As it turns out, not that likely.
Ever heard of kummerspeck? Kummerspeck is the word for the German concept of gaining weight due to emotional eating. Literally translated, kummerspeck means grief bacon.
We all know that sometimes people use food to cope with negative emotions. Emotional eating comforts us; it temporarily makes us feel better and even distracts us from the sadness or grief, but emotional eating leads to unhealthy eating habits, health problems if were not careful, and of course weight gain.
Relationship breakups are a common source of negative emotions and emotional eating (weve all heard the cliche about grabbing a pint of ice cream after a breakup some of us have been that cliche), and so researchers from Penn State and Albright College dove into the concept of kummerspeck to find out if people are more likely to gain weight after a relationship breakup.
Turns out, theyre not.
However, it should be noted that in the second survey, a small number of women who reported having a tendency to emotionally eat did also report having gained weight after a breakup.
So, unless you already have a bad habit of emotionally eating, its probably safe to say youre not at major risk for weight gain or other health problems if you reach for that bag of chips or box of chocolate or even make a fast food run or two in the couple of days following a breakup. Most likely, kummerspeck wont get its claws in you.
Out of curiosity, lets conduct our own mini survey.
Talk to me! Whats been your experience with weight gain (or loss) after a breakup? Or, emotional eating in general? How do you combat the urge, or get yourself back on track with healthy foods?
Photo by Lesha on Reshot.
See more here:
Broken Hearts and Grief Bacon: How Likely Are You to Gain Weight After a Breakup? - PsychCentral.com
