question for the ladies

JenR1008

About 4 or 5 days ago I started getting ravenous. That is the only way I can explain it. I knew it was because of PMS. Yesterday was still the same. Today, nothing. I feel satisfied and not hungry. I don't want to eat my desk and I'm not snapping at anyone. It just felt like I could not get enough to eat. I felt hungry all the time. I was waking up at 2 in the morning and going to eat. I increased my fiber and protein intake but it did not work. Does anyone else get this way before their "time of the month" hits? I put on 3 pounds and feel like a failure but I know I am not.

Thanks!

kshama2001

Yes, when my appetite spikes premenstrually I eat normal foods at maintenance calorie amounts for a few days.

firephoenix8

I haven't been able to peg it to my cycle precisely, but yes, I have days where I'm hungry all day and other days when I'm not. I try to fill in low calorie fresh vegetables and other things that are filling without being high calorie on those days.

Don't feel like a failure! It's a new lifestyle and will take a while.

arditarose

Yes. And the past two months I noticed I binged so now I'm going to be prepared for it!

Francl27

Hahaha yeah. Basically 10 days of Hell where I need to eat 3000 calories (sometimes more) to stop the hunger, with a couple normal days in between. Horrible and the reason why even at maintenance I need to pretty much keep a deficit the rest of the time.

From my research, it seems it's because 1) low progesterone and high estrogen drop your sugar levels (which explains all the carb cravings), 2) your body has lower serotonin at that time (which makes you crave carbs because it's carbs that create serotonin).

I haven't found a miracle solution to help unfortunately... I've read that taking pretty much pure carbs (with less than 2 grams of protein and fat, so pretzels, potato, English muffin etc) 3 hours after a meal will help creating serotonin and should make the symptoms go away within 45 minutes, unfortunately there just hasn't been a way for me to test that because I would probably pass out if I didn't eat for 3 hours at that time. I want to try low carb next time to see if it helps at all, but the more I read about it, the more I think it's probably not going to help.. but heck I'll give it a shot as soon as PMS symptoms start again (probably in the next couple days).

I know that complex carbs help though! Potatoes or whole grain pasta etc.

Those 3 pounds you gained are probably mostly water weight though, as it's normal to retain more water around that time of the month... you'll lose them after your period.

Sued0nim

The weight you've put on is water weight

Seriously this can't be news to you can it? It will go over the next few days

If you do progressive resistance work you may find your hormones stabilise and the impact of your hormonal swings dissipates a little

mrsloganlife

I am the same way--nothing can satisfy, I will eat everything in sight.

For me I kept myself accountable my logging everything I ate. It put things into perspective. And those times where I felt ravenous--I walked. I am on the 9th floor and the last time this happened, I got up from my desk, and walked as far away from the break room as I could--down and up 9 floors. By the time I got back I grabbed a Vitamin Water, chewed a piece of gum, and went back to it. The first step is being conscious of "I know what this is" and almost in a way teaching you body there is something better. Of course our hormones are insane, and times I still slip, but for some reason as soon as I started logging everything I was eating during those hormonal ravenous times, I started cutting back on doing that and finding ways to get away from the temptation (even if that means walking down and up 9 floors of steps).

But like other posters if I gain the weight, it comes off shortly after it is all said and done. It is usually water weight, but after Aunt Flo packs up and leaves, I tend to work out a bit harder and really watch my intake to settle myself back out.

kshama2001

Francl27 wrote: »

Hahaha yeah. Basically 10 days of Hell where I need to eat 3000 calories (sometimes more) to stop the hunger, with a couple normal days in between. Horrible and the reason why even at maintenance I need to pretty much keep a deficit the rest of the time.

From my research, it seems it's because 1) low progesterone and high estrogen drop your sugar levels (which explains all the carb cravings), 2) your body has lower serotonin at that time (which makes you crave carbs because it's carbs that create serotonin).

I haven't found a miracle solution to help unfortunately... I've read that taking pretty much pure carbs (with less than 2 grams of protein and fat, so pretzels, potato, English muffin etc) 3 hours after a meal will help creating serotonin and should make the symptoms go away within 45 minutes, unfortunately there just hasn't been a way for me to test that because I would probably pass out if I didn't eat for 3 hours at that time. I want to try low carb next time to see if it helps at all, but the more I read about it, the more I think it's probably not going to help.. but heck I'll give it a shot as soon as PMS symptoms start again (probably in the next couple days).

I know that complex carbs help though! Potatoes or whole grain pasta etc.

Those 3 pounds you gained are probably mostly water weight though, as it's normal to retain more water around that time of the month... you'll lose them after your period.

Have you tried Prometrium, which is a bio-identical progesterone?

alyssagb1

Yes I get that way every month like clock work. Doesn't matter how much or how little I eat, nor the macros for the day. It's like the Jane munchies for me. But-it usually lasts for a few days and then I don't feel that way anymore. Around that time I usually "gain" 6-8 lbs, which goes away at the end of the cycle. I have a feeling that your "feeling like a failure" MAY come from your hormones during that time. I could be wrong, but that's my thought.

Anyway,
Keep on truckin' ;-)

Francl27

alyssagb1 wrote: »

Yes I get that way every month like clock work. Doesn't matter how much or how little I eat, nor the macros for the day. It's like the Jane munchies for me. But-it usually lasts for a few days and then I don't feel that way anymore. Around that time I usually "gain" 6-8 lbs, which goes away at the end of the cycle. I have a feeling that your "feeling like a failure" MAY come from your hormones during that time. I could be wrong, but that's my thought.

Anyway,
Keep on truckin' ;-)

Yeah hormones make it WAY worse for me. I pretty much end up in tears every month, between the crazy hunger and the overeating and the crazy hormonal changes... gotta love it. I mean I've been going through this for a while obviously and I KNOW that I can make up for it as soon as my period shows up because I'm less hungry... but it doesn't matter, during that time I just stress out and I'm convinced that I'm never going to be able to maintain my weight (which is arguably true, if I don't have a good deficit the 2 weeks before PMS I will gain weight).

kshama2001 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Hahaha yeah. Basically 10 days of Hell where I need to eat 3000 calories (sometimes more) to stop the hunger, with a couple normal days in between. Horrible and the reason why even at maintenance I need to pretty much keep a deficit the rest of the time.

From my research, it seems it's because 1) low progesterone and high estrogen drop your sugar levels (which explains all the carb cravings), 2) your body has lower serotonin at that time (which makes you crave carbs because it's carbs that create serotonin).

I haven't found a miracle solution to help unfortunately... I've read that taking pretty much pure carbs (with less than 2 grams of protein and fat, so pretzels, potato, English muffin etc) 3 hours after a meal will help creating serotonin and should make the symptoms go away within 45 minutes, unfortunately there just hasn't been a way for me to test that because I would probably pass out if I didn't eat for 3 hours at that time. I want to try low carb next time to see if it helps at all, but the more I read about it, the more I think it's probably not going to help.. but heck I'll give it a shot as soon as PMS symptoms start again (probably in the next couple days).

I know that complex carbs help though! Potatoes or whole grain pasta etc.

Those 3 pounds you gained are probably mostly water weight though, as it's normal to retain more water around that time of the month... you'll lose them after your period.

Have you tried Prometrium, which is a bio-identical progesterone?

Is it prescription?

JenR1008

Yes it is a prescription. Because I get severe migraines there are some things I cannot take. I will ask my doc about this. The water weight will go away. What really bothers me, is that, until I started tracking my food I never noticed this behavior. I just shocked me. Today was great though. I was 12 calories over my and that was from milk. I have a vitamin d deficiency, so, I'm working on that. Thanks for making me feel a lot less alone!!!