Six Months Already?!

Well, it seems married life just makes the time fly right by – would you believe that my husband and I have now been married for six months? Considering the fact that we almost broke up at the six month mark of dating (long story, glad that passed) and that everyone has warned us the first year of marriage is the hardest, I feel that we have made quite an accomplishment. Hooray for us!  

But really, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide some updates on our marriage, the year of fun, and the blog itself. 

Marriage has been awesome so far. Honestly! This is not to say we don’t have our tiffs and riffs, but overall it is a beautiful life that we are building. And I am so happy to be a partner to my husband! We have had a tremendous six months and experienced some serious ups and downs, but knowing that David is a constant makes everything manageable. It is rare to know that you have someone who will be there regardless of what happens and this is something I treasure in our relationship. As my husband always says, we are our family now. And that’s exactly how it feels.

The Year of Fun has been amazing! We have traveled, explored, lived it up, celebrated with friends, spent time with family, let go of stress, and enjoyed each other and our time alone to the fullest. And the best part about letting go and doing only what we want is that it has brought us success and joy. A few months ago I received a promotion to a new and exciting position and my husband is in the process of negotiating a new job offer as well! Being members of a DINK (Double Income No Kids) household is a benefit that we are enjoying to the fullest!

After my post on Newlyweight, my husband woke up one morning and told me he wanted to focus on weight loss and get ready in case (after the Year of Fun) we move towards having the tiny tots. So, we did! I am happy to say that we have lost almost 20 pounds as a couple – we’re moving slow and steady in this regard, but the good news is that we are moving. David has started playing basketball again and I decide to run randomly as always, but we are making progress. The clothes fit again, woo hoo!

And one more update – my husband found his ring. He came clean about leaving it on the fruit stand and I decided to be kind and give it back to him. He has not forgotten it since.

Finally, a note on the blog itself. This began as an outlet for me to discuss the challenges and adventures of the first year of marriage, and I want to thank you for all of your support and feedback. Please continue to comment and helpful hints are more than welcome. I really appreciate your thoughts on marriage, as they only help us all succeed. And I wanted to let you know that I have decided (with the support of my amazing husband) to continue the blog after the first year. After all, David and I are just two little freshmen in the high school of marriage. Doesn’t it get a lot more exciting after that? 

Thanks for reading!

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...