Ladies, how do you handle PMS hunger/binge eating?

christinefrano

I am ravenous the week before!! And right now I ate like an extra thousand calories of trail mix...

I drink tons of water/tea, excercise, eat my fiber/veggies/fruit, and more than my weight in protein...YET I AM STILL STARVING! Ugh please help.

yirara

Fortunately not. Am on the contraceptive on long-term cycle for various reasons and don't have to deal with hormonal fluctuations.

Lietchi

I usually give myself some leeway to give into cravings (in my case during my period, which is when I have my cravings). I wouldn't 'go off the rails' a whole week, but the occasional crazy day isn't a disaster.
In my case, I know that giving into the craving in a portioned way (taking a portion and then putting away the box/bag/...) is the best strategy, eating other foods to distract me from my craving doesn't work. But we're all different, experimenting is good.

If it's a full week, you could experiment with a slightly lower calorie goal the other three weeks to 'bank' calories for the cravings week. If you have specific trigger foods, you could also try to keep them out of the house, or at least during that time.

Rockmama1111

You could give yourself permission to eat at maintenance that week. It’s better than going off the rails and giving up! Maybe try to get a bit more activity in?

bluesheeponahill

I recall reading a PT said he told his clients to add an extra 200 calories a day during the lead up to period because period hunger is a real thing, and by giving yourself permission to do a little extra doing that week was better than going on a binge, and I agree. By doing this, though that week of weight loss will be slower than other weeks, it means I am not binging on food so much.