Period binging

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mobogogo
mobogogo Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey girlies!!

Any other girls get an uncontrolable craving for food and an increase of appetite before and during your period? I am sick and tired of it! I feel like all my hard work for the month is gone in that week and some! I don't eat junk During that time but i eat A LOT of healthy good food (eg sugar- i eat a lot of fruit/ yogurt and honey) and generally 200-500 calories over my calorie count... And it pisses me off!!! My unterus becomes my brain! Haha
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    When I have had truly uncontrollable cravings for food, professional assistance was a huge help. If you're not restricting too much (that is, you're eating enough the rest of the time) and you can't control what you eat, it may be helpful for you as well.

    If they're just really strong cravings that you can control (they're just really strong), you have some options. Some women choose to eat at a calorie level to maintain at these times. Others remind themselves of their overall goals and choose not to eat more. The choice is really up to you.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,962 Member
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    When my appetite spikes up premenstrually, I switch to maintenance level calories for a few days and mostly eat more of what I normally eat.

    I believe @Francl27 has reactive hypoglycemia premenstrually and found it helpful to limit simple sugars for a week or so prior.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
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    I used to increase my carb intake during those 10 miserable days. I'd stay closer to maintenance level but eat almost nothing but carbs. Seemed to help most of the time and kept me from binges.
  • elaineamj
    elaineamj Posts: 347 Member
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    I struggle with it too. I find it hits me hard for a few days about 1-2 weeks before my TOM and I physically feel bloated. This past time it happened, I let myself go and ate everything in sight for a couple of days. i then convinced myself that I could do just fine without logging. Well, after a week or two of that, I gained a pound or two. UGH.

    The next round, I'm going to give myself permission to eat at maintenance for a few days and see if that helps me cope better mentally. Wonder if I should change my MFP settings and then move it back again? I hate seeing that red number! Does it mess anything up if I do this?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,962 Member
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    elaineamj wrote: »
    I struggle with it too. I find it hits me hard for a few days about 1-2 weeks before my TOM and I physically feel bloated. This past time it happened, I let myself go and ate everything in sight for a couple of days. i then convinced myself that I could do just fine without logging. Well, after a week or two of that, I gained a pound or two. UGH.

    The next round, I'm going to give myself permission to eat at maintenance for a few days and see if that helps me cope better mentally. Wonder if I should change my MFP settings and then move it back again? I hate seeing that red number! Does it mess anything up if I do this?

    I change my settings. This will also change my macros and re-input my last added weight, so I change the macros back and delete the extra weigh-in.
  • Katerbels
    Katerbels Posts: 106 Member
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    YES, I feel like I am starving around that time. It is most definitely a hormonal thing, and judging from the posts here it affects some of us more than others. I don't have specific cravings, I just constantly feel hungry no matter what I've eaten or how much water I've had. I just try to eat a ton of low calorie veggies, drink way more water, and do my best to work out longer and try to burn more calories than usual to make up for any increase.
  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
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    The 2 days before i come on i crave carbs like no tomorrow. If I eat a carb free meal I'm physically hungry until i carb up! Then I crave chocolate for the next 3 days. Not sugar... just chocolate. Which normally I never chose to eat, i much prefer savoury snacks! It's crazy how much our hormones can change our mood and appetite!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited May 2016
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    khh1138 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Yep. The only thing that helps me is to switch to a low carb diet at that time.. if I have even a slice of toast in the morning (even with eggs), it sets me off and I'm starving/craving carbs all day, to the point where I can't function and get dizzy if I don't eat. It's seriously awful (but hasn't happened in a couple months now thankfully).

    That's why sometimes when I read that 'it's a choice' or 'it's an excuse' BS it drives me nuts, lol. Hormones can seriously mess you up. But OP, even if you eat 200-500 over your calorie,s you're still probably at maintenance or under, so just don't sweat it!

    I'm oddly relieved to hear you say this - this is why I have pretty much cut out all traditional breakfast foods out of my diet because I finally figured out that that bowl of cereal (or toast, or pancakes, or waffles) made me HUNGRIER than if I didn't eat it at all! So weird.

    Lol yeah. I still have some French toast or something some days and just know I'll regret it later. It's better if I use whole grains though - steel cut oats are fine, for example. But unfortunately bread is rarely 100% whole grains.

    Funny enough I NEVER got the chocolate craving thing until last month, when my PMS symptoms were otherwise not too bad. So odd.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Well it's a thing for me anyway. Last few days, not so great...

    And I don't think that hunger from hormonal swings is the same as head hunger/desire to eat. You might have that too, but feels like physical hunger to me.

    Many of us are looking forward to Lyle McDonald's upcoming book for women.
    Then there is the menstrual cycle, the variation in hormones which occurs every month which complicates the entire system. Many aspects of female physiology from appetite, whether they burn primarily carbohydrates or fats for energy, energy expenditure, even coordination can change at different parts of the cycle and ignoring this when describing diet or exercise programs is a mistake (3). Yet that’s exactly what most programs do.

    Even there there is enormous variability in a woman’s response to their menstrual cycle with some women seeing profound shifts in everything from appetite to mood to exercise performance along with the tendency to have problems with their cycle and others seeing almost none. I’ve long said that “You are not different” but far more so than men, women are unique and delicate flowers.

    Here are a couple of excerpts he has posted. There is a video interview around here somewhere too.

    bodyrecomposition.com/announcements/women-training-and-fat-loss.html/

    bodyrecomposition.com/womens-physiology/research-on-women-why-isnt-there-more.html/

  • Britxclarity
    Britxclarity Posts: 235 Member
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    I never thought to put myself in maintenance when my cycle comes around. Thank you for that tip. In all honestly my cycles were very irregular(because of my weight) I never noticed it then of course I wasn't counting calories either. But now, That I have a cycle every month (actually miss it skipping months like it used to) I find when that time comes around I have cravings for almost everything. I can't stand it, lol. Always want a craving for something sweet.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    I'm a beast around that time, on so many levels...including hunger.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,962 Member
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    ilex70 wrote: »
    Well it's a thing for me anyway. Last few days, not so great...

    And I don't think that hunger from hormonal swings is the same as head hunger/desire to eat. You might have that too, but feels like physical hunger to me.

    Many of us are looking forward to Lyle McDonald's upcoming book for women.
    Then there is the menstrual cycle, the variation in hormones which occurs every month which complicates the entire system. Many aspects of female physiology from appetite, whether they burn primarily carbohydrates or fats for energy, energy expenditure, even coordination can change at different parts of the cycle and ignoring this when describing diet or exercise programs is a mistake (3). Yet that’s exactly what most programs do.

    Even there there is enormous variability in a woman’s response to their menstrual cycle with some women seeing profound shifts in everything from appetite to mood to exercise performance along with the tendency to have problems with their cycle and others seeing almost none. I’ve long said that “You are not different” but far more so than men, women are unique and delicate flowers.

    Here are a couple of excerpts he has posted. There is a video interview around here somewhere too.

    bodyrecomposition.com/announcements/women-training-and-fat-loss.html/

    bodyrecomposition.com/womens-physiology/research-on-women-why-isnt-there-more.html/

    Here's the video. It's long; I watched it while doing yoga warmups:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6846ZTBu08k&index=4&list=PLUXvX9BaxgqG9yO5XWB3gA_QshvrrcjVr

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