Marriage Weight Gain: Myth Or Reality?

I can tell you right now that marriage weight gain is not a myth – it is a cold, hard fact, ladies! Actually, it’s more like a warm, soft fact, just like the way your tummy feels on your first wedding anniversary – quite different to the slim waistline that you slipped into your white dress a year ago.

It’s true. Getting married causes weight gain, with happy couples said to gain more weight as they progressed through the years. With comfort and a secure relationship, it’s easy to see why we put on a few pounds once the vows are said and the rings are on our fingers.

Many brides absolutely kill themselves slimming down for the wedding. It’s the day where you have to look your absolute best because for years to come, you’ll look at the pictures of your dream wedding and most of us hope for only one.

Unfortunately, within the first fours year of marriage, on average, women would gain about four kilograms more than their single counterparts. While that doesn’t seem like that much, a study in Adelaide last year has shown that many brides put on 2.1 kilograms by six months into the marriage. Brides who felt more pressure to lose weight before the wedding put on more weight averaging between 3 and 4.5 kilograms in the first six months, over double the average bride. While the kilograms don’t sound like much, just think about the impact on your dress size or how you look in a bikini.

But before you tell your fiancé that you’d like to delay the wedding permanently, it’s easy to see where the weight gain factors come in to play and it’s not just women who are affected by the post-wedding pudginess.

Comfort is a huge part of weight gain during marriage; now that you’ve got a ring on it and you’re in a stable relationship, there isn’t as much pressure to be perfect all the time. Many brides get comfortable settling into a new routine with their hubby, picking up his bad habits like sleeping in on weekends and eating ice cream after dinner every night.

Getting settled into a new routine can also cause weight gain by cooking quick and easy meals that aren’t necessarily good for you, or cooking quite lavish meals laden with cream, just the way your spouse likes it. Eating the same portion sizes as your hubby is also up their on the ‘why have I gained weight’ list.

But changing this marriage factor doesn’t have to be hard. It starts with you and the way you and your husband see a healthy lifestyle. This could mean simple things like cooking healthier dinners, giving each other time to go to the gym or even taking on new types of exercise together. Working together on health and fitness is a great weight to curb the kilograms that can make you unhappy and unhealthy.

After all, it is ’til death do we part, but we don’t want obesity, heart disease or diabetes to be involved in our marriage.

Images via ok-women.com and ealminitarium.ch