How to find the right diet buddy for you

Starting a diet is easy; the challenge is staying on it. I’ve tried nearly everything, from South Beach to Slim Fast, but would gain the pounds as fast as I’d lost it because I ran out of motivation. The resulting yo-yo dieting not only messed up my metabolism but ate (pun unintended) at my confidence. ‘Why bother losing weight when I can’t keep it off anyway?’

But last year I found a diet buddy, who not only convinced me to start a diet but has been instrumental in keeping it off. We are each other’s cheerleaders and coaches. Here’s how to find a diet buddy too.

Find a virtual buddy

There’s nothing like a ‘real time’ friend who you can give you a hug when you’re down. But if you can’t find one who’s willing to go on a diet with you, you can find a virtual diet buddy on numerous weight loss forums and communities. The great thing about this is that you can leave messages any time of the day, and benefit from the shared experience and wisdom of hundreds (or even thousands) of members who are in the same boat. You can ask for advice on great running shoes, or exchange low-fat recipes that actually have more flavor than cardboard.

Find someone with similar weight loss goals

Ideally you are both looking to lose the same number of pounds, or at least within similar range. Then you can encourage each other without feeling ‘left behind’ (like when she’s hit your target, and you’ve still got 15 more pounds to go).

Find someone with similar weight loss plans

There are many different kinds of weight loss programs. Some diets are very restrictive and have specific recipes or meals; others carefully count calories; others use pills that improve metabolism. One of the benefits of sharing a weight loss program is that you can ask each other questions and compare experiences.

Find someone you ‘jive’ with

You don’t have to be soul mates, but like any friendship it helps if you have a similar personality (you won’t really enjoy time with each other if you disagree on practically every point, and irritate each other almost immediately). Common lifestyle experiences can also help you support each other through the challenges of dieting. For example, my diet buddy and I were both working moms, so we totally understood the difficulty of sticking on a diet when you’re stressed all the time, and have no time to cook separate meals for ourselves and the rest of our family.

Photo from completedietinfo.com