How To Manage An Unhealthy Partner

Maybe you and your partner started with similar fitness, eating habits and goals. Then as life happened, you kept up your good habits and a healthy diet while your partner let him or herself go. You used to love grocery shopping together, but now you feel frustrated whenever your partner reaches for the cookies instead of selecting fresh produce. Jill Weber, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and author and she offers tips on how to best handle this situation.

Make An Effort To Not Be Too Controlling

Although it might be tempting to start lecturing and nagging your partner, those strategies tend to backfire and result in some push-back. Instead, try putting yourself in your partner’s shoes and treat them they way you would want to be treated. It is important for yourself to not hold all your frustrations in, but to always be respectful when holding conversations with your partner. Talk to them rationally about their goals, keeping in mind, you may not necessarily have the same goals, and that is okay because they are not the exact same person as you. Dr. Weber suggests saying something like, “I can tell it bothers you. You’ve talked about wanting to get fit, so have you made any goals around that?”