By: Hugh Wilson
New research says that getting married can make you pile on the pounds, but it’s not the only life change you have to look out for.
A study released last month discovered what every newly wed (or newly wed to be) dreads to hear. Women (but not men, the lucky so-and-sos) tend to put on weight as soon as they get married.
The study tracked 10,000 Americans over more than 20 years, and found that in any two-year period women who married were 46% more likely to gain a large amount of weight than women who stayed single.
The reasons behind that increase are not certain, but researcher Zhenchao Qian, professor of sociology at Ohio State University, said that when women get married they take a bigger role around the house, leaving less time for exercise.
Another theory is that women who marry tend to adopt some of the lifestyle habits of their husbands, like leaving wet towels on the floor, taking a newspaper to the toilet* and - of more concern to us here - eating bigger portions.
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Whatever the reason, it's clear that marriage is one major life event that helps pile on the pounds. But it's not the only one. Here are four other life changes that can play havoc with your waistline, and a few tips on how to stop it happening to you.
(*We made the first two up)
Going out together long-term
While getting married can make women put on weight, just getting into a long-term relationship and moving in together isn't the health boon it's sometimes cracked up to be either.
Don't get us wrong. There are psychological and therefore physical advantages to being with Mr Right (or even Mr Right Now). But University of Cincinnati sociologist Corinne Reczek has also identified ways in which long-term coupledom can wreck your diet.
The most important factor is influence, she reckons. When your boyfriend says he's nipping out for chocolate, you ask him to get you a bar while he's there. If he hadn't been going, you wouldn't have had the chocolate.
Couples also like to do things together. "Sometimes eating bad food, sometimes being lazy or having the extra beer can be part of the glue that holds a relationship together," said Reczek.
The solution? Simply being aware of temptation is one way to control it, experts say. So when he says "I'm nipping out for chocolate," you won't automatically respond with, "mine's a Galaxy - super size."
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Going to college
The American's have a term for it: the fresher 15.
What they mean is that people who go to college tend to put on weight, especially in the first year when living away from home for the first time, eating an all-Jaffa Cake diet and drinking alcohol in quantities you wouldn't admit to your mum is still novel and exciting.
In America, they reckon 15lb in the first year is normal, and even if that sounds a bit much, piling on freshwoman weight is a well-known phenomenon.
The solution? Do your weekly shop with a shopping list and on a full stomach, so you're not tempted to buy unhealthy snacks that constantly put temptation in your path. Try to organise a rota of cooking with flat- or roommates so you're having decent home-cooked food on most days of the week. Don't drink too much.
Boring we know, but they do work.
Being realistic, the first year at college is unlikely to be the healthiest of your life, but one thing will stop the consequences being too - well - weighty. Carry on exercising. Join the uni's sports centre or sign up for a team. Walk to class every day. Get into a regular exercise habit and the fresher 15 could actually be a much more manageable fresher two or three.
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Your first (proper) job
And just as dangerous for your waistline as fresher 15 is first job 15. Imagine it. You leave college and start making your way up the career ladder. You have more money in your pocket, but less time in which to spend it.
And less time to cook, do proper grocery shopping and exercise. There's a real risk of weight gain during those first few years carving yourself out a career niche, when there's never enough time in the day and the fast food drive-thru winks at you as you make your weary way home with the promise of cheap, filling food with no washing-up.
The solution? Well, willpower for one. But to make it easier, learn to make nutritious, delicious stews and curries in big batches, freezing what you don't eat straight away in handy meal-sized portions. That means there's always an easy alternative to the takeaway.
Kids!
It's hardly surprising that, when kids come along, new mums tend to put on a pound or two. There's less time for exercise, and most parents are more concerned with keeping the baby well fed than counting calories (which is how it should be, of course). After all, the sort of nights out that require slinky spray-on outfits seem a distant memory.
And according to a study published in February by researchers at Georgia Health Sciences University, stress is also a major reason why new mums put on weight.
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"Sedentary lifestyle, or a low amount of physical activity, was most influenced by the type of parenting stress the mothers reported," said researcher Dr. Deborah Young-Hyman.
In other words, stressed new mums are more likely to put on weight than their more relaxed peers. The solution? All new mums get stressed, but one way to alleviate it is to meet with friends and fellow mums and go for walks. That's a win-win result. You'll be less stressed, and you'll be exercising at the same time.
But this is certainly one time when most women should stop stressing about weight. When a baby comes along you might put on a few pounds. As long as you keep it under control, and return to a healthier lifestyle when life feels a little less intense and anarchic, there's no need to fret.
Divorce
According to the study that found women put on weight when they marry, some people also put on weight when they divorce.
And the good news? Most of those people are men.
Maybe life's not so unfair after all.