Does anyone have periods that REALLY mess up with your weight? Every period for the past ten months of weight loss has been terrible for me. I gain weight every time, and not water weight. Real weight that I have to re-lose. It gets so frustrating to make progress only to a step backwards every month.

Does anyone know a way to offset this? Are there certain types of food that will.. I don't know, speed up my metabolism? I don't know. I drink enough water, so I don't think that's my problem.

The only way you are gaining real weight is if you are eating more than you need. Are you binging/overeating during PMS? You'll need to stop that and continue eating on your plan no matter how bad you want to "cheat" or pig out, (whatever you call a binge fest). Sometimes I think people use PMS/TOM as an excuse to overeat on sugar/carbs. Sure we crave it because of hormones and junk, but we don't have to eat it. We won;t die if we don't give into temptation. KWIM?

My TOM plays havoc on me because I get so hungry....much hungrier than I get during regular weeks.

If I fight the hunger (and mental cravings) then I can get through the TOM with barely a blip. If I give in, well... it's just not pretty.

I agree with Lori Bell.

I never cheat or binge. I stay eating within my calorie range and stay exercising. I have been dieting for almost a year now and have never felt compelled to eat anything I shouldn't.

TOM makes my weight loss journey ****! Its two weeks of the month that I cannot lose weight and I am grateful when I don't gain (but that takes a really strict diet of under 1200). I think the weight is just water though, but yes it feels like it takes a lot of work to get it off, as It does stay with me 2 weeks of hte month.

I do get intense cravings, but I know if i give in my weight flys up. I can gain between 6 and 11 pounds with TOM (no kidding, even the dr asked me to weigh every day to see what was going on)

I have the IUD Mirena, it makes my periods lighter, but I still get them some months, I have lost track of when i'm supposed to get them because of how sporatic they are now. I woke up this morning and was craving random things, that I don't normally and tonight I broke down and had two ribs, (normally i'm not a huge fan of meat), and lo and behold its because Aunt Flow was heading into town. Because i've been tracking calories and actually listening to my bodies hunger cues, i was able to stop what could have been a huge setback in my progress. Crazy how TOM can affect stuff!!!

I have definitely gained during TOM. It's all water weight, I know, as I don't eat differently and I still exercise (unless my cramps are excruciating - which they sometimes are). It's frustrating regardless, though, and I'm sorry it has been an ongoing struggle for you.

At present I've had TOM for 2 full weeks, and over the past couple months my cycle has been only ~20 days. BC of any sort isn't an option, as I'm trying to conceive, but I'm nearing my wits end with the crying, the over-sensitivity, the breakouts, the jumps and stalls on the scale, etc.

For me, TOM my weight loss totally stalls and my weight starts creeping up again. I tend to have a gain of a few pounds that sheds off a day or two after TOM ends. I have gained as much as 8 pounds before. It always looks like I am gaining so I don't actually count my weight as being true until a day or two after so I don't demotivate myself. It's just one of those times you gotta hang on tight!

PMS kills me. The week and a half before my period I want to eat everything in sight and I hold onto water like crazy. Then I have a small woosh a couple days before my period, then I pretty much hold steady until it's gone. While I actually have it, I'm really not that hungry. Once it's gone, it's woosh city for a couple of weeks.