[tea2]

I have read a few posts here and there where people seem to have figured out that their cravings are more hormonal than emotional or anything else. I'm wondering the same about myself. I have a very short cycle, so there are only a couple of weeks or a week and a half in a month where I don't obsess too much about food or feel cravings and then the week before TOM the cravings are crazy. Today I am a bit hungry, but I don't want anything bad, so the day my period arrives is actually a relief! Yesterday I would have KILLED for cheezies. I don't think I should be on bc because I am 45.

I'd like to hear how you figured it out and how you deal with it.

[bellona]

I know when I get those hormonal cravings, I try to eat a little more healthy food. I allow myself to eat a whole egg or some real butter, or a slightly bigger than usual helping of whole wheat pasta. Or a piece of homemade bread, or something snackable like blueberries or grapes. I figure it's better than binging on chips/chocolate/pizza. I hope that helps some, hormonal cravings are the worst!

[jendiet]

oh yes! blame it on the hormones. I have no trouble staying with bounds until after I ovulate, then it's like the hunger monster crawls down into my tummy and drives my brain and hands. I open more cabinets then i do exercise reps. (Thank God i've been closing them just as fast lately)

The best thing to to do is allow your body the fat it needs to make the hormones and get it in the form of good fat. Stay away from your trigger foods, it is SOOO much harder to stop when hormones are raging. I stuck my hand in a bag of chips during my PMSing...and I knew this time i wouldn't stop at just 2 chips. SO i grabbed 5 rolled up the bag and tossed it back WAYYYY in the back of the cabinet and shut the door.

[mariamherrera]

ugh I was dealing wit hthis alll last week and this week too... the week before and the week during I'm ravenous! and it's not bored hunger it's a genuine feeling of hunger.. and I just can't seem to get full! well I'm sure I could but I wont allow myself to keep eating until I get there.. I have heard that we burn more calories when we are ovulating and when were menstruating because of all the activity going on in our bodies.. I don't know if there is any truth to this but it seems like it could be.. anyways I do allow myself and extra 100-200 calories when I'm feeling this way I just think it's cruel not too. but I try and make them healthy calories versus empty calories I'm not always successful at that but I try..lol

[FreeSpirit]

I'm like the other girls. Something really fatty (the good kind) but still healthy. Usually a plate of tofu scramble with tons of veggies, half an avocado and a slice of thick whole wheat toast with a glass of soy milk does the trick. Full of healthy fats and protein and keeps me full for a lonnnnng time.

[kaplods]

Talk to your doctor about bc and other hormone therapies for hormonal hunger.

I'm 44, and still on bc, and don't have any immediate plans to quit. Hubby calls me "werewolf," because of the mood swings and meat cravings of my pmdd (pmdd is essentialy insanely severe pms, makes "normal" pms seem like a walk in the park). Birth control prevents me from "going wolfy." Menopause may do the same thing, but I am not willing to go back to the hormonal insanity.

[thepapillon]

I think I'm the total opposite. If it's hormonal cravings I allow myself candy if I want it. For instance, if I'm craving chocolate... eating grapes is not going to stop that craving (for me). I will eat a York Peppermint Patty or a small baggie of Pretzel M&Ms. There are about 140-150 calories in each.

I'm sure it would be better to eat something healthy... but in my own experience, if you deny yourself what you crave you end up eating even more trying to stop the cravings.

:::shrugs:::