Being Married to a Bodybuilder

Yes, that's right. I'm the wife of a bodybuilder. An amateur bodybuilder, but a bodybuilder none the less. I want to give you all a bit of an insight into what that involves.

Firstly, a little info on the man himself. He hit the big 40 last year and up until 4 years ago was a self confessed fatty. He is a father of five, two daughters from his first marriage plus my three. When our daughter was born in 2009 he decided he'd had enough of being a fatty and joined the gym (well rejoined, he'd done the whole gym thing before but was set back due to a shoulder injury). He's a very goal orientated person and with a lot of hard work reached his get in shape target. By the time our youngest son was born 15 months later, he was unrecognisable. Having reached his initial goal, he set himself a new target, to get on stage in a bodybuilding competition. Again, he worked hard, and he did his first competition just after our son's first birthday. By then he'd got the bug, so to speak. His lifestyle had changed and he had no intention of changing back.

So what does the lifestyle entail? Anyone I mention it to automatically assumes that he spends hours on end in the gym, thus effecting our family life. The truth is, he's in the gym before the rest of us are even out of bed in a morning. He goes four mornings a week, having weekends and Wednesday's off (at the moment, sometimes this changes to five mornings depending on his training schedule). What I'm trying to point out is that his gym commitments have no negative effect on our family whatsoever. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that on his Wednesday mornings spent in the house, he actually gets in my way! He messes up my school morning routine just by being here. I can guarantee that we are running late every Wednesday. I can forgive him for that though, he does bring me a cup of tea in bed.

Then there's his cardio sessions. When he's 'off season' this is just a fast paced walk with the dog before he goes to the gym in the morning. So bonus, the dog gets his walk and the husband gets his exercise way before any other sign of life in the house. When he's in prep for a competition, he uses his spin bike in the garage. He does a session in the morning, again before he goes to the gym, and a shorter session in the evening, after the children are in bed usually when I'm watching the soaps. The only negative effect this has on me is when I come to do the washing and I have his three outfits per day to get through! 

Now for the food. He only eats 'clean' food. So nothing processed, lots of lean meat, mountains of veg. He eats six times a day, and all the food he needs for work, I make for him the day before. Obviously, this is a fair amount more work than making a sandwich for his pack up each day, but it really doesn't take that much effort to steam a bit of veg and cook a couple of chicken breasts. I am at home all day anyway, so I just cook it whilst I'm busy doing other housework. I could make him do it himself, but I'd rather have the time with him in the evening, so it makes sense for me to do it. He allows himself one cheat meal per week, usually saved for a Saturday evening when we sit down as a family and enjoy a take away. In the week I generally eat my evening meal with the children. I much prefer the likes of spag bol, stew and dumplings or bangers and mash to the chicken and veg my husband eats. In the grand scheme of things, how important is it to eat the same foods at the same time? Even if I did wait until he got home to eat with him, there's no way my children would eat their tea as late as 6pm. I do sometimes wish we could just grab a burger when we're out and about instead of having to take a lunchbox everywhere we go, but that's just something I've learnt to live with. I make a joke of having to time our family outings around his mealtimes rather than the children's.

Now we come to the result of all this hard work and dedication. The way he looks. He now has a body most 20 year old lads would kill for. There's no denying he looks good! When he first started out on his journey, I have to admit I was worried that I might not like his new image. I'd never been into the muscular look, and I loved my cuddly hubby. But I clearly had nothing to worry about! He looks amazing, most of my friends will agree. Actually, I bet most people in general would agree! 

So there you have it, life with a bodybuilder. Still waiting to 'catch the bug' myself! Nearly 27 and never set foot in a gym, unless you count hoovering around the equipment when I cleaned at the local leisure centre!