Relationship has healthful side effects

In the past few months around the office we’ve been the beneficiaries of suggestions on how to be healthier, mostly by way of an easel and posters with lists of local restaurants that serve healthy lunch options and with ways to reduce stress.

It’s an admirable move by the Bangor Daily News’ Wellness Committee, but with the sign pretty darn close to the break room, where the soda and chips and Twinkies are located, I tend to walk past the board with some measure of guilt.

On my way to buy a bottle of water – that’s healthy, right? – earlier this week I noticed a new list on display. Some of my co-workers had posted the ways they work on their own wellness.

Along with suggestions such as cutting sugar and swimming laps at the Bangor Y was something that sparked my interest.

One of my co-workers had written, “I got a boyfriend – need I say more?”

My co-worker had only signed her initials on the board, so I’ll give her some anonymity, too, although most of us around here may be able to figure out who it is.

Before I pulled her aside to talk to her about how and why she felt healthier with a boyfriend, I contemplated my own habits when I’ve been in a relationship.

The times I’ve had boyfriends, I’ve tended to conform my habits to theirs. Oh, does he have time for lunch today? I’ll just cut back on the time I spend at the gym in the morning. Is he coming over for dinner? Better find that lasagna recipe and throw together some brownies for dessert.

As a single person, my time is my own. I can linger at the gym and there’s no pressure to cook some fabulously rich meal for dinner.

But after listening to my co-worker’s explanation of how her boyfriend has helped her be healthy, I have to admit she has a strong point to make.

Having a boyfriend, she believes, is better for the body, mind and soul.

“I’m happy, so I feel more confident,” she said with a big smile on her face.

That, and her boyfriend is all about exercise and healthful eating. The couple has been going to the gym together a few times a week and aside from a brief layoff she has kept it up, even going alone when her boyfriend took a second job.

She has lost nine pounds, about a pound a week since they started their routine.

“He’s a gym fanatic and I’m a lazy couch potato,” she said. “Just getting up off the couch was hard for me. … Now I like the feeling I get after I work out.”

They also cook dinner together. He’s into whole grains, fresh vegetables and doesn’t like to eat processed foods. He doesn’t like to eat after 9 p.m.

They eat lunch together every day, too, which my co-worker said has been a big change. Pre-boyfriend, she said, lunch was a quick trip for fast food or pizza. Now it’s leftovers from dinner the night before, which is usually something healthful.

Her boyfriend also encourages her to eat breakfast every day, which she hasn’t done in the past.

And here’s the really great part, in addition to her weight loss – my co-worker is a diabetic and she has noticed lately she hasn’t needed as much insulin because she’s eating less.

Her boyfriend has also caused ripples in my co-worker’s family. Her son hasn’t exactly been into the food changes around the house.

“He’s being tortured,” she said, laughing. “No more Hot Pockets, no more fast food, no more Taco Bell.”

But he has accepted it. And now that she has a gym membership, she can take her son for racquetball and swimming, which he loves.

Through it all, my co-worker said, her boyfriend has been supportive and loves her whether she goes to the gym or not, or has a piece of pizza for lunch.

It’s just that, she likes herself even more now. And she feels healthier.

“I want to look better for me and [he’s] an added benefit,” she said. “I’m happy and everyone tells me I’m happier. It’s weird, but it’s great.”

Jessica Bloch can be reached at jbloch@bangordailynews.net