“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.”
~John Donne

No matter how much you’ve worked on your self-control you cannot deny that people in your life influence you. We happen to be the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with.

Spend one half of your time with your 4 friends and the other half with your spouse? It follows that you’ll be even more susceptible to influence from your spouse. This assimilation can lead to a blossoming healthy relationship, or take us into a downward spiral of self.

I’m personally not married, but I know how much time I spend with my girlfriend alone, and I observe how my parents and the parents of all my friends functions together. No where do I see couples where one person has a crap diet while the other is super healthy. With that said, let’s take a look at ways that we can get fit with our spouses.

1. Walk it out: The recommended minimum exercise is 3 times a week at 30 minutes a pop (depending on who you ask). You can take that a step further and go for walks after dinner or before bed every day of the week. A great time to talk and bond as well.
2. Couple’s sport: Find a couples sport, such as tennis, basketball, volleyball, etc. that you can play against with another couple you are friends with. This will encourage cooperation and teamwork strategies, which you’ll apply to other areas of your life, all while getting fit!
3. Crafting healthy meals: Getting caught without a healthy meal is like getting caught with your pants off (not from personal experience). Take the time to figure out who is going to be preparing what healthy meals so that you aren’t caught off guard with nothing healthy and forced to eat fast food.
4. Tossing the junk: If there’s no junk food in the house, you aren’t going to eat junk food in the house. Not keeping junk food in the house is a team effort if I’ve ever seen one. Make that decision together and keep healthy snacks like fruits, nuts, yogurts, and berries.
5. Enrolling your goals: If you have a certain weight loss or physical fitness goal don’t keep it to yourself. Keeping it to yourself is a sure fire way of losing motivation. On the other hand, if you share your goals with your significant other, they can keep you accountable and remind you when you’re slacking.
6. Sleep together: This isn’t what it sounds like (unless you want it to). Get on the same sleeping schedule so that neither of you is waking the other up. This will allow your body to function optimally, maximizing your sleep, and maximizing the use of your circadian rhythm.
7. Motivate (read: not criticize): There is a fine line between motivating your partner and making them feel like poop. The self-esteem has much to do with how we’re going to treat our bodies. Be kind, compassionate, and loving- this will help them grow into their goals instead of into those big clothes.

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Side note: I’m in the middle of finals week to finish up my master’s degree. I won’t be writing much through the 15th, but this is a great opportunity to write a guest article for this site if you have been thinking about it. It would mean getting your self-improvement message out to thousands of readers as well as getting some exposure for your site if you have one. Contact me, or check contribute page for details.