Randi Martin, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – In the two years after a woman gets married, she packs on pounds, according to several studies and my bathroom scale.
The single life provided time for workouts and a more casual approach to food. If you weren’t hungry, you didn’t eat. If you wanted cereal for dinner, no problem.
But getting married brings organization like nightly dinners that include three or more food groups, another plate to pick off of at restaurants and more junk food in the pantry.
“Companion eating can be a factor (in gaining weight),” says nutrition and wellness expert Cynthia Sass. “Women simply cannot match a man’s food intake without gaining weight.”
Women also tend to eat more high fat and high sugar foods when moving in with a man or getting married, Sass says. Foods like Hot Pockets, chips and salsa and frozen pizza may not have been in a single woman’s apartment, but because it’s now there, it’s chow time.
Men can keep ice cream in the refrigerator for weeks, but women can’t, Sass says.
“It seems the ice cream is calling her name and women respond,” she explains.
Eating is something couples do together, and that’s when the pounds begin to add up.
“They go to the movies and have popcorn, they go out for ice cream, they order a pizza or watch DVDs while eating Chinese takeout and so food tends to be a way of bonding and spending time together,” Cass says.
Women need to realize they are smaller and have different metabolisms. So as tempting as it is, ladies, unless you’re an Olympic weightlifter, we can’t match our husbands in eating pizza slice by slice.
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