Women who had a romance go belly-up spill their real-life secrets for moving on.

“It was actually a second guy who saved me from the first one. It certainly wasn’t love, and it only lasted a few months, but he was so compassionate and caring, he gave me everything I couldn’t get from Number 1, plus a good chunk of self-esteem. As a bonus, it made my ex eat his heart out! After that I was healed and ready to move on. That’s when I found true love…with my husband.”
-Karin, 32

“When my long-distance relationship with a guy across the country ended, I took all the money I would have spent going to visit him and instead treated myself to a trip to Paris (over Valentine’s Day, no less!) to visit my best friend Lauren. Using the money I would have used with the ex, Lauren and I ate out, visited our favorite bars and went shopping! It was one of the best trips I’d ever had — and I was so happy that I could prove to myself that quite often, it’s more fun to be single than in a relationship! I haven’t missed him since!”
-Kristin, 28

“My recipe for surviving a break up? Mani + pedi; singing out loud to music while cleaning my apt—”set me free why don’t ya babe, get out my life why don’t you babe…”; movie marathon; pepperoni pizza; girls’ night out dancing; new haircut; shopping spree; hit the gym; focus on work; buy a new lipstick. Then rip up all the old photos, throw out everything he bought you, and you’re free!”
-Melissa, 34

“I recently went through a very difficult breakup. I was with Jordan for 3.5 years, and thought I would marry him. I was ready to settle down and have kids, but he wasn’t. He was in a different place in his life, and I couldn’t wait around five more years for him to decide if I was ‘the one’. With this break up, a little part of me died: One day you have a best friend, confidant, the love of your life, and, in a flash, he’s gone. You can’t talk to him because it makes moving on that much harder. I started smoking (that lasted 4 months), cried incessantly, shopped myself into some debt, and partied a lot. Finally, when my friends and family were sick of hearing me whine, I decided to talk to a psychologist. The therapy was a great outlet to channel my emotions. I also started doing more stuff for me – little things like treating myself to massages, taking up dance classes & traveling a ton!”
-Erica, 28

“After my ex-boyfriend (and supposed best friend) broke up with me, we had a long-drawn out separation saga that stretched over a few years. In that time, we both dated other people, but fell into affairs with each other and cheated on our respective partners. The sad truth is I never wanted to break up and couldn’t let him go (see “young and stupid” in dictionary.) When he told me he was getting married to his latest flame and invited me to their wedding, I figured I needed to sever the tie, so I slept with his best friend and made sure he found out about it. It wasn’t the most mature thing, but it was a great F*%! you.”
-Doreen, 32