Many people speak of marriage and relationships as the "healthy" life choices we should all be making, but what does the medical profession have to say about this?
Everyone knows how easy it can be to let yourself go in a relationship, and some may even argue that you reach your peak when you are striving on your own without any partner to fall back on.
While I'm sure that there is someone for everyone who is the perfect fit, let's focus on the main differences between the single life and the ball and chain.
You: Minus The Baggage
When you're all on your own, you begin to notice the little things. Like how much weight you are dragging around. Scientists found that happily married couples most often gain several pounds within four years of their wedding day.
It is like we said before, on your own, your can't get away from that voice in your head telling you to be better. With a person in your life who is comfortable with how things are, it is easy for you both to become complacent.
In fact, women who felt the most pressure to slim down before their wedding day ended up gaining it back and then some in the months following the "I do's."
I guess it's easier to eat that slice of cake if you know someone has just vowed to stay in "sickness and in health."
Hit The Gym, Slim
As soon as you exit a relationship, there seems to be a social pressure to find someone else to take their place and redeem your self esteem, or to build it up yourself by improving what you have to work with.
When you decide your life's direction on your own and are on no one else's schedule, it is easier to make choices that are better for you. Exercise is a great way to clearly see the results of this, and it puts you back into the dating pool with a lot more self-confidence.
The statistics are on the side of this, as the majority of married men and women fail to meet even the basic levels of physical activity each week, in and out of the bedroom.
Keep Your Friends Close
This won't come as a shock. Turns out, that those who are single have more friends and are closer to them as well. It makes sense, instead of putting the entirety of your focus on one individual, you get to offer your attention to a whole network of people who can reciprocate that affection.
When you spend the vast majority of your time with only one other person, then things can become quite neurotic. The little faults and mishaps that are a normal part of any persons life, suddenly become magnified, and petty disagreements can lead to all out temper tantrums.
The effect on your mental health is that better friends offer more support, and overly-intimate relationships can be draining. Single people are just better friends.
Don't Sweat The Small Stuff
A lot of couples like to talk about how they are "in this together" and that they work "as a unit," but it comes off as sounding more like the onset of Stockholm syndrome. Does having a partner really help you manage life's obstacles?
Nope. In fact, it adds two times the issues in both of your lives. There is less mess to clean up after, fewer dishes to do, laundry isn't as bad, there's not as many birthdays to have to remember, and of course, less debt.
With a constant supervisor for all that goes wrong in your life, they don't even need to say anything for you to feel guilty about your faults, whereas single people report that they are more forgiving to themselves.
Additionally, there is an air of freedom that comes with flying solo. Others describing single people say they are "doing their own thing" and "figuring themselves out," but there is an invisible pressure for couples to hit certain milestones on their way to a happily-ever-after. First it's engagement, then the wedding, then the house, then the kids, etc.
Giving Back
Just as you become a worse friend when you enter a relationship, you also become more reclusive from the world, and stingier with your money when it comes to charity.
You become less outgoing because you get enough intimate contact in your home life, and even reduce conversations with close relations due to jealousy and the added stresses mentioned earlier.
Researchers also found that even though committed couples have more access to disposable income, they tend not to donate as much when they begin seriously dating.
Want better karma? Go use your freedom to give back to the world.
