(women) do you think we really burn more calories on our periods?

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

The extra calories burned are negligible. It certainly is not 500 calories.

There is never any excuse to eat like a horse. I see people recording 4000-5000 calorie days and blaming it on PMS and find it both ridiculous and disgusting.

You've never had a 4k day? Seriously?
(How did you come to be here?)

It doesn't take 4000 calories a day to be here.

I calculated out how many calories over my maintenance I was as I gradually gained weight over the past 4 years, using 1 lb = 3500 calories. It came to less than 80 calories/day. I'm not exactly sure what my maintenance calories are yet, but for sake of argument, let's say they were 2000 calories per day ... for 4 years, I was consuming on average 2080 cal/day.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Machka9/view/about-weight-749365


I have rarely consumed more than 3000 calories in day. About the only times I have done that are when I'm on a long randonnee and I'm desperately trying to keep my fuel up. Even then, I have a lot of trouble doing that ... just simply too much eating involved ... I try to find small high calorie items (like a packet of hot chips) so that I don't have to eat much to take in the required number of calories.

I had a massive food day on Sunday ... a planned diet break. I consumed 2,722 calories and burned about 900 of that off with exercise. But I would have a tough time eating more than that.


Obviously everyone is different, some people get really hungry ... but if I have PMS cravings, it is for a chocolate bar, or as mentioned above a piece of toast with honey ... or maybe a slightly larger dinner.

Swell. Not really the point of my reply, but sure.

But, given that most of us haven't counted calories (and accurately done so) DAILY since puberty, I'm surprised you know that you've never had a 4k day. But sure. Okay. You haven't. And your weight gain is caused by slight overages.

I've not lived a day in your shoes, so, okay, you got me there.

I've had 4k days. I've had enough 4k days for everyone in this thread who says they haven't to have had one on average. I've even had 4k days since embarking on the trek to lose 100lbs. Meh.

Francl27 wrote: »

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Soopatt wrote: »

I am hungrier on some days more than others, but nothing so bad that I can't control my own hand from feeding my face. I don't like the idea that I am not able to control myself in any situation - I find that disempowering. I choose when I eat. Sometimes I have more temptations, but ultimately it is up to me.

I have to shift around my calories on those days for sure and if I want loads of sugar I eat it, but that is something I am prepared to do any day of the month to stay within calories.

If there is an extra calorie burn, it is absorbed by my almost total inactivity on those days (terribly debilitating cramps). If I eat more, I think it is because I feel sorry for myself because I am in pain and don't want to deny myself anything. That is a mental battle.

Men get irritated by our constant griping and excusing ourselves over our hormones. I can see why. We would not accept a man using "hormones" as the reason he gets a girlfriend on the side and cheats on us. Even though we recognize how strong those drives are, we expect him to resist them. I see this as the same sort of thing.

I knew you would post here. As usual, I'm shaking my head. Just because YOU don't have those hunger issues that some of us DO have, doesn't mean they don't exist... Might be a shock, but you're not the center of the universe and everyone isn't like you.

Infuriating.

But again, it only started for me once I got close to my goal, so I'm (not so secretively) hoping that karma will be on my side.

Wow. Are you hangry?
I think what she's saying is that all women eat chocolate or are a little hungrier during or before TOM, probably because we're in pain, bloated and/or uncomfortable. It evens out though and most women don't stuff their faces uncontrollably then say it's something they can't control because 'hormones'. That's just an excuse. You can always control what you do or don't eat.
Also are you aware that pregnancy morning sickness is caused by progesterone? I threw up during all my pregnancies and have also thrown up prior to my period and in all cases I can't really eat at all. It's classified as 'progesterone intolerance' and I have had to take anti nausea meds for it and am here because I lost so much weight during my last pregnancy I had to try really hard to get even minimum protein amounts As far as I know progesterone intolerance isn't defined as stuffing your face with food due to insatiable hunger (although there's nothing wrong with doing that if that's what you feel like doing), but please let me know if your Dr says otherwise. I am genuinely interested what you think is causing this.

The thing you don't get is that for me there is NO choice. I get dizzy and I get the shakes if I don't eat during that time. I can't function if I don't eat. I mean I guess it's a choice, either feel horrible or eat, but it's a pretty bad one if you ask me.

So yes, the accusations that it's just an excuse that, at this point, infuriate me. It's no excuse. I don't even enjoy my food when it happens, it's just attempt after attempt to make the symptoms go away. It sucks. And I KNOW it's not in my head because my cycle is late (again), and I didn't have that problem this month (yet). I have no way of predicting when I'm going to have my period, yet when it happens, I always get my period 10 days later. Funny how that works.

But as I said, it only started happening about a year ago... I had no problem when losing weight. Then I stopped getting my period for 2 months, and it's been a nightmare since (but I only get about 10 periods a year now, which my GYNs have said is normal, and they both said that my symptoms are normal as well).

Believe me, I typically don't need an excuse to stuff my face when I feel like it. But when you HAVE to eat because you're feeling so sick, it's just not enjoyable at all (and again, I don't crave sugar - just bread/bready things, and they're the only ones that make the symptoms go away, although fruit seems to help a bit too). Believe me, if I used that as an excuse to eat, I'd stuff my face with ice cream and pastries and chocolate, not bread.

When I was put on progesterone shots for IVF I had the same symptoms than you mention - dizziness, nausea etc. The pills basically put me to sleep. I can't remember honestly if it made me hungrier than normal or not though because it's been a while, but it was not pretty.

Bottom line is that we all react differently to hormonal changes. Don't dismiss other people's issues just because you haven't experienced them. Might be that some of my other hormones are not where they should be so the change in estrogen and progesterone levels cause that. Who knows. All I know is that it's very real for me.

I get that it's real for you. But it makes no sense. Obese women have more hormones ( I work in a fertility clinic and they won't treat women over a certain BMI because the risk of hyper stimulation is too high with obese women. Put simply, getting the hormone levels right is a crap shoot the higher your body fat). So if you were obese and now aren't you should have less female hormones, not more plus you would have reacted to them this way you whole life. And now you are saying you get like this 10 days before your period, which doesn't correspond to any peak in female hormones or typical TOM cravings (unless you ovulate late and have a very short luteal phase)
I have said to you before you show many signs of perimenopause. It's not normal to have no idea when your period is due or to skip periods so often. I'm not sure why your OB wouldn't do further testing. You may need to see an endocrinologist?
i would also add, what happens if you don't eat? I mean you say you get dizzy and have the shakes but what happens if you just eat a normal amount and don't scarf down 4k calories? Do you actually faint or does it wear off (hunger often does?) People keep saying different women react differently to hormones but feeling faint and having an uncontrollable urge to eat ridiculous amounts due to TOM (or in your case 10 days before) is not a recognized medical condition. It's definitely a psychological one though.

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Soopatt wrote: »

I am hungrier on some days more than others, but nothing so bad that I can't control my own hand from feeding my face. I don't like the idea that I am not able to control myself in any situation - I find that disempowering. I choose when I eat. Sometimes I have more temptations, but ultimately it is up to me.

I have to shift around my calories on those days for sure and if I want loads of sugar I eat it, but that is something I am prepared to do any day of the month to stay within calories.

If there is an extra calorie burn, it is absorbed by my almost total inactivity on those days (terribly debilitating cramps). If I eat more, I think it is because I feel sorry for myself because I am in pain and don't want to deny myself anything. That is a mental battle.

Men get irritated by our constant griping and excusing ourselves over our hormones. I can see why. We would not accept a man using "hormones" as the reason he gets a girlfriend on the side and cheats on us. Even though we recognize how strong those drives are, we expect him to resist them. I see this as the same sort of thing.

I knew you would post here. As usual, I'm shaking my head. Just because YOU don't have those hunger issues that some of us DO have, doesn't mean they don't exist... Might be a shock, but you're not the center of the universe and everyone isn't like you.

Infuriating.

But again, it only started for me once I got close to my goal, so I'm (not so secretively) hoping that karma will be on my side.

Wow. Are you hangry?
I think what she's saying is that all women eat chocolate or are a little hungrier during or before TOM, probably because we're in pain, bloated and/or uncomfortable. It evens out though and most women don't stuff their faces uncontrollably then say it's something they can't control because 'hormones'. That's just an excuse. You can always control what you do or don't eat.
Also are you aware that pregnancy morning sickness is caused by progesterone? I threw up during all my pregnancies and have also thrown up prior to my period and in all cases I can't really eat at all. It's classified as 'progesterone intolerance' and I have had to take anti nausea meds for it and am here because I lost so much weight during my last pregnancy I had to try really hard to get even minimum protein amounts As far as I know progesterone intolerance isn't defined as stuffing your face with food due to insatiable hunger (although there's nothing wrong with doing that if that's what you feel like doing), but please let me know if your Dr says otherwise. I am genuinely interested what you think is causing this.

The thing you don't get is that for me there is NO choice. I get dizzy and I get the shakes if I don't eat during that time. I can't function if I don't eat. I mean I guess it's a choice, either feel horrible or eat, but it's a pretty bad one if you ask me.

So yes, the accusations that it's just an excuse that, at this point, infuriate me. It's no excuse. I don't even enjoy my food when it happens, it's just attempt after attempt to make the symptoms go away. It sucks. And I KNOW it's not in my head because my cycle is late (again), and I didn't have that problem this month (yet). I have no way of predicting when I'm going to have my period, yet when it happens, I always get my period 10 days later. Funny how that works.

But as I said, it only started happening about a year ago... I had no problem when losing weight. Then I stopped getting my period for 2 months, and it's been a nightmare since (but I only get about 10 periods a year now, which my GYNs have said is normal, and they both said that my symptoms are normal as well).

Believe me, I typically don't need an excuse to stuff my face when I feel like it. But when you HAVE to eat because you're feeling so sick, it's just not enjoyable at all (and again, I don't crave sugar - just bread/bready things, and they're the only ones that make the symptoms go away, although fruit seems to help a bit too). Believe me, if I used that as an excuse to eat, I'd stuff my face with ice cream and pastries and chocolate, not bread.

When I was put on progesterone shots for IVF I had the same symptoms than you mention - dizziness, nausea etc. The pills basically put me to sleep. I can't remember honestly if it made me hungrier than normal or not though because it's been a while, but it was not pretty.

Bottom line is that we all react differently to hormonal changes. Don't dismiss other people's issues just because you haven't experienced them. Might be that some of my other hormones are not where they should be so the change in estrogen and progesterone levels cause that. Who knows. All I know is that it's very real for me.

I get that it's real for you. But it makes no sense. Obese women have more hormones ( I work in a fertility clinic and they won't treat women over a certain BMI because the risk of hyper stimulation is too high with obese women. Put simply, getting the hormone levels right is a crap shoot the higher your body fat). So if you were obese and now aren't you should have less female hormones, not more plus you would have reacted to them this way you whole life. And now you are saying you get like this 10 days before your period, which doesn't correspond to any peak in female hormones or typical TOM cravings (unless you ovulate late and have a very short luteal phase)
I have said to you before you show many signs of perimenopause. It's not normal to have no idea when your period is due or to skip periods so often. I'm not sure why your OB wouldn't do further testing. You may need to see an endocrinologist?
i would also add, what happens if you don't eat? I mean you say you get dizzy and have the shakes but what happens if you just eat a normal amount and don't scarf down 4k calories? Do you actually faint or does it wear off (hunger often does?) People keep saying different women react differently to hormones but feeling faint and having an uncontrollable urge to eat ridiculous amounts due to TOM (or in your case 10 days before) is not a recognized medical condition. It's definitely a psychological one though.

Well that's the whole thing right here - it is real. Seeing people say that it's an 'excuse' and disgusting is just a slap in the face.

I never said that it's normal (or not, really). Just that it's real and definitely not an 'excuse'. I mean, sure, I'm sure some women DO use it as an excuse, but I'm not in their shoes, and when I see what happens to me, I'll be the last person to judge them.

And please explain to me again how it's psychological when I have no way of predicting my period because it's not regular, yet every single time it happens to me, I get my period 10 days later (and again, it didn't happen last week, and guess what, my period is late! funny how that works). Right now I'm hungry but I have no appetite and will probably get to eat in the next hour or so, because it doesn't bother me... definitely not the same thing.

Anyway, to answer your question, if I don't eat when that happens, I get extremely irritable, I can't do anything because I'm too dizzy, and I can't think of anything else than food (but again, if you've ever been really hungry... it's hard not to think about food). And I feel like I'm going to throw up. I'm guessing it's close to the symptoms that diabetics experience when they get low blood sugar (I'm guessing though that nobody tells THEM that it's psychological or that they should just suck it up and not use it as an excuse to eat). Actually in all the reading I've done, I've read that hormones when that happens could interfere with insulin or something, and indeed make your blood sugar low, and that's why there is that intense carb craving... and that it's worse with people who already have hormonal issues (I have a history of depression, maybe it's linked? Who knows). And yeah, simple carbs (fruit, bread) are the best way to make it go away, it just doesn't last as long as I wish (I'm still considering a diet of whole grain bread and apples next time it happens though, because clearly it's so tasty and I really need an excuse to eat those).

The why doesn't really matter to me right now though... I just don't like being called 'disgusting'.

Anyway, done with this thread, clearly I'm wasting my time. I'm just sorry for everyone else dealing with this and that other WOMEN are so close-minded about it.

JustMissTracy wrote: »

Wow...this thread is scary at best...we all have different reactions to our hormonal changes; some are extreme, some are not as noticeable. That said, we really shouldn't take away from another woman's experiences, science or not. xo

Agreed

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Soopatt wrote: »

I am hungrier on some days more than others, but nothing so bad that I can't control my own hand from feeding my face. I don't like the idea that I am not able to control myself in any situation - I find that disempowering. I choose when I eat. Sometimes I have more temptations, but ultimately it is up to me.

I have to shift around my calories on those days for sure and if I want loads of sugar I eat it, but that is something I am prepared to do any day of the month to stay within calories.

If there is an extra calorie burn, it is absorbed by my almost total inactivity on those days (terribly debilitating cramps). If I eat more, I think it is because I feel sorry for myself because I am in pain and don't want to deny myself anything. That is a mental battle.

Men get irritated by our constant griping and excusing ourselves over our hormones. I can see why. We would not accept a man using "hormones" as the reason he gets a girlfriend on the side and cheats on us. Even though we recognize how strong those drives are, we expect him to resist them. I see this as the same sort of thing.

I knew you would post here. As usual, I'm shaking my head. Just because YOU don't have those hunger issues that some of us DO have, doesn't mean they don't exist... Might be a shock, but you're not the center of the universe and everyone isn't like you.

Infuriating.

But again, it only started for me once I got close to my goal, so I'm (not so secretively) hoping that karma will be on my side.

Wow. Are you hangry?
I think what she's saying is that all women eat chocolate or are a little hungrier during or before TOM, probably because we're in pain, bloated and/or uncomfortable. It evens out though and most women don't stuff their faces uncontrollably then say it's something they can't control because 'hormones'. That's just an excuse. You can always control what you do or don't eat.
Also are you aware that pregnancy morning sickness is caused by progesterone? I threw up during all my pregnancies and have also thrown up prior to my period and in all cases I can't really eat at all. It's classified as 'progesterone intolerance' and I have had to take anti nausea meds for it and am here because I lost so much weight during my last pregnancy I had to try really hard to get even minimum protein amounts As far as I know progesterone intolerance isn't defined as stuffing your face with food due to insatiable hunger (although there's nothing wrong with doing that if that's what you feel like doing), but please let me know if your Dr says otherwise. I am genuinely interested what you think is causing this.

The thing you don't get is that for me there is NO choice. I get dizzy and I get the shakes if I don't eat during that time. I can't function if I don't eat. I mean I guess it's a choice, either feel horrible or eat, but it's a pretty bad one if you ask me.

So yes, the accusations that it's just an excuse that, at this point, infuriate me. It's no excuse. I don't even enjoy my food when it happens, it's just attempt after attempt to make the symptoms go away. It sucks. And I KNOW it's not in my head because my cycle is late (again), and I didn't have that problem this month (yet). I have no way of predicting when I'm going to have my period, yet when it happens, I always get my period 10 days later. Funny how that works.

But as I said, it only started happening about a year ago... I had no problem when losing weight. Then I stopped getting my period for 2 months, and it's been a nightmare since (but I only get about 10 periods a year now, which my GYNs have said is normal, and they both said that my symptoms are normal as well).

Believe me, I typically don't need an excuse to stuff my face when I feel like it. But when you HAVE to eat because you're feeling so sick, it's just not enjoyable at all (and again, I don't crave sugar - just bread/bready things, and they're the only ones that make the symptoms go away, although fruit seems to help a bit too). Believe me, if I used that as an excuse to eat, I'd stuff my face with ice cream and pastries and chocolate, not bread.

When I was put on progesterone shots for IVF I had the same symptoms than you mention - dizziness, nausea etc. The pills basically put me to sleep. I can't remember honestly if it made me hungrier than normal or not though because it's been a while, but it was not pretty.

Bottom line is that we all react differently to hormonal changes. Don't dismiss other people's issues just because you haven't experienced them. Might be that some of my other hormones are not where they should be so the change in estrogen and progesterone levels cause that. Who knows. All I know is that it's very real for me.

I get that it's real for you. But it makes no sense. Obese women have more hormones ( I work in a fertility clinic and they won't treat women over a certain BMI because the risk of hyper stimulation is too high with obese women. Put simply, getting the hormone levels right is a crap shoot the higher your body fat). So if you were obese and now aren't you should have less female hormones, not more plus you would have reacted to them this way you whole life. And now you are saying you get like this 10 days before your period, which doesn't correspond to any peak in female hormones or typical TOM cravings (unless you ovulate late and have a very short luteal phase)
I have said to you before you show many signs of perimenopause. It's not normal to have no idea when your period is due or to skip periods so often. I'm not sure why your OB wouldn't do further testing. You may need to see an endocrinologist?
i would also add, what happens if you don't eat? I mean you say you get dizzy and have the shakes but what happens if you just eat a normal amount and don't scarf down 4k calories? Do you actually faint or does it wear off (hunger often does?) People keep saying different women react differently to hormones but feeling faint and having an uncontrollable urge to eat ridiculous amounts due to TOM (or in your case 10 days before) is not a recognized medical condition. It's definitely a psychological one though.

I'm ignoring that last paragraph, but do look at what you wrote for the bolded. It's like you are debating yourself and doing much better with the second set of ideas, lol. Props for coming up with a simple answer for real, though. You know that perimenopause changes all the first parts in bold. It does make sense. Now add in the hypoglycemic effects of certain hormones and I think you'll have it!

It might not be the exact real answer, but it's a better bet than assuming someone has psychological problems when they have objective symptoms that clearly look like blood sugar issues.

This content has been removed.

This content has been removed.

Francl27 wrote: »

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Soopatt wrote: »

I am hungrier on some days more than others, but nothing so bad that I can't control my own hand from feeding my face. I don't like the idea that I am not able to control myself in any situation - I find that disempowering. I choose when I eat. Sometimes I have more temptations, but ultimately it is up to me.

I have to shift around my calories on those days for sure and if I want loads of sugar I eat it, but that is something I am prepared to do any day of the month to stay within calories.

If there is an extra calorie burn, it is absorbed by my almost total inactivity on those days (terribly debilitating cramps). If I eat more, I think it is because I feel sorry for myself because I am in pain and don't want to deny myself anything. That is a mental battle.

Men get irritated by our constant griping and excusing ourselves over our hormones. I can see why. We would not accept a man using "hormones" as the reason he gets a girlfriend on the side and cheats on us. Even though we recognize how strong those drives are, we expect him to resist them. I see this as the same sort of thing.

I knew you would post here. As usual, I'm shaking my head. Just because YOU don't have those hunger issues that some of us DO have, doesn't mean they don't exist... Might be a shock, but you're not the center of the universe and everyone isn't like you.

Infuriating.

But again, it only started for me once I got close to my goal, so I'm (not so secretively) hoping that karma will be on my side.

Wow. Are you hangry?
I think what she's saying is that all women eat chocolate or are a little hungrier during or before TOM, probably because we're in pain, bloated and/or uncomfortable. It evens out though and most women don't stuff their faces uncontrollably then say it's something they can't control because 'hormones'. That's just an excuse. You can always control what you do or don't eat.
Also are you aware that pregnancy morning sickness is caused by progesterone? I threw up during all my pregnancies and have also thrown up prior to my period and in all cases I can't really eat at all. It's classified as 'progesterone intolerance' and I have had to take anti nausea meds for it and am here because I lost so much weight during my last pregnancy I had to try really hard to get even minimum protein amounts As far as I know progesterone intolerance isn't defined as stuffing your face with food due to insatiable hunger (although there's nothing wrong with doing that if that's what you feel like doing), but please let me know if your Dr says otherwise. I am genuinely interested what you think is causing this.

The thing you don't get is that for me there is NO choice. I get dizzy and I get the shakes if I don't eat during that time. I can't function if I don't eat. I mean I guess it's a choice, either feel horrible or eat, but it's a pretty bad one if you ask me.

So yes, the accusations that it's just an excuse that, at this point, infuriate me. It's no excuse. I don't even enjoy my food when it happens, it's just attempt after attempt to make the symptoms go away. It sucks. And I KNOW it's not in my head because my cycle is late (again), and I didn't have that problem this month (yet). I have no way of predicting when I'm going to have my period, yet when it happens, I always get my period 10 days later. Funny how that works.

But as I said, it only started happening about a year ago... I had no problem when losing weight. Then I stopped getting my period for 2 months, and it's been a nightmare since (but I only get about 10 periods a year now, which my GYNs have said is normal, and they both said that my symptoms are normal as well).

Believe me, I typically don't need an excuse to stuff my face when I feel like it. But when you HAVE to eat because you're feeling so sick, it's just not enjoyable at all (and again, I don't crave sugar - just bread/bready things, and they're the only ones that make the symptoms go away, although fruit seems to help a bit too). Believe me, if I used that as an excuse to eat, I'd stuff my face with ice cream and pastries and chocolate, not bread.

When I was put on progesterone shots for IVF I had the same symptoms than you mention - dizziness, nausea etc. The pills basically put me to sleep. I can't remember honestly if it made me hungrier than normal or not though because it's been a while, but it was not pretty.

Bottom line is that we all react differently to hormonal changes. Don't dismiss other people's issues just because you haven't experienced them. Might be that some of my other hormones are not where they should be so the change in estrogen and progesterone levels cause that. Who knows. All I know is that it's very real for me.

I get that it's real for you. But it makes no sense. Obese women have more hormones ( I work in a fertility clinic and they won't treat women over a certain BMI because the risk of hyper stimulation is too high with obese women. Put simply, getting the hormone levels right is a crap shoot the higher your body fat). So if you were obese and now aren't you should have less female hormones, not more plus you would have reacted to them this way you whole life. And now you are saying you get like this 10 days before your period, which doesn't correspond to any peak in female hormones or typical TOM cravings (unless you ovulate late and have a very short luteal phase)
I have said to you before you show many signs of perimenopause. It's not normal to have no idea when your period is due or to skip periods so often. I'm not sure why your OB wouldn't do further testing. You may need to see an endocrinologist?
i would also add, what happens if you don't eat? I mean you say you get dizzy and have the shakes but what happens if you just eat a normal amount and don't scarf down 4k calories? Do you actually faint or does it wear off (hunger often does?) People keep saying different women react differently to hormones but feeling faint and having an uncontrollable urge to eat ridiculous amounts due to TOM (or in your case 10 days before) is not a recognized medical condition. It's definitely a psychological one though.

Well that's the whole thing right here - it is real. Seeing people say that it's an 'excuse' and disgusting is just a slap in the face.

I never said that it's normal (or not, really). Just that it's real and definitely not an 'excuse'. I mean, sure, I'm sure some women DO use it as an excuse, but I'm not in their shoes, and when I see what happens to me, I'll be the last person to judge them.

And please explain to me again how it's psychological when I have no way of predicting my period because it's not regular, yet every single time it happens to me, I get my period 10 days later (and again, it didn't happen last week, and guess what, my period is late! funny how that works). Right now I'm hungry but I have no appetite and will probably get to eat in the next hour or so, because it doesn't bother me... definitely not the same thing.

Anyway, to answer your question, if I don't eat when that happens, I get extremely irritable, I can't do anything because I'm too dizzy, and I can't think of anything else than food (but again, if you've ever been really hungry... it's hard not to think about food). And I feel like I'm going to throw up. I'm guessing it's close to the symptoms that diabetics experience when they get low blood sugar (I'm guessing though that nobody tells THEM that it's psychological or that they should just suck it up and not use it as an excuse to eat). Actually in all the reading I've done, I've read that hormones when that happens could interfere with insulin or something, and indeed make your blood sugar low, and that's why there is that intense carb craving... and that it's worse with people who already have hormonal issues (I have a history of depression, maybe it's linked? Who knows). And yeah, simple carbs (fruit, bread) are the best way to make it go away, it just doesn't last as long as I wish (I'm still considering a diet of whole grain bread and apples next time it happens though, because clearly it's so tasty and I really need an excuse to eat those).

The why doesn't really matter to me right now though... I just don't like being called 'disgusting'.

Anyway, done with this thread, clearly I'm wasting my time. I'm just sorry for everyone else dealing with this and that other WOMEN are so close-minded about it.

Irrespective of where I am in my cycle, I get like this when I allow myself to go too long without food. Accordingly, I plan my day so that doesn't happen.

This is super easy now that I work from home, but when I worked in an office I always had long lasting foods like cheese and carrot sticks in the refrigerator and nuts in my desk drawer. I keep a Kashi bar in my pocket book, in a flavor I don't especially care for, so I won't be tempted except in dire circumstances. I bring smoothies with me to the gym. Etc.

But when I did let myself go too long without food, I would have to eat and eat and eat to feel like I'd regained equilibrium. So maybe if you ate a little more, and more frequently, you wouldn't have those 4,000 calorie days? Just a thought.