If there’s one thing we can’t stand, it’s cheating. As we’ve mentioned plenty of times before, it’s selfish, manipulative and downright mean, leading to heartache and confusion on the person it happens to. However, especially in a day and age where we’re all connected through dating apps and such more than ever, it’s, sadly, all too common

For those of you who have a gut instinct that something might be fishy with your girlfriend, we’re giving some signs of cheating that should immediately raise a red flag. As someone who has suspected an ex-girlfriend of cheating in the past — more so emotionally than physically — these are things that we definitely saw going on and should have been addressed. Sure, the relationship would’ve ended anyway, but it would’ve been nice to know a real answer to some underlying questions to give us peace of mind in the end.

Noncommittal

One of the very first signs of cheating is suddenly having a girlfriend who is noncommittal to things. This can be anything from future plans to simply keeping her options open for a night out. As mentioned above, for someone who has suspected some sort of cheating in the past, a form of this came when an ex-girlfriend talked about taking a trip together, yet continued to balk when discussing where she wanted to go.

A change in appearance

Look, people like shopping for new clothes and getting all dolled up, but if a girlfriend is going through drastic changes to their appearance, something may be up. For instance, in our experience, an ex-girlfriend went behind our back to schedule a boob job consultation and appointment, in addition to caring more about how she looked when going to work. Again, this is one of the obvious signs of cheating — or something similar.

Secrecy

Notice how your girlfriend all of a sudden turns her phone upside down when you’re sitting in front of the TV together, or takes it with her everywhere she goes — including the bathroom? Yep, this might mean that something’s up. If she abruptly cuts off communication or paying more attention to things like apps on her phone or sharing things publicly rather than with you, you may be getting cheated on.

Less sex

Now, having less sex might not immediately be a serious sign of cheating — but, more so, a sign she’s just losing interest in you — but it absolutely could be. Think about it, if a girl’s cheating on you, that means she’s getting her fill from someone else, either emotionally or physically, and doesn’t need you to help get her rocks off. It’s disgusting, but it might be the truth.

Contradicting stories

She may tell you that she’s out playing kickball, yet she comes home wearing exactly what she wore to work. Or, more so, she says that her and her girlfriends went out, but you notice one of the girls she said she was with posted something on social media that was from another place. When people can’t account for the actions they claim are true, that usually a huge sign of cheating and shouldn’t be ignored.

You make excuses for them

One of the worst (but obvious) signs of cheating? When you find yourself trying to convince yourself and/or friends that she isn’t doing it. Relationships take a lot of work and can be complicated, but insecurity that are stemmed from questions about infidelity shouldn’t be part of that. If you find yourself making excuses for her by defending some of the things that she’s doing, you may just be covering up the obvious, and should end the relationship sooner rather than later.