You’re on the road to improving your weight and health, but that road can feel lonely. Sometimes, it can feel like you’re the only person who understands the physical and emotional effects of weight management.
How to Talk to Your Loved Ones about Your Journey
If you’re like many others on the same journey, conveying this message to your loved ones can seem daunting. On one hand, privacy may be important to you. On the other hand, it may help to build a stronger support system who can encourage you and keep you on-track with your efforts.
If you’re caught in the middle, like a great number of individuals on the weight management journey are, what do you do?
- Set Aside Quiet Time to Talk – Ask for some personal time to hold a serious conversation where good communication is present. Let your loved ones know that talking about your weight, health and goals is important to you, and you desire their understanding and support.
- Communicate Your Goals – Let your loved ones know what your specific goals are. These include goals for nutrition, fitness, health examinations, emotional goals, etc.
- Ask for Their Input/Understanding – Sometimes, watching a loved one go through physical and emotional changes can negatively impact someone who isn’t on that journey. Ask your loved ones how they feel and interpret your decision to focus more on your weight and health.
- Set Clear Boundaries – If eating out with loved ones is a concern of yours, communicate this. If giving yourself private time to exercise, reflect on your goals and engage in self-care seems like it will be a challenge, let them know.
- Reinforce Respect – Talking about weight and health is not always easy. Make sure the dialogue you have with your loved ones is centered on respect, understanding and the best interests for everyone.
- Challenge Yourself to Talk – Sometimes, you will have bad days and talking about them will be difficult. Challenge yourself to break down those emotional barriers and open up to a close friend or family member.
In the end, having your loved ones as a support system will only fuel you forward on your weight management journey.
Are your loved ones not on board? CLICK HERE to see what you can do.
