I find that every time I start my period I get the urge to just eat everything in sight. Especially bread type things. Any one else? Anything to help control the cravings?

Me too. Big time. Not just bread things but mostly. TOM is the hardest time to not just eat everything in the whole house. I honestly don't have a solution... though I try really hard to keep busy/distracted as much as I can. It doesn't always work though Ugh

I deal with similar cravings but for chocolate or anything salty. It's always a trying time for me, but I think the more I discipline my brain the better. I do make sure not to deprieve myself too!

Me too! Though I'm mostly similar to Pink Hurricane, because it's primarily a craving for chocolate and/or salty things (snickers anyone? haha) I find that if I eat some lightly salted nuts w/ a square of dove dark chocolate it does the trick without busting my calorie limit. But for those times when I feel like I'm just starving and need to eat everything in sight... well I still haven't figured out how to deal with that completely, but like Silverfire said, the only thing I know to do is to keep busy!

what really helps me is to get an email notification warning me that my period will arrive in a week. Then, i remind myself every day that I'm going crazy about food because of the hormones, and that stops me. The mental explanation really helps, instead of going, 'why oh why am I craving food so much.'

I think eating a little more during this time might help a lot. TOM is a huge bodily process that requires energy - food energy. If you ignore your body's demand for this extra fuel, you will have strong cravings for high fat, high sugar foods because they are fast and dense in what your body needs. If you're really hungry for it, you won't gain weight if you eat it, because your body needs to use it for a purpose.

I think that's one reason a lot of women who diet have trouble around TOM (I'd wager that another is that the influence of hormones on the animal brain make us more prone to just give in). It's one thing to try and function at a calorie deficit fighting against your normal everyday metabolic functions, but TOM kicks it into higher gear; especially if it's right after ovulation and your body thinks you might be getting pregnant this month. Prep, I'd assume.

happens to me every month too but in the days before TOM. When it finally arrives I get some relief.

I'm back on low carb, and I'll let myself eat more. I mean, really...binge on chicken? Not so much. Whipping cream, sf jello, and I'm over it.

I have this problem too, I started doing a 3 day detox smoothie cleanse I saw on Dr. Oz the week before my TOM and it really helps with the cravings. I also make sure that week of my TOM I am in healthy food snack mode. I eat about 7-9 small meals all about 125-150 cal each and a small lite dinner about 300 cals, and it totally helps because that time of the month I'm in glutton mode, so having a lot of healthy food on hand I can make sure I'm feeding my need to eat while eating food that keeps in my daily calorie limit.
The detox smoothies also help with any cramping and water weight you might get.
you can find the detox cleanse on the Dr.Oz site I would post the link but I don't have enough post to add a link yet.

I ALWAYS end up craving chocolate and carbs... which is bad because my lifestyle is based off of low-carbs. Its very hard to stick with it when my body is urging me to eat everything I own...

I'm currently having hormonal cravings for pizza. A few days every month, I have a serious NEED for pizza. Unfortunately, I can't keep it to just a slice or two, so I need to avoid it at all costs right now.

Story of my life, in fact right now. I've been actually trying. I got cookies to help,, because I was craving chocolate, but I also try to make sure I get my water intake, plenty of veggies, and look foward to that relief once it's gone.