May 14, 2009

Staying Fit Together

Over the year and a half that M and I have been together, a large portion of our conversations have centered on health and fitness. We have watched our parents struggle with weight loss and our grandparents battle health issues. We have always said that we wanted to adopt a healthy active lifestyle. And at times we have made great attempts - we ran a 5K together last June, played a little tennis, and sporadically lifted weights. Things haven't stuck. It seems that life always manages to get in the way. But the turning point came in December, as M and I stood in my father's ICU room. He was hooked up to a vent having just undergone 5 bypasses. I will always remember looking at M, tears in my eyes and saying "I never want to do this again. I never want to be in this situation....".

While I know that M, myself, or a family member may someday have heart issues - I also know that there is a lot that M and I can do to offset the chances of that happening. Since our wedding we have been eating at home more often, cooking healthier/lighter meals - thinks salads or yummy turkey burgers. And now that the weather is warming up, we've taken up tennis again. We've made "dates" to play with another couple so that we are less likely to flake out. I know that we still need to incorporate more cardio and weights, but I feel like we are finally making our fitness a top priority - and not letting small changes in plans derail all of our efforts.

I wonder, do you readers, have tips/tricks/suggestions on how you and your significant other can pursue a fit lifestyle together? What about your whole family???

2 comments:

Kathie Brinkman said...

The only thing that has ever worked for me in terms of commiting to regular exercise is to do it daily instead of 3x/week or whatnot. For me, knowing that I am going to exercise every day makes me less likely to flake out. But if I wake up and say well I can do it tomorrow for my 3x/week tomorrow never comes. It seems less important what I do every day than that I do something every day. And doing it first thing in the AM also works best to not flake out on it. But, I AM NOT an expert on this. I wish I could say that I've mastered this habit, but I haven't. But when I'm doing a daily routine I stick with it much longer. And once you start feeling and seeing results that is a big motivator to keep going.

Kim said...

My husband and I sign up for races together so we have things to train for :) So we run together a few times a week, and were taking a fencing class for awhile too.

I find it harder to encourage my family though.