How does your period/PMS effect your diet?

rnnzo
rnnzo Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you tend to eat more/less? Do you weigh yourself during this because of the natural water weight?

Replies

  • Joanna2012B
    Joanna2012B Posts: 1,448 Member
    I will not weigh myself during my period! It varies for me, sometimes I just don't feel like eating and others I am so hungry I can't fill up. I just roll with it!! If I am over calories it is usually just a day or two and then I level out.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited August 2016
    I gain weight during ovulation and leading up to period. I drop a pound or two the day of it. I weigh daily and trend it using a weight trending app. Daily and weekly fluctuations can be frustrating, this took all of this frustration away and allowed to to make peace with the scale.

    I personally do not recommend eating more unless you strategize your calories so that you can stay in your weekly deficit or just want to go over for a few days and forego the deficit that week.
  • mssmssy
    mssmssy Posts: 32 Member
    I have a couple of days during my cycle that I want all the food. I mean, ALL the food. And I'm exhausted. Like I can't get enough sleep. I know I'll gain a couple of pounds the first days of my period and it usually comes back off later that week. I weigh every day because it's too easy for me to slip if I don't.
  • jennypapage
    jennypapage Posts: 489 Member
    it depends on the period. Sometimes i feel like i'm dying from the pain and i'm ravenous the days leading up to it. then i eat slightly more.other times i don't even feel different ,pain free and no hunger and then i just carry on. i still weigh myself even though it's disappointing watching the number going up. i think it's good training for my mind to realise than sometimes, the weight number stays the same or goes up.it's nothing to go crazy about.next week will be better.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Sometimes I'm hungrier during ovulation. 90% of the time, I get the urge to eat a specific food, so I buy some and fit it in my day/week until I'm done with it. I weigh and log it every day. What's the debate about?
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
    I gain during ovulation and leading up to my TOM. I don't lose the weight from my TOM until it's almost over. 90%of the time the day of my period I crave Chinese food. So I'll go get some, realize that my weight is going to increase more due to the sodium from the soy sauce, and just accept it as a part of life. I weigh myself, see the number, and move on.
  • ember168
    ember168 Posts: 64 Member
    I always gain between 3 to 5 lbs during my cycle and as soon as it's over (and I haven't over-eaten that week) it disappears again.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Weighing daily made me realize I gain at ovulation as well as premenstrually. I've accepted that these water weight fluctuations come with being a female with a menstrual cycle, and continue to weigh every day.

    When my appetite spikes up premenstrually, I honor it and eat at maintenance for a few days. Most times I add a snack and have a slightly larger dinner, and/or a treat.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    It didn't affect me much when I was losing. After a few months though I just stopped losing 2 weeks after my period until the next one, then I'd just drop 4-5 pounds in a week... never really gained much weight.

    Then I got within 5 pounds of my goal weight and now I'm starving the 10-14 days before my period.. I usually end up eating about 1000 calories over maintenance for 2 weeks... so I basically have to make my goal lower the rest of the time, when my hunger is manageable. It sucks, but it's what it is (but that's why I never really reached my goal either). Limiting empty calories around that time helps but sometimes the only thing that satisfy me are carbs, so it's rough. I make sure to exercise more too (which might not help with the hunger, to be honest).

    And yeah I gain 5-6 pounds but lose them the week after TOM.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    When it comes to food I'm no different on or near my period, same with my weight. I don't get hungrier and I don't crave anything either. I don't always want to exercise during, but once I start exercising I feel a lot better and it helps with cramps.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited August 2016
    I have recently discovered that my hunger increases a lot as soon as I ovulate. And it stays up until about the 2nd or 3rd day of my period. Noticed it when I started tracking basal temperature! The hunger changes were less noticeable while I was on birth control.
  • Nightmare_Queen88
    Nightmare_Queen88 Posts: 304 Member
    I don't really feel different anymore. At first I did. But now I have no cravings what so ever. As for weighing myself, I don't do it. I usually wait a couple of days after and then weigh myself.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited August 2016
    ryry_ wrote: »
    Her mood swings stress me out and I end up eating more to cope

    Lol I give you points for courage :lol:

    OP i gain 3-4lbs in the week leading up to my period, and don't weigh myself everyday like i usually do.
    Some months I'm ravenous a couple days before hand, and on day 1, and other times there is no difference in my appetite.

    I don't get mood swings or cramps or any thing like that.
  • almostanangel21
    almostanangel21 Posts: 143 Member
    It gets a lot harder for me to resist my kryptonite foods like ice cream, but so far I've been managing - I just concentrate on staying on track and don't bother weighing until it's all over with.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited August 2016
    So your a man, your young (from your picture) you do cardiovascular and you lift 6 days a week yet you only eat 1300 calories a day.

    Yeah, you need to eat more....all that weight training is doing is tearing your muscle down and with that HUGE calorie deficit your body is just going to consume it, not rebuild it.

    For the love of god man eat more. I bet you maintain at like 3500 calories if you are young and that active.
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    I've gotten used to the weight gain, and I know I'll lose it a few days after my period starts. I almost always have an increase in appetite, eat a few hundred more calories than usual for almost a week, and I still don't gain overall. I read recently that your calorie burn goes up, too, during that time, so I figure it's just my body telling me it needs more, so I need to eat more. I also find that I have a loss of appetite the week after my period, so that also helps even things out I guess. Oh, and I do weigh everyday, regardless.
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    The week before always turned me into a vacuum cleaner! I really don't miss that or any of the rest of it. :)
  • Shana67
    Shana67 Posts: 680 Member
    It doesn't seem to affect my diet at all. I am pretty freaking religious about sticking to the plan no matter what. Just my weirdo personality :)
  • LuckyAndi
    LuckyAndi Posts: 203 Member
    mssmssy wrote: »
    I have a couple of days during my cycle that I want all the food. I mean, ALL the food. And I'm exhausted. Like I can't get enough sleep. I know I'll gain a couple of pounds the first days of my period and it usually comes back off later that week. I weigh every day because it's too easy for me to slip if I don't.

    This is me exactly. I want to eat everything in sight and then go get more some days. Throughout the first 2-4 days, I'm dead on my feet. I wake up feeling great and not 2 hours later I'm ready to sleep like I've been awake for a week. I don't mind the cravings and eating, but I hate the exhaustion.
  • not_my_first_rodeo
    not_my_first_rodeo Posts: 311 Member
    I only weigh myself once a week. More than that and I get obsessive and am easily discouraged. I find myself craving foods like chocolate around my period; they're typically not foods I crave any other time. There's the usual water weight gain. Other than trying to steer clear of high-sodium foods, I just tell myself that as soon as it's over, I'll lose it again.

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