That Four Letter Word Called Love

There’s this adorable picture that sits on the fridge in our apartment which serves as a constant reminder of how much thinner I used to be. It’s a photo taken at Disneyland hours after running my first half marathon. Perhaps it was that I’d burned off so many calories during the run that I’d looked thinner but the reality was that I’d put on a few pounds. What happened? A sweet four letter word called LOVE.



Teacups at Disneyland after the Disneyland Half Marathon, September 2010

Okay, I can’t completely blame my significant other. He supports me running marathons and doesn't get mad when we go out to eat and I take five minutes to tell the waitress/er how I want everything on the side. I will say though that the common denominator to many people’s weight gain is the feeling of complacency in a relationship. I vowed never to be the type of woman who let herself go and I’m not saying that I have. I still dress up when we go out but instead of just ordering a salad like I used to, I’ll have a salad and dessert. These little bouts of splurging tend to add up most on the scale.

I shared my unhappiness about this with my boyfriend who also said he’d been feeling a bit disappointed in himself. We both admitted that we’ve splurged a bit more since we'd been together. In his defense, his work schedule changed and if I don’t cook something at home, he’s subjected to late night fast-food. I really have no defense other than that I’d developed the “I run therefore I can eat,” mentality that I’ve mentioned here before. It's a viscious cycle..we have a bad habit of getting motivated to work out and eat right but aren’t consistent. We revealed to each other how much we’d weighed when we first met and how much we weigh now. It wasn’t pretty. Between the both of us, we were pushing a combined total of almost 40 pounds gained. We talked about what we could do together and our biggest challenges are our schedules and going out with friends.

So as of today, we’ve agreed to join 24 Hour Fitness and do a better job of being more mindful of what we eat. I've been a loyal LA Fitness member for many years but I made the switch to accommodate his schedule and sacrifice a little bit of sleep for us to work out after he gets home from work. We’ve been down this road before so I am skeptical but my plan is to set little goals for ourselves along the way to keep us motivated. My first goal is hitting my next weight range and rewarding myself with a Garmin which I’ve always wanted. So let’s hope my next post is me talking about my Garmin or if not that just yet, our progress along the way.