1. Talk daily
Longtime friends Anne Moyer, 43, and Diane Ritchie, 39, above, made a pact when Anne (336 pounds at the time) lived in Chesapeake, VA, and Diane (then 260 pounds) lived in Chicago. "We talked every day on the phone for months about food, exercise, and our struggles and successes," says Anne, who lost 176 pounds in two years and now weighs 160. "We would exercise at the same time so we could support each other beforehand and afterward. And we would look up restaurant menus online if one of us was going out and decide together on the best entrées." They weighed in every Monday and Friday, then shared the results. "That kept me honest," says Diane, who shed 111 pounds and now weighs 149. "I didn't want to report that I'd gained weight! Checking in kept me accountable."
2. Partner up with a motivator
Amy Gorin, Ph.D., and associate professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut's Center for Health and Prevention, discovered in her research, friends help each other most when both are working hard to lose weight. Look for someone with an attitude like Nancy Trigg's, who lost a combined total of 392 pounds with her best friend, Sara Malphurs: "No matter what's going on in my life, no matter what laziness or negativity I'm feeling today, I'll be there, because I gave my word," she says. "Holding each other accountable is invaluable."
3. Pick each other up
"It's a battle every day to make the right choices. We're honest about that," Nancy says. "For example, I know Sara struggles with food over the Christmas holidays. If she ends up eating some cookies, I'll reassure her that she'll be OK — and then in mid-January I'll say, 'OK, girl, let's get back on it.' We lift each other up. We're each other's safety net." Science confirms it: In a University of Pittsburgh study of 166 dieters, social support didn't just help them lose weight; it also more than doubled their chances of keeping the weight off for six months.
4. Tap into apps
Kari Sweeney, 31, of Sun Prairie, WI, above, lost 38 pounds earlier this year when she teamed up with three coworkers for an office-wide weight-loss challenge. They shared their daily food diaries with the health and exercise app MyFitnessPal (a Good Housekeeping Research Institute fave), which also let them see everyone's workouts. "It's an easy way to help motivate one another in real time," she says. "If someone's not filling in her food diary, you can call or text or just stop by to ask what's going on."
Other apps — and their accompanying websites — that help foster "friendly" dieting include Fitocracy, SparkPeople, Weight Loss Buddy, Meetup (here you can find or create a local walking group, for example), and Exercise Friends.
5. Meet up to move
Teaming up for exercise has a bunch of benefits. In a MyFitnessPal poll of 2,220 users, 65% said doing so made exercise more fun, 50% said they got a better workout that way, and 55% said it made them more likely to show up. Anne and Diane (who moved back to Virginia in 2012) take exercise classes together and even started a running club at their local YMCA. Kari and her coworkers would sometimes work out twice in a day — once for themselves, and a second time to support a colleague who was having trouble doing it.
6. Share food strategies
Kari and her team of dieters brought healthy meals to work to share instead of going out for lunch at their favorite nearby spots. "I made chili with beans and quinoa, a new grain for me that's high in protein," she says. "Now, when we do go out, it's for the occasional special lunch at Chipotle, and I get half of my burrito boxed to go."
7. Don't stop!
"Maintenance is even more challenging than losing the pounds, because you have to keep doing it every day," Anne says. "I need Diane more than ever now, and she needs me, too. Our weight fluctuates — that's normal. We support each other so we can keep making better choices every day."
NEXT: How These Friends Lost Almond 400 Pounds Together »
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