How do you handle TOM?
 

I am sure this has been asked before but I wanted updated information :carrot:

How do you ladies handle "time of the month"?

I am starving today and I know its only because aunt flo is due any day now.... So what do you do when your starving even though you have eaten right for the day? I have about 100 calories left in my day so I am thinking a banana sounds really good right now but I am so hungry I could eat a horse!

To help stay on plan I make sure I plan. I try not to slack with the meal planning, snacks and water for this time. I'm way more likely to go off plan if I allow myself to get too hungry.

Some people are different with cravings. I have been planning a treat here and there while staying within calories but some people can't do that because it triggers binge feelings.

I would go with the banana and maybe a tablespoon of peanut butter. I think its a good idea to give yourself a few extra calories during TOM/PMS. One month I was so hungry, I gave myself the okay to have goal weight, maintenance level calories. It averaged out to 2500 calories for the day. I wouldn't go to that extent, if I were you, because you are so early in the journey, but just to give you an idea of what it is I did. Your body prepares to burn more calories during this time. Its okay to give yourself a break, but not too big of a break. :)

I have really been struggling this month more than any other month. I think it's a combination of TOM and self-sabotage that comes with getting closer to my goal weight (messed up, I know and am trying to fix it). The point is, I hate the struggle...that desperate "hunger" to stuff myself with food at the end of the day. I just found something that is helping me though! Tonight, I did a workout dvd! It really eliminated my urges and compulsions. I don't know how long this will help, but it's worth a try! :) I should mention that I already did 30 minutes of intense cardio this morning, but this dvd (30 day shred) helped me release my tension without the assistance of food. :D

I guess I'm one of those women who feel more motivated to eat healthy during my TOM...Yes, I do get a few cravings, but sugar free pop tends to keep those at bay and making sure I get a multi with all of my mineral and vitamin requirements.

I have to be especially careful during PMS/TOM because I have absolutely insane hunger and cravings. I feel like a starved, rabid, caged animal. Birth control helps to some degree, bringing the craving down (slightly less starved, and no longer rabid).

I don't believe that I could have lost the weight without birth control. My hormonal TOM hunger is just too insane. All I can think about is food 24/7 (it even invades my dreams).

My two worst cravings during TOM are beef and chocolate (and both ideally very fatty). I do indulge my beef and chocolate cravings, but I've found low-calorie, low-fat ways to do it.

I follow an exchange plan, and I do give myself a few more protein and fat exchanges (about 250 calories), but I'm extra strict about carrying my food journal around with me during that time. I try to eat more vegetables. Lower-carb dieting helps me control hunger which is why I choose protein and fat as my extra exchanges and not fruit or starches. I do include fruit and starch exchanges in my diet, but they're more limited than protein, fat, and low-carb dairy. I don't really limit non-starchy vegetables (or to put it more accurately I have a limit of 10 servings, or 250 calories per day, so many that I rarely have to worry about exceeding).

I didn't this month! I had a bout of late night munchies last night, and was a little upset and confused. I was under my calories until I hit 10pm. Monday, I was short-tempered, and yesterday I was exhausted all day, and it was difficult to walk/jog. I started today.

I didn't think I had any "pre" symptoms (Maybe my family might have a different opinion on that). I usually get cramps, backaches, and nausea, but that usually starts about 3 hours after I do (like now) and lasts for an entire 24 hours. I will definitely be on the lookout for it from now on. Honestly, I guess I never paid that much attention to it, because I was always overeating anyway.

I try to just see it rationally, as in that I know why I crave more and why I'm hungrier (and more tired) than normal. Then I tend to ignore it. I personally am quite comfortable with being hungry, so that works for me.
I love hot drinks to take the edge off the hunger, like a nice cup of herbal tea :)

I've been very lucky, this is the first month ever( I'm 42), getting extra hungry during TOM. I got it 2 days ago & I am constantly feeling hunger pain, even after I eat and am full. An hour later I'm starving. I don't know what to do without going over my calories, I'm lost. A little something to eat doesn't help, it has to be alot to fill me up. I ate 2 yogurts w/ lunch today, instead of one. That seemed to help for a while. Now I know to plan for this, just in case it happens next month.

I avoid my TOM like the plauge haha well my contraceptive pill takes my TOM away so i dont get the physical effect but i do get milder mood swings and cravings.

Tho they are not as strong i do get days where i could eat a horse, if i feel indulgant i try to eat healty things like pickled onions , cockles , or i make myself chilli dip, to snack on

But if im having a raving mad day where i need chocolate then i just have it and move on lol

I am craving cold stone ice cream! I am thinking I will just go have a small size (cake batter) and hopefully that will take the craving away but other than the craving I am just pure hungry all day for the last 2 days! UGGHHHHH I did ignore it yesterday and had just my banana and went to bed. At this moment I am trying to think of what I can eat for dinner that will allow me to eat large quantities and take a while to eat...lol

I get absolutely famished right before TOM and the first day or two of it. I try to fill up with high protein, high fiber foods that are low calorie, like chicken breast on a high fiber tortilla with salsa. If I need chocolate, I try to skim back my other meals a little to make room for some chocolate. I almost always drop a pound or two during TOM. I never gain the water weight, oddly enough.

Ugh, I'm struggling with the same thing right now! How'd I deal tonight? I ate a nice serving of ice cream... And then a second. I'm leaning that I might be better not letting in during TOM except for a bit of chocolate as this is really the only time I crave that. Your post has very good timing, everyone has such good advice :)

I couldn't figure out why I was so hungry last week but I'm on Day 2 of TOM so it all makes sense now. I don't really handle it any differently. Just because I'm about to bleed doesn't mean I get to let myself go (any more than usual, heh). TOM happens every month, not once in a decade. But I also am blessed with extremely mild symptoms - very little pain, mood changes, etc.

I get mad mood swings and hunger but none of the pain most of the time. Maybe 2x per year I might get cramps but other than that nada which I am thankful for. Plus my TOM rarely last more than 2-3 days.... Its the intense starving sensation I get the few days before that is my killer!

Love this thread because TOM is a big challenge for me. I get CRAZY hungry for two to three days before it arrives. Hot drinks during the day help (coffee for me) and an afternoon nap of thirty minutes or so after the kids get home from school has been a life saver. I tend to lose my dieting resolve then. I wake up far more in control. Another tool I've been successful at using during my crazy hungry TOM attack is also just getting AWAY from the kitchen/food source. I like to go shopping (lol)! Head down to the mall and try on clothes! It's only once a month. You don't have to buy anything, but it'll get you out of your head and remind you how far you've come. That always lifts my mood and gets me away from danger.

I'm starting to have issues with TOM and it's not fun. I used to have normal flow and be totally regular every 34 days I had a 5 day cycle. I knew when that food craving was coming. Now I'm starting 26 days from the first day of the previous month and I'm flowing almost 7 days. The difference is my eating. We've been really tight with money and haven't budgeted food right. I've been known to eat not enough or no protein and some days go without food all together. I really think that's what is messing me up. I've gone from a good strict caloric intake to all over the map. I'm hoping to get things together again and see if things go back to how they were. I think my body is taking revenge on my up and down eating patterns. It's been an emotional time too.

That said. Before all this change, I didn't vary or eat what I normally wouldn't (up until a week or two ago it had been a year since I'd really, really eaten chocolate). I would allow myself one Reese's but no more. I got through and was prouder for doing it.