I recently responded to this question in a video session (will be posting shortly) but I thought it made a great question of the week. Especially this week! ;~)
Hi Roni,
How do you stay on program while dealing with PMS? I always blow it when TOM comes to visit and regain everything I’ve lost. My cravings always get the best of me. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Nicole
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I bite the bullet and don’t give in to EVERY. It’s hard sometimes, but worth it in the end. I will allow myself to indulge in half my cravings or less. Again not always easy, but I find I sometimes use that as an excuse to overeat. :)
What I do is try to stay busy doing other things so I don’t think about the extra snack cravings. It also helps me to go to bed alittle earlier than I normally would to fight the late night cravings. PMS really makes me snacky, so I have to use every strategy I can think of. I have to admit, I definitely dip into my flex points more often during that time, but as long as I don’t go over- I’m still on plan and should still be losing weight, right? I have to remind myself that the flex points are there for that safety net- I would call PMS a great time to use them (just don’t go over!!!)
Good luck! :)
I used to indulge big time. My pms snack of choice was crunchy cheetos and Reese’s PB cups. Now, I just sip warm green tea and still manage to lose weight even during “that time.” I do have to scale the workouts back a bit ;) It comes around too frequently to give in every month!
I get sweet cravings pretty bad, but berries or bananas with lite cool whip or skinny cow sandwiches seem to get me through it. I have an insatiable hunger too, but I really do try to fill up on more vegetables or lower point items instead of that giant slice of cheesecake :p
Low fat chips and 40 cal hot chocolate for me. Works like a charm!
I get really hungry at TOTM, though it may just be that I want comfort, because it’s comfort foods I go for! I generally make a bit pot of veggie chilli and wholegrain rice (way more filling than white) or low point pasta bake with loads of veggies. I take my time preparing it, and even that is kind of theraputic. Then I chill out with a hot water bottle, my favourite big blanket, my food and a new book (I always treat myself to a new book at TOTM!). The thoughts of all this gets me through the working day, but there I just dress very comfortably, and drink lots of hot water with lemon.
For the really crampy days, yoga is the ultimate cure, and you earn points for yoga, which helps with the comfort food cravings. I also crave chocolate, but can usually satisfy this with a low cal chocolate drink.
I increase my workouts during that week. Sometimes its really hard, but stretching and walking and just overall movement help me with bloating and cramping. I think it also helps my mood or at least keeps me too busy to be cranky with DH. Also the week before I buy chocolate pudding cups ors Aldi’s chocolate ice cream bars, so I have small one point chocolate snacks. In the beginning of my weight loss journey TOM was always a struggling point and I most always saw a gain, but I don’t even worry about it anymore.
I often dont.
it is NOT the time for me to increase my exercise (as I just feel crappy—thats the technical term!) and often I just let myself indulge as for me the fact I know the REASON and it isnt mindless emotional snackage makes it all the less ‘stressful’
I know Ill get back on track in a few days.
Exercise does help me during that time. It helps sooth the effects of PMS :)
I totally lose all focus. I have serious headaches for 24-48 hours so that prevents me from working out during that time. I just try to limit my snacking (because I will snack) to healthier choices. Fruit, Chocolate Vitamuffins, some chocolate soy mile or yesterday peppermint tea really helped hit the spot.
MASSIVE amount of veggies – things like Roni’s veggie bake that was posted on GreenLiteBites a few days ago.
It is sort of the opposite of what Roni talked about on her Q&A while she was on vacation – the question about someone not being able to use up/eat all their points – Roni suggested more calorie dense foods – this is the exact opposite – MORE CALORIE LIGHT foods – veggies.
I don’t EVEN start down the salt/sugar road – because that just builds upon itself and escalates. At the moment it seems like it helps – but it doesn’t – it makes it much worse.
I have good migraine meds that I take at the first sign a headach is coming – which for me is a pain in my right shoulder that appears about 12 hours before the actual migraine starts.
I have had a hysterectomy but still have the hormones. Since I never know where I am at in my cycle I don’t use it as an excuse. Excuse is not the right word…. but what I really mean is from day to day I am sometimes hungrier than others. If I thought that I was suffering “pms” (which I do, and sometimes can really tell) I’d give in to myself more often. I do really try to ignore TOM hormones. Some times it works, some times I struggle.
I’ve been lucky enough that usually it doesn’t bother me too bad. I do have days where I feel hungry ALL the time, but I don’t crave anything particular like chocolate (god blessed with not being a chocolate fiend, just a PB one lol), but I just make sure I grab for carrots or something like that if I just need to eat something for the sake of eating.
I pretty much understand that I’m not going to have a stellar week, but in embracing that, I don’t completely let everything I’ve learned go. So do I have chocolate? Heck yeah. But I don’t eat a whole cake and wash it down with a pint of ice cream, lol. I think when I set a reasonable expectation for myself, rather than expecting myself to act “perfectly” in every scenario, is a way for me to see that, as my WW leader says, “life happens.”
I think that you should know that you are going to have the cravings and be ready. You know when (or about when) you are going to have a “visit” so you can have stuff in your house to help. You also know what you will be craving so you can have healthy options to chose from. If you know you will NEED chocolate then have WW chocolate in the house. But most important try and have some things that you can eat without falling. So you will can have lots of carrots ready to eat when you get the craving and try and put off eating what you are craving as long as you can then when and if you give into it you will have a full tummy and not feel like you need to eat as much of the craving food.
Okay, I must be getting old because when I read the TOM question asked by Nicole, I thought she was talking about her boyfriend Tom. I think I need to sleep more.
a fave pms food is baked lays smeared with a french onion laughing cow wedge; tastes like chip n’ dip! and i TRY to exercise more; it REALLY makes a difference WHEN i actually follow through
I take pain medicine as soon as I feel pain so I don’t feel like “blah” all day. Other than that, I don’t think about it being that time. I hate to blame things on “it was that time”. If I’m extra hungry, I will eat something extra. Usually I do get some sweet cravings, and I try to make sure I make healthy choices while still having some sweet foods.
I have a really tough time with mine, so I tend to skip some (with the pill) during the semester (uni student here) because I simply can’t afford to miss 2-4 days each month because of the cramps. I did that in Year 12 and could have technically failed one of my subjects because of missing too many classes (luckily they understood). So I don’t have this problem very often, although when I do I just let myself do/have whatever I need or feel like.
I’m not overweight (I found Roni through looking for healthy food, not weight loss) but my mother and I were talking the other day and she commented that she put on weight when she was my age when she went on the pill! And then we realised that that was probably why I’ve put on weight the last few years and changed shape; I needed to put some on and I like my new curvier shape, but I just thought I’d mention it here. It may be a reason for some people’s weight gain that isn’t obvious, because it’s sort of behind the scenes, unlike the cravings.
Thanks for everything Roni!
Rhiannon
ahhhhhh all these food pictures make me want to eat a huge feast! >:]
-Jackie
Sleep alot :P (It’s impossible to eat and sleep at the same time!)
Actually, I think this is a perfect example of why we have to make sure our environment is condusive to our weight loss. If you know you’re going to have cravings, and you’re positive you’re going to snack to satisfy those cravings, then what I do is I put items in my pantry and fridge that will satisfy the cravings without blowing my plan.
Like, for crunchy and sweet I can have caramel rice cakes. Or for salty I can have peanuts. So those are what I keep in my cabinet. Yes, eating an entire bag of caramel rice cakes isn’t exactly a good thing, but heck, it’s better than eating an entire bag of Oreos!