question for the women of this site...

RockChick1984

Do you ever get days during that *time of the month* when ya just feel so tired and sluggish that ya just cant be bothered?.. av had 2 days like this so far and although i have remained under my calorie goal, really feel i should be doing more exercise... any help or tips would be much appreciated.. thanks

Sianarella

I totally do, but I'll drag myself to the gym and feel awesome after. But I do just want to eat carbs like chips, crisps and dip all day.

tiedye

Sometimes I work out through the "ehh" feeling, other times I'm a bum and make up for it by doing a little extra later in the week. It won't kill your diet to have a day or two off, just make sure you don't give into every single craving!

It does make me feel better to work out those days, I come home with energy and motivation for other things in life, but there are times I just can't work my self up to get out of the house to the gym.

I had a roommate who said "you burn extra calories during your period, so it's ok to eat more" which is probably not true at all, but I always blindly accepted this for the chance to eat chocolates haha.

jiggs31

Unless my endometriosis pain is really bad (i.e. cannot actually sit on a spinning bike coz I jump off due to shooting pains), I drag myself to my spinning class - always feel better for it afterwards

kiwi1855

You know, the first couple months were like that for me. At the risk of a TMI - mine is a week long and super heavy the entire time. Like, when I used tampons, the only kind I bought were the super absorbant. Anything less wasn't worth the money or the time. (Side note and shameless plug: DIVAcup!)

Anyway, the first 3 months that I was doing this journey, I didn't want to do anything during that time. I'd be achey, sore, tired, lethargic, and in pain. But, I did my workouts. Yes, they were slower. Yes, there was a lot of whining and moaning and complaining to myself (but I workout in my living room, so the only one to hear and receive my verbal abuses was the Wii). But - and this is the thing - a) I want my goals more than I want to avoid the short term pain/soreness/tiredness and b) whenever I finished the workout, I'd feel better, simply because of the "I damn well did it" endorphins.

Bottom line: try. You don't have to go at it full bore, or with your normal gusto. But do something. Anything. Doing nothing is counterproductive to the behavior pattern you are trying to create. Changing behavior patterns and habits suck. It's annoying and no fun - but if you can stick it out, come hell or high water, for the first 30 days without fail - it will get easier. It'll never be *the most fun thing in the world, akin to a unicorn farting rainbows*... (dear lord, I need sleep... lol), but it'll get easier, and your body will thank you for the consistency, and you'll find that working through that time of the month does get easier.

Hope this helps a bit... I'm not sure how much sense I just made...

diegogirl

Oh YES.. Most defo... Its a woman thing I think we all feel that way.. And man do I get HUNGRY HUNGRY Right before and during the first few days...

Annoying but there must be a reason why ?? I think maybe because we are "voiding" if you want to say it like that;;; from our bodies we need to replace the loss with vitamins, iron, calories, etc....

jiggs31

Agree with the above - I would find I would be more lethargic and yawn through the class but just trying to do it made me feel better - plus exercise is meant to help with the pain.......maybe it is the high of the endorphins that dull it for a while?

Worth a try either way!

RockChick1984

ok, thanks for the kick up the behind, your info really does make a difference ... treadmill here i come lol

lulabellewoowoo

ok, thanks for the kick up the behind, your info really does make a difference ... treadmill here i come lol

For me, I actually get the symptoms twice a month, two weeks apart (currently in the middle of it). Getting myself exercising is the biggest struggle. But once I get there, I find my endorphins tend to kick in faster. Stairclimber helps too because it's a great cardio without a lot of effort.

nk17

During that time you might want to check on your iron levels and possibly use an iron supplement for a few days. Sometimes the tiredness comes from iron depletion.

RockChick1984

thank you all so much for your help so far... its gettin me motivated just by reading your posts... this site really is fantastic!!!

dad106

I go against the grain here, and say if you are not feeling it, then your not feeling it... and I don't see a point in forcing yourself to do something you don't want to.

I'm on Birth Control so most of the ehh feeling is gone during my period. If I wasn't on the pill, I prob. wouldn't be working out due to the pain and what not.

Tiff587

I know what you mean! Although I got told to take Iron, because of the blood you loose you can have slightly lower Iron in your body and this will effect energy levels.

Jessica_Sarah

YES!!!!!!
I run on the treadmill and I find I can't go half as long at certain times of my month. It's rubbish

BellydanceBliss

I feel that way every month. yesterday was that day...I did still exercise the walking went well actually did more lol. The bellydancing well not so well. It was harder, I was less coordinated imagine that one lol, and it was just harder all the way around but I did it because I am determined to beat this shiznit. I always need am obscene amount of protein anyway during that time its worse and I seem to lose a lot of potassium. Try to eat more protein and potassium and increase your water for sure. This might help you as well.

BellydanceBliss

In addition...if you are feeling you just cant do it...just cant...at least walk.

CynthiaS

yes I tatally get lazy & super hungery but I always feel better after workout

clairification

I've found that increasing my calcium/magnesium/potasium consumption (in food or in a suplement) can really help, especially with cramps.

hbrittingham

It depends on the month, some are worse than others. If it's a really bad one (I have endometriosis), I will skip a day at the gym. For two reasons, one, sometimes I don't have any energy and the cramps are really bad and the other is when I am having a bad month, it's because it's a heavier month and I am terrified that I might have a visible "issue".

Metsfn4life

I was just like that this past week. I had more cravings than when I was pregnant, went over my calories 3 days straight (i'm not talking a few hundred), and didn't exercise for 3 days straight.

However, when I do pull myself out of it, I do notice I feel better when I work-out...it also helps with the cramps :-)

mgero212

I always feel better after I workout when I feel that way. I know what you mean about the sluggish feeling but just laying around will just make you feel worse in the long run. Exercising helps during that time.

LNolan24

I've actually read that your body does need an extra 200 calories when your PMSing so I allow at least 2 days of eating 200 extra calories of chocolate (Candy bar). I also try to work through the blah feeling and at least workout for 15 minutes if I still feel bad I stop but if I'm okay I keep going and usually feel better after! :-)

deadstarsunburn

Work outs help for sure. Especially with pains.

Savyna

Sometimes if you can pull yourself up the little spike of exercise helps make me feel better. I don't do it for super long but just do it for as long as you think you can go and then call it a day. I'm not on my period right now but I certainly feel sluggish, mainly because I didn't sleep well last night.

jennajava

Exercise will actually help with that. If it gets really severe, though, see your OB/GYN. You could have PMDD.

jennajava

I've actually read that your body does need an extra 200 calories when your PMSing so I allow at least 2 days of eating 200 extra calories of chocolate (Candy bar).

Endorphins! I love it!

jwaitman

I make myself go even when I don't want to. I usually end up feeling better after a workout.

Kissybiz

It's always good to have a rest day, and what better time than "that time." It happens to all of us. Don't feel guilty about it, let your body be your guide and then get back with it.

katinka13

that's a fact: some yoga positions you can't or should't do during your period, because a woman's energy is low during. my instructor always points that out. of course people are different, but i feel that it's not good for me to overdo my exercise during that days. just listen to your body!

shellimus

When I first started working out, every time I got my period I would stop during that time...well that caused me to continue not working out and then a month would have gone by and I was back to the couch and completely off my workout plan...

So I decided since that was something that threw me off my plan that I would purposely work out on the hardest days of my period. I would just take something for the pain and go. Then as the days got easier, I had made it over the hump, so to speak. I figured if I could make it through the hardest days, the other days would be easy, right?

The side benefit is that my periods are becoming less painful due to the exercise, now I don't mind working out through them at all.

jennajava

P.S. Hope you feel better. :flowerforyou: