Yasmin And Ilma’s Guide To Reclaiming Valentine’s Day As A Single Person

Raise your hands if you think Valentine’s Day comes with too much pressure. Whether you’re coupled-up or single, the holiday is an equaliser when it comes to making you feel terrible if you ‘don’t get it right’. If you, like many of us, are wondering if there is a way to, in fact, get it right, the hosts of the podcast The Break-Up Diet have got your back.

Actor and content creator Yasmin Misner was going through her first break-up when she realised that there was nothing out there that felt relatable to what she was feeling at that moment. She was going through the different stages of emotions following the split and realised that something was missing in the content space to target that specific kind of rut that you feel when you’re dealing with something like this. Serendipitously, she soon got invited as a plus one to a divorce party.

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While Yasmin was working on the foundations of what would become The Break-Up Diet, model and content creator Ilma Shahrene was planning her divorce party. Ilma decided to throw a bash for her friends and loved ones to celebrate with her.

The idea of a divorce party might seem morbid for some, but for Ilma it was a way to kick off the start of a new chapter in her life her own way. A fact that instantly resonated with Yasmin. “She was just so iconic! This girl has, what I would need for somebody to join me in doing a podcast because she's like we're opposite since she's an extrovert! And it was really beautiful to see someone who'd gone through a divorce at such a young age to then have such a nice outlook towards it all,” says Yasmin.

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“I would make videos for TikTok on things like, ‘Five steps to get over a divorce’ or ‘five things not to do when you're going through a divorce’ and they would pop off. And I think from that I was like I need to do something more with this because the reception's been quite well and I wanted to share more than just posting photos or videos,” says Ilma.

The duo got to chatting and discovered that both of them shared a desire to start their own podcast. Both Ilma and Yasmin agreed that they wanted to talk about all kinds of break-ups, not just romantic ones. And thus, after months of planning and ideating, The Break-Up Diet finally launched on podcast streaming platforms everywhere.

“The moment it came out it became real for us, even though we'd been filming for months prior, trying to work it all out. So yeah, the journey is just getting better and better, especially as we have more people on with their different experiences and their insights,” says Yasmin.

20-episodes in, Yasmin and Ilma are slowly building the ultimate guide to getting over your break-up and levelling up your life. Because as Ilma puts it, “We all get hotter after break-ups. The glow-up you experience because you're single is real. You're focusing on yourself, you've got a whole new list of goals that you want to achieve that you can achieve because you're not tied to a certain person and to the responsibilities associated with that. And that's why we think why should breakups be this sad thing?”

They share candid and unfiltered advice, often mining their own lives for anecdotes, that could help people navigate the modern dating landscape and deal with break-ups in the best way possible.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, the podcast inevitably addressed the giant red heart-shaped elephant in the room with a full episode titled ‘We Don’t Like Valentine’s Day…Thank U, NEXT!’. If the title wasn’t succinct enough, Yasmin’s opening statement clears their stance on the whole thing. Barely a minute into the episode, she says, “Valentine’s Day is the worst holiday. Minus the gifts, if you get them.” So, naturally, we ask them to dispense some advice on reclaiming the holiday for people who don’t have any romantic entanglements or even for those who are in relationships yet cannot deal with the pressure Valentine’s Day puts on them.

“Even if you have a partner, you could wake up on Valentine’s Day and just not be in a good mood and then the whole day is ruined,” says Yasmin. “Or you could wake up sick!” adds Ilma. “I think there's a lot of pressure to perform these romantic gestures on that day. It’s nice to have a specific day to appreciate your partner but it’s too much.”

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“The most powerful way to reclaim it is to get off social media,” says Ilma. “You don't need to see all these fancy Galentine and Valentine's Day celebrations because it will only make you feel bad. So just put down the phone, order some good food and watch a movie!”

Yasmin agrees and adds, “I think you should also reframe the narrative of you're not alone.  You're free to do whatever that may be. Whether it’s watching TV, going for a walk, or doing nothing. You’ve got to reframe how you look at it, too. And block your ex!”

For those who are worried about dealing with Valentine’s Day FOMO, Yasmin and Ilma have one thing to say: FOMO is temporary, peace is forever!

“It's a temporary feeling,” says Ilma, “You’re only going to feel like this for a set number of hours and then it's going to be 10:00 and it's bedtime. It’s such a temporary, fleeting moment that you don't need to let it consume you.”

There you have it!

The Break-Up Diet is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for streaming.