Filed under: Friends & Family, Healthy Eating
Turning down dessert is a pretty big victory for willpower, and one you should be proud of yourself for. But your friends might have also played a critical role in your healthy choice — according to recent studies, self-control is contagious. Whether you realized it or not, your friend turning down seconds probably influenced you to make healthier choices yourself. And vice versa — you could be helping your friends eat less without even realizing it. If so, good for you!
But the opposite is true as well — your friends could be influencing bad habits too. In fact, it’s estimated that having overweight friends can increase your risk of obesity by an astounding 57 percent — that’s even more than having an overweight spouse, which only increases your risk by 37 percent.
Still, you can’t blame your friends and family for your bad habits. In the end, the decision to supersize your meal or choose cake over vegetables is ultimately yours, but by making the healthier choice not only benefits you — it can have a positive influence on those who are closest to you as well.