You have heard it countless times before: when life gives you lemons; you make lemonade. And if that lemon is a breakup, then you could turn that into a weight loss lemonade.

But first, hi there. How are you doing?

I know it's tough dealing with the loss of someone you put so much of your trust in. You thought this relationship would go the distance, but despite all the effort, you ended back where you started, with a broken heart to boot.

There's a silver lining, believe it or not. Studies have confirmed that crying over an ex is a good way to lose weight.

Apparently, The Average Person Sheds About 16.5 Gallons Of Tears In Their Lifetime

And we can bet many of these tears flow after getting our feelings hurt and our hearts broken.

I think it's also worth pointing out that crying is very healthy in general. Bottling up the pain to appear strong will kill you slowly on the inside until you explode with negative emotions at the most inopportune time.

So, forget about people who say you should put on a brave face despite the pain.

And now you know crying will have additional benefits for you since it will help you shed some pounds.

I believe this should come in handy for those of us who like to eat our way through the pain of a heartbreak. Why should your ex enjoy the benefit of seeing you add on pounds after hurting your feelings and wasting your time?

Imagine What Less Weight Could Do For Your Confidence?

Stress makes your body produce cortisol or the stress hormone. This hormone is linked to obesity, and it's because people don't respond appropriately to it.

When under stress, this hormone expects you to use up more energy, which is why it tries to give you more calories so you can cope with the extra energy demands.

But the problem is that we don't "cope" properly. Instead of responding by crying and letting off some steam, we harden our hearts and pretend we are fine.

That doesn't make the extra calories go away, and so we put on weight.

Crying helps you lose weight by using up some of this energy. And in case you haven't heard this before, crying is an amazing way to relieve stress.

And this happens in a literal manner because the hormones that cause stress leave the body with tears. And so, when you cry and the stress hormones leave the body, you keep them from encouraging the body to bulk up.

Pretending to Cry Doesn't Count

Fake tears do not work here. The crying has to be caused by the negative emotions you have previously suppressed within you.

So, embrace the pain you feel, meditate on the damage the heartbreak has truly caused you, and let the tears flow naturally.

Luckily, there is a good time for this, which is a relief (so people don't start whispering to each other when you cry in the middle of a boardroom meeting).

Science says you should cry between 7 and 10 pm. During this time, emotions come easily.

So, don't let that breakup drain you of your hope, energy, any shred of happiness and give you more weight. Cry it out. You will get over it more easily and you will lose a few pounds too.

Who knows, your ex might be the one crying after seeing how good you look since parting ways.