Getting back into it after a bad month?

bologna111

I am wondering if your hunger problems might be related to low blood sugar during pms? I would get a glucose monitor and check it when you are feeling that low energy hunger. I have reactive hypoglycemia ( diagnosed by endo with blood test and glucose monitoring) and I have had huge success controlling my blood sugar with meal timing. I'm sure everyone is different, so you will have to find what works for you, but I feel best if I skip breakfast and begin eating for the day after 11am. Good luck! I hope you can figure out a way to feel good and maintain your amazing weight loss!

nxd10

Sometimes you just feel like eating more. Around 6 months ago I realized the 'temporary' weight gain I'd had (still within my range) wasn't. I dropped 250 calories/day and it came right off. I've stayed at that lower level since because it feels way too tempting to eat a lot right now and I wasn't as confident of my logging.

Keep going. You'll get back into it.

ilovesweeties

"cake21 wrote: »

Just wanted to say thank you very much for this post. Once I'm back at goal weight (I was at maintenance a few years ago and let it go for various reasons) I'll follow this.

Thanks

LivingtheLeanDream

@francl27 hunger is not pleasant. ..PMS cravings are horrible but I think it's more a mental battle, I used to get notions to eat more during TOM but for several months now I have just ignored those cravings and don't give in ..its hard and it's doable but ONLY because for my main meals I make sure they are filling/satisfying.

I've speed read through alot of the comments /replies but just wanted to ask if you are filling up on plenty of protein/fat??. ..they really help keep hunger at bay.

Also how are you for drinking water? It really helps when hunger that's not real strikes.

You and I are similar weights, we're normal bmi but we also can't afford to gain more than 7lbs to reach the upper limit for normal.

I don't think gaining weight so you can eat more cals is the answer.

Right now I am extremely hungry, but I was away all weekend and ate way over maintenance so for next few days it's a case of having huge deficit to cover that indulgence - determination in my case will see me through. Plus it's temporary, I can handle a few days at 1500...but I prefer 2100 lol

Last year I felt hunger all the time when I was eating 2400 cals a day (I gained 4lbs over a 3 month period, so much for reverse dieting lol)..so I was eating loads but never satisfied - and I ate about 800 cals of crisps /chocolate every day! I had to change how I thought of food, it became fuel...and that's how I manage now.

Hope you find something that works for you.

Ruth

Francl27

RunRutheeRun wrote: »

@francl27 hunger is not pleasant. ..PMS cravings are horrible but I think it's more a mental battle, I used to get notions to eat more during TOM but for several months now I have just ignored those cravings and don't give in ..its hard and it's doable but ONLY because for my main meals I make sure they are filling/satisfying.

I've speed read through alot of the comments /replies but just wanted to ask if you are filling up on plenty of protein/fat??. ..they really help keep hunger at bay.

Also how are you for drinking water? It really helps when hunger that's not real strikes.

You and I are similar weights, we're normal bmi but we also can't afford to gain more than 7lbs to reach the upper limit for normal.

I don't think gaining weight so you can eat more cals is the answer.

Right now I am extremely hungry, but I was away all weekend and ate way over maintenance so for next few days it's a case of having huge deficit to cover that indulgence - determination in my case will see me through. Plus it's temporary, I can handle a few days at 1500...but I prefer 2100 lol

Last year I felt hunger all the time when I was eating 2400 cals a day (I gained 4lbs over a 3 month period, so much for reverse dieting lol)..so I was eating loads but never satisfied - and I ate about 800 cals of crisps /chocolate every day! I had to change how I thought of food, it became fuel...and that's how I manage now.

Hope you find something that works for you.

Ruth

Yeah 118g of protein minimum, 70g of fat or more, tons of fiber, and I drink water all day. Protein doesn't satisfy me at all those days though, only carbs seem to (but not veggies, and not sweets except fruit), but obviously that doesn't last long. I need to try high fat those days, haven't tried that yet, just clueless about that diet and harder to count calories I guess because you can't really figure out how much fat is on your cut of meat... plus too much fat used to give me horrible stomach pains (and massive diarrhea) so I'm a bit nervous to try it. But I need to, maybe it would actually be satisfying (I was craving ribs this time and actually felt full for a bit longer after I had some).

LivingtheLeanDream

@francl27 fats is the way to go then....try it and see

noobletmcnugget

I find not eating breakfast and only eating lunch at midday or later makes me MUCH LESS hungry than when I eat breakfast. Once I eat something, it sets off my hunger for the whole day.

Might be something to try out if you're not having luck with anything else.

Francl27

noobletmcnugget wrote: »

I find not eating breakfast and only eating lunch at midday or later makes me MUCH LESS hungry than when I eat breakfast. Once I eat something, it sets off my hunger for the whole day.

Might be something to try out if you're not having luck with anything else.

I've been trying to wait until I'm really too hungry for breakfast. It helps some.

LivingtheLeanDream

What about full fat cheese? Avocado? Butter instead of margarine? Full fat yogurt. ...none of that low fat malarkey really, we've been brainwashed for years about it being bad for us and it's hogwash.

Let us know over the coming days if introducing more fats made a difference - I really believe it will.

WinoGelato

As infrequently as you weigh yourself, are you sure that you know exactly what your maintenance calorie level is? Is it possible you could maintain eating more calories than you think - only weighing once a month seems like it would be pinning everything on one day out of 30 or so, and I think part of understanding the natural fluctuations of maintenance come from weighing more often, and also from pushing the envelope of how much you can eat before you start to see the scale go up. If it were me, and I wasn't sure, I would try adding 100 or so cals/day and see if that has an impact on the weekly scale number. I maintain at around 2300 and that's far more than anyone would ever think given my height, weight, age, etc.

Francl27

RunRutheeRun wrote: »

What about full fat cheese? Avocado? Butter instead of margarine? Full fat yogurt. ...none of that low fat malarkey really, we've been brainwashed for years about it being bad for us and it's hogwash.

Let us know over the coming days if introducing more fats made a difference - I really believe it will.

I've eaten butter, cheese, avocado, 4% yogurt in the last week... I'm not sure it really helps, honestly. I mean, they work great normally! The ribs I had the other day seemed to help though so maybe fatty meat is the answer, lol. I'll go for steak or something next time...

Just wish it was as easy for me as it was while I was losing!

20yearsyounger

You've been around long enough that I know you can find a way. Believe that you can to. Keep trying to see what works.

Francl27

20yearsyounger wrote: »

You've been around long enough that I know you can find a way. Believe that you can to. Keep trying to see what works.

Right now I honestly don't know.

I know I'll be looking for a GYN that takes me seriously and gets some testing done to figure out why my PMS symptoms are so insane (don't get me started on the mood swings too...). It's kinda tough when nobody takes you seriously but I honestly can't see how I will manage to maintain my weight if I end up eating 500-1000 calories over maintenance every other day for 10 days every month. I just can't deal with that hunger, it drives me completely crazy.

100df

I think you should give yourself credit for recognizing the issue. Good luck with your doctor search. There are ones that recognize PMS and hopefully will have a solution for you.

Francl27

WinoGelato wrote: »

As infrequently as you weigh yourself, are you sure that you know exactly what your maintenance calorie level is? Is it possible you could maintain eating more calories than you think - only weighing once a month seems like it would be pinning everything on one day out of 30 or so, and I think part of understanding the natural fluctuations of maintenance come from weighing more often, and also from pushing the envelope of how much you can eat before you start to see the scale go up. If it were me, and I wasn't sure, I would try adding 100 or so cals/day and see if that has an impact on the weekly scale number. I maintain at around 2300 and that's far more than anyone would ever think given my height, weight, age, etc.

I'm going to find out, lol. But I did the math over a year really. The reason I stopped weighing 2 weeks after my period is that I was just gaining weight little by little until my next period then, so it wasn't really telling me much (then I lost it all in a woosh after). Of course some months a meal out during that week would mess it up though, and my activity has changed over the months, so yeah, I guess it's a possibility, my metabolism has always been pretty good, all things considered... but both times I went on vacation for a week and ate 20% over my maintenance overall I ended up gaining 2 pounds that it took me a couple months to lose, but without changing anything to my diet really... so I'm hoping it's what's going to happen again... Just feeling flabbier than usual but I guess TOM is due any time so it's not exactly a good indication of how much weight I might have gained.


I wanted to add though - thanks everyone so much. I'll definitely apply your advice as soon as I'm not an hormonal mess. And thanks for not dismissing my issue like so many people have done.

LivingtheLeanDream

@Francl27 I really think its a perimenopausal thing, but why doctors aren't being more helpful is not good! We all feel flabby around TOM, none of us like it the fact that your symptoms last way longer is a pain and I hope a dr will give you better advice/take you seriously.
Somethings not right when your weight stays at the high end for so long during your cycle. Most of us would say that 4 or 5 days sorts the TOM weight gain..

Whatever you do, don't give up on your weight loss/maintenance journey - keep moving and try and rein in your calories as much as possible. You don't want to return to being heavier again, none of us feel good when we are

LivingtheLeanDream

and yes, fatty steak is very filling so get some of that into you

ahoy_m8

Agree fat may help. Worth trying.

Another thought... have you considered magnesium? A deficiency interferes with insulin transport of glucose across cell membranes, raising both insulin and blood glucose. Hence carb cravings. Women are more sensitive to a deficiency than men because of all the other wacky hormone stuff happening around TOM. UMD recommends increasing intake 3 days before PMS expected for cramps. I've also read hangovers are mostly dehydration & magnesium deficiency (alcohol inhibits mg absorption). I generally don't put a ton of stock in supplements, but I do have a friend who felt remarkably better after a simple vitamin deficiency was diagnosed & corrected, so I know they can make a noticeable difference in some cases. Worth a try?

Francl27

ahoy_m8 wrote: »

Agree fat may help. Worth trying.

Another thought... have you considered magnesium? A deficiency interferes with insulin transport of glucose across cell membranes, raising both insulin and blood glucose. Hence carb cravings. Women are more sensitive to a deficiency than men because of all the other wacky hormone stuff happening around TOM. UMD recommends increasing intake 3 days before PMS expected for cramps. I've also read hangovers are mostly dehydration & magnesium deficiency (alcohol inhibits mg absorption). I generally don't put a ton of stock in supplements, but I do have a friend who felt remarkably better after a simple vitamin deficiency was diagnosed & corrected, so I know they can make a noticeable difference in some cases. Worth a try?

Yeah, tried it, didn't make any difference.

Francl27

Just figured I'd post an update, TOM is still not quite over but I'm up 5 pounds from 2 months ago... so assuming I'm going to lose 1 or 2 next week (I usually woosh the week after TOM), I'm still up 3 pounds at least.

So yeah, I'll always have to keep a deficit to make up for PMS, apparently. I'm not happy (but not surprised, even though my measurements haven't really changed, I look a bit chubbier). But basically it means that if I'm going to have to watch what I eat consistently and be hungry a lot if I want to splurge a little pretty much forever if I want to maintain my weight. And now I need to lose 3 pounds on top of that... I don't know how I'm going to do it! I have a couple good weeks ahead of me to try to have a good deficit at least... but then PMS will strike again... It will probably take me 3 months to lose those 3 pounds, and that's if I manage to stick to my deficit pretty much every day.