Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tuesday Truths: Does This Boyfriend Make Me Look Fat?

I have a running joke with Jared that I gained 10 pounds when we started dating.  I wish I could say it’s totally a joke, but it’s actually not.  I really did gain weight when Jared and I started dating.  Part of me blamed it on the fact that soon after we started dating, I moved back to New Jersey, a state that, despite it’s finer qualities, is seriously lacking in public transportation.  Without my daily walk to and from the Metro and work, it’s natural that I would start to gain weight, right?

Then, I cam across this article in Glamour called “Is Your Boyfriend Making You Fat?“.  Ah, so it’s not just me….

Part of this is tongue in cheek, but I really do think there is some truth to this.  Case in point:  Jared is away this week, and I’ve already lost 3 pounds.  Why?  Because I’m not eating as much when I get home and I’m in a regular workout routine.

With dating comes all of the typical activities of being newly in love:  going out to eat together, spending lots of time together, exploring new hobbies.  While exciting, this can also be time consuming, giving you less time to focus on healthy eating and excercising.  And when you move in with your significant other, well, that’s another story!  All that time you had to go to the gym for those long workouts seems to fly out the window.  So, it’s not surprising to me that females would gain weight when they are in a relationship.

I think the key here is identifying those factors that are causing weight gain.  In this article, they pin the blame on the fact that guys eat a lot, and when you are around them, you will tend to do the same.  I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily the case for me.  For me, it comes down to the elephant in the room: eating out.  As you can tell from my blog, both of us love food. When we weren’t together, I would eat out maybe once a week, if that.  Now, it’s only natural that once Friday rolls around, we spend very little time eating at home.  I don’t need to get into the facts about restaurant portions, etc.; I think everyone knows how eating out a lot is unhealthy for you!  The other issue is time :  when I was single in the city, it was no problem to wake up every day at 5:30 for a nice long workout.  These days, with all of our activities and bonding time, squeezing in a workout is not so simple.

Are there people that don’t gain weight when they start dating someone or move in with their husband for the first time?  Sure there are.  For the rest of us, though, it turns into a delicate balance of time and will power

Boyfriends, fiances, husbands, take no offense.  We’re equally to blame for this phenomenon as you are!  It’s just easier to pass the blame .

How do you all fend off the weight gain when life becomes busy with love?  Share your tips!

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