Every couple fights from time to time, but I think it's safe to say we all wish we would fight less. "CafeMom" reports that sex may be the surprising answer. What's more, when you stop focusing on the little things that annoy you and ask yourself how you can put sex back in your marriage, you'll reap the other benefits of a healthy sex life, including reduced stress, improved immunity, better cardiovascular health and higher self-esteem. All that, plus you're burning calories!

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The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kristy Swanson, got back into fighting shape in time for her wedding to ice-skating legend Lloyd Eisler.

Swanson lost the weight by following the Medifast plan. On the Medifast website, Swanson says, "After the birth of my son, I was tired and not feeling good about myself. I knew that I had to make a change to drop the baby weight. I was so happy with my success, that my mother decided to try Medifast and she lost 20 pounds."

Exercise was also an important component in Swanson's weight loss success. She worked out on the treadmill, took martial arts classes and jumped rope.

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Does your husband spend lots of time working in the garden? Let's hope so -- not only is it good for him, it's good for your relationship. And I'm not just talking about the fact that the you two are less likely to get into a big fight when he's willingly helping out in the yard -- gardening can actually improve your sex life. As in, physically.

Recent studies show that gardening greatly reduces a man's chance of impotence, meaning it can do wonders for his performance in the bedroom. If gardening is typically your job around the house? Exercise in general will have the same effects, so get your guy moving.

And considering gardening burns around 272 calories an hour, the fact that it's helping your hubby get rid of his beer belly can't hurt either.

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Holy Cow! Observations about the role of marriage in weight gain reveal that women gain an average of 25 pounds over 13 years of marriage, while men gain 19 pounds.

First, let me say this: Totally unfair, this whole man/woman weight inequality thing. Last year when I overhauled my family's diet, I lost 15 pounds. My husband lost 40. I exercised nearly obsessively. He didn't exercise at all. OK, we know this is to be expected. Still, very frustrating.

Second, this marriage revelation is something we can kind of control. The survey that revealed the above finding, and included a whopping 15,000 people, finds that causes of wedded weight gain include regular trips to restaurants and women eating the same portions of food their hubbies consume.

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Do you sometimes feel like marriage problems are inevitable? They might be -- recent studies show that marriage problems have been linked to a specific gene variation in males. The gene variation, involved in brain signaling, affected the ability to mate for life in rodents and experts believe that it may produce similar results in humans, based on findings that showed that men with the gene were more likely to be unhappy in their relationships.

Still, don't let these findings get you down. Marriage is hard but a little compassion, understanding and quality time goes a long way. Our Life Fit expert Laura Lewis has some valuable tips on how to make love last -- check them out!

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Prenuptial agreements are traditionally drawn up to protect parties in the case the marriage fails and they need to divide their assets. But according to Michelle Andrews, over at U.S. News & World Report, lawyers are increasingly seeing prenups that include clauses related to health.

Some potential spouses want to be assured their betrothed won't gain weight or pick up smoking. Others want a guarantee on how many times a week they'll have sex or, in one case, put a weight restriction on physical intimacy. Of course, these clauses aren't legally enforceable, but I suppose if your fiance asks you to agree to them, then you know up front exactly what you're getting into.

We all want our spouses and partners to take good care of themselves. But putting healthy habits on a legal contract? That feels controlling and manipulative to me, not emotions you want to feel when you're saying "I do, till death to us part." I'd have run, far and fast, if my husband had approached me with one of these.

What about you? Are you willing to put your health requirements on paper? Or does this give you the same icky feeling it does me?

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In June, Chris told us that married people are generally healthier than their single counterparts. A new study confirms that the statistic is still true, but single men's health is on the rise.

Researchers from Michigan State University wanted to see if the changing trends in marriage and lifestyle -- such as waiting to get married until older -- have had an effect on the long-reported statistic about married couples being healthier.

The researchers reviewed 32 years of data from the National Health Interview Survey. Over time, the health information reported by never-married singles improved dramatically. The self-reported data by married women also indicate an improvement in health. Married men, however, remained relatively the same which narrows the gap between the health of never-married men and married men.

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Being happily married doesn't just mean you and your spouse can go out to dinner without arguing about the most asinine issues you can think of, it also means being the recipients of better health.

Brigham Young University researchers discovered that happily married couples, on average, experience lower blood pressure than singles with supportive social networks. The study involved the 24-hour evaluation of 204 married couples and 99 single adults, all of whom wore portable blood pressure monitors at all times for the duration of the study. Evaluation of the monitors' results revealed that the blood pressure of happily married adults lowered more during sleep than that of single people. And, since high blood pressure at night is a sign of increased risk of cardiovascular problems, this finding was particular important.

The full results of the study were published in the March 2008 edition of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

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We've all seen those lists of top stressors. And it's always struck me that the lists include events that are both happy and horrible. Moving, divorce and marriage are always on them. But putting these in context is important.

Take my friend's recent separation from her spouse. The 10-year relationship was far more stressful than filing the paperwork and finding a new apartment. And speaking of finding a new apartment, moving is always on those top lists. But, let me tell you, I've never seen my friend so happy as when we were moving her new red leather sofa into her bachelorette pad. As for marriage, I'm one of the fortunate ones who can say that promising to be with my husband forever was one of the least stressful things I've ever done. And 10 years later, I feel the same way.

My point is this: there is plenty of joy to be found is these supposedly high-stress events. And from my experience, it can offset most of the negative elements involved in planning a wedding, moving a big piece of furniture or facing life alone. I think this guy's got the right idea. There are fates far worse than moving.

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Science has shown us in the past that being married has it perks. Those people are more likely to be healthier, and some folks even attribute longevity to their marital status. But a new study shows that being in a happy marriage can keep your blood pressure in check too. Otherwise, you're healthier off being single according to researchers!

Couples who reported a low level of satisfaction, meaning that their relationship could be turbulent, had a higher systolic blood pressure reading than couples that were happy. Those people in a stressed marriage were shown to have blood pressure approaching an unhealthy level.

But a good level of satisfaction helped the blood pressure of those other couples. This seems like common sense to some people, but it's interesting to observe concrete feedback regarding the heart health of stressed individuals. Of course, there's also that one guy who lived to 100 allegedly thanks to staying single (if only he knew that couples who fight together live longer together).

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Valentine's Day is the perfect time to tell you partner you love them. Did you know, however, that how you act the rest of the year can have an impact on your partner's health? For instance, Bev recently told us that a spouse's personality can have an effect on how well you recover from surgery. And Adams shared a study with us that found that fighting (or sharing your feelings, at least) in a marriage can prolong your life.

In that vein, Forbes recently put into pictures several ways to help your spouse live longer. Studies have found that when one spouse kicks a bad habit, like smoking or binging on Doritos every night in front of the TV, the other is more likely to follow suit. Another study found that when one spouse is healthy, the other is more likely to be in good health as well. Finally, when one spouse is obese, the other's chance of obesity goes up 37%.

Oh, and men? Researchers found a nearly instant decrease in the flight or fight response among women when they held their husband's hand. Such a simple gesture, really.

So go ahead and buy those roses, but if you think of your spouse's health the rest of the year, you just might have them around a little while longer.

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Valentine's Day is not for everyone. Some people love it and some people loathe it. I don't think that whether or not you're a fan of Cupid's big day necessarily has anything to do with your dating/marriage status. Sure, there are single people who hate it and attached people who love it, but I also know happy couples who feel that any time is a good time to let their other half know that they love them and single people who consider the day a great time to let their friends and family know that they care.

I don't think that you should need an excuse to pamper a loved one (or yourself) but, let's face it, sometimes we all need a reminder. If you're an annual celebrant of Valentine's Day and can't wait to spoil a loved one (or spoil yourself for the benefit of a loved one!) check out the sites that follow for a range of ideas on how to do it. And if you're normally anti-February 14th, why not try altering your thinking slightly this year and use the day as an excuse to take a break and pamper yourself?

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Think it's women who are dying to get married? Not exactly. It turns out that men who don't get married tend to die sooner than married men, according to research by the Center for the Study on Aging.

Statistically speaking, taking that walk down the aisle can be a major contributor to better health and a longer life expectancy. Married men are less likely to have drinking problems, commit suicide, and develop mental problems. They also tend to eat healthier and exercise more frequently, all of which increases their chances of living a longer life.

A separate study published in the American Journal of Sociology found that 88% of married men live to the age of 65, while only 63% of never-married men, 65% of divorced men, and 69% of widowed men live to that age.

So, for all you ladies out there who are waiting for your man to pop the question, maybe you can tell him that he better ask you soon -- his life depends on it.

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As fabulous as we at That's Fit think this blog is, the truth is there are hundreds of wonderful blogs on healthy living to be seen all over the blogosphere. So in this feature, Fit Links, we'll introduce you to some that have caught our eye.

Tonight, my husband and I are going on a date. To Home Depot. To look at new kitchens. Ah, romance -- it changes as you get older. Lingering over romantic dinners has led to lingering over oak cabinetry and arguing over whether we really need to replace the floor, or not. But hey, if we're fast, we might get to catch a movie when we're done, so there's that.

Though I joke, I know that without care, day-to-day life can have a negative impact on the relationship between two people no matter how much in love they might be. Though grand romantic gestures aren't required or even really necessary after years of marriage, the little things really do count. So with Valentine's Day just around the corner, here are the blogosphere's tips for spicing up your love life, whether your relationship is brand new, or you just want it to feel that way.

Healthbolt's Quick Tips to Fire Up Your Love Life

The New Homemaker's Fifteen Ways to Spice Up Your Love Life

Our own Laura Lewis's 10 Tips for Fabulously Fit Sex

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Don't keep all those emotions and feelings bottled up! We've all heard this from the mental health community, and married couples are now hearing it again.

In fact, those married couples who express anger regularly may even outlive those that don't, according to a new study out of the University of Michigan. In other words, express and don't suppress.

Getting anger out into the open and resolving it was found to be much more healthy than bottling up anger and failing to provide any resolution at all. Dr. Ernest Harburg went on to say "If you bury your anger, and you brood on it ... and you don't try to resolve the problem, then you're in trouble."

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