Womens health question

kaykayolson93

Do any of you ladies get crazy hungry the week before your period starts? Every month for a week before I start I feel so hungry! I honestly am having a super hard time not eating a crazy amount. And when I say hungry I don't mean like oh I'll just have a little snack I mean like I could eat 6 full meals a day and not be overly full. Within an hour of eating my stomach is growling again. What do you ladies do to help curb the hunger?

quiksylver296

For about three days. I eat at maintenance those days.

MelanieCN77

Sometimes it's that week, sometimes its's around ovulation. I just try to ride it out, I haven't found anything that can prevent or "fix" it.

VUA21

I'm the opposite, NOTHING is appetizing for a few days before I start my period. Now, once my period actually starts, EVERYTHING looks good and I'm hungry all the time. I blame hormones.

TrinityR05

yes I get pretty hungry before it happens. I usually try to eat a lot of veggies and protein to keep me full and satisfied and I try to stay away from carbs like white bread and pasta, etc.

kommodevaran

I don't but I have never aimed for a crazy deficit either. Make sure you're not trying to starve yourself.

Fitnessmom82

I always do! Been this way forever. I try to just ride it out or else I know I'll eat every thing that is not nailed down. I make sure that what I an eating is filling, and that helps somewhat.

Running_and_Coffee

Yes, but I am in beast mode at the gym!! I try not to overdo it with food though I eat a bit more, but I also take advantage of the extra energy during workouts!

Francl27

Yes, it goes from 2 days to 10. It only started when I got into the normal BMI too. That's why I didn't reach my goal and ended up gaining some weight back, it's impossible for me to even stay at maintenance those days... and I can't maintain the deficit required to make up for it on 'normal' days. Protein and veggies do nothing to me and only carbs make me feel better (not sweets, but bread etc).

Now that I gained some weight back, it's not too bad anymore, but obviously I'm not happy about it either. I'm trying to lose those 20 lbs again but I'm worried it will just start the crazy hunger again. It's depressing.

I tried teas, pills, you name it, still no luck finding a solution!

DaniCanadian

I get hangry and very tired when my hormones fluctuate for ovulation and right before a period. I do my best to fight the cravings (last night I wanted chips so bad but I managed with strawberries and pickled beets instead), doesn’t always work though. This is life and I won’t always have days where I can maintain a deficit or even eat at maintenance. You do your best and keep on trucking.

kaykayolson93

Francl27 wrote: »

Yes, it goes from 2 days to 10. It only started when I got into the normal BMI too. That's why I didn't reach my goal and ended up gaining some weight back, it's impossible for me to even stay at maintenance those days... and I can't maintain the deficit required to make up for it on 'normal' days. Protein and veggies do nothing to me and only carbs make me feel better (not sweets, but bread etc).

Now that I gained some weight back, it's not too bad anymore, but obviously I'm not happy about it either. I'm trying to lose those 20 lbs again but I'm worried it will just start the crazy hunger again. It's depressing.

I tried teas, pills, you name it, still no luck finding a solution!

Same here I never had this problem before but now that I am at a healthy weight It has kicked in full force it's so frustrating!

mbaker566

yes. starving. must eat all things.

ovulation too

so i try to be more active those days

ceiswyn

Aaargh, yes. It used to be just the few days before my period, but this month it seems to be all the time from ovulation on. It does help somewhat that I know that no matter how much I eat, it won’t stop the hunger... but only somewhat. Today I ended up having lunch at 10.30 because I was so hungry, and then I ate my snacks too and didn’t have anything for after gym.

At least tomorrow I’m mostly busy. But I should not be thankful to an exam for distracting me from hunger!

whitpauly

Yep,yesterday I got home from work and ate fried rice,a slice of pizza and more cake than I care to admit,it was awful and I felt like an animal let out of a cage haha

kimothyschma

Absolutely. My strategy is to eat a little of the thing I’m craving (chips, chocolate) then fill the rest of the gnawing pit in my stomach with volume foods like chicken or shrimp and fiberous veggies. I can eat a whole bag of sugar snap peas without blowing my day and it satisfies my urge to just put everything in my face.

rikkejohnsenrij

Yup..and I have a crazy craving for chokolate, and milkshake...I've found that a glass of chocolatemilk with a bit of whipped cream in the evening (150 ish kcal) can satisfy my craving enough that I dont consume a huge bare of chocolate

LivingtheLeanDream

No not crazy hungry but I do crave more salt and sweet than usual. I don't eat above maintenance calories though regardless, but I think that might be pure determination that I seem to have bags off (thank goodness!)

xxzenabxx

Yep and I feel like my extra hunger and cravings is sabotaging my weight loss efforts. It’s now that I tend to over eat! I’ve found that eating dark chocolate helps abit or even some milk chocolate curbs the cravings for abit. But yes I also feel that the leaner I get the harder my body is fighting. Recently I’ve increased my protein from 80-90g a day to 110-120g and that has helped me a lot with hunger. I also eat a higher fat diet and lower carbs (not low carb though) as that helps with satiety.

FlyingMolly

Yes. I used to crave junk food like crazy during that time, but this year I’ve been doing keto and haven’t had cravings at all. So imagine my surprise when month after month I’d get ravenously hungry during that same week. I had to eat more than my calorie goal, but it didn’t seem to affect my weight loss when I did.

After it happened a few times I googled it, and apparently it’s normal for women to legit burn more calories right before and/or in the first few days of their periods. It’s not a huge difference, though, and it’s easy to “drown out” with cravings and indulgences.

4rtistry

In a word, yes.

In a picture:

Cassandraw3

Yes! I have always been like this. Even now being on the Mirena and not having a period, my hormones still fluctuate and one week a month is always much harder to eat in a deficit. I'm trying to keep it down to maintenance calories at most during this time and drink even more water. I have also been allowing myself a low calorie snack every few hours when normally I just eat 2 meals a day with 1 snack. Unfortunately this week I am having to slow down a bit working out to let my knee recover but now it is feeling better so I'm planning on doing some extra distance in my runs the next few days to help make up for it.

I know it sucks, but as long as you are not eating above maintenance, you will still make progress. It will just be slower than if you were constantly in a deficit.

indiacaitlin

Yep! Every month without fail and it's super bad cravings every time. I try and drink as much water as I can, black coffee is a good appetite suppressant for me and I'll allow myself a small treat (tracked) because I'm only human

Mandylou19912014

To curb my hunger I make myself really thick protein shakes by blending in a banana as a snack, protein bars, hard boiled eggs fill me up and loads of water

RadishEater

HUNGRY or CRAVINGS??? That is a big difference for me. Cravings aren't too bad now that I preplan to have chocolate and pb.

But hunger on the other hand is a different story. My body needs more energy?? Is that even possible? I get weak feeling after a normal workout if I don't eat enough meat especially red meat. I end up cooking plain ground beef for a snack.

I also find a couple of days where even if I have filling meals planned, my stomach is growling all day and I am constantly starving so I end up eating over my calories but with lots of protein and veggies.

It is rather annoying to eat a meal, be hungry, drink more fluids, wait an 30-60 mins, be still hungry or even hungrier, even though the week before that same meal would have been satiating.

Of course if I mentioned this to a friend their solution is to 1) eat a giant cookie 2) eat a bar of chocolate.

777Gemma888

kballsocc wrote: »

Of course if I mentioned this to a friend their solution is to 1) eat a giant cookie 2) eat a bar of chocolate.

This^^^

Next month should be interesting. It's going to test my mettle.

kshama2001

I used to get cravings and EatAllTheThings, but now when my appetite goes up premenstrually I just eat at maintenance for a few days and that takes care of it for me.

I was confusing legit hunger for cravings, and would eat things like a pint of Ben & Jerry's, which just made me hungrier.

kimothyschma

kshama2001 wrote: »

I was confusing legit hunger for cravings, and would eat things like a pint of Ben & Jerry's, which just made me hungrier.

I did this last night!

kshama2001

kimothyschma wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

I was confusing legit hunger for cravings, and would eat things like a pint of Ben & Jerry's, which just made me hungrier.

I did this last night!

I feel ya! The mini cups might help - both them and the pint feel like "one serving" to my brain even though the calories are of course vastly different.

When I'm premenstrual, I get hungry for lunch earlier, so just have that early lunch plus a substantial snack in the afternoon and perhaps a small treat after dinner. So I'm adding about 400 calories, instead of 1200 plus.

rose2_0

Yeah. Ovulation too. I really only get like one week of successful "dieting" per month.

kimothyschma

kshama2001 wrote: »

I feel ya! The mini cups might help - both them and the pint feel like "one serving" to my brain even though the calories are of course vastly different.

When I'm premenstrual, I get hungry for lunch earlier, so just have that early lunch plus a substantial snack in the afternoon and perhaps a small treat after dinner. So I'm adding about 400 calories, instead of 1200 plus.

Mini cups are a good idea. I usually make a bowl in order to limit myself. It was a bad idea to eat straight from the pint and I should have known better!

It definitely was a result of not eating enough earlier for me, too. I skipped breakfast and had a late lunch so my after dinner treat turned into bingetown. Oops. I’m also going to really try to get more protein today so that I’m not so unsatisfied after dinner. It also doesn’t hurt that now I’m out of ice cream!