Pre Menstrual craving

beccyleigh

How do you ladies stop the cravings. For a week before my period I have terrible cravings & just want to eat everything in sight. Even if it is healthy food I will just overdose on it till I feel ill

I really want to try to curb it now as I am working hard & losing weight sensibly so don't want to have it all undone by a few days of gorging.

I've been told that starflower is a good vitamin to stop mentrual cramps & curb cravings. anyone tried it or got any tips?

sharidiane

Other people on these boards have suggested cinnamon pills. I haven't tried them, but lots of people have recommended them.

Kelly_Wilson1990

I take cinnamon (6000mg a day) for my blood sugar but it does not stop cravings. I just try to eat something healthy in place of some bad. Fruit for chocolate and I eat my protein first that helps.

katt742

LMAO....I posted the same thing a few weeks ago. I suck. I just give in...but drink lots of water! I try not give in completely!! But if I want chocolate NOTHING is gonna stop me !! lol

Bootzey

You can't.

Just pay attention and be mindful what's going on with your body and don't step on the scale until it's over. The people in your cipher don't need you losing your mind over the weight gain and the moodiness, superimposed with your hunger

cuerpito

Not sure if it's true but this is what I heard: the cravings are from your body producing hormones that dis-regulate your insulin production. You crave sweets to balance this. Supposedly complex carbs will even out the insulin levels and make your cravings go away - they take longer to be digested and consume the insulin surplus.

I definitely know what you mean with this!

my2kin04

That is the exact problem i have been on for two days..along with being very tired!!! There is nothing i can do to stop it, i guess our bodies crave it for a reason...However, i do extra work outs to try to offset the extra cals if i can. As soon as the week is over i can go right back to my regular eatting...so i guess i can plan on one week out of a month eatting like a pig he he!

beccyleigh

thanks girls, yes I suppose I know that nothing will stop when when I am on a binge.

.I wish I could swap the bad stuff for the good but in truth I will end up eating the bad, then the good then whatever else is left over!!.

The main time for my binging is eveningtime so suppose I could make sure I am at the gym & away from the food that week.

dunno, was hoping for a secret miracle pill. lol

glad to know it's not just me though, you've made me feel a bit better for being such a premenstrual piggy.

ATXJudie

This is me today. I want to eat everything in sight. I am trying to limit it some....drink a lot of water....eat fruit. And I am right at my calories for the day, and plan to go to the gym. So I think it will come out even...BUT I totally understand. And I have no good advice. Maybe our bodies just need something extra at these times? I don't know -- I am just trying to chug tons of water before I give in too much.

AshtangaBabs

So I know this is an old thread...but I found it today because I'm dealing with the same thing and it looks like our efforts to eat fruit and drink water actually exacerbate the problem.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-antidepressant-diet/201008/you-can-prevent-pms-destroying-your-diet was a great article and the advice SOUNDS counter intuitive...but since the other way isn't working... it's worth a shot

One of our weight-loss clients described the effect of PMS on her weight loss: "For three weeks I am in control, and my food choices follow the diet plan exactly. Then one day, during the fourth week of my menstrual cycle, I wake up with an uncontrollable urge to eat junk food. I simply can't stop myself. This goes on for three or four days until I get my period. So of course my diet is blown, and I am three or four pounds heavier than I was a week earlier."

Yet it is possible to stop PMS from destroying a diet.

The solution is to increase the production of serotonin, the brain chemical involved in regulating mood and weight. We discovered at MIT that serotonin activity is diminished during PMS so simply increasing serotonin production reduces the unpleasant mood and overeating during this time of the month.

Increasing serotonin is easy. The brain chemical is made when a non-fruit carbohydrate is eaten. Here is all that needs to be done:

Twice a day (or more if necessary) eat a snack containing 30-35 grams of a starchy or sweet carbohydrate. Choose foods that have no more than 2 grams of protein and 2 grams of fat. Protein prevents serotonin from being made, and fat just adds calories.

Eat the foods on an empty stomach or three hours after a meal.

The snacks should be regarded as edible therapy for the PMS, not as a source of nutrition. Make sure you take your usual vitamin and calcium supplements and eat as many fruits, vegetables, low or non-fat dairy products and lean protein as your PMS cravings will allow.

Good snack choices include popcorn, fat-free fudge sauce (for PMS chocolate cravers), sweetened breakfast cereal, an English muffin with jam, oatmeal with brown sugar, graham crackers, low-fat granola bars, very low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt, low-fat rice or soy crackers, pretzels, low-fat meringue cookies, low-fat biscotti and cotton candy (in case you have PMS while at a county fair).

californiabella

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-antidepressant-diet/201008/you-can-prevent-pms-destroying-your-diet

bumped to see if anyone's ever tried this method to curb their "PMS cravings"...

KeViN_v2pt0

Eat spicy cured meats

Wilhellmina

I never tried to go against it, because I have noticed that all the extra ounces I craved before the menstruation were gone after, thus zero effect in the end. With that in mind I didn't see the point of tormenting myself even more by restricting myself in the cravings, becoming almost a homocidal maniac...

fitgirlandfoodie

my cravings last about 2 days and I just eat more than usual. I will work out to fit them in but so far I havn't found a way to curb them. It's usually for cheese and chocolate (not together) but I will eat them. For the rest of the month I'd not eat chocolate so I don't mind giving in to it for the couple of days. The cheese is harder to curb because I LOVE it and eat it most days anyways..extra hard cardio in the meantime :-) For a long time I thought it was me coming off the wagon but after a few months I realised that it was just my body's way of dealing with menstruation and gone with the flow (pun partial not intended :P )

AshtangaBabs

I've been trying it this week and I do notice my afternoon cravings (usually my worst when I'm pre-menstrual) have calmed down
I may have just missed the day... (meaning my 2 days of crave binging had past) so I'll see what happens next month too!

proudjmmom

I have this problem for about a week before my period. I never weigh during that time, or the time I am on. For me, over the course of 9-10 months of logging and recording everything, i have come to realize I only loose weight 2 weeks out of the month. I loose a good 2-3lbs right after my period, then the cravings strike then the period. It balances out for me as the 2 weeks after my period I barely have an appetite, and its very difficult to meet my calorie goals. Then I have the week before and week of my period where i eat everything in sight plus the normal 2-3 lbs weight gain that comes with the period. It all balances out in the run of the month, and manage to stay on track with my 0.5 lbs weight loss goals.

californiabella

I've been trying it this week and I do notice my afternoon cravings (usually my worst when I'm pre-menstrual) have calmed down
I may have just missed the day... (meaning my 2 days of crave binging had past) so I'll see what happens next month too!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-antidepressant-diet/201008/you-can-prevent-pms-destroying-your-diet

honestly I'm afraid to even have a bite of something starchy only to have that craving magnified later in the evening.

Kashaea

Yes, I get terrible cravings for about 5 days during TOM for junk food. I can't seem to stop eating during that time. I decided that if I'm gonna eat non stop I'm going to have to keep loads of fruit nearby. The thing is when I want doritos or chocolate, I'm going to find a way to get it. Like someone else said, I don't even feel like eating when TOM is over.

@AshtangaBabs thanks for that info on curbing the cravings. Wow!

broox80

I eat at maintenance the day (or 2) before my TOM. It helps me not to go crazy with cravings and I have heard that your body burns more while on your period. This higher cal limit helps me keep from binging.

StacyReneO

So I know this is an old thread...but I found it today because I'm dealing with the same thing and it looks like our efforts to eat fruit and drink water actually exacerbate the problem.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-antidepressant-diet/201008/you-can-prevent-pms-destroying-your-diet was a great article and the advice SOUNDS counter intuitive...but since the other way isn't working... it's worth a shot

One of our weight-loss clients described the effect of PMS on her weight loss: "For three weeks I am in control, and my food choices follow the diet plan exactly. Then one day, during the fourth week of my menstrual cycle, I wake up with an uncontrollable urge to eat junk food. I simply can't stop myself. This goes on for three or four days until I get my period. So of course my diet is blown, and I am three or four pounds heavier than I was a week earlier."

Yet it is possible to stop PMS from destroying a diet.

The solution is to increase the production of serotonin, the brain chemical involved in regulating mood and weight. We discovered at MIT that serotonin activity is diminished during PMS so simply increasing serotonin production reduces the unpleasant mood and overeating during this time of the month.

Increasing serotonin is easy. The brain chemical is made when a non-fruit carbohydrate is eaten. Here is all that needs to be done:

Twice a day (or more if necessary) eat a snack containing 30-35 grams of a starchy or sweet carbohydrate. Choose foods that have no more than 2 grams of protein and 2 grams of fat. Protein prevents serotonin from being made, and fat just adds calories.

Eat the foods on an empty stomach or three hours after a meal.

The snacks should be regarded as edible therapy for the PMS, not as a source of nutrition. Make sure you take your usual vitamin and calcium supplements and eat as many fruits, vegetables, low or non-fat dairy products and lean protein as your PMS cravings will allow.

Good snack choices include popcorn, fat-free fudge sauce (for PMS chocolate cravers), sweetened breakfast cereal, an English muffin with jam, oatmeal with brown sugar, graham crackers, low-fat granola bars, very low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt, low-fat rice or soy crackers, pretzels, low-fat meringue cookies, low-fat biscotti and cotton candy (in case you have PMS while at a county fair).

Thanks for this. My cravings are killer and I tend to go towards popcorn or gluten free cereal (like Chex). Although sometimes I carve a certain meal (like a favorite chicken sandwich) and I just end up giving in.

verdemujer

Well, now I know why I want to eat popcorn the week before. I have found though since I now have permission to eat fat as part of my regular diet that my cravings are much smaller and easier to satisfy. Instead of a binge, I can actually eat a couple cups of popcorn and be happy with it. And that certainly is helping. I don't find myself obessing over foods I use to crave (cookies and ice cream).