A friend and I were looking at old wedding pictures. “I was skinny as could be when I got married. But look at me, a year later, I am packing on the weight. What happened to me?” she asked.

The same thing that happens to most women when they marry!  Women do tend to gain some weight once they marry. But the reasons may surprise you and may not be in your awareness.

According to a 2011 study at Ohio State, people tend to gain an average of 20 pounds once they marry. The happier the couple is, the more likely they will gain–more so than unhappy couples.

And what if the spouse if a fantastic cook? That makes it all the harder to say NO to those cheesy hash browns on a lazy Saturday morning.

But here is one reason I want you to be aware of when it comes to wives gaining weight.

Getting married and being with that man you adore tends to change your eating habits. Eating with a guy who is packing in more calories due his size and weight encourages wives to match their eating. So we eat more because we are eating with someone who is eating more.

Think about it. My spouse can snack away in the evening with little impact on his weight, but if I indulge in the same manner, it shows up on the scale. At mealtime, husband portions do not work for me. But I find myself taking a larger portion of those potatoes because, hey, my portion looks tiny compared to his.

The key here is that we women must be mindful of how we eat. We can’t go head to head in the portion or calorie count and not gain. So wives, while we help men eat healthier when we marry them, they help us gain weight if we aren’t mindful of our eating habits. Equality eating packs on the pounds.

Seems a little unfair, but biology matters!