Fitness: Is your relationship making you fat?

Yes, we are going there! We always try to keep it real on Paparoxi and in an effort to discuss the reality of staying healthy or losing weight our romantic relationship status often weighs heavy on how in shape or over weight we remain. Studies show that married couples between the ages of 20 to 35 gain 6 to 9 pounds more then their single counterparts. I can speak from both sides of the fence. I have been in a happy relationship and overweight. I have also been the slender single girl (and still am ;). Is there a link between staying fit and your love life?

Many will say it is security. Once you are in a happy relationship you don’t feel the need to go to the gym and stay fit because you have already landed your mate. Additionally, I believe most couple time revolves around food. Either you are going out to dinner, staying in and making dinner, or ordering out the focus is food. Before you know it, being in love has taken its toll on the scale. I also believe another culprit is time. The time you used to spend in your single life working out or being active is now spent snuggled up with your love, so it is hard to remain fit.

In relationships its either the unhealthy partner influencing the healthy one or the other way around. In my case it was the unhealthy influencing the healthy. I couldn’t hang with the late night meals, trips to Wendy’s and the plethora of chips and cookies always at my finger tips my body took a hit gaining more then 60 pounds. On a much deeper level, as much as I loved my boyfriend I am not quite sure how much I truly loved myself. Hind sight is 20/20 and I now know that when you really love yourself you take care of yourself which includes taking care of your body for life. Sometimes we put so much love into the partnership that we don’t take the time to love ourselves.

I am a very solutions oriented person so I am not going to leave you with just that. It is important to find balance with everything in life. So if you are in a loving relationship or plan on being one in future here are some things that you can do to beat the battle of the bulge:

Action packed quality time. Dates don’t only have to be dinner and a movie. Get moving! Find a cool flea market and walk around for the day, bike ride along the river and if your really brave take a romantic hike through the woods. There are so many things out there that don’t revolve around food. Finding other things to do besides eating together will only strengthen the relationship.

Be the influence. Chances are if you are reading this then you are the healthy one in the relationship. Do not let the dark side take you down, it will be hard but STAND FIRM. Most of the time when it comes to food and relationships usually there is no compromise someone wins out. If you are in love with someone who eats poorly you have to lead by example and bring them into the healthy light. I look at my sister’s relationship as a good example of this. At one point she was eating just like her fiancé lots of sweets and snacks. It wasn’t long before this took a toll on her body. Well she decided to clean up her diet and took her fiancé along with her (she almost made him vegan lol). Now they both look fantastic and are much healthier!

Claim your “me” time. In relationships we often become so consumed in the love and emotion of it all we forget about ourselves. We are constantly planning time together “we time” when we need to take time and plan “me time”. Take time to work on you and more importantly workout. Keep taking your yoga , zumba or spin class. Yea you might miss out on an hour with your sweetheart but you will be better for it. I always say to myself “I must be a better ME before I can be the best WE”.

Don’t get too comfortable. I hate to quote Lil Wayne on here but he said it best “It's all good when we making love, All I ask is don't take our love, For granted, it's granted My love for you, is real Baby if you don't love me Somebody else will So don't you ever get too comfortable”…he is right. We get comfortable and relaxed and take the love for granted but we should always want to be at our best for our significant other. I think of my parents who have been married for 27 years and my mother sometimes will just dress up for my dad for no reason, and as I child I would ask “ Mommy why are you so dressed up?“ now I understand. The same is true of staying fit. Take pride in looking your best for the one you love. Its shows more then love it shows appreciation and respect. It shows that you don’t take the relationship for granted and you will always try to look your best.

So what do you think? Is your relationship making you gain weight? How do you stay in shape while being in love? Share your thoughts.