How to get your partner to lose weight

Nagging, pleading, and badgering won’t help your partner lose weight. But these subtle strategies may do the trick.

You Will Need

* Compliments
* A healthy, balanced diet
* Slim versions of favorite foods
* Modest goals
* The Big Picture
* A medical doctor

Step 1: Compliment them
Find ways to compliment them. Weight-loss experts say that the first step to getting someone in the frame of mind to diet and exercise is to raise their self-esteem, not destroy it.

Step 2: Eat the same foods
Eat the same foods. Making your partner eat “diet” food while you chow down on the kind of meal you used to enjoy together is a recipe for disaster.
*Tip: Establish a “cooking date” at least once a week where you prepare a new recipe—only _you_ have to know it’s low-cal and low-fat.

Step 3: Tweak favorites
If you cook for your partner, slim down their favorite meals. Use less meat, cheese, butter, cream, or sugar than the recipe calls for; substitute fat-free or lower-fat ingredients; and bake, broil, grill, or roast foods instead of frying and sauteing.
*Tip: Weight-loss counselors say many men resist dieting because they fear tiny portions. Help him feel satisfied by building meals around foods that can be eaten in volume, like vegetables and low-calorie fruits.

Step 4: Become more active
Plan fun activities for the two of you that involve breaking a sweat.

Step 5: Remove temptation
Keep foods they can’t resist out of the house.

Step 6: Set the bar low

Step 7: Have a big picture
Keep up their motivation by presenting them with a goal to look forward to.

Step 8: Call in outside help
Finally, it’s always a good idea to consult a doctor. An M.D. will make sure the extra weight isn’t a symptom of something else, and your partner will benefit from a medically approved diet-and-exercise program.