The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

HELPING couples build healthier bodies while also strengthening the bond that keeps them together is the goal of the third season of the popular 'Fit For Marriage' contest.

The competition kicks off this September and seeks the participation of 10 engaged couples who want to work in tandem to create a healthier, more robust life.

'Fit for Marriage' is the brainchild of the husband and wife duo Phil and Anishka Culmer, who are also the creative directors behind the relationship management brand 'The Marriage Bed'.

With 'The Marriage Bed', the couple hope to restore and sustain the beauty of marriage by promoting good, healthy relationships in the home, and by extension in the community at large.

This is also the idea behind the launch of the 'Fit for Marriage - Engaged Edition' - an eight-week couples' weight loss challenge.

The group will meet once per week for a workout and relationship management session, which will deal with topics that challenge marriages today. Professional therapists, motivational speakers and topic-related professionals will be brought in to flesh out the weekly topics and the group will be interactively engaged in practical ways to deal with frequent issues that married couples face.

The couples will then be given weekly challenges, both health and relationship focused, on which they will be judged each week. They will be exposed to health and fitness professionals, support-based group chats, and will be offered access to various facilities to assist them in meeting their targets and transforming their lifestyles. At the end of the eight weeks the couple that loses the most weight and meets their relationship management quotas wins the competition. They will be dubbed the 'Fit for Marriage' champions and will take home the grand prize: attire for the bride and groom. Other prizes include round-trip tickets for romantic getaways, dinners for two, and more.

" 'The Marriage Bed' is known for our creative spin on relationship management; we package therapy differently. We are always creating shows and events that make therapy practical for persons to better develop themselves and their relationship," said Phil.

"As relationship managers, we ourselves either face or have faced issues and challenges that we teach and promote to others. One issue that many relationships are faced with is that of physical health, as well as (achieving) a well-balanced, healthy relationship. So we decided to make a hybrid programme of these two pillars of life: health and relationship management, and created the first of its kind - a couples' weight loss competition that focuses on living healthy as well as building your relationship."

'Fit For Marriage' was initially designed for married couples, however, those who are unwed began feeling left out.

"We have gotten requests by singles and engaged couples to do something that they can participate in. We had always intended to expand the programme to other relationship statuses, so the Engaged Edition is next," said Phil.

"In our line of work it has become more and more evident that persons are getting married ill-equipped to deal with the challenges that lie ahead. To this end, we wish to better equip persons who are engaged, or in long-term relationships, to better understand what happens after the 'I do', the wedding cake and the honeymoon. We also want to expose couples to the importance of truly knowing your spouse in terms of personality, life goals, and overall perception on areas that you will face after the wedding day is done. We also wish to expose couples to the importance of personal development and getting to know the man/woman in the mirror before you jump the broom."

The Engaged Edition is also going to take a different format as relates to the fitness training.

The 'Fit For Marriage' team has partnered with various professionals who will adopt one couple and become their personal team sponsor.

"We feel that this dimension is going to be an amazing experience for the couples, as they will have a more focused training experience, as well as this allows for us to showcase a bigger variety of Bahamian fitness professionals," Phil explained.

Both Phil and Anishka believe that couples will benefit from the programme in a major way.

"Even though weight loss is the focus for many, we had a few couples that entered the programme not to lose weight, but to work on their marriages. These couples had a blast. We had couples that started the competition in a rough emotional state, but found so much support and fulfilment in the programme that by the end they felt a lot closer to each other and could now pinpoint the problems in their marriage, as well as the tools required to make things better," said Phil.

"The dedication and structure that the programme promotes in being healthy physically rolls over into the dedication, structure and determination required to deal with issues in marriage as well. If they give their best effort, couples will leave the competition with a greater appreciation for each other and the value of living a healthy and nutritious life, and by extension they would have built a stronger relationship with their spouse."

Ultimately, at the end of this programme, the couples should have the reassurance that they are truly "fit for marriage", he added.

'Fit For Marriage' is also being filmed as a reality TV show. For more information, call 359-0101, e-mail themarriagebedbahamas@gmail.com, or visit the 'Fit for Marriage' Facebook page.