My wife in no uncertain terms called me fat the other day.
It stung, it really did.
I know that I have put on some weight since I got married, forty pounds to be exact. It’s been a gradual gain, but one that I am fully aware of. Like a lot of people that have gained weight we have a warped idea of what we look like. I still look at myself in the mirror and see the person that I was when I got married in 2000. Am I completely happy with that man in the mirror? The answer is no.
My wife obviously sees me differently than I do.
The sting of those words will be something that lives with me. The truth is, up until this point I have been extremely lazy with my health while my wife busts her ass everyday to make herself look better than she did 12 years ago. She still looks like that hot young chick I married back then. I know that I am not alone amongst my brethren. I see a lot of guys my age that have put on a few pounds since they were married and they usually have a wife that maintains her good looks. Nobody I know is in a relationship where that is reversed. Look around, there are not too many fat women married to really good looking guys.
It doesn’t seem fair does it?
I know that I should have a daily goal to be in better shape than the day before and that I should want to look good for my wife. But that hasn’t been the case. The truth is I do need other goals to get myself in shape, something to strive for in the future. A year ago I was part of a website called Dadfit, the idea was that a bunch of dads would look out for each other and we would all get in better shape. We all talked a good game about how we needed to be healthy for our kids and our wives, some of us actually were at it about a month… then it died. We all had a goal, but there really wasn’t something to shoot for.
I don’t know if anyone maintained their fitness program, the only thing that I know is the last post was July 4th of this year. Somewhere we all gave up, again. I have set a goal. I was never a runner, I never wanted to be a runner, in fact I hate running, but my wife has been looking for someone to run a half marathon in May. I think I might just step in and do it.
If she can see me crossing the finish line after 13.1 miles, maybe, just maybe she might not see me as this fat guy, but as the man she married 12 years ago. I’m not doing this just for me… I’m doing this for us.