Weight gain and marriage are made
out to be almost synonymous witheach other. But, does saying ‘I do’ have
to mean going up a size or three?
By ZAMA NKOSI-MABUYE
THE
RING
VS
THE
WAIST
When people think of marriage, especially in the African
culture, there are a few things that seem to be consistent in
the picture – a celebration, a bit of family drama, food and a
happily-ever-after that may come with mkhaba (pot belly)
and some extra curves for the happy couple. But why is it that
some people believe that weight gain is an inevitability that
comes with the institution?
“A new life event definitely presents psychological shifts
by virtue of the transition being made,” says a Pretoria-based
clinical psychologist, Dr Matthews Katjene. “However there
are multiple factors that may contribute to weight gain after
getting married or being settled in what may be termed a
happy relationship. Change can be overwhelming, so weight
gain can be an indicator of a physiological and psychological
response and can take the form of apprehensiveness, mere
self-neglect or total self-acceptance,” he says.THE REAL DEAL
Society’s expectations, however, don’t always match what
someone wants for themselves. For 37-year-old Zandile
Mkhwanazi, what was termed marital weight gain proved to
be an issue. “I started gaining weight about a year into our
marriage and initially, people mentioned it as a compliment
but as time went on, I started feeling uncomfortable in my92 |^ OCTOBER^2019 | WWW.TRUELOVE.CO.ZA