Our Fat Story

Every fat person has a story: when you first started getting fat, how bad it made you feel, how you tried every diet and nothing worked ... each one has its own unique twists, but they're all pretty much the same. You started eating too much, exercising too little, and there you are with excess weight and a ton of pressure to lose it.

We're a fat couple, so we each have our own stories, of course. But together, Mr. and Mrs. (Jay and Susan) took our own fat fork in the road when we started dating in 2001. Rather than introducing our healthier habits to each other, we infected each other with bad habits, such as eating ice cream every night (Susan's) and huge helpings of mac 'n' cheese (Jay's).

Plus, we both tended toward laziness--neither of us was particularly active or adventurous--so a couple at rest tends to stay at rest. On the couch. In front of the TV. It's a law of physics!

As we fell in love and eventually got married, we also packed on the pounds. Ordering pizza for delivery went from a special occasion to the weekly norm. Our membership to the YMCA went completely unused. Our waistlines expanded, and we felt bad about it--but didn't really do much to stop the growing trend.

Before our daughter came into the picture, we made one (temporarily) successful attempt to lose weight. In 2004, we adopted the South Beach Diet lifestyle for about 9 months and slimmed down for a while. But after Susan got pregnant in 2005, we both started gaining again in a major way. KFC for dinner--those darned cravings! Ice cream for a snack--the baby needs calcium.

After Cassie was born, we didn't have those excuses for overeating and being inactive. We had new ones, though. We were tired from working and taking care of her. Being working parents is stressful, and trying to be healthy on top of that is just too much. That's what we told ourselves.

Until lately. In the past few months, we've both been talking about how we need to make serious changes. Being fat is negatively affecting our lives in countless ways--which are clearly not outweighed by the fleeting enjoyment of eating brownies or lying on the couch.

Recognizing how difficult it will be for us to totally overhaul our lifestyle, we thought it might help to wait until after the gluttonous holidays (like the rest of America). But we also hoped writing a blog about our experience might be just the motivation we need to get through it.

Even if the only people who read Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit are our moms and close friends, we'll know people are paying attention to our progress. We can't easily slide back into our old ways, unnoticed except by each other. Plus, we might even gain a few supporters along the way. Maybe it will even be like a marathon, where cheers from the crowd help us float along to the finish line.

In any case, we hope this blog helps us and couples like us to live healthier. Stay tuned as the marathon begins...