Losing Weight Won't Always Improve Your Sex Life
If you're overweight, losing a few pounds can boost your self-esteem and enhance your overall health. You would think that significant weight loss would also benefit your relationship, increase your prowess in the bedroom, and subsequently improve your sex life. But a recent study out of North Carolina State University and the University of Texas at Austin has found that in some cases, losing weight may cause your relationship to deteriorate, and actually sabotage your sex life!
Not All Partners Happy About Significant Others' Weight Loss
The study, published in the journal Health Communication, involved 21 couples in which one member had lost 30 pounds or more over a two-year period. The couples answered questions that centered around their relationship both before and after the weight loss, with specific queries addressing how components like communication and sexual satisfaction had changed.
Surprisingly, the results showed that when one member of a couple loses a significant amount of weight, it can profoundly affect the relationship—and not always in a positive way. In some couples, the partner that did not lose weight was positively influenced and began to eat healthily and engage in physical activity themselves. However in many couples, the partner who had not lost weight was not enthusiastic about their partner's weight loss and instead felt more undesirable as a result. Not surprisingly, the couples who experienced negative outcomes were those in which both partners were not willing to change their lifestyles for the better.
Want to Improve Your Sex Life? Communication Is Key!
The study also suggested that effective two-way communication played a big role in whether the weight loss had a positive affect on the relationship. Most couples reported that post-weight loss communication was better than ever before, with the partner who had become healthier sharing their new-found views in an inspiring way and trying to help the other partner to get healthier. It goes without saying that improving communication can often help improve your sex life and intimacy levels. The couples who reported that communication was worse than before tended to be those in which the partner who had not lost weight was not receptive to new ideas or to changing his or her way of life.
Furthermore, in couples whose communication changed for the better, the weight loss led to greater physical and emotional connection. On the flip side, when the non-losing partner was not open to advice and felt like they were being nagged or judged, the weight loss led to conflict in both the bedroom and in the relationship itself. Instead of feeling happy for their significant others, these partners instead began to feel more insecure and unattractive due to their partner's weight loss.
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