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Why is it that weight gain usually comes with a new relationship?
A friend of mine says it’s the price you pay
for being in one. It is amusing to think that becoming a couple is
the cause for unwanted pounds, considering the well-known fact that
we love eating so much that we have to do it every two hours. We
even tell time by what meal is coming up: lunchtime, dinnertime and
snack time.
With respect to whoever coined the term “love
handles” and actually turned a bit of excess fat into a term of
endearment, here are some other explanations (or excuses) for
literally getting on the heavy side of things.
1. Breaking bread is an intimate exercise
With a new lover, eating together is more than
just sharing a meal. It somehow resembles the ancient sacred ritual
of breaking bread. It is tabletop intimacy in the form of long
conversations, jokes and laughter. You hardly notice that you have
devoured the appetizer, the dessert and downed countless glasses of
wine that accompany these talks about everything and nothing in
between.
2. You eat out more
Being in a relationship comes with a bit of
regularity. Prime timeslots like Friday and Saturday nights are
blocked off weeks in advance mainly because you have twice as many
social functions to attend as a couple.
Similarly, with this regularity comes the risk
of monotony. To avoid this, a lot of couples make a pilgrimage out
of finding new restaurants to try. This exploration may require out
of town trips that cover a considerable distance making you doubly
hungry when you get to your destination.
3. But also dine in more
You start to take note of delivery and take out
options for those dates when you want to just stay home and have a
marathon … watching DVDs. Your ref is peppered with delivery menus
and phone numbers of various restaurants. The favorite or tried and
test restaurants may even be on speed dial, right along with other
emergency numbers.
4. You don’t feel the need to work out as
much
For some, the motivation to hit the gym is to
look attractive and hook a mate. And when they do find someone, they
don’t feel like working out as much anymore. The goal has been
achieved and it is now time to reap the benefits.
Of course, the other excuse is that nurturing a
relationship requires an investment of time and sacrificing other
activities such as going to the gym.
5. You’re eating for two
A lot of women woefully admit that they have
ended up matching the appetite of their partner. It just doesn’t
seem polite to always order only a salad when their guy orders a
half-pound burger. Eating out with the girls is different; they will
understand if you just want to order soup because you’ve already
eaten (even if your last meal was yesterday). This concept of meal
moderation is just sometimes lost on men.
The only bit of hope is the rumor that you lose
the weight you gain when you lose the lover—you don’t have as
much occasion to eat out, don’t eat as much and are again
motivated to bust your butt at the gym. The “Heartbreak Diet” is
probably a lot cheaper than the South Beach diet.
Besides this being a depressing thought, it
loses out on the main fact that relationship or no relationship, you
should always look good and feel good about yourself and for
yourself first and foremost. Keep this in mind when being seduced by
another slice of pizza. Even better, put this on a note and tack it
on your ref next to the take out menu.
Then, you can have the relationship and still
keep the weighing scale from going haywire.
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