Fitness 2013

[crazy canuck]

My goal.  To be able to play full court by May - and dunk over those whippersnappers!

[merithyn]

My goal.  To be able to play full court by May - and dunk over those whippersnappers!

Don't you just have to stand up straight to dunk it?

I have faith. You'll be beating the boys in no time!

[Drakken]

This year's aim: finally reaching the six-pack club by April.

[mongers]

Not doing a great deal at the mo, though did manage to pop down to the sea late this afternoon, nice little 20 mile trip, slightly below freezing on the way back.   

[merithyn]

Walked 4 miles and ran a mile over the course of the day.

[Brazen]

Getting into the lunchtime workout thing - swimming yesterday and 5K run down by the Thames today.

[mongers]

Man, this thread is dying on it's arse already and it's not yet February. 

Actually managed to get out and do 20 km whilst doing some shopping.


A new target to another 270 miles by the end of February, which'll mean I've done 10,000 miles in the last 24 months.

[MadImmortalMan]

I'll have to post these two together:

Heavy hearts: 'Mixed-weight' couples argue more


By Lisa Flam

When Betsy Schow shed 75 pounds, she also eliminated a lot of stress in her marriage.

She and her husband, Jarom, talked to TODAY about their experience as a "mixed-weight couple," in which one partner is overweight and the other isn't. Heavy all her life, she met Jarom in college during a "skinny period," gained 25 pounds by their wedding in 2000 and was unhappy five years later when her weight reached 220 pounds.

Mixed-weight couples, especially those in which the woman is overweight, argue more and have more feelings of anger and resentment than same-weight couples, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week, citing a study published last month in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. The extra conflict can cause problems with intimacy and communication.

In an unscientific online survey of more than 1,500 TODAY.com readers, 55 percent say weight differences have caused problems in their relationship.

Poll: Has weight caused problems in your relationship?

Betsy's unhappiness with her weight strained the couple's marriage, with fights and periods of frustration and even talk of splitting up. But she lost 75 pounds in 10 months, their marriage grew stronger and she wrote a book published earlier this month titled, "Finished Being Fat."

The Alpine, Utah, couple discussed their journey on TODAY Thursday.

Betsy, 31, recalled the period in her life when her whole world centered around eating and her weight.

"It's something I call 'fat goggles,'" she told Savannah Guthrie. "It's like beer goggles except with fat."

"Everything revolved around weight, whether I was gaining, whether I was losing," she said. "What we eat, what we could do together. Whether I would let him touch me because I was afraid secretly that he was disgusted, or did not want to go out because he was embarrassed by me."

Jarom struggled with how to help his wife reach her goal of slimming down.

"It's really hard to encourage somebody to eat healthier without that coming off as nagging," said Jarom, 36.
"If I'm saying, 'Let's skip dessert' or 'Maybe we shouldn't order the dessert,' then she's automatically going to feel bad about that and focus on her weight and her self image."

Some of their toughest times came when Jarom made comments to his wife that he has not lived down since. Several times, according to the Journal, he asked her to change her outfit, saying: "That's not made for someone your size, Sweetheart," and once, when she was trying to spice up their love life with a playful, naked dance, Jarom told her: "I guess you are one of those people who looks better with clothes on."  Ed: Doh!

Jarom acknowledged to Guthrie, "I opened my mouth without thinking and I think I've regretted it ever since."

Things got so bad that Betsy considered leaving her husband.

"I wanted a way out," she told Guthrie. "I figured, maybe if I could escape, I could be somebody else, because nobody would know me and I could try again and maybe I'd be successful that time. I was tired of feeling unloved and broken and thought maybe that was the way out."

Researchers don't know which comes first in a relationship, conflict or weight gain, as the cycle often feeds itself when relationship stress leads to eating and more stress. They key for mixed-weight couples, one expert says, is for partners to work together.

"You have to figure out how you can let your partner help you and not get angry at them, and that's the hardest part," says psychiatrist and TODAY contributor Dr. Gail Saltz. "If you do it as a team, the person who is overweight feels supported."

Jarom agreed, saying that after he was diagnosed with diabetes and had to watch his own diet, he gained the ability to relate to his wife's struggle. "It's better as a couple if you can make those decisions about eating together," he said.

Betsy's best advice for dealing with the issue is to for the overweight partner to look inward.

"You have to focus not just on the outside but on the inside and on that negative little voice that tells you, 'You can't, you're fat,'" she said. To spouses who are tempted to criticize an overweight partner, she advised, just don't: "I guarantee that the person who is heavy says so much worse things to themselves and you need to stop that dialog and move on."

In this dude's case, his girlfriend's hard work didn't seem to motivate him much. Or maybe he's just a serious hardgainer and she lost her weight way too fast. If I were him, I'd have been busting my ass too:

My boyfriend started dating me when I weighed over 200 pounds and wore a size 16... He has always thought I've been beautiful, but he was a large part of what motivated me to get my fitness in check. He is an AMAZING guy and deserved a gorgeous piece of arm candy.

Goes to that that when you love someone for WHO THEY ARE and not how they look in a bikini... you may just be their motivation to get in shape so you can show them off

[Eddie Teach]

She and her husband, Jarom,

Typo? 

[Maladict]

Man, this thread is dying on it's arse already and it's not yet February. 

Actually managed to get out and do 20 km whilst doing some shopping.


A new target to another 270 miles by the end of February, which'll mean I've done 10,000 miles in the last 24 months.

I'm at 60km total which is fairly pathetic, even for indoor cycling only. 

[mongers]

Not doing much, just the occasional pootle, though plenty of mud which makes things fun. 

[Zanza]

Going to climb Table Mountain tomorrow. Will be interesting to seder how hard that is.

[mongers]

Going to climb Table Mountain tomorrow. Will be interesting to seder how hard that is.

Wow, jealous.   

Have a nice trip/climb and enjoy the summer view. 

[Zanza]

The weather was so bad the cable car did not even run. Made it to the top anyway, in just over an hour which is pretty quick I think. Climbed Lion's head as well, so I did 13 km and 1200 height meters up and down in 4.5 hours. :-)

[mongers]

The weather was so bad the cable car did not even run. Made it to the top anyway, in just over an hour which is pretty quick I think. Climbed Lion's head as well, so I did 13 km and 1200 height meters up and down in 4.5 hours. :-)

Excellent.