Those who aimed to lose weight before their wedding set out to shed up to 20lbs (9kgs). However, those who managed to lose weight before their wedding put on an average of 7.1lbs (3.2kgs) within the first six months of wedded bliss. Brides who felt more pressure to lose weight to squeeze into their white dress gained up to 9.9lbs (4.5kgs) afterwards – almost three times more than brides who were not pressured to lose weight...The best strategy is to marry a woman who doesn't need to lose any weight in the first place, apparently. In my experience, women who take an amount of personal pride in their appearance are much less likely to let themselves go.
In general, post-wedding weight gain is not surprising and is perhaps a result of more relaxed dietary and physical activity habits now that the newlyweds no longer have a special event - and wedding photographs - for which to motivate themselves. ‘It is equally possible that this weakened motivation for maintaining body weight is due to participants feeling like they have already “snagged” their man and therefore no longer need to work on their appearance,’ according to the study which was published in the journal Body Image.
~ archived since 2018 ~
