Hunger cravings during shark week.

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BiomedDent
BiomedDent Posts: 107 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
It's shark week (Lady times) and I am so hungry! All the effing time. No matter what.

I have been consistently over my cal limit (although been exercising too) what do other women do to stop these hungry during your totm?

Replies

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    My hunger is actually worse during ovulation but yeah...I'll raise my calories a little. Sometimes I'll just throw my macros out the window and eat all the carbs but stay in a deficit.
  • indiacaitlin
    indiacaitlin Posts: 691 Member
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    I feel this - sometimes I get such intense cravings for chocolate that I just have to eat it otherwise I'm such a horrible person to be around! I usually try and have something else sweet like fruit but sometimes you just have to give in, try and fit it within your calories if you can but don't beat yourself up if you can't! Just don't go crazy.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Can't even limit myself to maintenance those days! More exercise and I eat less the rest of the time to make up for it.
  • BiomedDent
    BiomedDent Posts: 107 Member
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    Yeah today was a bad day. I was making custard creams for my friends and ate 5 of them! Bah! Start again tomorrow
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    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.
  • BiomedDent
    BiomedDent Posts: 107 Member
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    Yeah I'm gonna do that from now on. Today was a write off. I mindlessly ate tbh :(
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    edited January 2017
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    My cravings and insatiable hunger hit about 7 days before and last about half way through Charlie's visit. I find peanut butter seems to help with the hunger, also staying well hydrated as thirst can be misread as hunger. I have to fight the urge to give in on certain types of food because if I do give in and have "just a little bit" it will snowball into a "whole effin' lot". So during that time I try my best to stick to the healthiest food possible. It took me a very long time to get to the point of having strength to keep it under control. The past maybe 3 months I have not had any days where I over ate in some gross amount. Maybe I would be over by 300-500 calories, but not the usual 1,200-1,800 more. So it's part mental and part what you eat. Try to make a note of what helps you feel satiated and try to stock up on those items. I mentioned peanut butter, I would add it to other things. I had back to nature brownies which were just 90 calories for 1 which I smeared with a couple of teaspoons of peanut butter, or peanut butter on rice cakes, celery, apples, also various cheeses with apples or other fruit, cottage cheese and fruit, boiled eggs are a good thing to keep on hand as they are also filling. I hope you find what helps you. It pays to do a little trial and error.
  • chocolatexxmintt
    chocolatexxmintt Posts: 85 Member
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    I just give in. For me it's just one day and usually doesn't make me or break me!
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    chocolatexxmintt wrote: »
    I just give in. For me it's just one day and usually doesn't make me or break me!

    To bounce off this, sometimes I will just eat what appeals to my uterus and nevermind hitting macros/calories. That might be eating a bakery cinnamon roll for supper instead of something "healthier".
  • KetoKattt
    KetoKattt Posts: 12 Member
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    OMG, I love so much that you call it shark week, that made my day. I'm totally going to call it that from now on.
  • quasi_economist
    quasi_economist Posts: 5 Member
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    chocolatexxmintt wrote: »
    I just give in. For me it's just one day and usually doesn't make me or break me!

    Same. I am already cranky and in pain. Why should I deprive myself of food?
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Deprivation tends to refer to that which we need. I do not see where gorging on anything is ever a need. I also don't see the harm in trying to find ways to lessen this problem. "Honoring" this problem only landed me at a BMI of 33. That's obese. By trying to lessen this particular hormonal symptom I have been able to lose weight more consistently than when I did not.

    Running on about a 22 day cycle my PMS hits around day 12 and lasts for 10-12 days. There are about 30 days in a month (give or take a day) so over half the time I am fighting this battle. The trouble I had was around the time my hormones did their thing I would put back on any weight I lost plus about 2-3 more pounds with a gain of about 5 pounds. Now trying to lose that 5 pounds again plus some before the next wave of PMS was impossible. So even if I managed to take off a 2-3 of those PMS pounds I would still gain them again plus some. This is what made me determined to find ways to at least maintain my weight during that time. "Honoring" the urge to endlessly stuff my face with 2-3 times the calories I needed was to my detriment.

    There seem to be some folks who don't have that kind of problem. They can "just" eat at maintenance. Not everyone can stop there. Once the feeding frenzy begins it turns into something terrible. And that is not the result of "deprivation" it's the result of giving in and then losing all control. I can allow myself things on a reasonable level on a regular day, but not on a PMS day where a craving for salt leads to killing an entire bag of potato chips for just a single example. I now have thankfully learned how to maintain much more self control when my hormones are raging and instead of gaining I am losing or at least maintaining. Also lacking in certain nutrients can exacerbate some PMS symptoms which Is why I mentioned trying to get some healthier more nutrient dense foods into the diet. I know I am not the only woman out there who has dealt with this hard to break cycle. It can be very different for us all so what helps one of us may not help everyone else.
  • LenGray
    LenGray Posts: 834 Member
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    Just had my ToM last week and had this problem. This time around I didn't log, but I usually do. I try to stay around maintenance, but I don't worry too much if I go a bit over (usually chocolate cake is to blame) and I don't exercise because it just makes me feel cold and dizzy.

    That said, I only have mine every other month so it's not that big of a deal if I spend a week eating whatever I feel like because I have 7 weeks to deal with the aftermath and get back on track. If you have a regular period or worry about getting derailed, I'd recommend setting yourself a limit (such as 500 cal) over what you usually eat and allow yourself a treat without going overboard.
  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    Can't even limit myself to maintenance those days! More exercise and I eat less the rest of the time to make up for it.

    Ditto. I can't limit myself either. So, I eat at a deficit all other times to make up the difference. How badly I indulge will determine my deficit.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
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    leejoyce31 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Can't even limit myself to maintenance those days! More exercise and I eat less the rest of the time to make up for it.

    Ditto. I can't limit myself either. So, I eat at a deficit all other times to make up the difference. How badly I indulge will determine my deficit.

    That is a great strategy.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    :laugh: I thought this was going to be about some weird cravings during shark week on TV.
  • BiomedDent
    BiomedDent Posts: 107 Member
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    Thanks for All the tips guys. I only had one day of "'mindless eating" and logged every other day and with exercise I'm still averaging out under my calorie goal so fingers crossed! I'll still lose.

    Bloody water retention is annoying too.

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