Break Up and Divorce You Want To Lose Weight? Don’t Try The Break-Up Diet

You Want To Lose Weight? Don’t Try The Break-Up Diet

When I first read this email from our dear reader Mike, I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.

The email was funny and very original, but I immediately sensed the excruciating pain that was behind it.

Someone who knew what he was talking about obviously wrote it.

I replied back if he would like to share his story and he did. I will post it below with his permission; I hope it will inspire you as it did me.

Here it is:

The Break-Up Diet Recipe

You want to lose weight? This diet guarantees to suppress your appetite.

  • 1ea. Heaping serving of broken heart crushed into many small pieces.
  • 1ea. Severe emotional pain sprinkled with “this is all my fault” never ending thoughts.
  • 1ea. Anxiety from hell – this will likely come with the above-mentioned ingredients and will cause a sleep disorder

Blend well and mix with “I will never love again” with just a dash of “my ex has moved on and I can't.”

You will consume this diet every second of the day until the seconds are minutes, hours, days, and finally months. Extreme cases require that the diet continues into years, but it’s not recommended. After you have had enough of this diet you are encouraged to discontinue because it’s “NOT WORTH IT!”

This diet is not easy to stop, but history has shown multitudes of people have stopped and led a happy life and you can too.

Mike's Story

After more than five years my relationship was over.

Still thinking about your Ex? Click here to take the test to learn how long it takes to heal... and how you can speed up the process.

That was ten months ago, and all the pain, hurt, and sadness cannot be put into words even though I’ve tried many times to explain to anyone who would listen what it was like to live this hell I was going through.

I was so hopeful that maybe someone, anyone, would have some magic words that would help me to at least be able to breathe. My life, my world was over and nothing would/could repair it. She was out of my life and had made it clear that she didn’t want anything else to do with me.

I then started what many people have experienced due to a breakup – unintentional self-destruction.

I was so absorbed by the pain that nothing in my life mattered. Sleep was the only thing I looked forward to when it would come because that was the only time the hurt subsided. But as soon as I awaken it was back to the hell I was so dreading.

I wanted her back so badly I was willing to do anything, but she had made it so very clear on that October day – it was over.

I began throwing out anything that would remotely remind me of her in hopes of just getting through the next minute and then maybe… just maybe the next hour. I felt I was alone on an island and no one knew what I was going through. It just seemed so hopeless.

My appetite suffered and the only thing I could eat was cereal and then only at night (Thus the breakup diet).

I, of course, began to lose weight and eventually decided that maybe something positive may come out of all of this suffering. So I just embraced the appetite loss and began to exercise more and started eating right.

I went from 207 down to 157 and have maintained that give or take a couple of pounds.

The one thing that I have done, that has helped more than any book, article, conversations, counseling, and yes even prayer is No-Contact. I realize how hard that is to do and don’t beat yourself up if you have failed at it but that along with the passing of time is so much help.

A couple of weeks ago a co-worker ran into my ex whom I haven’t seen nor talked to in 10 months, and her statement to him was “I miss him (me) every minute of every day.”

Now imagine what that did to me – I didn’t know how to process that information. Hearing that she misses me as much as I do her, of course, made me want to contact her.

But I did some inventory of the past ten months of suffering and decided it wasn’t worth the chance of going even one step back that contact would cause. Yes, I still love and miss her in every way and every day but I have come so far that I don’t want to look back.

I hope in some way these words will help someone that has a broken heart to know it WILL get better.

Mike

I remember to have experienced a similar weight-loss back then:

From 150 to 134 pounds, which was really not so good considering my height (6 feet). It took me some time to regain my normal weight.

What about you? Have you lost or gained weight during your break-up? Please share below.

Your friend,
Eddie Corbano

  • Isn’t it interesting how weight loss is such a common feature of breakups?
    The woman I loved and cherished broke up with me completely out of the blue. It was like an ambush. And the weight started falling off. I felt like i was still eating and exercising the same. Sure, I could barely breathe half the time and was on the verge of tears constantly and felt like my guts had been shoveled out of my abdomen and tossed into the back yard, but I was still eating about the same. And the weight came off, and off, and off.
    I couldn’t go 2 hours without someone commenting on how thin I was and asking me to not lose more weight. People thought I might have cancer. None of my clothes even remotely fit. I looked like a little boy wearing his daddy’s clothes. Eventually my weight leveled off..after about 25 pounds lost. But I never regained it. Maybe 25 pounds was the weight of the chunk of my soul and self-respect that my ex removed. 
    By the way, how did I survive? The breakup was devastating. It physically hurt like I had been in a horrible car wreck. My mind was sluggish and racing at the same time. A full night’s sleep was a distant memory. Many nights there was no sleep. But I adhered to the No Contact Rule extremely strictly…even though that was very hard at times. “If only he/she could see how much I love him/her and how much I’m hurting they would come back!!!” Sound familiar? Don’t do it. NO CONTACT. No Facebook, texts, IM’s, emails, phone calls, birthday wishes, nothing. The other thing I did was see a psychologist. I needed someone to talk to who wouldn’t change the subject or pat my hand and tell me I was a victim. I needed someone who could listen critically but sympathetically and just basically hear me out, then process what I said and challenge it if need be, and give me the opportunity to simply vent. The psychologist didn’t even really give me advice…she just listened, clarified, prodded, challenged, and encouraged.
    It wasn’t cheap but after 2 sessions I didn’t need to go anymore. I said what I needed to say and truly felt much better. Breakups suck. They are amazingly bad. It is a bereavement just like any other, and grief has the ability to inflict shocking amounts of pain. But…it does pass. Slowly, like a glacier, but it does pass. 

    • Yes…counseling is helping me greatly, too. I highly recommend it. Plus I went on Prozac…just a little for mood elevation. This is the second time I went on Prozac for this guy. I’m a slow learner ;>

      As for weight loss, some. But I am middle-aged, and the pounds stick like glue. Still I’m a little thinner and happy about that.

      Personally, I think that these break-ups are oftentimes worse than the bereavement of losing a spouse or significant other. It’s one thing if people leave you against their will. It’s quite another when they leave of their own accord or you must show them the door, only to find them traipsing around with other people while your eyes bleed. The exception would be suicide, when of course, the person has purposefully left you–and also saddled you with a lifetime of sadness and guilt.

      Thank you for sharing your great pain with all of us who are in the same sucky boat.

  • AnthonyFreedom12 says:

    Hi Eddie, Its a nice article you have shared and the  Break-Up Diet Recipe is so funny which is also mind blowing. Thanks for sharing these with us.

  • Merry Christmas Graham.  My name is Eli.  My partner had depression and left me last November for another woman.  We had been together for 20 years.  When he left me I weighed 47 kilos, two months later I weighed 33 kilos.  I am 5′, which is not very tall but my weight loss was very bad.  Today I survived my 2nd Xmas without him.  Cried most of the day but its now over.  Thank god for that lol.  One day the hurt will stop.  One day i will smile again.  One day i will be happy again.  One day I will find my eliness again.  You deserve to be happy.  Take care and stay safe….Eli

  • Madison King says:

    I always said it felt like there were rocks in my stomach. I lost 30 pounds in a month thanks to the gatorade and heartbreak diet. 15 months after the break-up, I’m happy, kept the weight off and life is good 🙂

  • baba...bababoomcrashandburn says:

    NC_day 11…down 11 pounds my stomach has had this pain that just doesnt go away and when I eat it gets much much worse.

  • BABA...BABABOOMANDCRASH says:

    Nc-day 9 and 9lbs down…really I have this wierd pain in my stomach and it gets worse when I eat Im gonna go tothe dr make sure its not medical…as oppossed to heartbreak..funny I havent cried and am not quiet as angry but am still deeply sad but somehow ready relieved …odd i feel both bad and good..lol better than the extreme devastion the first few days..hope this stays and grows more positive daily!  ps I could use to loose at least 60 lbs anyway as per my cardiologist so…breakup diet might be sorta ok till i loose a few. lmao

  • BABA...BABABOOMANDCRASH says:

    NC-not quite 7 days the end of today will be seven days…and 8lb loss (which in one way is good) but I cant eat have no desire for even chocolate. Yoday is a bit better Im trying to sit with the uncomfortable feelings they arent a harsh and sharp but definitively there and deep really deep.. But still can’t eat and I love to eat..or used to.

  • BABA...BABABOOMANDCRASH says:

    WHy are you on this if YOU broke up with your boyfriend, enlighten me…I could use some insight from someone on the opposite side, what the dumper is going thru..tho I cant say I would feel as much for you at this point, maybe you could give all of us a well needed insight.  I have already lost 7.5 lbs in 7 days during PMS!!! Im too heartbroken cant eat feels like someone istearing my insides out with a knife., but the vomittting has stopped thankfully.

  • BABA...BABABOOMANDCRASH says:

    Graham, Im sorry to hear, please understand we are all in the same boat, I have had yet another heartbreak last week, after a prevoius one 1 yr before and 3 yrs before a divorce after 10 yrs..Im not feeling to good about myself right now either, I havent broken the NC YET but oh god it get harder each day and I viciously want to send an incredibly angry letter….YOU WILL LOVE AGAIN GRAHAM..open your heart when its time…divorce leaves you in a state of FOG…it will clear I promise…work on you Graham..stay strong, love and peace!!

  • I hear you Randy, I know what you going through.

    Start No Contact as soon as you can and you will feel better. Hang in there!

    • Randy06820 says:

      Eddie,

      I was hanging in there.  2 weeks of No Contact from me.  Then on my birthday she sends me a text:  “Happy Birthday! :-)”.  And like Pavlov’s dog, I reply with a few sweet sentences to show I’m strong.  Now I feel like puking.  Why did she have to wish me Happy Birthday – – what was that all about?

  • You’re welcome!

    The whole process is difficult and it takes willpower, but it’s so worth it, it will give you your freedom back.

    Hang in there!

  • Jennifer Sternberg says:

    Ugh, I ALWAYS lose weight when I break up with a boyfriend. Some people over-eat and I have no appetite at all 🙁  It’s horrible.I write about dating/love troubles also.

    Jen, please put your website in the appropriate form field. Thanks, Eddie

  • Penney777 says:

    Yes, I have lost quite a bit of weight after my breakup in the end of Septemer. I lost about 20 lbs 😮 Heartbreak Hotel diet, never fails!

  • Yeah I have lost 20 pounds so far since August. Pants I couldn’t fit into before now hang off me…

    I know this is for the best, I do. I just still cannot stop thinking about him though. One one hand I desperately want him to call and profess that he is willing to move mountains and on the other I hope karma bites him in the ass so hard he’ll never be able to sit down again.

    • Penney777 says:

      LOL Selna, I feel the same way about my ex! Frankly it’s shifting to more of the karma wish!!!! ha

  • Ms Jess M says:

    I was so heartbroken over my last break up that I went from 100lbs to 80! I’m very petite but the weight loss made me skin and bones. It took me a couple counseling sessions and loves a game articles to snap me back into taking better care of my self. To those with a heart break..stay strong! Take care of yourself, eat right, be active, and spend time with family and friends. Find new hobbies to keep u occupied. It will get better 😉

  • Mike, i feel u man…..esp. the last part…i love her, miss her and want her, but we have moved on so far that there is no looking back….

    and right after 18 days of break up…i was 64kg from 72kg….lol….i previously tried diet and exercise and stuff…but break diet was worth it. it brought me in shape..its been 2 years since break up..i am still maintaining it on 64..

    when ever she comes into my mind..i just say…” Screw the B***ch”…i have moved on…

    take care guys…

  • Oh boy. Been there, done that. I lost like six pounds because I couldn’t eat with the anxiety and obsessive, guilty thinking… It was only until a dear friend made me realize that I had done everything on my side to keep the relationship, and he had chosen not to, that I finally freed myself of the guilt and I could eat again. Two years later, I am a bit rounder on the sides now, but I am happy. I hope to NEVER go through that hellish breakup diet again.

  • authenticity says:

    I used to be in great shape–“cut up” 😉 –ate healthy food for the most part. Pre-break up, I stopped exercising on a regular basis, and my diet slowly went down the tubes…. Post-break up, I ate whatever I wanted,…used exercise to cope, but then I completely stopped exercising for toooo long…finally started exercising and eating right…need to drop 10 and tone everything.  The difference now is that I am doing it for me…not for external validation, and I am starting to really enjoy cooking.  It feels really good to be exercising and eating right…taking care of myself!  :))  It took me a looooonnng time to get here, and I still struggle with wanting comfort foods, and some days I don’t want to exercise, but step by step, I am making it…definitely a process…trial and error. 

    Thank you for sharing your stories Mike and Eddie. I, too, feel as if I have come too far, and I know in my heart that there is no way I could ever turn back now…carefully climbing down the mountain now and headed onto the Path–Much Love and Light, Brooke

    • I got into a relationship with a guy I grew up with, it was long distance and the pain is unbearable. We ‘dated’ for about 3months, I was so sure he was ‘the one’ for me and ithat I no doubt was ‘the one’ for him. But he gave the meaningless excuse as to why we had to end things and ended it 2days after December 25. Since then he has called me and messaged me endlessly, as if nothing has happened and I have been telling him how I feel, that I care and love him and he brushes aside my words. However when I drift away he calls me for hours. Its torture. Its been 24 hours without contact, my fearis that its not me that’s not contacting him, its him that’s not contacting me. I still do have feelings for him. My confusion is that if he had to say he’s given it thought and wants to make it work. And I say no and he was genuine I would be throwing away a chance at making it work. How do I sift his words to pick out the genuine interest? What are the signs or key words I can look out for to know if its meant to be? I don’t want to fall for anything he says that’s positive and reading your various news letters I noted that somehow I keep believing the trick lines and thinking guys are genuine. Please help me Eddie.

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