Tag Archives: marriage

Healthy Love: Your Heart, Your Mind, Your Body

I have some great news! Well, I have some great news if you are in love. (If you are not currently in love, I offer some great news for the future, when you are back in love.) Being in love is not only good for your Friday nights, it’s also good for your body, your mind, and your lifelong health! On the Huffington Post this week, Laura Schocker wrote a piece called “This is Your Body on Love.” I loved the piece and the hopefulness it gave me for the future. Let’s recap.

1. Your heart is healthier!
According to a recent research study in Finland, cardiac “events,” meaning heart attacks, heart disease, and blood clots, are much more common in unmarried men and women. Up to sixty-six percent more common, in fact. Obviously factors such as eating healthy and exercising regularly will also increase your chances of heart happiness, but it certainly won’t help to have a partner by your side, as well.

Furthermore, the magazine Psychological Science reported that “having a supportive spouse” was associated with hardened arteries, as well as the fact that happily married people are three times more likely to survive surgery after major heart operations.

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Posted on February 27, 2024 by Jessica Tholmer

Running into the Lucky One: Real Couples Who Fell in Love at the Gym

This week’s FitCrypt is filled with fitness love. No, it is not a story about people falling in love with a particular workout! Instead, it’s about people who’ve met at the gym, a marathon, triathlon, or while exercising.

From personal experience I’ve seen some attractive people at the gym, and there are probably some head turners in your neck of the woods too. People don’t go to the gym for the sole purpose of meeting their future husband or wife. But some people actually happen to bump into their significant other while working on their fitness regimen. The next two stories from Catherine and Rick running into their lucky one give hope that finding your significant other while working out is a likely chance.

Three years ago this month, Catherine met Jason at the 10K on Shelter Island in New York. She first noticed how handsome Jason was, but there was more to him then just his looks that reeled Catherine in. (more…)

Posted on June 12, 2023 by Samantha

In February, Men Must Face the Facts of Heart Disease, too

Heart disease happens when a number of ‘risk factors’ add up. Some of the risks – gender, genetics and age – are uncontrollable; but others – smoking, inactivity, excess weight, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes – are within our control. The key to preventing heart disease is to eat a healthy diet, get regular exercise, maintain a healthy weight, and take medications as prescribed. Use this Heart Attack Risk Assessment from the American Heart Association to find your risk for heart disease.

Men Need Help

Women take much better care of themselves. They might be programmed in to the system through OB-GYN care or maybe it’s taking care of the kids, but women visit their doctors for checkups, while men do not.

Over the past ten years, men have gotten fatter while women have stayed the same. In 2000, 27.5% of men were obese, but in 2024, it was 35%. In women, the obesity level remained stable at 33%. Along with obesity, men have more diabetes and high blood pressure, which places them at much greater risk. To their credit, men now smoke and binge drink less and they’re a bit more active. (1) (more…)

Posted on February 7, 2024 by Natalie K

Empty Calories Comic: Affordable Personal Trainer

See more Empty Calories right here in the blog each week, or receive one each month when you subscribe to our free newsletter. (more…)

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Health Buzz

Married Couples Less Apt to Exercise Than Singles

When you say your vows in marriage, maybe the most famous part is “in sickness and in health”… Unfortunately, there may be a little more sickness than health, since research shows that we married types don’t exercise as much as people who are single.

A poll commissioned by the UK Department of Health found that married couples are much less likely to get in the two and half hours of weekly physical activity recommended by UK health experts than singles are.

Twenty-seven percent of the adults who were questioned met exercise guidelines. Women beat the men by 10 percent as more likely than men to stay fit. When you considered those people who were married, 76 percent of the men and 63 percent of the women did not meet the recommended fitness level. (more…)

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Jason

Do Skinnier Wives Make for Happier Marriages?

A recent study found that marriages tend to be more successful in unions where the wife is thinner than the husband. Many women will scoff at this theory but the study raises some interesting questions.

It’s unclear why relative weight plays such a large role in the happiness of a marriage. One theory is that women, coined the “fairer sex”, are expected to be dainty and small in order to be considered beautiful. Likewise, large and muscular men are projected to be powerful. When a woman appears small in relation to a man, it gives off an image of beauty versus power. However, if this theory holds up, then other factors could easily project power besides size. Career potential, education and personality can all be symbols of power for men. These can, in turn, foster feelings of security in women and fulfill both partners’ needs without projecting physical expectations.

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Posted on July 23, 2023 by Theresa

Strained Marriages Have Worse Effect on Women’s Health

An article written on U.S. News & World Report online discussed a very interesting study that found an unhappy marriage had worse effects on women’s health than their male counterparts.

It’s well documented in research that men and women in “strained” marriages (characterized by chronic arguing and anger) are more likely to be depressed than happier partners/couples. Also, research indicates that women in these argumentative and anger-filled relationships are more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar (also known as indicators of Metabolic Syndrome, which is a big leader of various chronic diseases), which increases their likelihood of heart disease. (more…)

Posted on March 10, 2024 by Kinsey