Is “Match.com” Causing You to Gain Weight?

You are on your 4th match.com date this week. It’s your third month on match and you still haven’t found your “match”. But you are quite determined … after all, they guarantee you’ll meet your match! While you haven’t found the man of your dreams, you have found that your pants are getting quite tight and your thighs aren’t as thin as they were a few months ago. What is going on?  It’s Match.com weight gain! 

Many city girls and guys find themselves on match or other dating sites at one time or another. All we do is work – who has time to go out and meet people the old fashioned way? While these internet dating sites can be a great way to meet people,  if you aren’t careful you may find yourself packing on the pounds (and soon your pic will be outdated!) This can be due to the sheer volume of potential dates. 

Here are some solutions to help you combat Match.com weight gain:

Problematic scenerios:
1. Too many calories from cocktails. “Let’s meet for a drink” is the usual Match.com activity. There is nothing wrong with a drink or two on occasion. However if you are a serial Match.com dater, these drinks can add up. Not only do alcoholic drinks contain empty calories, they can also decrease the quality of your sleep. This, in turn can cause you to feel more tired the next day, increase the chances you’ll skip your workout and have more cravings for junk food. (that pic is not me!)

Solutions:
– Meet for coffee instead of drinks.
– Order a non-alcoholic drink instead of an alcoholic drink.
– Limit the dates you have each week.
– Find another activity to do with your date such as taking a walk in central park.

2. Decreased exercise. Finding Mr. Right is taking priority over your workouts. You used to take the 6:30 pm spinning class 4 times a week . Or if you missed it, you’d take the 6:30 am class. Now your evenings are occupied with dates … or running home to browse Match for potential dates. Or if you consumed several glasses of wine on your date, your motivation to get up early the next day to workout is gone.
2. Decreased exercise.

Solutions:
– Fit your dates around your workout. If you plan on taking the 6:30 pm spinning class, tell your date you’ll meet him for a quick drink after your workout. Or better yet, a cup of coffee prior to working out. Caffeine has been shown to increase exercise performance. If you like him, meet for drinks on the second date.
– If you meet your date and immediately see that he is  Mr. Wrong   (i.e.  he has suddenly gained 50 pounds or seems to have aged 15 years from his picture or talks about himself non stop for the first 5 minutes), don’t ruin a night for working out.  Order a club soda, drink it quickly and say your good-bye. Always bring your gym gear with you in preparation for this worst case sceniero (which may occur fairly frequently). So you missed your spinning class – jump on the treadmill instead!
– Suggest an athletic activity for your date. Meet him for a run or bike ride. Win – win situation. You get a workout and can see what he looks like in workout clothes!

3. Emotional eating. All dating can have emotional highs and lows. Internet dating can take these emotions to the extreme – really high “highs” and really low “lows”! Here are two examples:  
– You had a date with the hottie guy from the gym and thought it went really well. He said he’d call soon. After getting in from your date, you decided to get on match and saw him there as well! How could he be on match seeking new women immediately after your great date? Actually he seems to be on match 24 hrs a day (but it’s ok that you are too … because you are only “looking”) Immediately you turn to the freezer and reach for the pint of Hagen Daz….  (pic is of hottie, no further explaining needed)
– You had several dates with a guy who seemed perfect. Once again, you thought everything was going really well. He even told you he’d introduce you to his friends the following weekend. That was the last you’d heard from him. Now you can’t stop thinking about (and eating) chocolate. What went wrong?

Solutions:
While I am far from being a dating coach,I can offer you some advice:
– Keep your expections low. Remember, internet dating sites are a numbers game. You have to kiss many frogs until you meet your prince.
 – Keep trigger foods out of your house. In the event that something (or someone) sets you off, there will be fewer tempting foods for you to turn to.
-Find ways to meet men other than match. That way you don’t have to see that they are searching for someone else after your date.
– Take a break from dating and spend your time doing something that you’ve always wanted to do (i.e. taking dance lessons, training for a triathalon)

5. Too many calories consumed from eating out. Perhaps you have been finding generous men who like to take you out for dinner on the 1st or 2nd date. While this is nice, it can wreak havoc on your waistline. Meals eaten out tend to contain quite a bit more calories than meals made at home. Even if you are ordering carefully, it is likely the portion sizes are larger and the food has been prepared with more oil.

Solutions:
– Try not to meet for dinner on the 1st date.  Keep it to a drink or better yet coffee or athletic activity. In addition, just meeting for a quick drink or coffee will allow you a quicker escape if he is not your match.
– If you do end up going out for dinner, eat lightly. Your best bet would be to stick to an appetizer. My favorite choices are: tuna tartare, grilled calamari or shrimp, smoked salmon. Japanese is always a safe bet as you can eat lightly. Don’t waste calories on the bread.

Hopefully by following these tips, you can meet your match and avoid the dreaded “match.com” weight gain!

BTW – would love to hear any match.com weight/alcohol/food  related stories!