Hello Ladies!
Every month it’s the same story for me. I am exercising 6 days a week for a couple weeks and then comes that dreaded PMS. I start to crave those tasty foods, my appetite increases to the point that I could potentially be a bottomless pit, and the worst part I feel exhausted!

I tend to work out after I get off work for the day, usually around 6-7pm, usually at this time I am still feeling wide awake and energized but around my TOM all I want to do is come home and sit on my ***. On top of it, when I get on the scale in the morning (I weigh everyday simply because it keeps me motivated) and it shows a 2-3lb gain I feel like it’s all for nothing. Even though I know in my mind its completely normal to bloat and retain water around the TOM.

So I was wondering how you ladies keep yourself going?

TOM is a different story altogether. Some people get it worse than others, of course, but a good general rule is making sure you're creating a full feeling throughout the day with plenty of fiber and lots of protein. You can also trust that if you do exercise, even just a little bit, then you'll feel a little better.

If it's not TOM and I'm just having an exhausted day, then I let myself have an exhausted day. I'll eat a couple hundred calories more- maybe two- and test my ability to exercise by trying ten minutes. If I'm still fatigued after 10 minutes, then pushing it is not going to help me. Most of the time, if I'm feeling that way, it's either because I worked too hard or ate too little.

After you're on plan for a while, you get used to the TOM gain. It always comes off, as long as you stay on plan. This chart is from my last weight loss- you can imagine how frustrating it is to have all those spikes upward or the weeks where it stayed around the same weight. However, as time went on, I recognized that a single day's gain meant absolutely nothing in the scheme of things, and I continued to lose as always.

When I'm tired, I just think of all those clothes I want to fit in and suddenly I'm motivated.

I try on anything that used to fit me just fine or that I bought in a smaller size, then I look in the mirror. Kind of sick, I know. That motivates me enough LOL

I tell myself that I've gotta do it now, or I've gotta do it later, and I might as well do it now and get it over with. I accept my plan as having the inevitability of the heat death of the universe; if I overeat now, I'll have to eat less later. If I don't go exercise now, I'll have to do it at night. Accepting it as inevitable helps.

So do hundred calorie Klondike bars.

I have the same problem with being tired. But I'm trying to convince myself that tired doesn't equal hungry. If I'm tired SLEEP!

I also find that pms eating has no power over me once I realize it is pms.

Since losing weight my PMS has gotten better but the actual TOM has gotten a lot worse. I don't force myself to exercise if I'm feeling extra tired. If I try to use energy that I just don't have I'm more likely to get grumpy, feel sorry for myself and end up binging even if I'm not feeling hungry. Exercise is just a bonus to me so during that time of month I try to ease back a little and just make sure I stick to eating right.

And I'm the same as CherryPie, I know why I might be feeling more hungry so it's easier to just ignore it till it passes or find something to get my mind off it.

Have you had your iron levels checked? Exhaustion is different than being tired. If you are tired or really tired extra sleep will help. If it doesn't help it's time to see a doctor and get your iron levels checked. I am going to follow my own advice, because I have felt this way for the past couple months at my TOM. I also noticed under my fingernails are pale. Which I've have been told by a doctor could be a sign of anemia. Here are more signs http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/u...nemia-symptoms

Funny, there are times when I am exhausted and I think it's because I exercised too much or didn't eat enough. Then when I feel better it dawns on me that I was actually sick.

I'm a single mom who works full time so I completely understand being exhausted and not wanting to go to the gym. Unfortunately you probably will always be "too tired" to go. I go to the gym after work and I have set days of the week where I make myself go. I know that once I get to the gym and start working out I will feel better. The more I go to the gym the more I want to go. I feel as though every time I go to the gym I am one step closer to my goal and, if I don't go, I am that farther from my goal. I now look forward in going to the gym.

I hope that helps.

NMK

I rely on active transportation - I bike to work and I bike home. Done and done - everything else is gravy. (Mmmm gravy).

My TOM coping skills when trying to lose weight are simple: I give myself a break. I lighten up my exercise to just walking if I don't feel up to do more, and don't give myself a hard time about it if walking is all I do. I drink tons of hot tea to curb my appetite. Also, I never, ever weigh myself during it, even though I know it's just water weight. I figure that if there are a few days each month I should give my body and mind to rest, those are the days to do it.

Since I started menstruating 26 years ago, I've always had a helluva time with TOM. Heavy bleeding, bad cramps, awful PMS, you name it. The only thing that's helped to lessen my overall symptoms has been running. My period is now 4 days instead of 7, bleeding is "normal", PMS is manageable, cramps are minimal. I only miss one day of working out now instead of a whole week. Who knew that running a few miles three times a week would make me not dread TOM?!?

I'm in perimenopause, and for the last few months have been getting more and more exhausted. Some days I get up in the morning and am ready for a nap in a couple hours. Even when I started eating better and losing weight the energy did not return.

What I've found that helped me immensely is to take a B-50 Complex supplement. It perked up my energy and made me feel happier, even after the first pill. Best vitamin I've ever taken. I've been taking them for a few weeks now, and the energy is still up.

I put my workout clothes out the night before so everything is super easy and I tell myself that I'll just go to the gym (or whatever I'm doing like hiking, etc.) and just do 10 minutes. That's a lie, of course because I always end up doing much, much more. I start off very slow and then the music gets me going. Or, if I'm hiking, I just go as far as I can and then I have to get back somehow, so that forces me to do more. You may need to have a comprehensive blood analysis to check that all is fine and you're not deficient in anything. Just a thought.