Sexercise

If you have been married for a while and are like most of us out there with a few children, then you have experienced the the combined loss of energy and fitness that often comes with typical life interruptions. And it is certainly understandable. Mortgage, career(s), childbirth, childcare, sleep-deprivation exhaustion, and family time are all bound to combine and collectively shift our focus off of marriage and personal fitness.

The question is, what to do about it? We love each other, but we are TIRED, and yes, also somewhat out of shape - years of kids, mess, and mortgage, largely in reverse order, has done this to us. We were so tired, in fact, that a few years ago we decided to assign an arbitrary weekday as an obligatory date night so that we would, in fact, have a literal commitment to a romantic evening.

Which weekday, are you wondering, did we choose?

Garbage day, of course.

However pathetic you might find this, consider the following: Recycling is only every other week in our town and equating sexual escapades with the night the girls have kiddie cheer class just seems, well, perverse!

So Garbage Day it is...

This solved issue number one, making time for romance. But it unfortunately did not address our fitness issue.

My dear husband has enjoyed a serious advantage in the weight and fitness department as his nervous energy keeps him at a mostly healthy weight regardless of what he puts in his mouth. He can no longer eat a whole Carvel ice cream cake without consequences, as he did in his twenties, but he can certainly pack it in. However, our intelligent MD was insightful enough to give him the speech during his current check-up about exercise and the desire to avoid a future of hardening arteries.

The only problem with this is that the most exercise DH has really ever had were a few fraternity puke runs in college, and his brief semi-annual liaisons with our trusty high-end under-used treadmill.

I initially tried everything to motivate him, from getting him up early in the morning with a glass of OJ and the news on in front of the treadmill, to giving him that coveted male "alone time" when he first arrived home from work to blow off some steam during his workout. I even researched gyms with company and insurance discount programs, to no avail. Seems TIRED was winning out more often that not. After a while I noticed that when I'd suggest a workout, he'd often reply, "I can't tonight, I have a headache".

The fact is, we both needed some motivation.

One afternoon, on the phone with a girlfriend who shared a similar complaint, I had an epiphany. Why not combine the drudgery of exercise with the promise of a romantic evening? Every night of solid workout equates to one really solid night of romance. Sexercise. Interpret this as you wish.

Try it, and let me know how it works for you!