Whenever I get my period I over eat... A lot! It's mostly chocolate. I just can't control my cravings. My mom makes it even worse, too. Whenever she's getting her period, she always buys huge bags of potato chips, large bags of candy, and pints of ice cream. Having all that stuff in the house isn't very helpful. I once had to lock myself in my room with nothing more than a mini bag of carrots and a water bottle for a whole day. I don't support diet where you starve yourself, and when Aunt Flow is visiting, it's good to replace the nutrients your body's letting out. I tried talking to my mom, but she still gets huge amounts junk food.

I would buy her one of those big blue rubbermaid totes and ask her to store her junk in there .

Just make sure you stock up on lots of stuff that you CAN have.. like 100 calorie bags of popcorn (you can mix a few M & M's in to give you a sweet fix), Fudgesicles/sugar free Popsicles, fruit already cut up and ready to eat, etc. If you know when to expect it, you can be prepared.

That is rough stuff! The only thing I can suggest is better pre-planning. If your mom insists on buying those fattening foods, make a plan to have good foods on hand that you can eat instead. The carrots and water in your room is one version of that, but you need MORE, obviously!

Stock up on things like:

- healthy snack bars without too much sugar or carbs
- 100 cal snack packs
- some deli meats and tuna
- things that aren't too salty but still satisfy salt cravings--like Triscuits.
- breakfast foods that are filling but not sugary, like Fiber One
- lowfat dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt.
- vegetables! There are frozen ones these days that you just microwave and serve in the package.

These are things you can have on hand before your TOM starts, so that you have some good foods to turn to without doing a lot of damage.

For chocolate cravings, I buy a bag of Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips in the baking goods aisle and divide it up into serving-size portions--e.g., 16 chips. You can stir 1 portion into a small serving of yogurt to add some excitement.

Helps to plan ahead... And I know you're going to get a lot more replies!

Jay

Counterattack... I like it.