Does Love Pack on the Pounds?

Well, love really does seem to be a double edged sword, at least it is when it comes to expanding belts and dress sizes for us ladies and expanding pants sizes for the fellas out there.  I know me myself, a woman in her thirties, had to reel myself back in after becoming so comfortable and happy in my relationship with my long term boyfriend that I packed on twenty pounds and he packed on – well he packed on a lot more than twenty!  Love is a great thing, it really is, but when you become so comfortable that you forget to take care of yourself, that becomes a problem, especially since excess weight can cause major health issues and shorten our lifespan.

Many people don’t realize until it’s too late that they’ve fallen victim to the “fat and happy” lifestyle of coupledom, content to go out and eat and drink wine, and not consider the calories so much because, well, they found their true love in their partner, and they certainly don’t need to try so hard to impress them any more, do they?  Well, this way of thinking can become dangerous for a few reasons.

First off, it could actually damage the relationship by making you resent eachother in the long run.  It could also take away from your sexual attraction to eachother.  Hey, while we’d all like to think we’d love Mr. or Ms. Right any which way they come, we are attuned to, as humans, the idea that fitness and looking healthy are still physical ideals of beauty, and none of us are immune to that sense of animal attraction that makes us fall in love in the first place.

Second, it can make you fal into a pattern that’s very difficult to break out of, especially when children enter the picture.  Once you’ve started cooking a certain way, or have gotten you and the kids used to certain foods that maybe aren’t so good for the “thin you” inside, it’s really hard to break that habit. When it’s two people, sure you can support eachother in your weight loss efforts, but you also may sabotage eachother’s weight loss efforts in the same breath.

How many times have you caught yourself being persuaded to get an ice cream sunday on a nice afternoon by your partner, when you yourself were not really hungry for this at all?  It works both ways, and keeping eachother on track is important if you want to spend a long, productive, happy and healthy life together, so it’s important to value diet and exercise in your relationship – not shallow as some people may have you think.  Health is important, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!