I had done GREAT with my goals for a couple days (I just started this week!) and then I CRAVED horrible food yesterday, and today, and went over my calories both days...

I feel like absolute poop about it, but I am still going to force myself to work out tonight...

Does this happen to anyone else?!

Yes of course! It's the hunger hormones that are released with a vengeance during that TOM

All i can say is get back up on that horse as soon as possible and don't beat yourself up over it. I find that if i'm extra hungry that i give in to that hunger but i make good healthy choices, eat more strawberries or an extra helping of that fish with veggies or HB egg or whatever but i don't starve myself and try to make the choices good ones. i reserve the junk eating for one day a week only and that works for ME

I knew plenty of hormones were released but I had no idea hunger ones were too! Thanks for that! I feel a little better now.

Fortunately both days I only went over a little (I think somewhere like 200 or 300 calories, compared to my old diet, not bad at all) and I don't even factor in the calories I burn at work to those (I bartend/serve so I walk and move around a LOT at work, I go off my resting BMR for my calories) so maybe it evened out with all the work I did at work! hah!

Goodness gracious. This is my thread right here!

My PMS food cravings are HORRIBLE. I mean - HORRIBLE. My PMS in general is very, very severe. I sometimes eat up to probably 3000 cal. a day - for days! This month my cravings lasted for 11 days. After that, I had 5 days of healthy eating and exercising and now for these past 3 days I've been eating like **** again, even though that probably has something to do with my depression.

It was really, really bad this month, and all the stress I've been going through didn't really help either. I actually signed up for this forum today after eating half a box of Cocoa Pebbles, donuts and cookies...I just can't do it no more.
Does anyone have any tips?

hoopty, the only thing that mildly helped me was eating altoids and using mouth wash whenever I got a craving so that whatever I eat would taste nasty.

ashleyford - Thanks for that tip! I will definitely try it even though I don't think it'll work :/ I thought maybe I should stock up on healthy sweets such as berries and nuts...

OMG do I ever get cravings just before my period, and it's normally for chocolate or fast food. For my chocolate fix, I have bought sugar-free hot chocolate and I have that when the cravings come. The other alternative is to get ahead of the cravings and not buy the foods that tempt you in the shopping. That way you have to physically go out and get it, giving you enough of a chance to tell yourself to stop.

Don't beat yourself up about it. Just think of it as your 'binge day(s) of the month' and keep going. It's OK to binge every once and a while

PMS time is the only time I feel out of control around food!

This is the story of my life. I'm really struggling with bad snacky cravings during TOM and the week prior. Lately I've been giving in (basically because of my lack of planning) and it sucks. I just looked in my trash can at work and I see 4 packs of 100 calorie snacks...and a bag of M&M. Please period, just come already!

I do understand. **HUGS**

ETA: It's also frustrating when you fight the cravings and the crankiness and the mental hunger...only to weigh MORE in the morning! Stupid water retention!!! AAAAAHHHHH! I swear, if anything, TOM will be the death of me. I mean, this is a serious battle of wills. LOL, thanks for allowing me to vent.

OMG, I was just thinking about posting about this very topic. I am having the worst PMS I've ever had in my life. I've caved to the the cravings 4 times this week and had some good old fashioned binges. Ugh. I've gained a boatload of weight from that and bloating, and it's pissing me off. I've never looked forward to my period until this month. I've also been in such a bad mood (which has made it easier to cave to the binging) I've taken to calling this "Rage Week." I HATE PMS cravings. Cause it's not just the added hunger, but the mental compulsion to cram crap in my face, and it's so hard to fight that. I really wish I could have a nice sit down with my body and explain to it that until **** freezes over, we're not having a baby, so it should just quit trying to prepare for one.

But darn it, I'm getting back on this horse no matter how many times it tries to buck me off. Ate great today and did my usual 5 mile run (which I've also been neglecting this past week). A minor bump in the road, and hopefully I can use the annoyance I feel over it to light a fire under me and keep me working for that goal. Cause I know there's going to be bumps for the rest of my life. I'm in this healthy new lifestyle for the long haul.

So, "Oorah," as the Marines say. I will overcome.

Rhiko - The sugar-free hot chocolate is actually a good tip! I go shopping daily so that I can get the freshest foods and when it's that time of the month it's so hard to NOT give in.

Also, I do eat chocolate every once in a while. I would get a chocolate bar or something to satisfy my cravings. But then, when I PMS, I don't just get one chocolate bar, no, it has to be the whole box of my favorite Entenmann's Donuts plus Ben&Jerry's ice cream and I devour everything within a few hours. It's horrible. And I can't stop. The same thing happens the next day and the day after and BOOM - there are the pounds again!

Today I actually weighed in and gained 3.6 lbs from my stupid ... whatever you wanna call it :/ I did get my period a couple of days ago though, so we'll see how much I weigh next Tuesday.

JuvenileNarcissist - LMFAO! I swear, you're reading my mind. I agree with you 100%!

totally feel you on the pms binging thing. It is the worst for me around day 23ish of my cycle when the progesterone levels are highest. I am so irritable it is insane. Can't offer too much advice. I have found that getting in some exercise, even if it's just a brisk walk with the dogs seems to help calm me down. I love running, but sometimes with the pms bloat, the last thing i want to do is run. It would probably help though. I bloat up quite a bit during pms and it is not unusual for me to see a gain of 5 pounds on the scale. I think my record was 7. and sure enough it was gone a couple days later. I know there are recent studies saying pms does not exist, but I don't buy it.

Yep! Anytime that time of the month comes around I seriously feel like I can eat anything and everything in sight - I try to eat healthier options, but sometimes all I want is a candy bar!