Friends avoiding you?

I didn't observe this when I started getting back into shape. I noticed this when I stopped drinking a few years back. Most of my friends were drinking buddies. When I stopped drinking, they said that I wasn't the same guy anymore. It's true, though. I changed my thinking and that affected my behaviors. Drunks aren't so fun if you're not drunk too.

Friends are those walk life's path with you. You may be on a different path now. Perhaps they just think you are. They may just need to feel that you're on the same path, that you're the same person and still accept them.

If you're talking about women, though, it might just be that you're now better looking than them and get all the opposite sex attention. ; )

Whenever anyone has a major lifestyle change, friends slip away and new ones appear. Graduation, getting married, having children, making a major career change, or making a major lifestyle change such as weight loss will cause a shift in your social network.

Just think about people who go into AA-- they mostly have to leave all their old drinking buddies behind. I think getting fit and healthy has a similar effect on people. You can't indulge in a trip to the doughnut shop together, you can't share the kind of unhealthy activities that you previously engaged in together. That leaves the you sitting there watching your unhealthy friend down a pitcher of beer and 1500 calories of pizza in one sitting while you nibble on grilled chicken and a green salad. Neither person will find the experience all that enjoyable, and your unfit friend will not be interested in going out for a walk or other active social activity.

I think the loss of a social network is one of the primary reasons why maintaining weight loss is difficult. If we keep surrounding ourselves with people who indulge in unhealthy lifestyles, it will be too difficult to not slip back into those old familiar habits.