By Marisa Torrieri, Health
When George and I met in 2011 on a blind date, we were instantly
attracted to each other, although there’s a 20-year age difference
between us. But our shared passion for fitness was so strong that it
kind of made our ages irrelevant.
We immediately dug the idea of working out together, so soon after we began dating, he started tagging along with me to my circuit-training class at Barry’s Bootcamp in New York City. We like to say the foundation of our relationship formed there.
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I was completely caught off guard when, at the end of class one
morning, he proposed to me while I was still standing on a treadmill. It
was absolutely perfect, and we were stoked to begin the next phase of
our lives together.
Fast forward a few years, and we’re married
and I’m pregnant with our son, Mason. We kept up our workouts, although I
experienced the usual lags of pregnancy. George was very supportive—he would go to Barry’s with me and run slow because I would run slow.
Over
the course of the pregnancy, being a fit couple in New York
unintentionally became our personal brand. So one day on a lark, we
opened the Instagram channel @NYCfitfam
and started chronicling our lives. We meant for it to be our little
hobby. But then people started following us. The next thing we knew, we
had more than 24,000 followers.
We saw our surprising popularity
as a sign that we could help others by sharing our ideas on fitness,
nutrition, and staying healthy in a relationship. We’re not dieticians,
doctors, or personal trainers—we’re just two parents trying to balance
quality time together with our nearly 2-year-old son and super-busy
careers (I’m in PR, and George is in marketing). And we’re trying to
inspire others through @NYCfitfam to do the same.
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But
it isn’t always easy. When Mason was born in 2015, I had no idea what
to expect, both in terms of how quickly I’d recover from his birth and
how we should integrate fitness into our lives. The one piece of advice
we heard over and over again was “make sure you have date night.” So we
felt obligated to hire a sitter for several hours and eat big, fancy
meals. While we enjoy eating out now and then, we weren’t getting the
workouts, or the connection, we so badly craved in our first venture as
parents together.
So we decided we’d
need to flip the switch on “date night” by shifting our romantic time to
the mornings. Instead of hiring sitters to watch Mason from 6 p.m. to
10 p.m., we started hiring sitters to watch Mason from 6 a.m to 10 a.m.
This allowed us to go jogging, enter road races together, and take fun,
new fitness classes. Most importantly, it allowed us to spend time
together in the way that made the most sense to us, without all the
empty calories.
That said, we’ve learned a lot navigating fit parenthood together.
The most important thing to me, as a wife and a mom, is that I have a
partner who shares childcare responsibilities. George is happy to stay
home with Mason so I can get a workout in, and I do the same for him.
In
terms of advice for new parents, the first thing I'd suggest is to
plan. If George and I don’t calendar everything, none of it is
happening. We have decided that work comes first at this time in our
lives, but fitness and wellness is a close second. We’re no good to our
bosses and ourselves if we don’t work out—but we need to plan ahead when
to do it.
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Also,
go outdoors as much as possible. The one place everyone is happy is
outdoors, whether it’s walking or running or popping your kid in the jogging stroller. Sometimes it also helps to set a goal together, whether it’s running a 5K or even going on a vacation where you have to wear a bathing suit, so you're more likely to do something active in the water.
Finally, stay open minded to trying new activities together. George is a really good sport—he comes to a barre
class or a yoga class sometimes even if it isn’t his thing. We like to
share with each other what lights the other person's fire. Trying new
things is a fun way to ignite passion. And with classes, there’s a start
and end time, and that helps you get your butt there. There’s also a
built in community there, so if you keep going, you’ll start to make fit
friends.
