Avoid These 7 People when You're Trying to Lose Weight ...

1. The Person Who Can’t Gain Weight

The most challenging person to avoid when you’re losing weight is the person who can’t seem to gain an ounce. This person could be your best buddy, your sister, your teacher, whoever - but you secretly hold some resentment against them because staying slim seems so easy for them. What, do they have the metabolism of a 6 year old? It doesn’t seem fair, especially since you are trying so hard. Try not to be resentful because that only causes you more stress and interferes with your goals. Simply avoid these people, because you may eat the same things as them but not get the same results.

2. People in the Tempting Food Business

Yes, we are talking about the chefs, bakers, chocolatiers, and anyone else in the business of making delicious, tempting food that you have a hard time resisting. Overindulging in tempting, delicious food is what got you in this situation in the first place. Until you learn to control your appetite and learn to avoid certain foods, you simply can’t hang around with them when they are engaged in their profession.

3. Friends and Family Members Who Express Their Love with Food

While their heart is usually in the right place and they don’t mean to intentionally sabotage your weight loss efforts, their form of love will increase your waistline, not reduce it. We’re talking about the people who always have a fresh batch of cookies on the table, or are always having a barbecue. Because their food is loaded with emotions as well as fattening ingredients, refusing their food is literally like refusing their love. That’s a minefield you don’t want to cross with people who care about you, so try to avoid them if you can.

4. People Who Offer You Unsolicited Advice on How to Lose Weight

No one likes unsolicited advice, but weight loss advice that doesn’t come from an expert should just be ignored. It usually involves some pseudoscientific “facts” that they read on the internet, or perhaps they had some success using the all-meat, grapefruit, vinegar or milkshake diets themselves. Most weight loss experts counsel against such fad diets because they may actually cause more harm than good and you often gain the weight right back, and sometimes more. While these friends or family members may be well-meaning, put your hand over your ears and walk away.

5. High Energy People Who Absolutely Love to Exercise and Eat Healthy Every Day

It’s almost like a hobby to some people. They will post every time they go to the gym, and you’ll be informed of how many miles they ran, how much weight they lifted or how many repetitions they did. They’ll take pics of their salads and low fat fish ad nauseum, until all you can possibly muster is an extended yawn. You may become discouraged by their high energy or adoration for physical exhaustion, but perhaps it’s because you have more interesting hobbies than exercise…like knitting?

6. People Who Try to Tempt You off Your Plan

It’s sad, but there are people out there who don’t want you to better yourself. They may actually not be conscious of doing this, but there are some who do this on purpose. They’ll send you pics of happy hour when you’re at the gym, or invite you out to brunch at a place where everything on the menu is not the kind of food people on diets eat if they want to lose weight. So when you get invited to the TV watching marathon or the game, you can be sure they won’t serve anything you can eat. The best way to combat this is avoid them or bring your own food and do an extra round at the gym if you want to go.

7. People Who Are Okay with Their Weight

People being okay with their weight can be a good thing, even if they’re heavy. But you’re on a diet, so you are clearly not all that happy with your weight. Hanging around people who have no desire to change their habits, especially if they are overweight, can cause you to become discouraged and decide you should just be okay with the way you are. While you should be comfortable in your own skin, you should also strive for improvement on all levels. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look better and feel healthier, so don’t buy into the status quo.

Is there someone you just have to stay away from when you’re losing weight?