There are positives and negatives to attending with a friend, let’s look at the benefits first
- Increased Accountability: Having a friend with you can make you feel more responsible for showing up and sticking to the program. Both of you can keep each other accountable for goals, making it harder to skip meetings or deviate from the plan.
- Enhanced Motivation: A friend can serve as a source of encouragement, helping you stay focused and motivated. When one of you is feeling less motivated, the other can step in with support and encouragement.
- Social Support: Weight loss journeys can feel isolating, but going with a friend adds a layer of comfort and understanding. You have someone to share experiences, challenges, and victories with, which can make the process feel less daunting.
- Healthy Competition: Friendly competition can push you to reach your goals faster. Watching each other’s progress can inspire both of you to stay on track and reach your goals.
- Easier to Stick to Healthier Habits: If you’re both adopting new eating and exercise routines, you’re more likely to stick with these changes. Together, you can share recipes, try new workouts, or keep each other in check when it comes to sticking to healthy choices outside the meetings.
The downside of joining with a friend
- Increased Pressure: You may feel pressure to attend, hence not enjoy the experience. Sometimes there is pressure to ‘be as good as’ your friend.
- FOMO: if your friend is losing but your weight loss is slower then you may feel inadequate, although any loss or progress is good, if it’s not as much as your friend it may apply extra pressure
- Not Very Sociable: sometimes when you attend with a friend you can become focused on each other and not chat to others around you, it may be a catch up time for you so you’re just focusing on spending time with each other, it’s important to get to know and support others in the group.
- Not Attending: If your friend doesn’t want to go one week, you may give in and not attend – you must do this for you, attend because you want to and you need to do it for you, not your friend.
Coming to The WeightLoss Company is time for you to focus on you, for you. Yes it’s good to come with a friend but it’s also good to come on your own, it’s important to do what’s best for you.
You need to remember that this is your journey to a healthier lifestyle and you have to make it work for you personally, I’m here for you to help you do just that.
Many new friendships are formed at The WeightLoss Company, I’m very proud of everyone for the way they support each other, most of the friendship groups didn’t know each other before 2021, people with something in common, supporting each other = great friendships