Newlyweight

A dilemma I have found as someone who is recently married is the feeling of carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Okay, this is not exactly true - I feel it more on my butt, hips and thighs. Since that magical day just four months ago, the flabby arms have returned, the bloated feeling after eating too much has become more regular, and my husband and I can best be described as lethargic. We have been wining and dining, and not moving all that much, and now we have a serious problem in our marriage - newlyweight.


Newlyweight [noo-lee-weyt] noun - weight gained post matrimony, due to relief of stress, lack of concern over fitting in set attire, realization of unconditional love, and general happiness.


As many brides do, I made an effort to lose weight prior to the wedding. My focus was to look my very best, while still looking like myself, so I worked out, tried to eat right and took good care of myself. I was able to lose weight, but more importantly felt confident walking down that aisle. And during the process, I dragged my husband along with me, so he also dropped a few pounds (which of course, everyone noticed first - isn't this always the way?). After the wedding, we went on our honeymoon and this was the start of the downfall - all you can eat, all you can drink, and two people coming off a 'high' from a very stressful and exciting day. And since the honeymoon, we have been busy and lazy and not having an event to look forward to, so here we are with some extra weight.

I have found weight can become an issue in many relationships. When you start dating someone, you tend to eat out more, and as you become more serious, you tend to stay in more. Then you become engaged and focus on losing weight, and then you get married and lose focus. The babies come and it goes into a completely new world (which, frankly, frightens me). The level of comfort obtained in being a loving relationship can make someone who has a tendency to gain weight easily do just that. While being in love is a wonderful thing, it is vital to remember to love yourself and take care of yourself in order to be a true partner. As happy as the take out and ice cream make me, I much prefer waking up and loving how I look in the first outfit I try on for the day. And I do believe my husband will appreciate me not taking it out on him when we are running late because of my 12 outfit changes.

I wish I could say 'our battle with weight continues', but honestly we have yet to put on the armor! We know what to do and how to do it, and now we just have to make it a priority in our marriage.  More to come, friends, more to come...