Soulful Sex

The Surprising Benefits of a Sex Fast

What's it like for a cohabiting couple headed for marriage to abruptly stop having sex until after the wedding? "Easy," says Mariah, age 23, who has lived with Jerry for a year and a half. "Hard. Really, really hard," says Kate, who abruptly stopped having sex with her fiancé Nick.

Mariah

Mariah and Jerry are two months into their sexual fast. She has no idea why she wanted to stop, except that she didn't feel like sex was a necessity in their relationship. She was nervous about how Jerry would react and had braced herself for a shouting match before bringing it up. But he surprised her by saying he'd been feeling the same...