Today, like many days, someone heard that my husband is a personal trainer. “Wow,” she says. “You’re really lucky. Does he train you?”
I can tell from the look in her eye that she is picturing me enjoying invigorating early morning work-out sessions. She sees my husband leading me through an intense series of exercises, praising my effort, gently pointing out a break in form. She imagines that afterward we sit down to a breakfast of egg whites and spinach and green tea. We plan our meals for the day and how we’ll squeeze in some lunchtime cardio. Then, with food journals in hand, we head out to take on the day.
If that were reality, I might actually be as fit as my husband’s clients.
Unfortunately, my husband leaves first thing in the morning to train other people’s spouses. I am left to face the treadmill on my own. On a good day, I can muster the motivation to put in a couple miles of interval training before going through a series of upper body exercises. On a bad day, I sit on the floor sipping coffee and watching The Real Housewives between sets of crunches.
“Better than nothing,” I tell myself as I fold my work-out clothes and put them back on the shelf. No need to wash them when I haven’t come close to breaking a sweat.
But despite my often uninspired work-out efforts, I have been able to maintain a reasonable level of fitness…especially considering my age, my motherhood, my sometimes sedentary job and particular fondness for wine. Somehow, maybe my husband has “trained” me. But it is not the way you might think.
Living with a health professional creates a focus on fitness probably not found in all households. Being married to my husband, with his intense passion for his work, probably elevates that focus. So I do learn from the programs he has made for his clients. I do learn, sometimes begrudgingly, from the comments he makes about the meals I create. And having a mini-gym in my home has made working-out, if not easier, at least more accessible.
So this is my blog, my journal, my lessons from my life as The Wife of someone who lives a really fit life.
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