Wedding season is just about over. Thousands of brides jumped the broom this past spring and summer and are presumably settling into the routine of life with their new hubbies.

Well, that same thing happened to me three and half years ago. And my waistline has never recovered.

I didn’t notice it until two of my co-workers asked me “So, Simone, are you still running?” I figured they were just interested in my fitness goals. But then another strange thing happened – all my pants began to shrink. The shrinking of my pants and the commenting co-workers lead me to consult the bathroom scale.

My Weight Gain Struggle…

The verdict: six months into our marriage, I had gained ten pounds.

Now, that may not sound like a lot…but I couldn’t understand where the extra weight came from. My weight has continued to climb. Initially, I blamed my husband’s metabolism.

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He can eat practically anything at any time and his waistline never budges. But if I so much as look at tater tots, the buttons start popping off my jeans. It turns out that I am not alone in my quest to understand post-wedding weight gain.

The Reasons for Wedding Weight Gain

One study reported, you are more likely to gain weight if you are happily married. (Take that skinny girls!) Fitness Magazine says that post-wedding weight gain is due largely to a combination of women changing their eating habits to match their spouses and lifestyle changes that are generally less active.

I can TOTALLY see that because, prior to getting married, I hardly remember planning dinner…except if I was having friends over. Now, our weekend activities include meal planning and most of our quality time together revolves around meals. My darling husband is convinced that we must eat dinner every. single. night.

I have been unable to sway him on this matter.

The Solution is Straight Forward, but It Ain’t Easy

The good news is that there is a way to combat this phenomenon. Based on research, the best way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories and burn up more calories than we consume.

I used the Live Strong Calorie Calculator to determine what my calorie intake should be. I also started a journal to keep track of my calories burned/consumed and I’m making some changes.

My personal goal is to lose the fifteen pounds I’ve gained since we got hitched by year end. Because if I continue to gain five pounds every year we’re married, by the time we celebrate our 50^th anniversary I will weigh 410 pounds.

And that is no bueno.

If you’d like to join me on this quest to reclaim our waistlines, post a note in the comment section. And we can keep each other accountable! I’ll give quick updates at the end of each of my posts and I’ll be looking to see how you are doing too.

BMWK: How else has your life changed since you said ‘I do’?