Two UCLA psychology professors were very surprised by what they found after conducting studies involving more than a thousand couples asking them about their personal goals. Professor Thomas Bradbury and Benjamin Karney both found that about 70 percent of the time, couples will want to make healthy changes in their lives. In an interview referring to those specific partners, Bradbury said “They know it intuitively that they are going to need their partner’s help, if they are going to get on a healthier path.”

More often than not, their research shows people having an extreme difficulty when it comes to having a civil conversation about weight loss within the relationship. In an interview, Bradbury states “Even though by and large the couples we see love each other very much and want to support each other very much, they weren’t always able to do it.” He goes on to say “A lot of these conversations, to our surprise and the couples own surprise didn’t go that well.”

Both Bradbury and Karney knew that there had been many books that have been written about weight loss and many written about relationship communication, but what they discovered, was that there had never been a book written about the two subjects combined.

The book Love Me Slender was written by the two men, in an attempt to bring couples together with the right tools. Weight loss is not just an individual’s job, but is also the job of those around the individual, such as friends and family that will determine your success.

Shedding the pounds requires discipline and large heap of determination, especially since 60 percent of the time, adults are unable to keep the weight off long term. The book gives hope to people looking for a new angle in the fight against obesity. Bradley goes on to say that, “The new idea in Love Me Slender is that we don’t have to go at it alone, we can capitalize on the natural and even hidden strengths that exist in our relationship.”

Karney gave some final advice to the UCLA newsroom on how you can take the lessons learned in life-long commitments within a marriage or relationship and use those to your advantage,”Apply it to your own health” He says. Also, don’t just think about the junk food you eat, but rather “Think of the rewards of being healthy”, he states.

One issue the book may reminds couples about is that they should not be competitive with each other since men and women lose weight very differently. Men tend to have more muscle mass and more muscles create more energy thus making weight loss faster.

Bradbury and Karney created the Relationship Institute at UCLA, which is where these studies took place. If a person is interested in getting involved in one of these studies, the official website states that “The Institute offers services on-campus and off-campus in a wide range of formats, from shorter 60-minute presentations to one- and two-day workshops.”

By Katie Sevigny

Sources:

UCLA newroom
UCLA relationship Inst.
The Examiner