For the ladies who CRAVE so much before PMS...

I get the cravings BAD. You could try upping your calories that week to maintenence so you have more wiggle room to include the food. That way you don't gain that week. Or you could just make sure to have it in moderation and make sure you weigh and log everything. You'll just end up eating less to make room for the foods. The week before my period I really just try to have a few cheats and make sure I have no foods I'm craving in my house so I don't binge. But if I don't give in a little I get seriously grumpy, to the point of I wanna cry and I don't feel better until I have something. I like to go get froyo and just try to be somewhat mindful of how much I'm getting but that way once it's gone it's gone and even though I want more I can't get more and then a little after I feel insanely better. Once my period starts the cravings and hunger generally go away and I go back to normal lol.

Yeah, I ate a bag of cool ranch Doritos yesterday. That was a bad one. So, I feel ya. Log it, and move on. I don't give in to the cravings every month, and I usually allow myself to eat at maintenance for that week.

kelfidler1985 wrote: »

Do any women out there lose all willpower/healthy eating habits the week before their premenstrual like I do?

Literally this week I have craved everything from ready salted crisps, rice, chips etc and have eaten it too....its like I can't control myself for that one week before my period, I've lost 7lb's since starting my MFP journey on the 20th May and am doing so well I even lost 3lb last week when I got weighed but last week, but my goodness, my body just wants all the bad stuff....

I hit the gym everyday too and this week I've only been once! I'm not normally this bad but this week all I've thought about is pizza, burgers, pizzas and burgers!

How do you control these cravings or what do you eat to control them?

90% dark chocolate is my go - to. Or, I limit myself to 100 calorie packs of certain items. For example, I love popcorn. However, it's easy for me to overeat when I make the air-popped popcorn myself with kernels. So, I buy 100 calorie pack popcorn for these times and just grab a couple bags of them to cook. That way, I can't over eat what I don't make.

Yeah I'm definitely with you on just getting hungry, I don't really crave sugary crap or anything like that, but oh my god are there days that I want to eat anything that isn't nailed down. Even food I don't like, I'm just so hungry!

I was wondering why I had the munchies so bad for the last 2 days, I eat 1560 calories in general but the last 2 days I ate 2050 and 2130. And then I was like, "oh yeah..."

I never noticed this before I started using mfp to track but oh wow this past week was BRUTAL! I thought I was going crazy, I was always hungry and craving junk. Now this week (actual period started) I feel so much more in control and normal.

I had adjusted my weight loss goal to 0.5 this past week bc I just needed more food and I think that's more appropriate anyway. Not sure what I will do next month!

i give in. it works for me and i force myself to be active. At that point I have no control haha. Really though If its the week before of the first couple of days and i "NEED" a donut, or chips, or a steak, or pasta I do my best to fit it all in and give into all cravings.

I don't usually get bad cramps, or cravings I can't handle... but my god.

The downside to strengthening your abs is your frequently strengthen your pelvic floor muscles too. Which means that I just got slammed with cramps so bad I kept doubling over with curses. I climbed inside a bottle of ibuprofen and plan to stay inside for a week.

And the cravings... I don't know why, but for once I'm having trouble not giving it. Protein shakes are helping, as always, and I'm logging everything, but I'm getting the kind of cravings where I'd chew my own arm off if it meant I could get _____ right now. What ends up in the blank varies. The other day my lunch was cake, pretzels, and hummus.

I'm dealing with this in one of two ways. First, I'm logging things and fitting them into my day and my normal deficit. Or, I realize that I'm usually below deficit anyways. Three days of going over by 200 or so (still below maintenence though) is going to balance out in the end anyways.

I've got today planned out with about 32 calories left. I may decide that I both want and need a candy bar for mental health reasons later. It'll put me over and I plan to really think about it first, but from what I hear, shark week makes you burn an extra 300 a day over normal BMR, so maybe it works out anyways?

I *try* not to keep those things in the house around that time especially. Sometimes frozen blueberries help, other times not so much.

Salty craving- baked chips
Sweet craving- banana dipped in dark chocolate
Sour craving- lemons

So glad to see I'm not alone in this struggle! There are some great ideas here and a lot of support.

Shadowmf023 wrote: »

And don't get me started on the cramping - I could barely walk this morning. I'm like high on 4 painkillers right now. I didn't even eat anything and feel gross.

But hey, atleast I got in a morning workout before the worst of the pain hit!

It's what usually wakes me up in the morning... then I have to wait 2 hours for the 2 advils and the 2 tylenols to kick in before I can do anything. And it lasts 10 days too! The week before and 3 days into. Seriously sucks.

I do! That is what has sabotaged my efforts for the past 2-ish years.

I greatly cut back on wheat and products with sugar-added. It helped my cravings this past cycle, we shall see what happens in the next few months though. They always seem to be different.

enterdanger wrote: »

I'm pregnant, which is like having PMSI for 9 months. I also partook of some McD's fries yesterday and half a milkshake....No willpower at all.

When not pregnant I try to keep stuff under control, but if I'm too crazy it's better to set myself to maintenance for 3-4 days and satisfy my cravings. Otherwise, everyone suffers.

That's my nightmare right there. I'm so grateful I never got pregnant, I would probably gain 100 pounds.

The last couple months have been much easier for me thankfully.

i give in to the cravings and TRY to stay at maintance.