Divorce can be pretty tough on the heart and can also play havoc with bank balances. But apparently a split is also bad for the waistline. For women, marriage and adding pounds have a direct correlation. It’s called a “weight shock”, and was discovered by researchers who surveyed more than 10,000 people over two decades. The findings were clear: marriage and divorce led to weight gain. There is an important caveat: it happens only after age 30 and before 50.
It’s not for us to pick an argument with university researchers — who obviously are heavyweights in their field — but their findings do seem a bit counterintuitive. We were always under the impression that men went to seed almost immediately after getting hitched, since there was no need anymore to spend hours in the gym once the girl of their dreams had become their wife. Marriage, after all, brings contentment and beer bellies. How many sinewy athletic types we know have become couch potatoes as they bask in domestic bliss? Unless the researchers mean even more kilograms get piled on post-divorce, which is too worrying to contemplate. Many guys planning to get hitched would do well to draw some lessons from this. Don’t let yourself go after marriage, and if you do, make sure the love of your life doesn’t let you go.