The couple that eats together, well...
She Said: When Tony and I started dating, we were each in the best shape of our lives. I had spent a very dedicated few months losing approximately 40 lbs. I was eating well and exercising regularly, and I felt fantastic...so fantastic, I attracted myself a husband. Tony was also working out and eating well...and it showed! :) This was a common point of interest for us. At the beginning of our relationship, our desks were next to each other at the office. Our department was participating in a team-oriented healthy habits competition. Tony and I had fun supporting each other in the game and encouraging each other to exercise and eat healthy foods.
As our relationship developed, food remained, and still remains, an important part of our lives. Not only is eating together a bonding ritual in many cultures, we both love food. Not just food for food's sake, but good food. Tony's dad owns a restaurant and is, according to Tony, the best chef in the known world. I come from a long line of wonderfully talented home-kitchen cooks: meat-and-potatoes American fare on one side (don't forget the apple pie), succulent Carribean cuisine on the other (fried pork and all).
However, when we began seeing each other, I was highly motivated to maintain my slim body and healthy routine. When we went out to eat, I made a point of ordering South-Beach-Diet-compliant foods and he, for the most part, ate healthily as well. (Perhaps he was trying to impress me. Hmm.) But then came our honeymoon, and nothing's been the same since. We absolutely let loose for one week and somehow haven't been able to get completely back on track. I try. I'll be good for days, sometimes weeks. Then some delicious little treat will tempt me while, simultaneously, some stressor drops into my life and disrupts my routine. I'm realistic; I know this happens to people. But I've had it. I'm at my limit. It's not that we're anywhere near obese, but we're both wearing our fat pants which, for two people with sports injuries and bad joints, is not a good thing.
We're approaching our first anniversary, and I've gained back much of the weight I had lost. If I achieved my weight loss goals before, I know I can do it again. And if my hubby joins me, we can be successful in becoming healthier together.