Females... and diet around your period..

of course!

Yup, I eat at maintenance level calories for a few days.

I have that! I usually try to eat more veggies or stuff that takes awhile to eat during these times. Andof course drink more water ha-ha.

So happy to see this right now. I'm just starving a few days before my period. Which is right now.!! I'm having pizza & wine (a lot of it). You do have to live . Just get back on track tomorrow rather than next week I say !!

Like 2 days before the flow actually starts and then like 1-2 of the initial flow do I eat calories to maintain. The rest of the flow I can usually go back to my diet and exercise.

for about 3 days out of the month, I want and eat sweets. I am good the rest of the month so for those few days. I don't stress about it. I just make sure I am a bit more active.

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

I like to white-knuckle it and just deal. I have trouble getting back on track when I fall off, but no trouble STAYING on track if I never "cheat" (I hate that word, it's too negative). Do whatever you must do.

Same here. I just grit my teeth and get through it. Something that really, really helps me is to just go to bed early on those days. I'm exhausted and cranky anyhow, and sleep somehow miraculously seems to solve it!

Yes, this is very common ... and if you read through the first 5 or 6 or 10 pages here, you'll discover threads just like these on every page.


That said ...

-- I eat what I normally eat even if I am a little bit more hungry for a day.

-- I exercise as I normally would.

-- I only gain a little bit, perhaps a kilogram at most ... and it is gone again in a few days. In fact, I usually lose an extra kg in the week after.

-- the lower my weight is, the less I am affected by PMS and perimenopausal symptoms. Once I dropped under 140 lbs, the hunger, grouchiness, hot flashes, etc. etc. almost disappeared.

Usually I just crave dairy products and any bad foods from ice cream to chocolate candy to chocolate milk to pizza or caffeine in pop lol but normally I eat what I'm craving within my calorie limit and sit around or push myself to go for a walk even though I feel like killing something and staying on the couch watching Netflix lol

Culver's butter burgers are incredible! I miss Wisconsin- and the states inbetween that have them, lol.

I recently dealt with this. I gave in and allowed myself to eat more. I don't always feel like a bottomless pit before my time of the month, so I figured I would just go with it. Unfortunately I have PCOS, so wonky hormone leaves can make me skip it entirely and feel really annoyed by random cramps until it finally shows up at some indeterminate time in the future. And that's what's happening. :P

If you Google a bit you'll discover some interesting information about a slightly raised BMR during the days leading up to your period, as well as possible reasons for craving certain foods. For example, chocolate is a good source of magnesium, progesterone effects serotonin levels, which can lead to craving carbohydrates to raise it, etc.

Good luck. :]

Yes, a couple days before my period I eat everything in sight and nothing ever satisfies.

Well same here!! Today I already rchd maintenance cal and I'm still Hungry
Ah I'm giving in for a chocobar

Yep! I usually never eat enough most days even though I try, but during the fertile/ovulation phase of my cycle, there are a few days where I am just perpetually hungry. I used to try to ignore it, but I'd wake up in the middle of the night with my stomach growling and in pain. Now if I let myself eat, even if I'm way over calories, I am able to sleep through the night. That's more important to me than making a deficit for a few days. Yesterday I went over by around 600 calories but that wasn't nearly enough to cancel out my weekly deficit. It also made me feel extra energized during my lifting session this morning. I figured my muscles could use the food boost once in a while as well. It's important to listen to your body with regard to that.

I definitely get this! For the week leading up to TOM, I crave sweets and carbs like nobody's business. I get extra tired as well. I'm also a "white knuckle" type person because if I give in, it's harder for me to get back on track and I get so guilty. Do what works for you though.

I'm certainly not saying anyone should do this but I am the same way - constantly hungry and also sleepy/cranky. Sometimes if I feel like I cannot control myself, I will take a nap instead of eating. I mean, napping is pretty much my most favorite thing in the world so it's not exactly a sacrifice lol. There are some months I feel like a bottomless pit demanding Doritos and pizza! It's been especially hard after switching from hormonal birthcontrol to the copper IUD as my PMS was always really mild before and now I'm like a eating, crying, sleeping machine. Basically I regress to infanthood for a 3 days every month.