I’ve always been a pretty disciplined person. I’m sure it’s just part of my wiring. Because of that, I’ve always been disciplined about my health.
My husband is also a pretty disciplined person—but health was never apart of that equation. He is one of those people who can eat anything and not gain a single pound. Fast forward 13 years into marriage and his metabolism has finally slowed down. With both of us starting to age, it became time to think about our health for the long haul.
Why a Healthy Marriage is Important
Most of us have a decent idea of what it means to have a healthy marriage in terms of finances or religion. But have you thought about having a healthy marriage when it comes to taking care of your physical body?
We’ve personally faced many difficult passages in our marriage when it comes to financial loss and parenting woes. Those things affected our marriage, but so have health choices. When one of us doesn’t feel good about ourselves, then it affects the other person.
When I’m not healthy, I don’t feel confident. Which means, I don’t initiate intimacy. It’s hard to be intimate when you don’t feel confident in your own skin. It’s easy to feel like you’re not on the same page when you’re trying to lose a few pounds, but he doesn’t mind eating ice cream every night.
I want to encourage you to put effort towards improving the health of your marriage by taking action with your physical health—together.
Here is what we’ve been doing that has helped us be on the same page with our health.
We have a plan.
My husband and I follow a gluten-free and dairy-free diet. I’m celiac, which means I can’t have gluten, and he’s allergic to dairy. So all of our meals reflect those restrictions.
We encourage each other to make healthy choices. We work in our strengths, which means I’m better at meal planning. I figure out what we both can eat and love to eat. Then, we make a plan.
We do this together.
There is no short-order cooking. We both practice intermittent fasting. That means we eat in an eight-hour window. It’s easier to do this when we are on the same page.
In January, we did a month long fast from sugar. When you do these things together, you have accountability. Building in health and fitness into your marriage is often approached as a solo thing, but there is power in accountability.
When it comes to exercise, we try to take walks together. This not only helps our physical bodies but it is a great way to connect with each other. Treat this time as a date. A time to connect with no other distractions.
Be a Health Cheerleader
Making health in your marriage a priority isn’t always easy. It’s not easy to say no to certain foods or drinks in order to say yes to health.
But it certainly makes it easier when you have each other encouraging each other to make healthy choices.
When you take care of your health together, you’ll find that you are not only becoming physically stronger but you are making your marriage stronger.
