I’ve Gotten In The Best Shape Of My Life Since My Breakup

When I was in a relationship, I totally skipped out on exercise and kicked my healthy eating habits to the curb. It’s amazing how much influence my lazy boyfriend had on me. Now that it’s all over, though, I’m back to my regular routine and have never looked better.

  1. No more high-calorie brunch food. Something peculiar happens when you get into a committed relationship: you go out for brunch basically every weekend and that brunch usually includes enough calories for the entire day. I’m talking bacon, eggs, pancakes with syrup, eggs benedict in a truffle butter hollandaise… it’s excessive and I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. There’s something so romantic about brunch, but now that I’m out of the relationship game, I’ve replaced my weekend binge-fests with a sensible, healthy breakfast and can feel the weight coming off.
  2. I can stick to my workout routine without worrying about what someone else wants to do. When I first started dating my ex, I’d wake up before him to go for a super quick run and be back in time for when he usually woke up. But as the relationship went on, I dropped the workout routine I’d established before we started dating and just went along with whatever he was doing, which was a lot of watching TV and eating. It was hard to keep up with an exercise routine when my partner had absolutely no interest in it. I started to feel like I was the weird one for being healthy. It was so backwards.
  3. I have a real reason to get in shape. Exercising and eating well when you’re in a relationship is definitely possible if your partner is on board, but I’m finding that now that I’m single, I have far more motivation to do it. I guess since there’s no one here to accept me as I am (no matter how unhealthy and overweight I might be), I need to step up and take better care of myself so I can look and feel my best.
  4. I have more money to spend on healthy food and fitness classes. I used to spend so much money on my BF and I really didn’t have that much to spare. He loved to go out to eat at fancy restaurants and always expected me to pay for half the bill even though it was always his idea. He’d order a huge entree and an appetizer and I would get the salad, kinda wishing he knew how to cook for himself. Now that I’m single, I have all this money to spend on healthy, whole foods and fitness gear/classes. To me, that’s money well spent.
  5. I’m no longer being judged for being health-focused. Since my ex was an eternal couch potato, I always felt kinda guilty about exercising, as if I was shoving it in his face. Does that make sense? He would always roll his eyes (probably out of insecurity) and honestly, I didn’t know why I was doing all that exercise to look good for him when he could barely lift a finger. It was such a dumb double standard. I’m just glad that I’m on my own now and can exercise in peace and talk about my healthy habits without being worried I’m offending someone.
  6. I don’t have to drink alcohol just because my boyfriend wants to. I’m not a huge drinker and never have been, but when I started to date my ex, I really felt the pressure to get drunk with him. When we were at a party, it was just expected that I would join him in the festivities and if I didn’t, he’d get all weird about it. Nowadays, I drink because I’m in the mood and usually only have one glass of wine. My health is too important to me now.
  7. I don’t get sick as often. One of the perks of being single is my killer immune system. If my ex-boyfriend would start sneezing, I’d start about two seconds later. Germs naturally spread between two people in an intimate relationship, but I swear I haven’t been sick in about a year and it’s been pretty great.
  8. I have a regular sleep schedule again. We all know that sleeping is closely tied to weight loss. I get at least eight hours a night or sometimes more now that I don’t have a blanket hog rolling around the bed, waking me up at every hour. I was consistently tired when we were dating and didn’t even realize until I started sleeping alone in my own bed.
  9. I’m not using the excuse that sex is exercise. I mean, yes, it’s considered exercise, but it’s nothing compared to actual weight training and real cardio workouts. Unless you’re doing some really crazy acrobatic stuff, you’re not getting in your 30 minutes of exercise per day. Since I’m not having sex on a regular basis, I make sure I get moving every single day and I feel so good when I do it.
  10. I’m more motivated to be a better person. It’s easy to “let yourself go” when you’re in a relationship. It doesn’t matter if you’re a little chubby or lazy because you know that in the back of your mind, someone loves you anyway. I started to sink into this mindset as my relationship went on and I’m telling you, it’s dangerous. I’m actually glad it ended because now I know that it’s not normal to eat a whole bag of chips in front of the TV every day. Yikes!
Jennifer is a playwright, dancer, and theatre nerd living in the big city of Toronto, Canada. She studied Creative Writing at Concordia University and works as a lifestyle writer who focuses on Health, B2B, Tech, Psychology, Science, Food Trends and Millennial Life. She's also a coreographer, playwright, and lyricist, with choreography credits for McMaster University’s “Spring Awakening,” “Roxanne” for the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, and “The Beaver Den” for The LOT, among others.

You can see more of her work on her Contently page and follow her on Instagram @jenniferenchin.
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