Having sex may burn calories, but a new survey suggests cheating on your spouse may be the real champion of weight loss relationship therapies.
The survey, which is must be noted off the top was conducted by U.K. online dating site UndercoverLovers.com — who have a vested interest in portraying infidelity in a positive light — found that 50% of men and more than half of women claimed they shed unwanted pounds after cheating on their mate. The survey was taken by 4,000 unfaithful people and found that men lost six pounds on average, while cheating women claim to have lost about 10 pounds.
And how did the site manage to find so many unfaithful spouses? The website is the British equivalent to Canada’s cheating site Ashley Madison, and is designed for married people searching for affairs.
A representative for the site said these findings are not surprising since, “It’s well known that we eat more, and less healthily, when we’re unhappy,” so, having an affair actually creates a “psychological fillip” causing people to make positive lifestyle changes.
But Craig Jackson, professor of psychology at Birmingham City University, has a different explanation. He says engaging in an extramarital affair is extremely stressful, as the individual must constantly sneak around and cover their tracks.
“Being stressed has a whole range of effects on your body. You produce adrenalin and the stress hormone cortisol, your heart rate goes up, your breathe faster, your blood pressure rises and levels of serotonin are increased. All this can burn calories,” he tells Daily Mail Health online. “When you’re up to no good, you’re more likely to be rushing from A to B, with less time to eat your lunch or have that extra pint. These things can also effect weight loss.”
Jackson said another added bonus for cheating men is that they are more likely to improve their physique by either working out or eating differently.
Often, men who choose to cheat are already unhappy, and depression can place them at higher risk for heart attack
Although it is often said that a romp in the sheets can be beneficial for your health, as it keeps the heart rate accelerated and burns calories, researchers at the University of Florence say men who cheat are at a higher risk of suffering a heart attack. This is because often, men who choose to cheat are already unhappy, although they have no intention of getting divorced, and depression has been linked to heart disease.
The survey also contradicted the common belief that men were more likely to cheat than women, as women reported they had an average of 2.3 extra-marital encounters, while men reported an average of 1.8.
