Periods & food. How do you stay in control?

Willpower.

When you want it badly enough, you'll do what's necessary to achieve it.

I refuse to let my uterus be the boss of me.

This! Unless you have a serious condition such as pmdd, you really kind of just need to suck it up buttercup and not let being on your period consume your willpower and determination to lose weight. Exercise can sometimes help with pain too. And bonus! If you exercise you get to eat a little bit more!

Sometimes I keep it in check, and sometimes I don't. This month I didn't..... oops.

This sounds a bit odd but I'm awful with chocolate.

Instead of eating a big bar of normal Cadbury's chocolate, I buy the bubbly stuff. I get the same feeling of eating a load of chocolate, but for 420 cals instead of 800.

I just remind myself of my goals and calories. I always know I get extra hungry around that time so I don't buy the junk and snack on healthier choices. You can eat as much plant based foods as you want without feeling like a fatty following your period. - I'm not trying to sound mean because it's true. You already feel bloated and uncomfortable and the last thing you want is feeling like you gained more weight. I sometimes will drink more water and/or caffeine free tea to curb the hunger cravings. I eat more foods containing iron since I'm losing iron. This helps give me more energy and feel less sluggish. But sometimes I do give in and indulge but I always work those calories off. So basically you can eat whatever you want if you are willing to put in the work to burn it off.

Working out does help with the pain and cramps if that is a problem. Birth control can help reduce heavy periods if that is an issue too. But some birth controls also increase your appetite. So if you go that route you may have to try a few different brands until you find one you are comfortable with.

I was pretty much the same way at first. When that time of the month came around I pretty much just wanted everything sweet and salty, but I found a chart online that when you crave a food your body actually wants/needs something else so whenever I wanted chocolate I'd eat something else (That was way healthier) and I'd give myself a big glass of water to go with it... It worked wonders and now I don't worry about my period, I recommend working out on your period---It really helps ease cramps in my opinion

Well when i get my period, i think to myself:

Am i really extra hungry or just extra miserable and angry at the world and my genitals? If i decide that i am really hungry, I eat.
If not, i make my boyfriend's life hell for a couple of days.

Just figure out what your uterus really needs.

HAHA!!! Great stuff but so true. I'm struggling w my woman parts and cravings today, too. I'd say keep your goals in mind and WHY you want to attain those goals help you to put that bag of chips down. I'm not gonna lie, I had half a slice of pizza right after I finished my lunch but I stopped myself when thinking how long it's going to take me it burn those calories off at the gym.

Oh! Warm tea with lemon also helps the cravings for me!

ugh I know where you're coming from. The cravings suck, just had mine last week and weighed myself. Only lost 1lb grr but better then nothing. The weird thing is I didn't overeat and I exercised because it helped my cramps but I guess bloating does that sometimes... idk. Anyways I loved reading this thread and getting lots of tips for next time.
Whenever I get mine I work out as early as possible in the day so it's over with and then I can enjoy my misery for the rest of the day lol.

Last year I got my new best friend Mirena inserted, since then I still get crazy mood swings and still can eat everything in the house those certain days. Alternating between sweet to savoury. I like to give in a little with my preferred cravings. This is not a pass to go crazy. I like to go with the Australian campaign of ‘Swap it, Don’t stop it’. So instead of that three scoops of ice-cream I allow one decent size one. I eat it slowly and I enjoy every bite.

In regards to control food intake and food cravings, I make sure I have meals prepped and ready to go at all times so I have no excuses to reach for something unhealthy and I eat small meals every 3-4 hours (make sure to get lots of protein) to keep blood sugar levels well, level. I didn't believe it could work, but I have been eating like this for 6 weeks now and I have had ZERO cravings for sugar for the first time ever. Even through my PMS week last week.

I get really irritable when I'm PMSing, so I head to the gym and punish the weights with my anger. It pretty much saves everyone around me.

Willpower does have something to with it, but that wasn't enough for me until I put a plan in place that I knew I couldn't weasel out of (this applies to weight loss in general, but PMS too).

Two weeks before my period. I up my calories by 200 or just eat at maintenance mode while exercising.

I just breathe you know. That time of the month makes me feel so darn fat. LOL

Do you have more hunger pains or just cramps on period. If it's cramps then moving around more will help, also maybe avoid dairy and naughty food. They have been known to exasperate period pains. If it's hunger pains then eat, if you can't eat when you're hungry then that's just silly.

Sometimes it's not all about will power (although I definitely agree that plays a huge role!!!)

If you are suffering from a lot of cramps that could mean that you have inflammation in your body. Taking out processed foods (especially sugar), foods that you are sensitive to (for me that's tomatoes, eggs, potatoes), foods that you are allergic to (for me gluten) or sometimes things like foods in nightshade family can greatly decrease cramping because your body is no longer so inflamed. Usually these foods have to be completely taken out at least two weeks before your period to feel the positive effects. I'm certainly not a doctor...just someone who has become a research nut after feeling miserable for so much of my life. Trial and error and this is one of the things that was a clear success for me nearly eliminating my previously **extremely** painful cramping.

Exercising definitely helps!! The best thing for me to do when I start cramping is go for a run...at first I feel like I *do not* want to...but after a bit the cramping subsides and I feel soo much better!

Also, like one of the other posters said if you are craving one thing then it could mean that your body is deficient in some vital nutrients! Like dark chocolate is often a sign of a magnesium deficiency (magnesium will also *really* help with muscle aches and bloating issues). A craving for french fries could mean that you could need some healthy fats like coconut or avocado.

Again, these aren't for sure things but I've learned to really *start* listening to the underlying cries of my body. Obviously NOT meaning if I'm craving a brownie I eat it...but I try to figure out *why* I want it so desperately and exchange it for something similar but soooo much more healthy!! Like brownies automatically make me think of steamed broccoli...don't ask me why but that stuff is like gold on a plate when I'm nearing my TOM.

Anyway, keep up the good work! Our bodies are constantly healing us and if we just put it in the right environment you'd be amazed how much it will do to help us feel and look amazing!!

lots of water, if your craving chocolate, have it, but it moderation, if your craving salty or meaty, have but make it yourself in a healthy version, your body knows what you need and when you are craving something you will crave it from a source you are used to getting it from. so the good way to counter that is to find a healthy food that has the same nutrient your body is craving,
for example;
every couple weeks i will really crave fatty fast food.I have been off of fast food for a couple years now. what i figured out is that i was craving either fat or meat. instead i made some fresh guacamole from avocadoes and soon instead of craving fast food when my body needed healthy fats i started craving avocadoes

see? =D

Going through that right now. I crave chocolate and spicy and creamy and everything that's bad for me this time of the month.

Pre-logging the junk and healthier versions of what I'm craving helps so much. Today was a crazy stressful day so KNEW I would be eating some junk. Breakfast was McDonalds, but I made it the egg white muffin thing. Lunch I was home so I made a huge salad with lots of spicy peppers and vinegar, lean ham, olives, and cottage cheese. Tasted like the bad for me italian hoagie I was craving, but seriously low cal.

Aaaand I just scarfed a chocolate iced donut and five Takis for a snack (only five- the rest are living in my car so I have to go down two flights of stairs and across the street to get to them).

Dinner will be a spicy and creamy chicken in the crockpot with loads of veggies, at only about 200 cal per serving. It will fill me up and satisfy some cravings while still being in my budget. Should have enough left over for a dark chocolate bar too.

Balanced? Eh, I'll be high in fat and sodium today. But to me, to stay on track and not just say "eff it"...totally worth the splurging.