How do your partner’s eating habits affect you?

The first order of business: photo re-cap of the weekend.

Had another boot camp this weekend. Two new recruits came. Sweat was sweated. Groans were groaned. Puke was puked. All in all, good times.

Then after the boot camp we gathered at my parents’ house for a pool party. Unfortunately I cannot divulge the details of this pool party because…just because 😉

The second order of business: relationship weight. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Two people start dating and they gain weight. You know, because “they’re happy.” And happy usually means going out to eat, sitting around watching movies and cuddling and um…yeah. That’s pretty much it (not counting doing the nasty.) Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But when you first start dating someone it seems that leisure, fun and indulgences tend to trump other priorities. Some might argue that while in a relationship we’re also less motivated to “look good” in order to attract a partner, which translates to us becoming more lax about our healthy eating and exercising habits. In short, when we’re in the throes of love, we tend to eat more and move less. That’s my theory anyway.

I’ve never been the type to give up exercising and healthy eating because I have a boyfriend. My motivation to do those things transcends attracting a guy. I actually like being healthy. I did gain a little weight when I first started dating my boyfriend, but eventually I went back to my previous size. What I do struggle with is the introduction of someone else’s habits into my life. Like when they start coming over and buying food and leaving it here, food that I would never buy myself because I just can’t deal with the temptation. Like Fruity Pebbles and cookies.

I’m sure my boyfriend would appreciate me putting up this disclaimer: While he does sometimes buy junk food to eat at my place, I eat more of it than he does. If there is anything sweet in the house, it’s not going to last so long as I’m under the roof. Like I said, that’s why I don’t buy treats. He jokes that he has to have a secret cookie stash if he actually wants to enjoy any of the junk he buys.

He says that I should just…NOT EAT IT. Duh, right? Unfortunately it’s not that easy for me. I truly sympathize for mothers who are trying to eat healthy while avoiding a cabinet full of cereal, cookies and sugary carb goodness intended for their children. It’s hard. And it’s not really fair for me to ask him to stop eating that food (at least in my presence.)

I think people who live at home also have this problem with their parents. They’re trying to eat healthy, but if their parents do the shopping they buy whatever they want to buy, and it’s not usually the best stuff. I know when I go to my visit my parents’ I’d have to muzzle myself to stay away from the fried chicken and ice cream.

It can be a tricky situation. The only solution I have is to be an inspiration to your partner (and not a nag.) Start making better choices, and hopefully they’ll follow along. If eating healthy is really that important to you, then I’m sure you and your partner can come to some kind of agreement. I don’t forbid my boyfriend from bring junk food over. But when he does, I try to just eat a little and not go overboard. At the same time I think my healthy eating habits have rubbed off on him. When we go shopping together he is much more likely to buy healthy food that he likes rather than junk food. Either way, lucky for him he’s a skinny ass mofo who doesn’t have much of an appetite, so he doesn’t eat that much. Unfortunately that aspect of his eating personality has not rubbed off on me 😛

So, how have your partner’s eating habits affected you? Are you more likely to adopt their habits? What do you do when they don’t place as much importance on being healthy as you do?