Starving before period...anyone else? Tips?

katiepaff

Anyone else want to eat the world right before and during their period? Do you eat anymore calories and allow yourself indulgences, or stick to your regular calorie allowance? I'm wondering if I should try to remain firm or listen to my body and indulge a little? Also, does your willpower to work out wane during this time? It took everything in me today to do my work out at all...

usmcmp

I increase to maintenance or allow myself extra calories. It's usually only a few days and allowing the extra calories keeps me from binge eating.

katiepaff

How do I calculate maintenance calories?

Francl27

Yeah the week before is horrible, but for me it usually stops on the 2nd day of my period, thankfully...

I definitely end up eating more - sometimes WAY more. It's that or being dizzy and shaking for me, so I pretty much have to eat. I've tried all kinds of foods and combinations and even supplements to make it go away and so far I haven't found any magical trick to make it easier, and my usual veggies/lean meats are just not cutting it at that time. I try to avoid sweets though during that week, as I'm more likely to binge on them.. but breads/cookies and the like are the most satisfying (just not for long either).

No problem doing my work outs though, I just make myself do it, otherwise I'd end up gaining 2 pounds instead of 1 (I just keep a deficit the rest of the time to make up for that week - been maintaining for over a year).

Kalikel

Either tough it out or eat more. I more before and less after. I'm not really hungry after it begins and naturally don't want as much food, so it all works out. Way over before and way under after.

usmcmp

katiepaff wrote: »

How do I calculate maintenance calories?

Both of these count your exercise already, so you wouldn't add in your workouts.

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

segacs

I say tough it out. We don't always have to give into our cravings. We have willpower.

Plan your day with foods that you find more filling if you know it's the week before you get your period. But stick to your plan. Otherwise, you're just giving yourself license to binge.

Francl27

segacs wrote: »

I say tough it out. We don't always have to give into our cravings. We have willpower.

Plan your day with foods that you find more filling if you know it's the week before you get your period. But stick to your plan. Otherwise, you're just giving yourself license to binge.

Ok willpower doesn't have much to do with it in my case when it's a physical craving and I get dizzy and I get the shakes if I don't eat...

But I agree with the second part. If you know it's coming, try to make good choices. For me I know it's the week when I just can't get away with having a croissant or some brioche in the morning, and I try to avoid sweets as much as possible, and if I crave carbs I go for some fruit instead of bread or cookies - it seems to help some. But yeah, basically everything fills me up half as much as it would normally, so that's when I try to focus on getting the most amount of food for the least calories, and more whole grains and fiber than usual.

mommyrunning

segacs wrote: »

I say tough it out. We don't always have to give into our cravings. We have willpower.

Plan your day with foods that you find more filling if you know it's the week before you get your period. But stick to your plan. Otherwise, you're just giving yourself license to binge.

I believe your body burns a bit more calories during that time so your body legitimately may need a bit more. I borrowed this from an article:

Your cycle also influences your metabolic rate. During the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle—the week or so before your period is set to begin—you'll burn up calories faster than at all other times throughout the month.

It goes on to say about 10% more calories

tristen_leigh

usmcmp wrote: »

I increase to maintenance or allow myself extra calories. It's usually only a few days and allowing the extra calories keeps me from binge eating.

This is much more realistic than "oh, just tough it out". Because uhhhh... if just toughing it out was easy, I wouldn't be here using this app for anything ever.

I honestly feel like there isn't enough food in the world to satiate me during that time of the month. Increase your calorie goal a bit for those couple days. Might not hurt to save up some calories when you know the week is approaching. Good luck!

kshama2001

katiepaff wrote: »

How do I calculate maintenance calories?

Go here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided and change your goal to "Maintain my current weight."

I too switch to eating at maintenance for a few days.

adriannacoates80

I crave Salty and crunchy foods more than ever during this time

xpipkinsx

Francl27 wrote: »

segacs wrote: »

if I crave carbs I go for some fruit instead of bread or cookies - it seems to help some. But yeah, basically everything fills me up half as much as it would normally, so that's when I try to focus on getting the most amount of food for the least calories, and more whole grains and fiber than usual.

Have you tried Lidl Protein rolls? Great macros, a bit dense but REALLY filling when you've got that carb craving.

Queenmunchy

If I have super hungry days I go for all high volume meals - egg white scrambles with 100+g veggies, soups thickened with puréed vegetables, zoodles with more sautéed vegetables and sauce, chili or stew with a bunch of added veggies. That way I can eat several portions of everything if I'd like and still stay under goal.

Francl27

xpipkinsx wrote: »

Have you tried Lidl Protein rolls? Great macros, a bit dense but REALLY filling when you've got that carb craving.

Can't find those in the US as far as I know

PinkPixiexox

I generally stick to my normal routine. I tend to find other ways to indulge that aren't necessarily food related around TOM. For me, it's having a hot bubble bath and reading a good book

monmay01

I find drinking green tea when I have a craving helps, and sometimes I still eat the doughnut. But if I only eat 1 doughnut out of the 50 that I want during those few days, I feel its a win.

CoffeeNCardio

Two alternative perspectives.

1. Tough it out: You're "starving" because your hormones are out of wack. You wouldn't be horrible to people because of that would you? You'd make choices to stay away from people if you couldn't resist being horrible right? You wouldn't let your hormones control you that way, why should you let them control your food?

2. Eat more if you're that intensely uncomfortable. You can have an extra 1 or 2 hundred calories for a week and not completely derail your weight loss, just check out the reports screen and you can make that overage up later, plenty of people go by the week and not the day like that.

The Middleground:: You might also consider eating within your calorie count, but trying to choose foods that are more filling and satisfying. Maybe up your carbs and protein because they give you energy and protein makes you feel full for a LONG time. Good middle ground

Kullerva

I only increase to maintenance when I feel physically ill (today, for instance). For TOM I tend to want more before and less during and after. When I want more, I usually hit the water and tea really hard (tea has awesome flavors!) or eat some soup to stay under. It can be done, but if you're feeling sick, switch to maintenance mode for the day.

segacs

Okay, we're all different and we're all affected differently by hormones. But IMHO if you feel physically ill from lack of food during the lead-up to your period, you're probably eating at too steep a deficit. A modest deficit of 15-20% from your maintenance level (which is what is usually recommended for weight loss) shouldn't cause you to feel dizzy or shaky, even during PMS.

Emily3907

PinkPixiexox wrote: »

I generally stick to my normal routine. I tend to find other ways to indulge that aren't necessarily food related around TOM. For me, it's having a hot bubble bath and reading a good book

I second the bubble bath/book idea. During TOM it keeps me out of the kitchen and helps cramps! I also tend to stick to my general routine and maybe have an extra 100-200 calories. Then I just deduct it later in the week when I am back to "normal".

katiepaff

Ugh, I ate half a pint of coconut ice cream last night. Threw the rest of it out and trying to eat really clean today.

Francl27

segacs wrote: »

Okay, we're all different and we're all affected differently by hormones. But IMHO if you feel physically ill from lack of food during the lead-up to your period, you're probably eating at too steep a deficit. A modest deficit of 15-20% from your maintenance level (which is what is usually recommended for weight loss) shouldn't cause you to feel dizzy or shaky, even during PMS.

I eat 20% above maintenance during that time and feel dizzy and shaky.

So yeah. It happens. I guess I'm one of the unlucky few. Thankfully it's only that bad for a couple days, usually, and in between I can tough it out.

Whitezombiegirl

Kalikel wrote: »

Either tough it out or eat more. I more before and less after. I'm not really hungry after it begins and naturally don't want as much food, so it all works out. Way over before and way under after.

Me too. Exactly the same.

prettysoul1908

katiepaff wrote: »

Anyone else want to eat the world right before and during their period? Do you eat anymore calories and allow yourself indulgences, or stick to your regular calorie allowance? I'm wondering if I should try to remain firm or listen to my body and indulge a little? Also, does your willpower to work out wane during this time? It took everything in me today to do my work out at all...

This is at least the third post about this in the last two days (including mine) lol.

We all must have a similar cycle.

I'm pre menstrual and am starving right now! I've started pre logging to make sure I'm getting enough protein and I'm going out tonight to have some fried foods and beer that fit into my calorie allotment (ahhhh... The joys of pre planning are new to me).

I don't want pms to cause me to lose my progress or the better habits I'm picking up.

Good luck !

rhtexasgal

I try, the keyword is try, to eat more healthy stuff like a larger salad and perhaps add extra protein to it to keep me fuller, longer. I will always on those days leave about 100-200 calories for chocolate because that often helps calm the raging hormones a bit. I have been known to string out a fun size bag of M&Ms out for a long time!

cgangl1821

Personally, I give myself the two days that need or crave the extra food. I ended up going over by 900 cal in 2 days. Not my finest days. But I made sure to have a 600 IF day after, when I felt more like myself. I will balance it out through the rest of the week and make my daily walk a little longer. I am not going to beat myself up about it. It happened, now I am moving on.

mrsnazario1219

I'm with you. I ate almost at maintenance yesterday. But today I'm barely hungry. I guess I'm balanced out. Thank goodness I'm hardly hungry during my period.

segacs

Yeah I usually am not hungry when I get my period either. I end up craving salty food a few days beforehand, which is strange for me because the rest of the month I usually have a sweet tooth. But when I have it, I lose my appetite and end up wanting to exercise more. So yeah, it does tend to balance out.

Having said that, I don't indulge during PMS. I'm at maintenance now, but even when I was losing, I didn't let myself go over my calories. No excuses.

arditarose

Yes. And honestly, who knows what I do anymore. Half the time I think I'm in a deficit but I'm not, sometimes I'm in maintenance and losing.

I bank a lot of calories for the evenings and kind of deal with the hunger during the day.