PMS and Binge Eating - real or just an excuse?

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  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    Not every woman's cycle is alike. Some people may have literally unbearable cravings due to hormone fluctuations, some may get super hungry. I don't really have trouble with cravings, except the occasional chocolate, but that's me.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    I, personally, think it's kind of just an excuse. Although I do eat more red meat during the TOM, because women can require more iron then, due to blood loss.

    You bleed about a tablespoon...hardly enough to make you anemic

    Actually, I had to have a blood transfusion because my periods were so heavy and I was so anemic. Maybe YOU only bleed a tablespoon, but again, not every woman has the same cycle.
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
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    I can continuously eat and not feel full when it's TOM, which is horrible. Huge curry with rice, salad, chai tea? No worries, stomach will grumble away for hours! You learn to ignore it but it does make life very difficult!! Drinking lots of water I have found helps a lot :)
  • EndOfCycle
    EndOfCycle Posts: 12
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    It's a wonderful thing if YOU can control YOUR cravings.

    If I can't (or simply don't, as it seems to be your opinion), I'm not sure why that's an issue with which you should concern yourself.

    I say this with all due respect, although I'm afraid it will read as snippy. Not intended. :)
  • fizzfizz
    fizzfizz Posts: 94 Member
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    Poised for second monthly cycle with MFP so really noticing some odd quirks that have never been obvious to me before .. I gain weight even though I eat well and keep it for around a week. Er yeah, not rocket science! But this time I notice that because I am trying to keep to the carbs / protein / fat balance pie chart guide - my usual desire for super sweet food isn't obvious.

    Oh and my desire for sugar to sort out my messy life problems is also lifelong - not monthly ;)

    I started using MFP a while ago, not to calorie count but to check iron levels as mine were at the bottom of the scale. Despite focusing on good food I can never get enough according to the nutrition scale. My doctor suggested iron pills as he figured it was down to heavy periods over time. I didn't really agree but hey they work so there's something in it.

    No conclusions but our bodies are amazing things that need quite a lot of different things to cope with different processes all the time. I don't expect my body to do the same stuff every day, some days I expect more, if I am being super sporty, a lot more. Physiologically I suspect that's what are bodies are trying to tell us. There's no one rule for everyone.
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
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    I don't buy into the "I have PMS so I just ate 5,000 calories!" theories floating around. Yes, when I get PMS I get cravings for salty and sweet things. I crave food with those tastes. HOWEVER, I still manage to keep control of the AMOUNT of those sweet and salty foods I'm eating.

    I think overeating and blaming it on PMS is wrong. We should have more control over it than some women like to believe. It shouldn't be an excuse to eat way too much.

    I'd like to hear from other women about this topic. All replies are welcome.
    i don't need to make excuses. i eat more when i have pms. i struggle to eat at all post-period.

    would i get moral browny points if i ate the same cals each day, regardless of how i felt?

    one day a month i'll hog 3000+. i maintain a healthy weight. i'm failing to see the issue.
  • Finnellappe
    Finnellappe Posts: 42
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    As someone who only gets their "TOM" about every 13 - 16 months or so, I get mauled by PMS so yeah, it's a little hard to restrain myself at those times.
  • Delicate
    Delicate Posts: 625 Member
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    Do you not require 500 more calories over the duration of your period anyway?

    PMS makes you emotional and crabby, you will crave foods to make you feel good especially if you have an emotional attachment to food.

    I used to get them every 3-5 months, the cravings and cramps where horrible, i looked for any way possible to alleviate them, so i was getting 3-5 period cravings in one go.

    My body isnt your body, your body isnt anyone elses body.
  • jadethief
    jadethief Posts: 266 Member
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    I remember when I was a kid my mother would eat buckets full of ice when pregnant with my sister. Obviously not going to make her gain an ounce, but she just HAD to HAVE it. All day she carried around giant cups full of ice.

    I did the same thing when I was pregnant. Apparently it's pretty common in pregnant women. Studies have found that it is related to being anemic.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I have never noticed eating patterns to follow my cycle, but I remember when I was pregnant the first time eating everything, and justifying it because everyone said I was eating for 2. I gained 50 lb during the last two trimesters (was too sick in the first one to gain anything--at least I didn't lose!). Anyhow, sure, we have cravings sometimes, and yes, we need to do something about them, but I believe that the mind is a very powerful thing, and we need to make it tell our body what's what. That, and sometimes we might be craving something other than what we think we are craving (as in, micronutrients). I was able to successfully kill random cravings during my last pregnancy by drinking fresh veggie j
    uice or fruit juice with wheat grass powder in it.
    Someone else whose experience is the be-all end-all.

    Drinking fruit and veggie juice would have made me throw up. I had 9 months of "morning" sickness. I was a bottomless pit of hunger the first two months, too. I wasn't just eating whatever because I could. I was to the point of nearly passing out HUNGRY.

    People really need to stop being narcissistic jerks and realize no two women experience things like PMS, periods, pregnancies and birth control exactly the same way.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    I, personally, think it's kind of just an excuse. Although I do eat more red meat during the TOM, because women can require more iron then, due to blood loss.

    You bleed about a tablespoon...hardly enough to make you anemic

    Not true, as the other poster stated. Clearly you've been quite lucky.

    Also

    MIT did a number of studies on serotonin levels for women in late luteal and pre-menstrual stages of their cycle. Some women just do not produce the same amount of serotonin as others...

    "The Wurtmans discovered that an apparent deficiency in brain serotonin may cause individuals to suffer from unwanted weight gain, mood disorders and impulsivity.

    People with carbohydrate-craving obesity, seasonal affective disorder (SADS), and PMS have serotonin, but it is "simply not enough or not active enough," Ms. Wurtman said.

    The symptoms of inadequate or insufficient serotonin levels in women during their late-luteal, or premenstrual, phase can become highly disruptive to normal functioning, Ms. Wurtman said."

    http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1997/pms.html

    So when you say "its in your head" You are sort of right, it is about brain chemistry. But its about as useful as telling someone with depression to just get over it. While a lot of people can improve their brain chemistry over time with diet, exercise and medication no one is in complete, immediate control over the chemistry in their brain at every given moment. And if you think you are, then its the chemicals in your brain that make you feel that way. Everyone is a little different and I'm glad you have come to a balanced place where you do not suffer from these fluctuations. There are things we can all do to alleviate these problems if we have them but assuming they are made up, exaggerated or an excuse isn't a good place to start.

    POW!! Dropping neuroscience bombs!
  • fiberartist219
    fiberartist219 Posts: 1,865 Member
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    Every woman is different, and for me, every month is different. Some months I'm able to maintain, but some months my hormones are raging so badly, I just really don't CARE if I go over, or WAY over. I do have to say, however, that if I was seriously PMSing and read your quip about it being an excuse to overeat, my reply wouldn't have been so polite.

    My thoughts exactly.
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
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    You bleed about a tablespoon...hardly enough to make you anemic
    I bleed more than that in half an hour on a heavy day. Cups allow accurate measurements.

    MIT did a number of studies on serotonin levels for women in late luteal and pre-menstrual stages of their cycle. Some women just do not produce the same amount of serotonin as others...

    "The Wurtmans discovered that an apparent deficiency in brain serotonin may cause individuals to suffer from unwanted weight gain, mood disorders and impulsivity.

    People with carbohydrate-craving obesity, seasonal affective disorder (SADS), and PMS have serotonin, but it is "simply not enough or not active enough," Ms. Wurtman said.

    The symptoms of inadequate or insufficient serotonin levels in women during their late-luteal, or premenstrual, phase can become highly disruptive to normal functioning, Ms. Wurtman said."

    http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1997/pms.html

    So when you say "its in your head" You are sort of right, it is about brain chemistry. But its about as useful as telling someone with depression to just get over it. While a lot of people can improve their brain chemistry over time with diet, exercise and medication no one is in complete, immediate control over the chemistry in their brain at every given moment. And if you think you are, then its the chemicals in your brain that make you feel that way. Everyone is a little different and I'm glad you have come to a balanced place where you do not suffer from these fluctuations. There are things we can all do to alleviate these problems if we have them but assuming they are made up, exaggerated or an excuse isn't a good place to start.
    I love science.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    We're all different. I don't have more cravings during PMS (heck I don't even always get PMS), but I wouldn't start telling people that they're making BS excuses when I haven't walked in their shoes.
  • MrsBozz1
    MrsBozz1 Posts: 248 Member
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    I actually do not get any more cravings than usual during PMS. But maybe I'm just a little different!!
    I just use a little bit of peanut butter and that usual gets rid of the cravings!!

    This! It doesn't change for me, I don't suddenly get huge cravings! Maybe I'm a little different too! :wink: Lol! It's different for every girl. I think our bodies do crave stuff if we are low on something but I agree OP just because our body is craving something it needs does not mean we can't control ourselves and need to eat 5000 calories! Have some chocolate absolutely just not the whole bag or whatever. Best of luck ladies! :flowerforyou:
  • ncmedic201
    ncmedic201 Posts: 540 Member
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    I, personally, think it's kind of just an excuse. Although I do eat more red meat during the TOM, because women can require more iron then, due to blood loss.

    You bleed about a tablespoon...hardly enough to make you anemic

    60-100 mL of blood is hardly a tablespoon. That is the average loss for a woman. Some women lose more than a 100 mL
  • MyM0wM0w
    MyM0wM0w Posts: 2,008 Member
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    You bleed about a tablespoon...hardly enough to make you anemic

    No, YOU bleed about a tbsp. My bathroom looks like the crime scene for a killing spree for 3 out of the 7 days I deal with that each month.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    You bleed about a tablespoon...hardly enough to make you anemic

    No, YOU bleed about a tbsp. My bathroom looks like a crime scene for a killing spree for 3 out of the 7 days I deal with that each month.

    :laugh:
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
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    You bleed about a tablespoon...hardly enough to make you anemic

    No, YOU bleed about a tbsp. My bathroom looks like the crime scene for a killing spree for 3 out of the 7 days I deal with that each month.
    and it can get worse with trauma! i didn't know that until i walked in on a corpse one morning. after failed cpr & conversations with cops, i was literally soaked through to my knees by the time i got home.

    tmi?
  • hikr00
    hikr00 Posts: 38 Member
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    The only one I worry about is me and how I handle stress, emotions, celebrations, PMS etc. I have my own successful system up and running and that's all that matters. I don't give any thought to how other posters handle their situations.

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