Ladies...

I have a salt tooth at that time. Generally, I go for skinny pop popcorn, pop chips, vegetable straws, and veggie dogs. String cheese can be an option once the cramps aren't so bad, but I find I can't have dairy when they are. I also tend to eat more bread at that time. So far, I've been fitting it into my calorie limit okay. I should mention that I've found that when I was routinely doing ab-crunches and other abdominal exercises, my cramps and cravings were less. I should get back to that.

Either I have no appetite or I want to eat everything, so for me it kind of balances it out. But if you're having unhealthy cravings I'd just give in and try not to over eat. Or maybe switch to maintenance for the week ?

24clouds wrote: »

I'm really gutted. I came on today and also my weigh in day. I lost zip all! I don't even crave at TOM air eat more. Wanna cry. Makes h think what's the sodding point

The sodding point is that if you give up, you'll only get heavier.

I'm afraid weight fluctuations happen to all of us. You need to focus on something other than the scale number - it will go up and down. The overall downward trend is what matters.

To the original question: I sometimes get more hungry/cravey on my period. It just goes with the territory, I think. Sometimes I eat more, other times I power through. You do whatever works. But don't use it as an excuse to give up and stop logging. Whatever you eat, log it and keep going.

leann74016 wrote: »

Ladies do you struggle to eat healthy on your cycle? I'm have completely ruinedy progress this week. All I want is bad, unhealthy food.

No food is good or bad, and unhealthy is the perception.

Negative self talk is bad, though--you didn't ruin your progress, you took a temporary shortcut.

Seriously, give yourself a break.

My cravings are usually uncontrollable and I go way over calories for one day. I eat at a deficit other times to make up for it. For some reason, I didn't crave this month. I got horrible cramps and insomnia instead, which I never get. So no treats this month. I only splurge on treats if I have PMS. Since I can't moderate, I don't do treats other times.

leann74016 wrote: »

Ladies do you struggle to eat healthy on your cycle? I'm have completely ruinedy progress this week. All I want is bad, unhealthy food.

Honestly, you're not going to ruin all your progress in one week. That's not possible, especially for someone who's been on MFP for 6 years. "Wanting" foods not on your plan is not failure. Chin up!

I usually only have 2-3 days where I am ravenous right before my period. And I tend to have a eating pattern that cycles calories anyway. So I'll just eat a ton those few days and then not eat much of anything a few days over the next week. Which works out since I am generally feeling bad and not super hungry during my period. It all balances out.

YES!!!! I've barely given in to cravings even when they're extreme. My husband will literally take whatever it is out of my hand and not let me cave... which is helpful but also very frustrating.

Even more frustrating though... despite the will power police, I still managed to gain 5lbs back, overnight. I am not even exagerating. I wish I was. I went from 198 yesterday morning to 203 this morning. Just because of my stupid period.

I just eat whatever I want within my calories. If I need to eat more then I will raise my daily limit to maintenance until.

This week I've been struggling too. For me it has been chocolate and salty foods I've been craving and I ate out a few times. I need to get back on track because I am so bloated and gained 4 pounds. Feeling horrible because I was doing so well before pms and now I really need to get back on track! I'm still learning how to manage the cravings and hunger but it's really hard.

NoAnalHere wrote: »

I struggle to stay within my calorie limit during my cycle because if I'm not asleep I'm eating lol. And during my cycle I get 4 hours of sleep max each night and turn into the beast of food lol. You know the typical " breakfast lunch dinner snack" category MFP has? I created a extra one called "middle of the night shame" and it always gets used when my cycle comes around.

I love it. "Middle of the night shame". Mine is titled random reason to nom 10pm-4am haha

Increased food cravings - that's my primary symptom.

The advice to eat at maintenance calories worked well for me when I was at a deficit. Now that I'm in maintenance, I just let myself go a little bit (not crazy) for a few days and it all seems to work itself out. If I start snacking too much, I just add in more exercise to counteract some of it. (I'm one of those lucky ones that has little to no physical discomfort during my cycle, so exercising and other normal activities are no problem for me.) Also, sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger. Try drinking a full glass of water or tea. If you are still hungry after that, maybe you legitimately need a snack. It's better to have a little something before you get ravenous, than to wait too long and end up bingeing!