Blaming TOM (please stop)

sigh.............................

I must admit, losing weight has actually curbed my TOM cravings and I find them much more easier to manage. I also no longer have back pain and my cramps are only a day long.

NO. Your period didn't make you do a d*mn thing, except spend $4 on a box of tampons. Stop making women seem pathetic and incapable of rational thought.

:laugh:

On a serious note, it's kind of pathetic that the OP feels the need to drag women down. As if they're not dragged down enough. Does it really concern you? Is it THAT much of a big deal? Enjoy your salad during your TOM, and other ladies will enjoy their chocolate. At the end of the day...it's none of your damn business.

Poor Tom! Women are always blaming him for stuff. (oops, I hadn't read the comments yet)

On a side note, you have to take rest days when weight lifting anyway, so why not plan it to coincide with TOM, if that's helpful. I don't see why anyone cares when other people plan their rest days.

That's what I thought. I feel sorry for all men named Tom. And I agree, if you plan your routine etc around TOM I don't see what's wrong with that, although personally I feel better if I do some kind of cardio on TOM days than if I sit around (and I'm not even normally that much into cardio) and I don't see any difference regarding whether I do weights then or not. But that's just me, and most women get a lot worse period pains than I do, so if they're planning around having a couple of days when they feel like they just want to curl up with a hot water bottle (or stay in bed and eat chocolate), then who am I to judge? If you plan around limitations like this, then they don't end up throwing you off track.

Regarding cravings - most cravings are an indication of insufficient nutrition... someone already mentioned that eating more iron at this time helps the cravings to be reduced, and someone else said they are trying to be vegetarian but get cravings for meat (which is full of iron) around this time. Well women lose a LOT of iron during this time, and women need way, way more iron than men because of it (and pregnancy and breastfeeding) and are far more at risk of anaemia than men. So maybe iron supplements or iron rich food at this time will help. This principle applies not only to TOM but also to general food cravings. Yes some are purely psychological in origin, but you need to rule out physical causes before you self-diagnose psychological problems. If you're not eating enough of something, you'll get cravings, and this is a basic survival response, because Homo erectus (and all the species they evolved from) didn't have a clue what he or she was supposed to eat, so cravings evolved to ensure they got all the nutrition they needed, and we have inherited that same mechanism, we've just (some of us) forgotten how to "listen" to our bodies.

I think trying to have more willpower is possibly the worst way you can deal with food cravings. I think the first thing you need to do is figure out what your body really wants. You may crave cream buns, but maybe your body really wants more omega 3s; you may crave sweets, maybe your body needs more fruit or more healthy carbs... and if the cause is purely psychological (i.e. you're eating enough calories, enough protein, enough healthy fat, enough of all the micronutrients, and you still get cravings for comfort foods in response to emotional triggers that are bad enough to lead to you screwing up your eating plan) then I'd say willpower probably isn't the best way to deal with that either... trying to find the root of a psychological problem and a way to make yourself feel better without food would be better, and in more severe cases, counselling may help.

babydiego87....hit the nail on the head.

In addition to *extra* chocolate, PMS makes me say mean things to the man I love. Maybe it's an excuse, but I never say mean things to him otherwise. It's my clue that TOM is coming when I find myself apologizing to my husband. Normally, I'm really sweet.

I'm just as guilty as giving in to cravings, but you should NOT blame your period for your nutritional indiscretions. YOU made the choice to eat whatever you ate, and you make yourself (and all women) sound weak when you blame your body for a choice your mind made. I'm so sick of seeing people make excuses every other day for why they chose to forgo exercise or eat six large pizzas.

Example: "TOM had me eating cinnamon buns, UGHHH guess I'll start over tomorrow."

NO. Your period didn't make you do a d*mn thing, except spend $4 on a box of tampons. Stop making women seem pathetic and incapable of rational thought.

Did you TOM make you post that?!

(ducks behind keyboard and shivers a little)

I'm just glad that was posted by a female and not a guy. Otherwise, the internet would've just melted.. =]

HAHAHAHAHA!!! OMG, rolling on the floor! Love it!

Personally when I had Mirena for 5 years and didn't have "TOM" (I prefer more fun euphemisms), I didn't have the "OMG I FEEL LIKE I WANT TO EAT EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE" feelings that I have now with the pill on pill-less weeks.

So blaming it for making you eat is indeed exaggerated (it didn't force you), but I don't see the issue with understanding that THAT is where the desire comes from and blaming the desire. It is true it is our own weakness, but in cases where people are eating 1200 calories or less, I'm not going to call them weak for eating. They shouldn't be eating that little in the first place.

I agree when you use it as an excuse, but for some women exercising while they have
their period can be aweful. My period started yesterday and I did my daily exercise
but today im just not up to it. My stomach hurts like hell, I can hardly walk.

Those are the days...the heaviest and most uncomfortable..are when I push myself to the gym. I mean, it may not feel like something I want to do, but within 10 or 15 minutes of my Jazzercise class, I feel so much better than I did and that strong feeling stays with me the whole day.

I find too that the exercise on those days helps me to resist the cravings. And as for weight loss, this last week (my TOM) I marked a 1.5 lb weight loss. Not sure it will happen that way every month, but I know exercise makes me feel better.

On a serious note, it's kind of pathetic that the OP feels the need to drag women down. As if they're not dragged down enough. Does it really concern you? Is it THAT much of a big deal? Enjoy your salad during your TOM, and other ladies will enjoy their chocolate. At the end of the day...it's none of your damn business.

This. Some people chose pizza and chocolate, others chose to go on MFP and berate people in a thread.

Personally given my choice I'll take the person eating what they want and blaming it on their monthly cycle.

I do not CHOOSE to be in so much pain that mere walking hurts.

I do not CHOOSE to be so nauseated that mere water makes me feel like throwing up.

I do not CHOOSE to be so uncomfortably warm that I find myself sweating even sleeping under the sheets.

I do not CHOOSE to be so shaky that holding a pencil can become problematic.

I also do not CHOOSE to be so poor that paying for a doctor's visit to discover if there is a way to solve this is nigh impossible.

Who in their right mind would choose these things? If I could just make all of this go away with willpower and exercise, do you not think I would? Do you think I would not choose to be active and voluntarily continue with my daily activities, no obstacles?

If choice were the simple problem, I would not CHOOSE any of this. To those who say it's a mere matter of choice, please choke on the entire bottle of Ibprofen I have to gag down every month in order to just sit up in bed.

Question, does anyone else lose steadily while ON their TOM? This happens to me and I can almost count on it every single month happening.

Yep, the week I bleed is the week I lose ~3lbs. I think it's my body giving up the fight and dropping some water... I look forward to my TOM.

Thank you!

Of course, I feel the same way about anyone posting about anything "causing" them to eat. Oh, a coworker brought home made goodies, so I had to. I went to dinner with friends, so I had to. It was offered to me, so I had to.

Blah. Unless someone is prying open your mouth and physically shoving the food down your throat, that was a conscious choice you made to eat that food, quit blaming it on everyone else!

On a side note, where are you finding tampons for $4, they're like $7 here. lol

Actually there are events that make it impossible for you to say no. Example: When your grandmother or mother buys you fast food and decides to swing by to drop it off. You can't exactly say no. I mean I would feel absolutely guilty if I told them no when they spent money on food for me.

I just blame TOM for water weight/bloating....but I do give into craving sometimes - but that is all me! :happy:

^^^^This :drinker: