindness, such as packing an extra apple to share with them, we may encourage them to fully love themselves enough to make the lifestyle changes necessary to avoid suffering painful health problems down the road. 

Wishing you prosperity in your journey!

Sharon