Hello, and welcome to the group! I hope that you find support here.

Yes, I can relate to your experience of pre-menstrual drives to eat. I can understand why you would label that as "awful;" it certainly feels that way to me much of the time, too.

And yet, as I advance in age I consider that my body has a voice, too, and that right before my period it has needs that are not consistent with my body, for example, whe it is ovulating. When ovulating, I have high energy, I digest food better, my weight goes down, I retain less water, etc. But before I bleed, my body slows down, it begs to have extra care, it retains water in preparation of huge bodily event, I am more likely to get sick, my immune system is slower because its strain is heavier, and my body asks for more calories and water.

I spent more of my life feeling guilty and angry about my body's needs because they do not fit the mainstream ideal of consistency, which by the way comes from male experience -- and they do not have body fluxuations in exactly the way that women do.

Today, I try to listen to my body and to HONOR it, because it is a beautiful machine that knows what it is doing, more than I do. I trust it. When it needs, I give.

Now, when it comes to junk food, chances are that sugar and trans fat, for example, is not what your body needs. Instead of sugar, it might need sleep or something else, such as carbs from whole foods, like some potato. Often, my body needs more carbs around my period, and also magnesium and extra iron. Make your period a journey inward to listen and to experiment with finding out what your body really needs. And then give it freely. Your body won't ask anything harmful or destructive from you.

@leelee_lani sounds like you're showing yourself some compassion and really focusing on the successes rather than what you might, on another day, think of as a failure. That's so great! 🥳

Recently, I have been weighing my food and found for the first time in a very long while that my PMS was not really noticeable this month in terms of food cravings. Of course, it may be a fluke but I always experience strong cravings this time of month. Weighing the food has helped me in a lot of ways, and possibly with PMS cravings to some degree.