How to Stay Fit in a Marriage

It has been three years since we were able to take our first "after" photos.  In those three years, my husband and I have continued to face the challenge of staying fit as a marriage couple.  I'm sure this could apply to any couple, but because marriage is where I am coming from, that is what I am going with!

For the most part, my weight stayed the same until a year ago when I had surgery and had to recover from that, restricting me from any exercise.  I then was busy with projects, and due to the physical toll that took on my body, I got sick and stayed sick for three months. This is also when my husband's weight went up.  What does this tell me?  When I am fit, he is fit.  We keep each other healthy.  This could put a lot of pressure on one spouse or the other.  You could look at it as an advantage of having a live-in accountability partner who you love so much you would love to see them succeed as much or more than yourself.  That is huge!  Having a spouse who supports your goals and has his/her own is a must in becoming fit.

Now, I have to say (sorry Hubby!) that my husband is not into fitness and nutrtion like I am.  The numbers of his macro nutrients don't make him giddy like mine do.  However, he has come to realize how good it feels to be healthy and what advantages it plays in our marriage and daily lives.  First of all, we have more energy.  That could mean that we can get up earlier to pray together, read together, or exercise together.  It also means we could have more energy for our kids.  We can be a better example of good health to our kids.  We can show them what it means to take care of the body God gave us.  It causes us to be more responsible and creative with our time.  That could mean being creative in how we fit a workout in or being more active as a family.  And, it's always nice  on our budget to NOT have to buy new clothes because we are growing out of ours!

With all those advantages (and many more) to living as a healthy couple said, it still is a challenge.  So, how do you do it?  Here are just a few things I have learned over these several years of loosing the weight together and keeping it *mostly* off...

How to Stay Fit in a Marriage

• Don't expect you won't gain some weight back.  When that happens, stop.  Look at how you're eating and how much you are being active.  Be honest with yourselves.  Are you spending the evenings on the couch with too many bowls of ice cream or *ahem* Schwan's Silvermint Ice Cream Bars?   Just because you may have gained 10, 15, or even 20 lbs back does not mean you've fallen off the wagon! It just means your wagon went down a rabbit trail and needs to be steered back in the right direction! And, because you lost the weight before, the chances are, you have an idea of what the right direction is!

• Make nutrition and exercise doable.  Let's face it, most people are pretty busy.  Add a spouse in the mix, then kids, or grandkids and you've got yourself many schedules and eating habits to include in your daily challenge to stay healthy.  Don't restrict yourself from too many things, unless absolutely medically necessary.  (Carb cycling is wonderful for not restricting yourself and still loosing weight, while gaining muscle and health! Read my post about it here!)  Don't commit to an hour at the gym if you can't.  Don't feel the pressure of having to go to the gym to workout!  Workout at home.  Invest in a few weights or research a HIIT program that requires no equipment so you have absolutely no excuse to get out of exercise.  Make your nutrition and fitness goals to be an everyday lifestyle change.  Something you can do EVERY SINGLE DAY without burden.  

• Hold each other accountable in a loving way, free of nagging.  If you seem to be sailing smooth when it comes to your eating habits or exercise and your spouse isn't, don't find reason to criticize.  Find opportunity to help.  Ask your spouse, "How can I help you be better?"  When the opportunity comes to just go out and get a burger vs. cooking a meal at home because everyone is tired and hungry, cook the meal together so it goes quicker.  Remind each other of the way you feel after eating a healthy meal at home compared to grabbing a burger in a drive-thru.  

• Always find ways to build each other up and encourage each other, not tear each other down.  Tearing down could even mean giving into a temptation together.  Be united in your goals to succeed.  Find ways to encourage with words while working out or complementing each other when you notice clothes fitting looser.  

• Pray for each other.  Praying for fitness of your spouse may seem like a small issue.  But, Christ says to bring everything to him in prayer.  EVERYTHING.  Pray together for each other.  God hears all His people's prayers.  He takes care of the sparrows (Luke 12:24), so why then would we find things in our lives too insignificant to bring to our mighty God in prayer?  

"...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God."  Philippians 4:6

• And finally, just KEEP GOING.  There will be periods of time with one or both of you will feel the weight of your jobs, your kids, stress in your life----the weight of the world.  There will be days when you can't work out.  There will be days when you are sick and a fast food run seems like the only way to get dinner on the table.  That is okay.  As long as you, as a couple, keep the your goals in mind and know that, even if you are in the place in life where working out or eating healthy doesn't come easy, you can still strive to be the healthiest you can be. Together.  

Overall Fitness Update...The Hubby and I

It has been a couple weeks since Troy and I finished up the 30 Day Shred.  The day after we finished that up, we left for a 10 vacation to visit my brother and his family in the great state of Washington.  We stayed with my brother and he was kind enough to let us use his kitchen, so we only ate a total of 5 meals out!  That is incredible for a period of 10 days on vacation!!!  The rest of the meals were healthy and homemade.  We also had spinach & fruit smoothies (with whey protein and flax) every morning.  I am happy to report that neither of us gained weight.  We also worked out several times during our visit to WA.

My hubby and I on a date night in Spokane, WA.  We ate out at Jimmy John's that night.  Mmm!

When we got home, we started back up on my second round of Supreme 90 Day.  I have to say, that these workouts are still the most challenging for me.  No matter how strong I think I am, there is always a heavier weight I can use and I can always squat or lunge deeper.  There are always challenges to be had!  It feels so good to get back into this program!  And I love that Troy is doing it with me.  We had to buy him new shorts because his are falling off!  He is now down to 202 lbs.  That is down 16 lbs from his heaviest last year.  I'm so happy for him!  Counting his calories is certainly paying off, as is "Zig-Zagging" his calories.  Have you all heard of that?  I will explain how to do that and give a link to the calculator in a post ASAP.  The basic idea is to consume the same total weekly calories, but "zig-zag" the daily totals.    So, you could have 1200 calories one day, 1450 the next, and 1600 the next.  The theory behind it is to avoid plateaus because your body never gets used to what it's getting.  It seems to be working so far!

I'm not sure if it is my recent phenomenon of calorie zig-zagging or the fact that I weaned my twelve-month-old a couple weeks ago, but all of a sudden, I've lost three pounds...a half pound every few days.  This is the first time in my life that I can honestly say that I'm not trying!  I kept the same amount of calories as I did nursing because I hit my goal weight, therefore, I need to consume enough calories to maintain.  SO, I sure don't mind!!!  I am at 120 lbs now, and can't believe the scale!  (PS  I'm fitting into a size 2 now.  I have NEVER fit into a size 2 before, nor did I ever expect to!)

12 months post-pregnancy isn't all that bad!  :)

Lastly, but most importantly, I want to remind you all that the number one reason, as a follower of Christ, that I do this blog, my Facebook fit club, and get y'all into nutrition and exercise is because God made our bodies for more than just empty calories, high-frutose corn syrup, and the couch.  Let's all be good stewards of the bodies God gave us, whether you are trying to loose weight, bulk up, or just being fit.  There will be days of disappointment, whether it is in the way we ate that day, the fact that we couldn't get a workout in, or the because the scale didn't budge.  I've been there.  But, as long as you are moving and putting the right things in your body, you will feel good!  May God continue to bless your fitness endeavors!

Yesterday and the Day Before

Yesterday, I weighed in at 152.4 lbs. That is slightly over 7 pounds lost in about 5 weeks. And, as my husband said last night, I am doing it the old-fashioned way. No dieting. That's right. I'm not dieting. I'm just eating at healthy as I possibly can manage on a regular basis. I'm making the healthy decisions like not eating out and never cooking unhealthy. Just a side note, I LOVE home-cooked healthy food way, way, way better than any fat-filled, sodium-stuffed food from any restaurant! Oh yes, and one more secret to this newly-found success...I still eat chocolate everyday. I only allow myself I peice of dark chocolate and that satisfies me. To balance the eating out, I also am exercising. So, I am loosing weight by eating healthy and exercising. And its working. The last time I lost weight this way, I lost 60 lbs and I kept it off (give and taken a few pounds) for 3 years, until I got pregnant with my first baby.

The day before yesterday, I walked into Chipotle*, and a fellow twenty-somethingish girl asked me, "How old is your baby?" I replied, "5 months. Almost 6." To my surprise, she replied back, "Your TINY!" Oh! That is exactly what I need to hear! Ten months after having my first baby, someone asked me if I was pregnant, so I would say that this is progress! So, whoever you are, fellow twenty-somethingish girl: THANK YOU! You can run into me anytime and tell me that!

*(which I haven't had in over a month, and I only ate 1/2 of!)

Awesomeness.

I weighed in this morning at 153.2. I've lost over 6 lbs in a month! I just picked up exercising 3 times a week a couple weeks ago, have been eating out only once a week and cooking healthy meals the rest of the time, and drinking plenty of water....and its working! I only have 10 more lbs to my pre-pre-pregnancy weight (before my first pregnancy!) Oh joy!

One Breadstick Too Many!

Rats! I ate terrible this weekend! Just horrible! Oh, Self Control, why do you slip away so easily? Perhaps this week will be better! I better go buy some lettuce and carrots to gnaw on...

Healthy Choices...even while traveling!

Once again, I was reminded that even when on vacation, the healthy choices can be easy to make. After a big, somewhat unhealthy lunch at Cracker Barrel, I decided I needed to eat a healthy dinner. We are in Miami right now, so we stopped by a Pollo Tropical, which is like a El Pollo Loco, but with a tropical flare. I ordered the boneless, skinless chicken breast meal with white rice and black beans. It was delicious and I felt good eating it! I thought back to my previous experience of weight loss and I remember how no matter where I ate, there was a healthy option most of the time. It can be easy to make those choices! I just have to do it! I must admit, though, we did stop to get Key Lime Pie when we drove down to the Florida Keys today...but who would pass up a Key Lime Pie when in the Keys???