Healthy friends are contagious!

You have heard many times that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Dave Ramsey claims that your income will be within 10 percent of the average of your 10 closest friends.

The “how” isn’t that mysterious. After work, your successful friends head to a networking event or to exercise. The unsuccessful ones rush to happy hour or to watch a ballgame. Whichever friends you follow will impact your mindset, health, and wealth.

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that a person’s chance of becoming obese increased by 57 percent if that person’s close friend became obese.

An article on npr.org said that “Our ideas about what’s a normal amount of food or exercise, and what counts as normal body size, all seem to be influenced by the people to whom we’re connected. And researchers believe these ‘norms’ ultimately shape our weight.”

My brother and I were both college offensive linemen. Some of our friends that were 280 pounds in college are now 300-plus. Others are around 230. The guy at 230 looks around and thinks he’s doing great. In reality, he’s carrying 25 percent body fat and may be at risk for heart disease. If he hung out with a different crowd—a group of Crossfitters or kayakers–he might start to see 205 as being more “normal.”

When I lived in D.C. five years ago, I worked out at a gym where most members were competitive distance athletes. Conversations were about long runs, personal bests, and endurance races. I was one of the oldest and least fit members in that gym, and I didn’t join them on one endurance race. Whether I was conscious of it or not, after hearing those conversations, I simply couldn’t walk out of the gym and grab a slice of pizza. Later that evening, if I was contemplating ice cream, those conversations found their way into my mind.

The company I kept played a big role in losing thirty pounds. Healthy friends are contagious.

For years, I’ve heard about Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM). They seemed confusing and a bit “out there.” Were they only for diabetics and complete health wackos? Besides, I wouldn’t know where to get one or how to set it up. Then, a few weeks ago, I was visiting my friends Vanda and Adam and noticed something strange on their arms.

I asked a million questions about their CGM, noted how amazing they both look, listened to them share the benefits, and now I wear one. Since I’ve been gushing with enthusiasm—as my waistline is shrinking–my friend Abe just bought one. And now Darius, who is already in good shape, but feeling like he hit a plateau, is considering one. Healthy friends are contagious.

When I recently met a woman who told me that she’s not drinking because she’s doing a program called “75Hard,” instead of running in the other direction, I sprinted towards her. No alcohol for me is easy anyway but watching her do two workouts a day has “magically” made me work out more.

Meanwhile, I was one of those 300-pound college lineman and I were talking today when he shared with me that his back is killing him. Then he said, “I just turned fifty-five. You don’t see a lot of 300-pound seventy-year-olds.”

I shared my experience with the CGM, urged him to try it, and then followed up with a link to buy, texts challenging him, and emails with more data including recipes that keep blood sugar low. I don’t know if he’ll buy one, but if I were a betting man (a calculating risk-taker that is!), I have a feeling he’ll make a better choice at lunch today.

Because…say it with me: Healthy friends are contagious!

With this in mind, what is your next move?

Valuetainers know Greg Dinkin as the collaborator for PBD’s #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller YOUR NEXT FIVE MOVES. Greg is the author of four other books including The Poker MBA (Random House) and The Leading Man (Vital). He’s a TEDx speaker, poker champion, and holistic health coach.