One way to romance each other is to make future plans and goals together. Choose to do things together. This reinforces your desire to stay with one another. This is both comforting and reinforcing.

To take things a step further, take action to make sure you are around to fulfill that commitment. Our way of life can be filled with health obstacles–poor diets, eating at the wrong times of day, sedentary lifestyles, and encouragement to always have more. My wife and I are both overweight and have lots of reasons to explain such. Last year when my doctor told me that since I was now over fifty years old and borderline diabetic and elevated (but not high) blood pressure, I could either lose twenty pounds or he could put me on medication. I was quite motivated to lost the twenty pounds, and did so within the month. However, at 5’10″ tall and 248 pounds, I was still overweight. I realized that I was setting myself up for failure. Though my wife didn’t complain about my spare tire, she would probably prefer my not only looking better, but also being healthier so that we could plan more time together–not for next week or next month, but for decades to come. She is a wonderful cook, so her preparing meals is one of her favorite ways to show me how much she loves me. Conversely, I love to take her out to nice dinners to spoil her. These are wonderful ways that we each try to “earn it” but it has become out of balance. We need to focus more on exercising to allow ourselves to be around for each other in the long term. Today she joined Jenny Craig and also paid for me to join. We will now have prepared, measured meals to limit our caloric intake. What a wonderful way for her to show me that she loves me!

For years I have chosen to multi-task for my exercise. I walk our dog, while listening to podcasts about publishing or audio books about business or relationships, while pumping two ten-pound weights for 45 minutes. In this manner I get a lot done, but my wife is even more important to me. I have now invited her to join me. I’ll pull out my headphones and talk with her on our shared walks. We may keep up the same route that allows me to walk our dog off his leash, or we will sometimes choose unique and more scenic routes to mix things up. This will also allow for a time for us to focus on each other while catching up on what is new with each other. What a loving way to share time now and to also become more fit to make sure we can be there for each other in the future. It’s estimated that we should walk 10,000 steps per day. Are you close to that goal? How could you share time with a loved one while also preparing yourselves for future fitness together?