ladies...is it true that you need more calories during TOM??

kalebsmama07

ladies...is it true....do you need more calories during TOM???

Wolfena

I have heard that's true, but it's not very much.

lab_goddess

I don't know if it is true, but i have terrible cravings the 2 or 3 days before TOM arrives!

tamheath

Don't know if it's true that you NEED more calories during that time, but I know it's true that I EAT more calories during that time!:sad:

mcjabber

I'm pretty sure that is NOT true, although we certainly want to. What IS true, though, is if you really skimp a for a few days beforehand (I'm talking zero fat), you will delay your period for a little bit. The body flips out a little and holds on to those nutrients, or something. Of course, this is probably only true for women not on any form of hormonal birth control, I would assume. So my long winded point is that you need some fat in order to function normally. But not more than any other day. :happy:

Cina04

I forgot where I read it from but a few months ago I read that you burn more calories during your period.

Of course I don';t know if it's 100% true. I have to google it and see if I can find it again.


**found something**
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_women_burn_more_calories_during_their_period

http://www.livestrong.com/article/295115-calories-burned-while-on-your-period/

CakeFit21

I never adjust my calorie intake based on my cycle. If I'm craving "bad" stuff, I workout a little more so I can have it. It's better for my brain if I do it that way. No guilt.

hartsmart

I always FEEL like i need more...ie i get light-headed and shakey with my normal diet and have to add a few calories here and there. probably just an iron deficiency thing though?? but when i do eat extra, i try to make sure i don't also skip my workouts, which i often want to do!!

eventuallyoneten

I know for sure that I burn more calories while I'm on mine. My body goes insane with cramping and cold sweats and whatnot. So the body is definitely working more than usual. I have a bad habit of skipping meals as well, and when I skip before my period, I find that it gets delayed. I think you just need to be eating healthy, low sodium meals though.

Buttsmom

Don't know if it's true that you NEED more calories during that time, but I know it's true that I EAT more calories during that time!:sad:

Same here:frown:

taletreader

I doubt it is in any way close to significant.

Personally, my cravings can be neatly matched up with minerals we women are typically deficient in: red meat - iron; fromage frais/yogurt - calcium; chocolate - magnesium. I found that supplementing can reduce cravings.

cddavis04

I think I read in a cosmo once that you burn a 100 extra calories during TOM but it's not like cosmo is a great scientific journal.

catcrazy

I've never heard it but......your temperature and pulse are just slightly higher when on so its possible that you would burn a few more that way and as most of us gain a few pounds in water weight you'd burn marginally more that way too but we're talking less than 100 i should imagine so you wouldn't need to eat more...don't let it be an excuse to give in to your cravings

xarrium

I doubt it is in any way close to significant.

Personally, my cravings can be neatly matched up with minerals we women are typically deficient in: red meat - iron; fromage frais/yogurt - calcium; chocolate - magnesium. I found that supplementing can reduce cravings.

Agreed! I'm sure there is a bit of an increased "daily burn", but it's like when you're pregnant--you don't really need to eat more calories (or, the amount more isn't very much), you need to eat more nutrients.

Also, I didn't know chocolate had magnesium. Sweet deal--you learn something new every day! (I must have a *severe* magnesium deficiency...)

TrainingWithTonya

It's not enough of an additional calorie need to worry about adding any to your intake. But you do need more iron then normal because you are losing it so make sure you are getting your 18mg per day of iron then.

LilynEdensmom

I crave red meat and chocolate...I hadn't heard about needing more calories though during it.

catcrazy

I crave red meat and chocolate...I hadn't heard about needing more calories though during it.

I tend to crave red meat too...I want meat so badly I feel like a cavewoman...i'd tear it off the bone with my teeth. When I crave beef, black pudding and cabbage I KNOW i'm low in iron

AKosky585

I read in one of my books from a college biology class that the average female burns an extra 200-300 calories per day during TOM...which is why we often feel hungrier and crave things.

HealthyChanges2010

I read in one of my books from a college biology class that the average female burns an extra 200-300 calories per day during TOM...which is why we often feel hungrier and crave things.

I've read that as well, I do think the cravings are real and not simply us imagining them. Our bodies do need more during that time unfortunately it's not more chocolate and salt though.

To the person(s) mentioning craving red meat, OMG, I thought I was the only one that had that craving at times. OMG...it's so strong I almost have to go run get a lean steak like it's a chocolate bar or something and make it for dinner. Every other time of the month it makes perfect sense to me it's all about iron, but during the time I have the cravings none of it seems to be logical. Guess it shows I'm not too logical at that time?

ckmama

When I was younger and the Rage was All Fat Free diets, my TOM went form 5-7 days, to 3 days max. I don't think you need more calories, i'm pregnant and it says i need 300 more a day and at that rate I'm piling on the weight. So I wouldn't change my calorie target during TOM.

I would however decrease my sodium intake.

MissingMinnesota

I crave red meat and chocolate...I hadn't heard about needing more calories though during it.

I tend to crave red meat too...I want meat so badly I feel like a cavewoman...i'd tear it off the bone with my teeth. When I crave beef, black pudding and cabbage I KNOW i'm low in iron

I am a huge red meat craver during my TOM but I know that is because I am anemic and it is even worse then normal during that time.

LilynEdensmom

I crave red meat and chocolate...I hadn't heard about needing more calories though during it.

I tend to crave red meat too...I want meat so badly I feel like a cavewoman...i'd tear it off the bone with my teeth. When I crave beef, black pudding and cabbage I KNOW i'm low in iron

I thought I was the only person that did that...I do tend to indulge on lot sof red meat during that time and its like torture waiting on it to cook lol. I probably do have an iron deficiency I did during both my pregnancies

chickadee2010

A few days before I'm really hungry, but once it hits, I hardly eat at all. Weird lol.

HealthyChanges2010

When I was younger and the Rage was All Fat Free diets, my TOM went form 5-7 days, to 3 days max. I don't think you need more calories, i'm pregnant and it says i need 300 more a day and at that rate I'm piling on the weight. So I wouldn't change my calorie target during TOM.

I would however decrease my sodium intake.

I agree, I'm not sure more cals are needed during my period but I do think we definitely burn more during that time. Not an excuse to overeat but curse that chocolate and salt craving!:grumble: Red meat cravings I'll take! :laugh: I have yet to ever binge on red meat but that first bite when I crave it feels like my first bite of food in decades because it's exactly what my body needs at that moment.

HealthyChanges2010

I doubt it is in any way close to significant.

Personally, my cravings can be neatly matched up with minerals we women are typically deficient in: red meat - iron; fromage frais/yogurt - calcium; chocolate - magnesium. I found that supplementing can reduce cravings.

Thank you for this info!!:drinker: :happy:

Can't wait to try out a 'piece' of magnesium next time around, because that chocolate is wicked addicting and likes to bring along it's friend Mr. Salt to the party:smokin: :grumble:

Trouble Makers!!::devil:

Though dark cacao 80% - 95% chocolate around has helped me out A LOT, saved my life many a time! I've never been a dark chocolate girl so one small square melting on my tongue and I'm in Heaven! Compare that to a bag of Hershey's Kisses being ripped into by a crazed hormonal woman, those kisses have no chance. mahahhaha! Yeaa some of you Girls know what I mean!:explode: :laugh:

Kelly2251

Well ladies, here goes my first TOM since I joined MFP GRRRR

and....
http://yournutritionista.com/post/117898068/do-women-burn-more-calories-while-on-their-period

PhantomMermaid

I personally believe that our bodies know what they need. When you are deficient in something, you might catch yourself craving it. When you are dehydrated, you might crave water. Likewise, I believe if my body is genuinely hungry it means that I need food. Sometimes I get cravings during my period, but usually, it's not that I crave anything in particular- I simply feel very hungry. I believe I need more calories during my period. If I didn't, I don't think that I would feel so hungry so often during that part of my cycle. I eat more during my period and as long as I don't eat until I am past full, I don't feel guilty because I believe my body needs the food. I have had more than one of my female friends tell me they feel starved during their period, and so do I. There must be something to it. I realize scientific answers are important, but there is something to be said for instinct, intuition and common sense.

kwardklinck

I don't know how much it is but I used to have a higher metabolism at that time. I would just eat slightly more than usual and did most of my losing during my TOM.