Food and 4 Other Surprising Things to Mention on a Dating Profile

If you have been exposed to online dating for more than two seconds, you’re well aware of how plain and boring online dating profiles can be. Honestly, on some dating sites, they’re akin to going through a notebook full of mugshots at your local police precinct. The descriptions attached to them are no better — the majority are stale and unimaginative.

If you are happy simply being one more boring schmuck in an ocean of boring and uncreative schmucks, then follow that same pattern. If, however, you want to stand out. If you want to be seen, desired, coveted — for all intensive purposes to be placed in the pantheon of online dating — then you should consider introducing unique tidbits about yourself into your online dating profile.

No matter how good or how stunning your profile picture may be, if the accompanying description is pathetic, your entire profile becomes pathetic. For that reason, try using some of the unique suggestions that we list below.

1. Mention Food

Food not only provides us with sustenance, but it is also one of the most intimate personal choices that we express every day. If you have a favorite type of food, or if you are blessed with a culinary talent for cooking a particular type of food, mention of that on your profile. Not only is it unique because not many people do it, but it also offers some insight into who you are. It can also be used to create icebreakers during those all-important initial online chats. It can also create obvious opportunities for planting first date ideas. After all, if you both enjoy a particular type of food, it is only obvious that you must go together and try the best “whatever” at your favorite restaurant.

2. Mention Your Personal “Vices”

By vices, we are not referring to your private and personal propensity for training feral raccoons with peanut butter to engage in bizarre acts. We are talking about personal, yet socially tolerable, vices. These include smoking, drinking, etc.

We know what you must be thinking, “WTF, are you people at OnlineHookupSites totally crazy?” While for the majority of us that question is legitimately open to debate, on this particular issue, no, we are not nuts.

We are not suggesting that you start confessing to being some sort of lush or human chimney. We are merely stating that it can be beneficial to insert an anecdotal mention of the fact that you smoke or drink. Likewise, if you are an ardent anti-smoker or anti-drinker, that could also be mentioned. If you are a ferocious meat eater or a more health-conscious vegan, that also merits inclusion.

People like to latch on to other people who share particular habits in common. As a matter of fact, some behavioralists state that commonality in social habits spearhead deeper connections and feelings. In other words, you’ll have a stronger chance of hooking up with somebody if you both happen to smoke, enjoy the same type of adult beverage, or both prefer tofu over steak than if the both of you were to share the same ideological outlook on life.

Yes, it might sound counterintuitive, but a mutual passion for chili dogs might be more powerful than sharing the same viewpoint regarding the meaning of life.

3. Pets

Mentioning your pet or a fondness for a particular type of pet can be a positive. However, it is easy to go off the cliff with this one — you must be very careful.

It is one thing to casually mention in one line of your profile the fact that you are a pet owner. It can even be acceptable to refer to your pet as your friend or buddy, which we are sure he is. You must not, however, overdo it. This means, no images of your pets, no mentioning of the fact that you knit special sweaters for them, no mentioning of the fact that you’re considering including them in your will. Mention pets and animals only if you are indeed an animal person. Do not let the topic dominate, however.

4. Specific Hobbies

When someone has a hobby, by definition you are going to be passionate about it. Be it collecting potato chips that look like 1940s pin-up girls, or baking tofu cookies — a hobby is something that you enjoy and that involves a significant portion of your time. Therefore, it is only natural to make mention of it in your profile. However, just as with the other items on this list, don’t overdo it. Make it a passive reference, not a manifesto.

Even if your hobby is off-beat, it can still enhance the impression you make. An unusual hobby can enhance your image as an outside-the-box thinker. You never know, there just might be another person out there that enjoys your hobby as well.

5. Personal Challenges or Goals

Mentioning an attainable personal challenge or goal is not a bad idea. Mind you, we conditioned the phrase with the word “attainable.” This means that your lofty ambitions of climbing Mount Everest or becoming the world’s first trillionaire really don’t enter into play here. What we are referring to are easy to digest goals that you set for yourself.

Things such as moving up from 5K runs to 10K runs. They should revolve around something that you currently already master but that wish to improve upon. These are goals and challenges, not dreams. By sharing them, they are a non-pompous and non-arrogant way of highlighting some of your current life’s accomplishments. It also indicates that you have a positive attitude and are always eager to improve.

— Just be Unique —

The key to having an online dating profile that stands above the rest requires inserting a dash of uniqueness. The suggestions listed above are just that, suggestions. If there is any aspect of your life that you feel is original and unique, insert that into your profile. Just remember, a little bit will go a long way. You do not want to make your descriptive profile an ode to your uniqueness. You want to apply it as you would salt on a steak — just enough to bring out your personality’s natural flavors.