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Men Prefer to Work Off Those Pounds

By WLR Dietitian, Juliette Kellow BSc RD

Forget showing your partner pictures of Brad Pitt in an effort to get him to lose weight.

A new study has revealed that if you really want to motivate your man to diet and shift his beer belly, you’d be better off talking to him about work.

Danish researchers carried out focus groups with overweight men between the ages of 25 and 44 years to find out what motivated them to lose weight and what they felt the main barriers to dieting were.

Most men wanted to look lean and avoid illness, but the strongest motive for them wanting to lose weight was a desire to become more effective and a greater asset in the workplace.

The researchers conclude that one of the best ways to motivate men to lose weight is to focus on increased effectiveness and performance at work, rather than on looks or health.

WLR says:

This is an interesting piece of research and certainly warrants a much bigger study.

As men seem to find work a motivating factor in helping them to diet and shape up, this study indicates that occupational health departments could play an important part in helping male employees to lose weight.

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