There is nothing worse than the demolition of your ego during a break-up. All of a sudden, you’re doubting how fierce you are, which leads to lots of self-esteem issues and too many pints of Phish Food ice cream while watching The Notebook. Then begins the total, utter spiral of your health, and it’s hard to pick yourself back up from there. That’s not how to be healthy during a breakup and that’s why the revenge body is so beautiful.
The break-up gods want you to sulk and eat that extra piece of chocolate leftover from Valentine’s Day, but we’re not here to listen to them, are we? Of course not. After a break-up is the perfect time for you to start on that health regiment you’ve been putting off for months, and the satisfaction of getting back to campus after 3 months, hot as hell and intimidatingly fit, almost makes you forget that tool of a guy. There are ways to be empowered and healthy during a breakup, and these are the ways that are helping me.
STEP 1: WORKING OUT
This is what I started with because food has always been a tough one for me to wrangle, especially living away from home where I couldn’t afford the healthiest options (Can you say Domino’s?) So instead, I started going HAM at the gym. Look at Instagram for some workout inspo because there are so many different personalities that motivate and educate you at the same time. Accounts like dailydoseofitness (pictured above) and fit_pham (pictured below) are what are getting me through. Make a workout schedule, consider a gym membership if you want to go all in, and try to educate yourself on the amazing strength of your body even when your heart feels weak. Your body carries you through the toughest of times, and it deserves more credit than it gets.
The regiment I’ve found to be the best for me is to workout at least six days a week. It sounds like a lot, but for me, it is a routine that distracts me and at least keeps something constant in my life during a time of change. I interchange working on legs and booty on one day, and then arms and abs on another, and then some sort of cardio every day. Cardio sucks, but not as much as it does seeing your ex post on Instagram about “all those girls” he’s hanging out with now. If you can survive that, you can survive 30 minutes on the elliptical. I do at least 1 mile or 10 minutes on any sort of cardio I’m doing every day, but if I don’t particularly want to go longer, I don’t! It’s a very free system.
STEP 2: EATING WELL
This is what I always struggle with, even with my meal plan during my What It’s Actually Like to be Healthy in College article. Yeah, that meal plan didn’t even last a week. Oops. So, I decided to do something a little different this time. Not only will better eating habits help your body, but also your skin, energy, and pretty much every good thing. Make sure you’re eating enough calories to feed all that muscle you’re building, but also don’t be afraid of having a burger every once and a while. Food might be a little difficult at first because heartbreak leads to a lack of appetite for a few days, but it’s important that you’re sustaining your body unlike how your ex did with your heart.
Something that always makes me feel better is cooking. I downloaded Pinterest on my phone and I recommend trying to cook something new every week. It is something special to treat yourself to while learning how to make new foods and expanding your pallet. Try a Greek cooking class and brag about how you’re traveling the world through your taste buds while your ex boo is probably eating cereal for every meal. It’ll make you classier and more impressive in the long run when you’re trying to impress someone that actually cares about the way you feel. Now, that is how to be healthy during a breakup.
STEP 3: BE KIND TO YOURSELF, MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY
Although revenge bods are totally worth it, don’t make it the only thing bringing you through this hard time. That could lead to a total obsession over what you look like, and that could be worse than those pints of ice cream. I know you will get through this. Think of it as one heartbreak closer to the right one! Your brain and heart are what really needs the healing, not your body, so don’t forget to take some time to be mindful. I got lucky because I live in New Mexico where it’s easy to get lost in the stars. Find something that makes you forget it all like the stars do with me, and devote a little bit of time a week to that thing. It really helps to have something to focus your energy on so you aren’t always thinking about the breakup.
Another thing that you really need to remember is that everything is temporary and the heartbreak will pass. Just because you’ve got skull-crushing thighs now doesn’t mean you won’t want to curl up in a ball and remember that one concert you went to together, and that’s okay. Getting over someone is a slow process, but there are ways to be healthy during a breakup. Allow yourself to feel that sadness instead of bottling it up. Write a goodbye letter saying thank you, but also that there is a future without this other person. Maybe even sit down and write a really long list of everything, literally everything, that either annoyed you or rubbed you the wrong way about the other person. Maybe that person who did 82 things that annoyed you isn’t right for you after all. You are special in innumerable ways and it’s about time you realized it.
In all honesty, break-ups are the worst, but there are ways to get through it. Treat yourself the way you wish you had been treated, because in the words of Charlene Kaye, “It’s okay to love hard as long as you’re loving you first, babe.” You will get through this. Re-learn to love yourself and all your little flaws. Once you love all those little things, you won’t feel like you need someone else to love them for you. You got this. Be kind to yourself.
*Just as a disclaimer, the satire in this article is not realistic towards my own experiences.