PMS and cravings

TrueQuest

So three weeks ago I had a reality check when I looked in a mirror at someone house and i looked sooo much bigger in the mirrors in my home, so I told myself "I need to change" so since then I've been going for a jog every morning or getting on my cross trainer/elliptical for at least 40 minutes and tracking my food via MFP. Now it's that time of the month when my cravings get the best of me. Omg I have so much baking stuff in the house...I want to go into the cupboards and get things out to make. I keep telling my mind to eat eat EAT but i'm trying so hard to stop!! Can someone tell me how I can stop my cravings? I had some icecream today (lite ice cream) which wasn't a lot of calories. All my mind think of is food at the moment, junk food that is. My birthday is coming up and I'm waiting until then to reward myself w/ a slice of cake. Ugh this. is. so. HARD! I need to lose at least 40lbs before my wedding in June, but to be at a healthy weight I need to lose 75lbs.

BWBTrish

Everybody is different of course.

but i dont have cravings at all. I eat very balanced. And i am not hungry

Now for all the baking stuff i had...i cleaned out my cub-bards and gave most things away to people who could use it.
Replaced a lot of things for healthier options. And less or low sodium ones ( now this is personal of course i had to cut out my salts)

I eat everything but if i want ice cream we get it and just a small pack/box so it will be gone in one or two days. So its gone than
Same for other things. Like i love patato chips and i just bought a small bag of it. Now i dont even take any when my husband has a big bag which he eats over a whole week btw. But i dont take any of it.

For me it was training, cleaning out everything and choose healthier options and portion control.

dawniemate

Periods wreck my diet! ! It's true I have a very healthy diet until the time of the month! Huge cravings, I just eat grapes to curb the need for chocolate, the sweetness helps. ..a bit !

Sued0nim

I'm stuck in PMT mode at the moment so can empathise. I don't cut out things I crave, I tend to eat higher carbs (although my diet is relatively high carb generally at about 50%) and try to focus a little more on hitting my weekly targets

I wouldn't eat lite ice cream but smaller portions of good ice cream and savour it - I'd also grab a small piece of 72% dark chocolate and savour it (allowing a small piece to melt in my mouth) rather than chew down on grapes that aren't satisfying me.

And I would log everything - even if you go over

I lost my motivation on Monday so missed my regular gym session - but I went for a walk instead to make sure I hit 10K, did the same Tuesday and was back in the gym last night .. hoping to go today and tomorrow too.

Yesterday my weight was up 3lbs due to period bloating, today it is down 1.6lbs from that - I'm pretty sure it will keep going up and down until a couple of days after my period ends (and it is yet to start)

It's tough but this is where commitment counts and logging - just keep logging

MustLoveCats21

I have them too. But I drink flavoured water and eat fruit which calms them down. Also, you should keep busy.

Do something that engages your brain or makes you concentrate. (That excludes watching television.)

For example, I draw when I have nothing to do. I'm a perfectionist so I try hard to get every detail right and that makes me concentrate on drawing real hard. I don't even notice the cravings at all then.

Fatimahasnain

Same thing is happening with me... Just had ice cream n spoiled all hardwork

Ooci

I have decided that I'm going to alter my goals twice a month as I have severe endometriosis. The over production of oestrogen causes feelings of starvation, rage, despair, a desire to overeat ( anything) as well as the physical symptoms of pain and angioedema ( facial swelling as my body makes war with itself), mild anaemia and excessive fatigue.
So, Day 4 to Day 18 I can do 1450. Day 18 to Day 28 I'll do 1680. That means aiming for 1 lb loss per week in the easy part of the month and just 1/2 lb loss in the hard part. I'm hoping this is going to allow me to give in to cravings without derailing me as so often happens.
I also find that the more I eat lean meat, pulses, fruit and veg the fewer the cravings - actually I'd now prefer a healthy 600 cal meal and then a 100 cal chocolate snack to 700 calls of chocolate/cake - and that didn't use to be the case.
Though I know the disease makes the journey harder I've had tremendous success - 42 lb off - UK 18 to UK 10 - and the symptoms are now under my control rather than controlling me. I was looking at a full oopherectomy and hysterectomy - now I'm not. It's worth fighting this.
And for younger women really suffering with bad PMT and awful periods - talk to a doctor as it might be endometriosis.

ashleycde

During my time of the month all I want are California sandwiches, these sandwiches from this Italian shop that's been in Toronto since the 1960's. Freshly butchered veal, battered, slathered in homemade Italian tomato sauce, with jalapeños and cheese, on freshly baked buns. They're not particularly unhealthy, but very calorie dense (and huge, big as your head). Luckily I have to go out of my way to get them, but if the craving is fierce enough I think it's worth it to fit half of one into my calories, or eat a whole one and move on. Don't deprive yourself completely, it's not worth it.

ashleycde

Just got this in a Google search:

Do you burn more calories on your period?

A woman’s hormone levels fluctuate during her menstrual cycle and this condition automatically has an impact on her metabolism. The energy requirement for human daily metabolism processes (e.g.: adapting body temperature, digesting food, etc) is called Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). When a woman enters the luteal phase of her menstrual cycle, her BMR will increase by 9%. Presumably, it happens due to elevation of progesterone hormone secretion by the corpus luteum. The luteal phase itself commonly starts about 2 weeks before the period and lasts for 14 days, approximately.

Is it true? I have no idea.

Ooci

I have gone over every month at my hard time, and either plateaued, or continued to lose. It must be true.

spamarie

I'm just entering those dreaded 2 to 3 days of the months when I'm at my ragiest and craviest (inventing new grammar there). I am always convinced I have put on loads weight and undone all my hard work during this time. But when I look at my weight loss graph on mfp, I realise this is mostly in my head as I still do lose weight. Of course it fluctuates but it's not that bad. I allow myself a few more hundred calories, eat a bit more chocolate for a couple of days, am a moody mare, and then I'm fine. I don't think those 600-900 calories extra over the course of a whole month make that much difference in the long-term.

Someone please remind me of this in 3 days' time when I am losing all sense of perspective and contemplating eating my own body weight in ice-cream.

Dancetherapist

I've been able to not eat sugar for most of the month and since I've gotten over my sugar addiction, I don't crave it anymore. The suggestion of just not buying sugary foods or foods with white refined flour has also helped me eat healthy. Something I found helpful when I was starting to cut back on sugar was to buy coconut/dark chocolate Choco bars from whole foods...they're delicious and only have 200cals. In terms of my period, I find that on the first few days I'm in so much pain that the only thing that doesn't hurt my stomach is ice cream. I ate a pint of it two nights ago when ms. Flow had just come to town and I don't regret it a bit

ashleycde

I've always found it weird that everyone craves sweets and chocolate on their periods, because I never have. I don't eat sugary foods though, never have. If I crave something, it's fruit that I want. Maybe that's why? During my period I crave meat, tomato sauce and cheese, and it has to be together. Maybe they're iron heavy, or somehow contain things I need during my period? No idea.

segacs

I don't typically crave sweets or chocolate on my period either. I crave those things all the rest of the time. But PMS gives me salty food cravings, and then when my period starts I usually don't feel like eating much at all and I crave exercise instead (since heavy meals make cramps worse, and exercise lessens them). We're all different.

But I think the answer to your question is, just don't eat those things. You are stronger than your cravings. You are stronger than your period. You can want those foods, but you have the option of not giving into your wants. Don't let your period run your life.

ShiirahTurner

Ahhh! I have this same problem! I've been on a roll the whole month of January, I was eating healthy and working out 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, and then bam! I got my period and the next 5 days I ate so much junk and it all started with cravings that got the best of me. Now I'm off and feel so guilty. I gained 3lbs and blew how far I came. I am now preparing for my next period lol. Good luck to us girls with the sugar and junk cravings!

leyla87

I am the same. I have 2 squares of dark chocolate (70%+) which helps. Or rice cakes spread with peanut butter, chopped banana and said squares of choc melted on top.

yolo9752

Same here...I just focus on not having around food I might regret eating...

Liftng4Lis

Pre-log your days to include those things you're craving.

yayamom3

I know I will have two craving days during my TOM. One is REALLY BAD and one is moderate. I just kill both of those days with massive amounts of exercise. And then I move on.

Sabine_Stroehm

I always went bigger picture. I was always ravenous and crave-y before and then had NO appetite at all during. I let myself have a few more treats before, and then didn't force myself to eat during.

I also tend to not buy the things I crave and have a hard time moderating, like tortilla chips, in the house. If I'm out, and someone orders them, sure, I'll have some.

LadyTalulah

Aaaagh, totally with you on this one! I'm PMS'ing right now. Normally cravings only last a couple of days max for me but it's been 4 days now and I'm still always SO hungry (mostly for junk food)…
My go to meal now is a peanut butter banana protein shake. I usually don't have peanut butter EVER as the one we buy is highly processed and packed with sugar and salt, but I make an exception during this time of the month. I'll have it as a meal because it's probably around 500 calories *gulp* =S
It's so worth it though, it satisfies my need for something sweet and salty in one, plus it fills you up longer thanks to the protein powder.
Just add 1-2 bananas, a couple tablespoons of peanut butter, a scoop of protein powder and any kind of milk (whole, almond, quinoa… etc) and blend it all together
Hope that helps!!

SandyCoils

So far so good for me, but I eat plenty of fruits like grapes, and cherries (how cherries got back into the stores? IDK, but I'm glad they did.) I did have a brownie last week, and 3 chocolate chip cookies yesterday. I was able to have them because I planned my day ahead for them so I could enjoy being good all week. I give myself one reward a week, and it is built into my daily cals so it doesn't carry me over. I will trade a big lunch for a lunch salad and a brownie every once in a while. The fruit really does help me, but if I'm really wanting something else, I plan my day ahead to make it happen.

MKEgal

I try not to buy things I'll lose control over, but when I want to have them I'll have some, log it, try to make it fit into my calories for the day, and move on.
Give in to the cravings a little bit. Easier & more satisfying than denying them.
The point is to learn to live with food, not let it control you, not be miserable because you're denying yourself something you want.

I need to lose at least 40lbs before my wedding in June

So you have 4 months, 16 weeks, and you want to lose 40 lb?
Not going to happen, not realistic, even though you're 75 lb overweight.

I started off 110 lb overweight and my first 40 lb took 7 months, even though I was eating under my BMR by several hundred calories _and_ exercising nearly every day (after the first month of easing into it).

You could lose 1 lb per week pretty easily / healthfully, and maybe a bit more at first, so you might be able to drop 20-25 lb by June. You could also tone & lose inches by focussing on progressively harder weightlifting. (Cardio is the best way to burn fat / calories, so don't forget to do that at least 30 min per day! More would be better.)

Wiseandcurious

MKEgal wrote: »

The point is to learn to live with food, not let it control you

The gist of it, this^

There is nothing wrong with cravings and indulging them in moderation, it's when cravings turn to binges that becomes a problem...