New fitness plan, new found motivation.  You go out and buy yourself workout clothes, join the gym and even get rid of (most) of the junk food at your house.  You're super focused on losing weight and are ecstatic about the 5 pounds you've lost.  Then you come home and your boyfriend... has ordered pizza! We all know where this is going.  If you are anything like me, you'll be bothered that he bought it, but your inner chubby kid will be jumping with joy knowing you are not letting all that deliciousness get away.

Before you know it, you've eased off your healthy eating, barely going to the gym and the pounds are back on.  I'm not saying you'll fall off the wagon by occasionally enjoying your favorite comfort foods (you gotta live too!); what I am saying is that without the support of your partner, your journey becomes that much harder.  According to psychological study at the University College London, just by convincing your partner to join you, you'll automatically have 42% more probability of sticking to your healthier lifestyle than those who are doing it alone!

Not only is it easier to stick to a healthy eating plan when you have that special person with you but working out becomes a lot more fun and it opens you up to trying new things.  I've been into working out for a few years now but it wasn't until last year that I really started to enjoy turning this into a  lifestyle.  As a couple, my boyfriend and I practice boxing (he's a boxing instructor so this is a must lol), we weight train, run together (slowly but steadily trying to learn to enjoy it), have gone rock climbing, take yoga classes (at an actual studio. I had only done it alone at home before), go for long walks across the Brooklyn Bridge and, most recently, we even joined a softball team.  If we didn't have each other to do this together, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been into trying or doing half these things.

If you're single, don't stress.  Find a close friend and become fitness partners.  Set a schedule of when you'll be meeting at the gym.  Go food shopping together, at first at least, until you both understand what you should be buying and what you should definitely be leaving behind.  Take your measurements, take progress pictures, and find ways to keep it exciting.  One good idea is to reward yourselves everytime you meet a goal.  Whether it's a cheat meal for having made it to the gym 5 times that week or a new gym outfit for having lost 5 pounds... Whatever it is, just have fun with it.  Before you know it, this will become your new lifestyle and you'll be loving it.  

Good luck!! 'Til next time lovelies.