The first part of being able to incorporate being healthy in your relationship is to decide that being healthy is what you want to do and determine what that looks like for you and your partner.
Seeing the various posts around the internet of couples boasting about their bodies being fit and constantly grinding can make it appear like a picture perfect scenario when in actuality it all takes work.
The first step is to know what your personal goals are. What does this lifestyle look like for you? Do you prefer the traditional gym setting or working out at home? Does your partner have similar goals and tastes in how he or she wants to commit to being healthy? Are you both going for a bodybuilder looks or do you want to just eat better with minimal workouts?
What types of food and exercises do you require? This is particularly critical in building a physically healthy lifestyle in a relationship because different body types require different food regiments. For instance if you’re an endomorph body type you may require more cardio to ward off excess fat deposits as well as you may have to be limited on your carb and sweet intakes because you have a tendency to store body fat. If you’re a mesomorph type you’re more muscular and well-built, with high metabolism and responsive muscle cells. Lastly, if you’re an ectomorph your body type is mostly lean and long, and you may have difficulty building muscle. And all of these body types require difference foods and workouts to be at its optimal performance.
In wanting to make it a part of your romantic relationship be willing to sit with your partner and define those parameters listed above.
On my journey I’ve learned that being in the right relationship means being equally aligned with someone who has as much passion about their health as you do or you need to be able to go at it alone without them. When you partner up with someone who isn’t as health conscience as you or prefers to eat in a manner which doesn’t support your lifestyle this can be an added burden on both of you.
If you’re an avid runner or someone who loves the gym and your partner doesn’t like to workout at all, you’ll have to be creative to find ways to stay motivated and not get sucked into their habits. At the same token if your partner prefers to eat clean but you want a full 5-course meal everyday, there may be conflict on how to get it down.
The two things I mentioned the most in this article are food and workout programs. These are two important factors in being healthy because more than likely neither you nor your partner will want to cook two separate meals and working out together may cause more conflict than progress. Is it possible to have such a vast difference in a lifestyle and still make the relationship work? Absolutely!
Here are some practical tips to help you incorporate a healthy lifestyle into your relationship.
Tip 1: Make an individual grocery list of what each of you like. Then make meals plans for the upcoming week. Decide on which meals can be combined and which ones you may choose to opt out of.
Tip 2: Decide on how to prepare meals and determine how to prepare and cook both meals to be served together if you eat together. Also discuss which foods are your favorites for weight loss and weight management and make it a priority to have that item in the house for your spouse just because you remembered it when you went the store.
Tip 3: Research and create a plan as a couple on weight loss and weight management. Discussing what each of you wants to see not only gives you an accountability partner, you’ve also just enlisted a support partner.
Tip 4: Do regular “Check ins” when you’re away and be encouraging on reminding them to go the gym or ask them to go to the gym with you.
If you work out together at home or the gym, consider working out as a team. If working out as a team doesn’t suit you, stop over at their workout station and give them an encouraging boost of confidence with kind words.
Tip 5: For the last one and probably the most important one, don’t bring foods into the home when you know it is a food they struggle with. Although they may not say anything, in order for you to help with your partner’s goals, you have to also know their Achilles’ heel and not trip them up. Also, be encouraging with your words of affirmation as you start to see progress. When they have days in which they fall off, just encourage them anyway.
You and your partner are each other’s biggest cheerleaders and hopefully best friends. The healthier you both are, the more you can enjoy having a great day, a great body, great sex and a great life!
