Couples Weigh In

Oh sure it all starts out innocently enough, splitting desserts on date one, sharing a pizza on date two, and next thing you know it’s hey if you order 10 orders of Chinese take-out you get the 11^th one free! Dating and dining have always gone hand in hand, especially in New York where most social activities involve 'œgrabbing a drink' or 'œlet’s get dinner and catch up'. Once you reach the comfortable stage of a relationship how do you avoid from becoming too comfortable.

Now you could say there’s those couples that jog together, cook vegan together, whatever have you but let’s be realistic here, we all get a little lazy. And none of the guilty parties want to bring up the delicate subject of the creeping weight gain. So what’s a girl or guy to do besides breaking up or investing in elastic suspended clothing? Hey kids the eighties are back!

When you’re in any relationship, your partner’s habits tend to rub off on you, (what you think I would watch Sci-fi on my own?) and eating habits tend to be the ones that really bite you in the ass. So how do you avoid this slippery slope of compulsive eating coupledom?

Step 1: Don’t eat just because the person you’re with is. I especially fall victim to this, because it’s awkward to watch someone eat while you’re just sitting there dicking around (note to self: take up smoking).

Step 2: Avoid late night snacking. Unless you’re looking for booze-addled nourishment or you haven’t kicked your one night a week gravity bong hit, there’s no need to make late night trips to the deli/pantry.

Step 3: Run away. Ok, that sounds drastic. What I really mean is, take some time for yourself. Everyone gets into their routines but it’s nice once in awhile to get some fresh air and some space. Talk a walk, ride your bike, downward dog, whatever the fuck you need to do, plus it will give your brain some nice zen time while burning calories in the process.

Step 4: Cook at home: Yeah yeah, it’s a recession and everyone’s doing this already or pretending to do it and tell their friends. And when I say cook at home, this does not mean boiling pasta or frying up some eggs. When you take the time to cook for yourself it becomes more about enjoying the process and experimentation and less about biding your time until the doorbell rings and shoveling said delivery food into your mouth while watching Lost re-runs. Although I’m not against doing this.

I’d give you more steps, but this is not AA, so good luck and remember, couples who weigh together stay together.