Yup, my boyfriend is a personal trainer. Those are his actual abs at left.

My last relationship was with someone who, at 6'4", could eat whatever he wanted and never gain a pound. Having a partner with a fast metabolism is a quick way for the less genetically blessed partner to gain weight, as we spent many evenings on the sofa snuggling up with pizza or pork friend rice.

Then our relationship got weak, and my drinking got stronger, which didn't help my figure. By the time we broke up I was at my highest weight (20 pounds heavier than I am now. 20 pounds extra on a 5'4 frame is not cute).

As a former health buff living in LA I knew what I should and shouldn't be doing to take care of my curves. But when I arrived in Manhattan and arrived at late night dinners and 4am last calls, my buffness was blown. I wasn't fat, I was just, well ... soft and sloppy.

But my new personal trainer boyfriend (or PT BF as we'll call him) doesn't get wasted and order fries at 5 am, and it's a lot easier to be healthy when the person you spend most of your time with is healthy.

And it can also be a lot harder.

Contrary to what some people may suspect, I do not get jealous of him working out with other (possibly more in shape) women. Actually I encourage him to charm the sweat hirts off the ladies to help them sign up for more sessions.

It's harder because I felt some pressure to match my man's level of leanness. PT BF never means to make me feel bad about my body, but we have had our fair share of trainer vs. non-trainer tiffs: He'd make the occasional annoying comment about what I was eating, as in, "Oh, you want pepperoni again?" which was followed by me making the occasional annoying scene: "OH, SO YOU THINK I'M FAT?!" Which I knew he did not. It was just that his overawareness of food and fitness caused him to sometimes be a health snob. And that snobbery caused me to get shy about my splurges.

Recently I ordered a pizza with a friend who was staying at our place. I joked that we needed to hide the box so the PT BF wouldn't see the evidence when he got home. He came home, saw the box and didn't care. Of course he didn't care, he's a trainer, not a psychopath! I'm actually the one who puts pressure on myself because I am in awe and often envious of his discipline. The guy can say no to a bagel! In my eyes, that makes him a hero.

While he has inspired me get healthy, I have inspired him to relax. I'd sometimes peer pressure him to eat or drink things that were clearly not part of his regime. Yes, I was willingly cutting back on bad foods and booze, but I wasn't willing to fully follow his plan either. Sorry, but I've done the hardcore diet thing before and it just makes me go bananas (ooooh, Nutella on toast with bananas. Yum!).

Being a strict eater has never worked well for me, I always end up rebelling at some point and gaining more weight then before. I wanted to develop a way of eating and exercise I could maintain forever, not just for swimsuit season.

So as time went on, PT BF loosened up. He began ordering a cocktail at dinner, enjoying a chocolate chip cookie when the desire arose, and once a week we'd go out to feast on fancy big burgers. Meanwhile I started lifting weights again, popping into spin class, and embracing the magic of portion control.

His passion for personal training paired with my calm health consciousness has turned us into a match made in balanced eating and exercise heaven. Although I'm not sure the site of him weighing chicken breasts on his food scale will ever turn me on, relationships are about unconditional love, right?

(BTW if you live in NYC and want to get fit while chatting about how much you love my blog posts, contact my buff beau at sonny@livingproofnyc.com)


Giulia Rozzi is a New York City–based comedian, actress and writer currently at work on a memoir. She loves pizza , sometimes loves to exercise, and definitely loves her muscular mate.