I (F33) don't really find my husband (M35) attractive anymore evne though he's incredible... what do I do?

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

When we got together in college, we were both really fit - him even more than me. We both were thin with defined muscles. We both participated in a lot of physical activity, from cycling to water skiing to rock climbing.

Life happenes. We get married, start careers, have kids, the whole shebang. Over the last 12-13 years, we both became sedentary, drank a lot, ate crappy, gained weight, stopped doing sports-y things. I expelled 2 kids, one being fairly complicated. I gained about 30 lbs myself and lost a ton of muscle. Neither of us were ever really overweight, but definitely big for us. Think skinny-fat.

About 18 months ago, I couldn't stand it anymore. I started eating better and lost 45 lbs. I'm not exactly where I was (need some muscle!) But I can fit into clothes again, and feel good. I started taking care of my skin, learned makeup skills, bought stylish outifts. I started caring about my appearance again.

My husband did not. He lost a little weight, since I was doing a lot of the cooking, but, to be perfectly frank.... his stomach looks like over-proofed bread dough. He needs to go up another size in pants, but won't since he can still (barely) button them - the muffin top is unparalleled. Zero muscle definition - where before he was muscled, now his biceps are smaller than his shoulders. Aside from that, he lives in holey stained sweatpants that he washes every couple weeks, rarely shaves, and only gets a haircut if I personally cut it with clippers I bought off Amazon. (He works from home, so deportment isn't an issue.) He used to think that even tennis shoes & jeans were not nice enough to go to the grocery store - we even got his dress shirts tailored. Now he's basically a slob 24/7.

He's an amazing husband - he probably does more of the house chores/cleaning than I do, he gets the kids ready for school, we split cooking dinners, he takes care of most of the yard work and cars, is kind and loving and thoughtful. When he gets drunk with old friends, instead of complaining, he talks about how awesome I am and how much he loves his life. I love him so much.

But... sometimes I realize I look at him with slight disgust. Even though I 100% couldn't imagine my life without him. If I were to mention to him what I feel about his appearance, i think he would take it to heart and make changes, but also be absolutely crushed. I don't want to be this way.

What do I do?

TL;DR: No longer physically attracted to the love of my life, don't know how to or if I should address it!

Posted May 4, 2022, 2:01 AM UTC

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