Rich recently read an article on a study done a few years ago, as well as doing his own “scientific research”, that stated when a woman gets into a relationship and/or moves in with her signigicant other, she will usually gain “happy weight”. He says this means bad news for Nicole because her and her boyfriend will be moving in together in a few months. Nicole says she’s already gained a few pounds but it’s nothing major. Afterall, a relationship is something that requires your time so all those free hours you had for working out an hour and a half at the gym are now spent being with your significant other.
Rich wants to know if anyone else believes in this theory of “happy weight”. Ryan thinks it’s guys who gain more weight in relationships than girls. Stan says that each person in a relationship wants the other to be happy so if one has a favorite restaurant, you’re going to go and eat there. Your boyfriend/girlfriend has a favorite meal, you’re going to make it for them knowing they love it. However, Rich thinks that men and women getting “happy weight” is just being lazy. He hates the concept that people stay in shape and diet to look great and meet the right person but then when they meet that person they completely let go. If you were both making sure you looked good before the relationship, you should continue doing so after. There’s not reaon why a couple can’t work out together and make sure they eat reasonably healthy food.
What do you make of this theory? Do you believe it or is it just an excuse for people not to try anymore? Have you been able to stop yourself from gaining happy weight?
UPDATE:
Rich has come up with four ways to prevent the “happy weight” from piling on
1) Challenge each other – set certain goals for your night at the gym and the reward for whoever reaches it first should be…well..you can make a guess 
2) Display pictures around your apartment or house of when you both were at your best
3) Suggest a vacation where you both need to where bathing suits
4) Throw it on yourself – it’s probably not just you or just the other person and suggest that the both of you get in shape together
I think that girls may gain a few pounds, while guys may lose a few pounds when moving in together. Girls tend to pick healthier foods to keep in the house (fruit, vegetables, kashi bars, etc.), while guys will just opt to buy bags of chips, coco puffs, etc. While a girl living on her own may not normally buy a bag of doritos, she may have a handful or more when she is living with a guy, therefore gaining some weight by munching mindlessly on her guys snacks. The guy in the relationship may lose weight because they may snack on some of the healthier snacks that their woman keeps in the house.
Neither my husband and I have gained a large amount of weight. Well, I did when I was pregnant with our first child who was just recently born, but the weight I gained was mostly water weight, and gone in about 2-3 weeks after I gave birth. My husband has actually lost a good 2 inches off of his waist, too (I envy him . . . ), so I’m pretty sure he’s not gaining. It all depends on how much you eat out, who cooks, and how you cook. If you’re going out to eat and cooking with a lot of saturated fats (veggie oil vs. olive oil), then yeah, you’re going to gain more weight. I try to pay close enough attention to what we eat together to make sure it’s healthy. It’s not always diet-worthy food, but at least it’s not terribly fattening.
I, unfortunately, did this. I had lost a bunch of weight in high school. I was active all the time. I looked the best I’d looked in a while. Then when I met my now husband, and we started dating, it’s like I got comfortable. And before I knew it, I was back to my old self. Not necessarily, “happy” weight, but it was like….”comfort” weight? I think we just get comfortable with the other person and think, “You know…he/she likes me as I am. I don’t have to try so hard.” Then it gets away from you.
I did and think my boyfriend has secretly helped in an attempt to uglify (is that a word?? If not, it is now) me so that other men wouldn’t find me attractive! My fat ass is back in the gym and on a diet, with or without his support!
Women definitely put on weight when they’re happy in a relationship…they lose weight when a relationship is in distress or if they’ve had a relationship break up…
I think “happy weight” is a bunch of BS. Truth is people are different and weight fluctuates. I was skelator in HS weighing in at a mere 100 lbs on a 5 ft 6 in frame. I gained some weight in my first 2 years of college and looked healthy, then gained some more which was not so healthy looking on my last 2 years of college. I met my husband at my heaviest, like 160+ (i stopped getting on the scale) and lost a bunch of weight in our first year of marriage. Now my weight has been holding steady at 131 for the last year. I would like to lose more but being healthy is the ultimate goal. Note: We have been married for 3 years and I am very happy.
Hence, “happy weight”=BS.
People in general focus too much on weight, we should put the focus on BMI (body mass index). If you gain a couple pounds, check out your BMI. Are you still within the suggestive range of healthy or are you getting close to the section of overweight? And American’s are typically sedentary. Get active! Take the stairs, park the furthest away from the mall, ride a bike, go rollerblading, do something to burn the extra calories we eat and OMG, guess what? You will lose weight.
Is this necessarily gaining weight when moving in together or just gaining weight once you officially become a couple? i gained some weight and so did my girlfriend when we got together, but we havent gained any when we moved in together. So when is it that you are going to publish your “Theory” ?
Yes, there is such a thing as a happy weight. Once you meat the perfect one you’ll eat things you didn’t even like just to make the other person feel good.. SPECIALLY when they cook. But that extra weight can go away, just get active, get moving, help around the house if you don’t want to go out side. Sweeping can help burn some calories. Its your choise to make a change and lose all the happy weight .
NO I DON’T BELIEVE IN IT
Yes I believe it cuz my hubby went from 145lbs to 225lbs over the past 13 yrs.
I didn’t believe in it either, until my boyfriend and I moved in together and started packing on the pounds. You know what, though? It turns out that it’s a lot more fun being fat than being skinny, that it’s fun getting fat together, and that we like each other that way. So we’re fat and happy and plan to stay that way!