question for the ladies

First, get rid of as much snacky food as possible. Then, try loading up on stuff that will give you the sugar/salt fix without blowing your diet. Portion it out in advance in little snack size baggies. And, definitely allow the chocolate - just make sure it's the good stuff. Lindt has a dark chocolate bar with a touch of sea salt that's just lovely.

And, above all things, drink as much water as you can.

Good luck!

Try some almonds with a few chocolate chips

Fat free sugar free pudding

There are a lot of lower fat ice cream treats available

Hope this helps a bit

I definitely feel your pain! This is especially frustrating for me, as I have PCOS and didn't even have regular periods until I got back on track with my weight! That being said, I have TWO staples that I buy in BULK during that time of the month!

To satisfy my sweet cravings, I LOVE dry cinnamon roasted almonds. Emerald makes these, and you definitely want to stock up when they go BOGO at Publix or other grocers. They also have other flavors (including chocolate roasted!)

To satisfy the salty moods, hummus is a must. If I behave even a little more, I'll dip raw carrots in the hummus, if I want a little extra cheat, I'll dip some pita, or a soft tortilla (I always have the xtreme fiber wraps on hand.)

As pretty much everyone else has said-just try your best, and definitely keep up on the water and exercise, even though I know exercise during that time can be no fun! Good luck, and hang in there!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus from Athenos or Pita Pals. I use carrot or celery sticks for dipping.

If you get a sweet craving dark chocolate with 60% cacao or higher is wonderful. Chuao makes a Spicy Maya and Firecracker that are fantastic! They give you the health benefits of chocolate and won't break the calorie bank.

Frozen grapes are wonderful or you could make your own fruit pops since it's summer. You can use the little paper cups or buy a Popsicle set from Target or Wal-Mart. My favorite is Strawberry Pineapple. Mash the fruit separately. Put strawberries on the bottom then pineapple on top (or whatever fruits you like best) then freeze. No sugar added and they're fantastic!

A great salty, crunchy and insanely healthy snack are Kale Chips. Oven at 375. Take about 6 stems of fresh Kale, wash well, remove the center stem and pat dry. Tear the Kale into bite size pieces, some are big, some are small. Toss the leaves with 1 tsp. Olive Oil and 1/8 tsp. salt...it truly doesn't take much. Once the leaves are well coated lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet ( I line mine with foil or parchment because I'm lazy and don't want to scrub them). Bake for 7-ish minutes. If they look a bit brown around the edges, they're done. Too dark and they get bitter. I crave these and even though the recipe sounds a bit involved it's quick enough that I can whip up a batch in about 10 minutes start to finish.

I hope this helps! Good luck!!

I have found that peppermint patties are good at satisfying my choc desire. I can have 3 little ones.....having more than 1 makes me feel like I'm getting alot. York has a dark chocolate one that's very good.

I always keep tons of rice cakes with different flavours near me at ALL times. They are only 50 calories a rice cake and they help fill you up. It helps with salty or sweet cravings. Otherwise, I hide in a bubble and pretend anything outside of veggies and fruit don't exist :laugh:

I generally keep myself from buying those foods that i know i will indulge in during that time of the month. My motto is "if its not there i can't eat it." What i may do however is eat more of the healthier foods during that time of the month or have a cheat meal.