Literally.

Who else feels like a swollen, walking ball of lard during their lady days? I feel I have a great month until a couple of days before. Then I seem to have no self restraint, eating everything in sight. And the water weight is so deceptive because you feel so much heavier...GUH. It's so difficult to stay motivated when every once a month you feel like an elephant.

I hear ya! I went from 191 to 199! Say WHHHAAATT!?! Yup. I'm thinking it's a combination of "that time" and also I've eaten quite a few salty thinngs in the past couple of days, I retain water like crazy. Hopefully, it'll all go away soon, seeing a gain like that really makes me want to go chocolate crazy or eat a pile of burritos....Just remember, this too shall pass!

I really don't seem to get much hormonal bloating since I started dieting, for some reason. Of course, my hormones are still going a bit crazy from the weight loss, and with PMDD that is Not Fun. Normally they're kind enough not to give me menstrual migraine as well as nasty premenstrual anxiety in the same cycle, but last cycle was extra special. I do still get a bit of breast swelling and tenderness, and slight munchies now and again. When I get random weight stalls, I seem to be the only woman here (of the ones who are menstruating) where they are entirely unrelated to my periods. Now before I started dieting, oh yes, then I definitely got a fair bit of bloating around my period.

Can I just say how nice it is to have someone else say "period"? "TOM" always seems weird to me, especially since I had a really creepy neighbour called Tom.

I understand completely! During that time my stomach sticks out and giggles around even more then normal. I wish I could avoid going into public all together during that time.

Yup, I'm with ya too! I don't get really bad cramps or other symptoms, and never really have.. but oh the water weight gain! I have ligature marks from wearing socks when I have my period, for crying out loud! lol

I am just finishing mine, and in the past week have managed to eke out a 1 pound loss (just as my period was ending) so I'm hoping that now that it's over with I'll make better progress (for 3 weeks or so...).

Just scarfed down half a cup of m&m peanut butter things. No self restraint during my period. I'll punish myself with unforgiving exercise! You want to put energy into your body? Great, now- work it off!!!!!

Why can't I have a crazy fast metabolism like some people who can eat like pigs and not gain a pound? *sobs*

Story of my life! And it is ALWAYS before a big weigh in for me. That makes me feel depressed enough to want to binge out and not exercise. Blah.

I totally hear you! I’m on mine now, and I’ve been staring at my stomach for the past couple days wondering how it’s possible that it got so much bigger and my pants got tighter.

I also just made brownies for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow (low-cal brownies, thank goodness) and ended up eating 2 of them before leaving the kitchen and coming onto 3fc so I wouldn’t eat any more. Thank goodness I saved calories for them, knowing I might succumb to their deliciousness. Anything snacky/chocolatey is just dangerous at this time of the month!

*Raises hand.* I suffer terribly during my lady days -- cramps, bloating, fatigue, bowel issues, mood swings. I am finding that exercise helps some, so this is the first month I haven't been a crazy person during my time. It should end tomorrow, so hopefully I'll lose a little more steadily. I've been gaining and losing the same couple of pounds since Flo came to town.

Hmm....

Heart burn, raging bloat (like painful, feel like I'm about to pop bloat), constipation, puffy face, puffy fingers, tight pants, sluggish, cranky.

And of course, all I want to eat is french fries and chocolate bars. Lots of 'em.

Ugh! I hear you on this one. I get bloated, cranky and I seriously want to just GRAZE! I want to eat everything all day long and it's still not enough. Drives me out of my mind!

I never thought I'd be saying this but I actually feel pretty attractive during my period, especially since switching to a Lunette cup. I think a lot of it is psychological; I'm not constantly changing gross pads/tampons and so I think less about my period. My cycle is very predictable so I know which days I need to wake up and take some Tylenol. I try to get 4L of water in to combat bloating.

The worse I feel during my period, the more motivated I am to drink water/squeeze in a workout to make the pain go away. I like to try to challenge myself to be skinnier during my period than before it, despite my body trying to mess with me. Every month is becomes a (somewhat uncomfortable) competition against myself.

I get bloated like a baloon and my cravings go out of the window! I started today and last night I wanted to munch everything in sight haha..

Cups are great things, for those who can use them at least. I miss being able to use mine. When I was using it, I definitely felt better about my period than before, although part of that was the physical aspects and part of it was the whole empowerment thing that a lot of women get when they start using cups.

Isn't 4l of water a dangerous amount? Look up water intoxication. There's this myth that people should drink a crazy amount of water while dieting, and while it's true that many people out there aren't drinking enough water, drinking too much isn't a good idea either.

For the past few months I was feeling crazy with the cravings, hormonal swings and weight gain. I noticed that this month (after switching to south beach diet from calorie counting and eating a diet made up of LOTS of carbs) that I didn't have any of the cravings usually associated with the onset of TOM. I also think my hormones were more in balance thoughI'll have to ask DH to be sure :-). I really have been feeling GREAT since eliminating certain foods from my diet. Who knew?
My cravings were so under control that I actually looked at the calendar and had an "OMG I hope I'm not..." Moment lol.