Health3 min(s) read
Woman who slept with husband every day for a year reveals impact it had on sex life 3 years on
A woman who had sex with her husband every single day for a whole year has opened up about how it's affected their sex life three years on from the challenge.
While intimacy can be an exciting part of the start of a relationship, for most couples the frequency tends to slow down in a long-term relationship, particularly if the stresses of life take over.
There's no right or wrong answer to how often a couple should have sex - it's completely down to whatever works for the individuals - but the amount of people having sex every day of the year is probably not that high.
Brittany Gibbons and her husband Andy trialled a whole year of having sex every day, which she initiated to find her old self after having a third child.
She explained to Women's Health: "Shortly after having my third child, I remember getting out of the shower, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and wondering, 'Who let my mum in here?'
"From that point on, I didn't let myself be naked. I kept the lights off during sex, hid my stomach and boobs inside a camisole, and I waited for my husband to leave the bedroom before barreling from the shower to my closet to get dressed."
She revealed that the idea to have sex every day was sparked by a friend who'd done the same, adding: "Having sex every day for a year seemed obnoxious, but also an intriguing way to force myself into facing my body each day. I mean eventually, the covers would have to come off and the lights would have to stay on, right?
"Andy, as expected, was on board. And for a whole year, save for being parted by travel or the stomach flu, we had sex with each other."
Brittany admitted it still took some time to get used to the idea, when she initially found it a bit of a chore and would have preferred some alone time to unwind amongst the many stresses of everyday life.
But as the months went on, she found she began to look forward to the daily intimacy, explaining: "We were more romantic with each other, touching arms as we passed, kissing longer before work and not just the cold familiar peck. Our relationship was stronger and better when our intimacy was flourishing."
She also found that it worked wonders for her body confidence as she was no longer as conscious of it as she had been in the past.
Brittany shared an update three years after the experiment, revealing that while she no longer has sex with Andy every day, many of the benefits had continued.
"First, we learned that it's hard and that's normal. The majority of people around you are not having sex every single day. They're busy being stressed at work, coordinating their kids' football schedules and paying bills," she explaine.
"Fitting sex into all of that is difficult, but for us, it's necessary. Sex is what reminds us that we're intimate partners and not just roommates in charge of keeping kids alive."
It also helped them to learn how much sex they need to keep them both happy in their marriage, explaining: "I no longer freak out if two weeks pass and we forget to have sex, because we work to connect in other ways.
"Intimacy doesn't always mean penetration. Sometimes it's making out on the couch like teenagers. We all get to decide what turns us on. The point is, the effort to show love to each other is there."
The main takeaway was that Brittany finally felt connected to and comfortable in her own skin again, explaining: "It was never about anyone wanting me, it was about me wanting myself. And it only took an entire year of getting laid to figure that out."