If you’re taking steps to improve your health, it’s natural to want your partner to do the same. The last thing you want to do, however, is make your partner feel guilty or ashamed. The trick is to find a way to encourage your partner to participate in healthy lifestyle changes without coming across as patronizing or overbearing. You want your partner to choose to make the change themselves.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you involve your partner in healthy lifestyle changes:
Step 1: Step Back and Take a Look at the Situation
Changing your lifestyle is a choice you can only make for yourself. If you want your partner to make healthy changes in their own life, you need to find a way to broach the subject in a way that won’t come across as judgmental. It may help to spend some time journaling or to talk to a professional therapist to help you assess the situation and find the right time to bring it up with your partner.
Step 2: Keep a Calm, Cool Head When Approaching Your Partner
When you find the opportunity to talk to your partner, keep things calm and positive. Find a time where neither of you is overly stressed or exhausted and dip your toes in the water before jumping in head-on. If your partner is receptive to the idea, or at least to having a conversation about it, explain your thinking and talk about why you want to make healthy changes together. If your partner is a little resistant to making a specific change, you might find a way to present research about the negative effects of their current habit and highlight the benefits of making a change.
Step 3: Turn it Into an Activity You Can Do Together
Your partner may not want to accompany you on every trip to the gym or be by your side for your daily run, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do other things together. Find ways to incorporate healthy changes into your lives together instead of trying to make the journey separately. Start cooking healthy meals together, enjoy healthy activities like hiking, and talk about your goals. After a workout or a day of hiking, make up a batch of collagen protein smoothies and sip side by side. You’ll get to spend a few extra minutes together while your body enjoys the muscle recovery benefits of collagen protein.
Step 4: Don’t Rush the Transition
It’s natural to be a little resistant to change, even if you have all the evidence you need that the change will be good. You can’t expect your partner to change their life immediately simply because you say so. Be patient with your partner and set achievable goals you can reach together. Don’t make a big deal of minor setbacks along the way – it’s difficult to break bad habits. Just let your partner know you’re there for support and that you want to make this journey together.
Step 5: Celebrate Your Successes Together
Change doesn’t come easy and there will be times when both of you struggle. As you do in life, be supportive of your partner and celebrate your successes together. From simple things like choosing a healthy meal over fast food to long-term goals like increasing your stamina, it’s all about progress. Acknowledging even the smallest victories will serve as motivation for both of you to keep growing.
A relationship is a partnership, but you are still two separate individuals. As much as you may want your partner to make the same choices you do, you have to respect your differences. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to involve your partner in your own healthy lifestyle changes, but don’t force it. Follow these steps and keep an open mind as you and your partner make the journey together.
