PMS :( Any tips or suggestions

As far as salt craving, I usually just eat a boiled egg with salt, its enough to control the saltyness and yet its just a small amount to every bite. And if you have sweets just eat 1 small DARK Chocolate only hershey's bar (mini-fun size) I hope I kind of helped

I don't fight it - I can't! LOL I do eat somewhat healthy snacks e.g., salt cravings = air popped popcorn with 1/2 TSP of dry Italian mix dressing sugar cravings = dark chocolate almonds, warm sliced bananas with cinnamon and walnuts, plain Greek yogurt with dark chocolate morsels and walnuts

I've encountered this today myself. I am not craving anything salty or sweet....but no matter what I eat I am still hungry and don't feel satisfied after a meal. I am just going to cut myself some slack today, try not to overindulge on junk but I'm not going to worry too much if I blow my calorie goal for the day. I figure this will pass and then I will get back on track. I hope??.

Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares - 2 squares of either the 72% or 86% cacao with a cup of coffee stops the sweet and chocolate cravings for me.

As for the salty....I eat some raw almonds or some air popped corn with a few sprays of I can't believe it's not butter and some garlic and pepper instead of the salt.

I would suggest making sure you keep up with your exercise. I find that if I keep up my cardio or do extra during that time, I don't feel as bad splurging on my cravings. That way I can keep closer to my calorie goal or going over by just a small amount. Not to mention, the exercise actually decreases my cravings at times.

The most effective solution would be to stop menstruating. There are birth control pills where you take an active pill every day and don't have periods. There is no medical need to have them and there's no benefit to them, why not stop them?

I am on the pill and I can tell you if I skip more than 3 months at a time I become a moody hormonal DRAGON! I also gain weight and have uncontrollable eating habits and emotions. My period is 3 times heavier than usual and I get pimples the size of CHINA. I do not suggest skipping your period more than 2 -3 months at a time.

I get massive cravings too! I ate half a jar of nutella recently...lol. I try and get creative, although it takes a lot of effort when I'm PMSing and try to make healthy snacks and *try* to watch my intake. I made chocolate chip cookies from peanut butter, chick peas and dark chocolate. I make chocolate protein shakes with peanut butter and berries, and flavored coffee helps (no sugar, just milk).

For salt cravings like chips, I eat a bag of Sensible Portions veggie straws from Costco/Walmart. They're salty enough for the craving satisfaction and they even crunch just like chips. They're only 130 calories in a portioned bag too so that's awesome, and I usually find that a whole bag is too many for me to eat in 1 setting.

As for chocolate or sweets, I'm a huuuuge fan of dark chocolate so I keep some dark chocolate chips in the cupboard so I can have a tbsp or two and not over-do it. Frozen grapes are also really really amazing. It's so weird that freezing them makes them taste even better, but it really does!

Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares - 2 squares of either the 72% or 86% cacao with a cup of coffee stops the sweet and chocolate cravings for me.

THIS! Midnight Reverie! 86% cacao!

For cravings, I keep a bag of Dove promises around. They need to be dark, though, so more satisfying and also bitter enough that I can only eat one or two at a time (and then my mouth decides it doesn't want anymore and I need a drink of water, lol).

For staying under calories, I'd look and see what your maintenance level and deficit are (if you look under 'goals', it should tell you how many calories you theoretically burn a day, and what your calorie deficit is). Then, try to make sure you don't go over your maintenance (so, don't go over by more calories than what your deficit is). It gives you a few more calories to play with, while minimizing the damage to your progress- you'll lose more slowly that week, yes, but you also won't gain and undo the progress you've made!

Give IN. Don't go totally crazy, but if you have to have chocolate, have some chocolate (and not one piece, whatever one serving is so you feel satisfied--usually it will be around 200 calories for a serving of dark chocolate).

Just keep at your exercise routine and account for the snack in your calories. And if you go over I read that women burn silghtly more at this time so that's why you might want an extra snack. I don't know if it's true but I have adopted it as the truth

I would just try to plan the best you can to fit in some things that will satisfy your cravings!! I had horrible PMS last week and my cravings are always sweet!! Cookie dough greek yogurt.... 1/2 c. plain greek yogurt mixed with 3 tsp of brown sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 1 TBSP natural peanutbutter and 1 TBSP of mini semisweet chocolate chips. AMAZING for a sweet tooth fix. For salty and sweet, you could make some popcorn and throw in a couple of dark chocolate squares after it pops! I pop ours in olive oil on the stove (my 2.5 year old gets a huge kick out of the noise and she dances while I shake it on the stove lol) and then just throw in some sea salt and the chocolate squares and shake some more until all the pop corn is covered. I am sort of a period purist and think that we should just let our bodies do their own thing. For me, the week before my period starts I am ravenous but then once it starts I have to force myself to eat for a couple of days because my appetite just goes away. Mother nature knows best... she is balancing it out for me

I try to eat something small to satisfy my cravings...I love the fiber one brownies (they are 90 calories and super delicious) or the 100 calorie packs of snack mix which satisfy my salty craving! I also like airpopped popcorn...there are these salt & pepper bags of popcorn that are about 160 calories that are delicious.

I hate it when I PMS. I tend to crave deep fried foods... I am sorry to say that I cannot offer advice... For me, when I crave something, there is no such thing as a substitute for me. I do my best to eat a small amount of it. If I go over my calories, I don't beat myself up. I have just realized that it's something I have to deal with every month, and that I will go over my calories that week. I can also look at it this way even when I go over, I am not eating anywhere close to the amount of calories that got me to the weight that I started from. Therefore, I am not terribly worried...

I did notice that some months are worse than others... January wasn't a terribly bad month. I only had one day that I went over my calories due to PMS... February was terrible though... I went over almost every day of my TOM... I was able to handle March a little better, but the worse I did was eat at Texas Roadhouse. I ate half an onion blossom and three rolls... :blushing:

1) Just try not to let it bother you to much. 2) Try not to go over board (if you can help it- I know sometimes I just lose self control). 3) Lastly, just keep going once your done PMSing. Don't give up all of your previously hard work for a week of screwed up hormones..lol Good luck...