My sister-in-law was the first to let me in on the sad phenomenom of “contented cow syndrome” or the reality that once singles become couples, they get a little more comfortable, chew on their cud, sit on their couches, and gain what is usually the equivalant of the freshmen fifteen. Science, being a little late to this reality, has just confirmed this sad fact.

According to this NYT article, a recent study found that a 140 pound  childless single woman will gain 11 pounds over ten years, a married (or partnered) woman who has had a kid will gain 20 pounds over the same ten years, 11 pounds if she is married but has no kids.

Hello? Is this really a surprise? The article claims that the researchers aren’t really sure why this should happen since being married doesn’t really affect a woman’s metabolic rate, but does not mention anything about the fact that if you are not on the singles market, you are not necessarily in the best of shape.

How many of us have gained more weight since we got married? How many of your friends’ have husbands who now look more like Homer Simpson than former Captains of the football teams?

According to this article from my colleague, January is Lose Weight Month and I think it’s time to get into gear and get into shape and I think (although I clearly am not the expert on this) that it is a simple matter of taking a few simple steps. For more advice, check out this link.

-No chips in the house. If you do not have chips in the house, you will not eat them. This also (unfortunately) goes for ice cream.

-Exercise. Again, this is a big Duh!, but for those of you who like myself are a little too comfortable in the horizontal position this might be the best way. For what its worth, I recently wrote an article about how much exercise is really needed for health benefits. Unfortunately, the answer is quite high.

-And, when you exercise, do something that you like. If you have hated jogging your entire life, you better go jogging with a friend. Personally, I feel more comfortable exercising at home using an exercise DVD at my right level so I don’t have to feel uncomfortable about my level of fitness around other people.