Opposites attract

When people find out I am married, I'm often asked, "So, do you and your hubby hit the gym a lot together?" I usually mumble something about how exercise is "me time" (which it is) or that Brad's work schedule doesn't always align with my own (which is also true), but the fact of the matter is that tagging along with me to the gym is not high on his list of priorities. Don't get me wrong - my husband looks great, thanks to a physically demanding job (his favorite line is, "I don't like to work out - I like to work") as well as his penchant for climbing the nearest rock, tree or building facade a la Spiderman. But trying to convince him to join me as I sweat it out in the weight room only amounts to me wasting my time and breath.

But where our relationship really gets complicated is our eating habits. While I admit that I do indulge occasionally - okay, maybe a bit more than occasionally - in sugar-coated confections, my husband seems to have created his own four food groups: white sugar, butter, processed cheese spread, and the most important of them all, bacon. Seriously, I have seen this man down an entire box of saltines in one sitting and proudly call it a meal.

Despite our differences, he's truly my best friend and ideal partner. (Cue mushy rom-com soundtrack.) In fact, if I had someone who was as stringent about exercise as I am to call my other half, I might frankly go insane. And the winds of change, they are a-blowing: A few weeks ago, while stocking our shelves with our latest grocery store purchases, Brad shook his head in dismay. "I never really knew how much sodium there was in everything until you started pointing it out," he said under his breath, quite likely mourning the loss of his dietary innocence. Score one for the nagging wife!

So here's my question: Does your lifestyle align with your significant other's, or even your best friend's? Do you find their habits rub off on you, or do you try to change them toward your way of thinking? What's best for your relationship in the long run? Let me know!

Here's Brad and I, doing one of our many "outdoor-themed" getaways - this time it was zip lining. In a few weeks, we plan on trying cave climbing. Hey, it's not the gym, but we sure are moving!