Getting Your Spouse To Work Out and Eat Healthy

Today's Workout:

Easy 5 mile Run @ 9:51 Pace

Ahhh my husband. I love him dearly. After being married for going on 10 years, I've learned something important: You can't make other people do what you want. You may want them to exercise and eat healthy but they won't always do it. Within the last 5 years my husband has ripped both of his patellar tendons and since then he has been living a very inactive life style. He's always had a weakness for fried foods, and BBQ. Anything bacon is right up his ally too! When he's not at work he likes to vegetate on the couch all day and watch TV, with a beer in hand of course. These things are fine but only in moderation.

I can tell his unhealthy life style has been starting to catch up to him. He's gained weight and with us hitting 30 years old soon, it's only an amount of time it will effect his health (diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems ect.). When he does decide to work out it's just a phase for a few weeks leading up to a PRT. (Physical Readiness Training in the Military where they have to weight in and be able to do a run, sit up's and push up's within a certain amount of time). After he passes the PRT then it's back to his unhealthy lifestyle. I'm really concerned for him more then ever. I am PRAYING since I work out daily, eat clean and healthy that eventually my husband will give in. Leadership by example is honestly the only way to influence people.

Below is from an article I found online. I find some of it to be true. The last thing I want to do is nag my husband and have him resent me for wanting him to lose weight.

We all want our loved ones to live long healthy lives. So what do you do to help a spouse who isn't exercising?

Stop telling the truth! Don’t tell your spouse that people who don’t exercise have twice the risk of heart disease as moderately active ones – or that not being active ranks right up there with smoking as a health risk. Don’t tell your spouse that experts attribute 250,000 deaths each year to lack of regular physical exercise. Negatives and threats just do not motivate!

Humans work on the pleasure principle. Things that feel good attract; things that don’t, like criticism and scary statistics, repel. You can’t make another person change. They have to come to see the value of it themselves.

The trick is to be more of a friend than a drill sergeant. There are some definite dos and don’ts to keep in mind:

Try a little tenderness - Instead of nagging your partner to get moving, say, “I love you. Let’s take a walk and talk.” And instead of harping on how good exercise will make your spouse feel, talk about how good it makes you feel.

Start small and make it fun - You want your spouse to develop a habit, not prepare for the Olympics. Besides, too much too soon can lead to soreness and injury. Remember that 30 minutes of moving around everyday – walking, working in your garden, taking the stairs instead of the elevator – is all it takes to meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for physical activity.

Don't show off - If your spouse would like to work out with you, do the walking or biking at his or her pace, not yours. The one who’s getting started can be intimidated if the other one’s a real exerciser. You might want to look for a new, shared activity that puts the two of you on equal ground. Take up dancing or roller-skating – anything both of you can approach as novices.

Invest your time - If you’re serious about helping out, be prepared to devote more than your own workout time to a plan. Don’t scoff at the first sign of backsliding. Understand that relapses are common. The worst thing you can do is making your spouse feel guilty about slipping up. When a person feels guilty, he or she will resume old habits to cope. Your spouse may take months to establish a routine, and you need to hang in there until that happens. The benefits, like your marriage, will last a lifetime.