Eating for Two

An article in my local newspaper reported marriage increases obesity rates and married people gain more weight than single people. I was not surprised to read this. The sharing of food as a gesture of love begins on the wedding day. No sooner does the bride and groom say, “I do,” that they say, “Let’s eat cake.”

A married couple becomes equal to a pregnant woman who eats for two. When you’re married, come holiday time, if the in-laws live close, time will be spent visiting and eating at two houses. So, even though you’re one person, you will eat two holiday dinners complete with turkey, cranberry sauce, grandma’s dry stuffing, pie and an antacid. This food fest accompanied with indigestion is now your two meal holiday reality. Loosen that belt

But, it’s when a couple becomes parents that it’s easy to pack on the pounds. If you’re baby refuses to eat baby food you make a show of eating some and exclaiming, “Yum,” in hopes of getting them to eat it. All that happens is you’ve eaten your baby’s food in addition to your food. After a year you’ve gained ten pounds. Since you don’t want to toss food left on the tray by your toddler, you eat it. After a year of eating two dinners you’ve gained another ten pounds.

For your child’s birthday you eat the homemade cake and the store bought cake (in case the homemade one was a flop.) You rationalize the extra pounds of baby weight even though your baby is twelve by telling yourself, “He’ll always be my baby.” Has anyone ever conducted a survey on how children contribute to parental weight gain? Just a thought.

Anyway, Halloween is another holiday where it’s easy to pack on the pounds. A parent can indulge in their kids’ candy well into the holiday season which brings with it the vicious cycle of the two meal holiday that started the day you said, “I do.”