Five in 10 women only realise they need to lose weight when seeing themselves in an unflattering photograph, it was revealed yesterday.
Experts asked 1,000 women who have embarked on diets in the last five years the reasons behind their bid to shed a few pounds. And the results showed that many began slimming down when an old snap revealed lumps and bumps they didn’t know they had before. Even passing a shop window or mirror can be the defining moment for many after being shocked at the face, and rather large body, staring back at them.
Realising a favourite pair of jeans no longer fit and having to buy a bigger dress size when shopping also ranked highly on the list of reasons to lose weight.
A spokesman for EatWater.co.uk, which conducted the study, said: “Sometimes it takes something like a photo for people to acknowledge the fact they even have a problem with their weight.
“It is all too easy to become complacent with our body shape and size, and think we are doing okay, when really we’re carrying round a few extra pounds.
“A photograph can be like a bolt from the blue – often people are absolutely flabbergasted that they could have let things get so bad.”
Even old photographs can bring to light current weight issues – as 42 per cent of girls have dieted after seeing how much weight they have put on since the pictures were taken. Preparing for a holiday abroad was a major trigger for weight loss, as was the feeling of feeling self-conscious when going swimming. A third of girls over the last five years have slimmed down to attend someone else’s wedding – while 17 per cent have done the same for their own big day.
Other weight loss triggers include realising you are the fattest person in the office, a dwindling sex life, and being cheated on by a partner. The study also looked into the average weight loss experienced by women who find themselves in one of the above scenarios.
It shows that when seeing an unattractive pic, women go on to lose a staggering 14 pounds on average. Ladies will also lose 14 pounds after being dumped – in a bid to get back on the dating scene. And women shed 11 pounds in order to feel more confident in their holiday bikinis. Desperately wanting a new job, and wanting to fit into a favourite pair of jeans also lead to a respective weight loss of 10 pounds.
But just under half of women admit that they find it hard to maintain weight, and are more likely to diet for occasions than for any other reason. In fact, the average female goes on at least two diets a year, which last around three weeks each time.
Simone Brenner a leading Dietitian and Nutritionist for Eat Water continues: “A major difficulty my clients face when starting on a new diet is adjusting their eating habits so that they consume a smaller quantity of food with a higher nutritional value.
“Often they find themselves feeling hungry and turning to the very foods they need to avoid in order to achieve their target weight.
“I have recently found that by including Eat Water, a virtually calorie free pasta and noodles in their diet plans it is easier for them not only to maintain the regime they require to achieve their initial weight loss but also to hold on to their new weight and avoid yo yo dieting.”
TOP 20 WEIGHT LOSS TRIGGERS
- Being shocked at how fat you look in a photograph
- Catching a glimpse of yourself in a shop window or mirror
- Realising you couldn’t fit into a favourite pair of jeans
- Go shopping and realise you have to buy a bigger dress size
- Looking through old photographs you realise how much weight you have put on recently
- Preparing for a holiday abroad
- Feeling self-conscious when swimming
- Attending a wedding
- A good friend loses weight and looks amazing
- Before a special party
- Preparing for your own wedding
- You realise you are the fattest person in the office
- Someone asks if you are pregnant
- Your sex life has dwindled
- A partner loses weight and you’re the only fat one
- Getting back into the dating game after being dumped
- A partner cheats on you
- A sibling loses weight and you feel jealous
- Starting a new job
- You suspect a partner is having an affair
