If talk about PMS or hormones make you squeamish, you might want to skip this post because I’m about to lay it all out.
I have really bad PMS.
And I don’t think there are many women out there that talk about it. When I talk about PMS or period woes in general other women seem to give me a look that says “yeah? what’s new?” or a look that seems to say “deal with it” or “I can’t believe you’re complaining about PMS”. Looks aside, I want to know that I’m not alone, so I write this here because sometimes when a doctor asks me why I have trouble with eating, I want to ask them…is there anything you can do about PMS?
And while I take full responsibilty for my actions. Food doesn’t just go from hand to mouth on it’s own- I find the forces of nature to be a huge struggle for me when it comes to weight loss.
Here’s what I mean…
You know that in the past two weeks I lost 10 pounds? I’ve documented my food on myfitnesspal.com and my thoughts here. For the past two weeks I’ve been indifferent to food. I took out the triggers and was seeing real results from it. I was going about my day working away at my desk and I would think “oh! I’m hungry. Time to eat…” and that was that. And then I’d go on without any obsessive thoughts about food.
And while taking out the triggers has helped (a lot) I can’t help but think that starting this new plan during and right after my period made it that much easier. I was not battling hormones.
Here we are two weeks before my next period and I’m dealing with a strong desire to overeat. Part of me thinks “see this is what happens when you cut out delicious simple carbs! they come back and haunt you!” but I’m not and I wasn’t deprived. I eat what I want and what is delicious to me.
But this week, I want to eat everything in site. I’m bloated. I have feelings of hopelessness. I’m struggling with focus. I’m in the part of the cycle where it wouldn’t be just a taste of anything. One donut, or one slice of pizza would not satisfy me. It would need to be all or nothing.
And this is why losing weight is a struggle. For two weeks of the month, I could care less about food. I drop weight. 10 pounds is easy. And then hormone week stomps right on in. I’m retaining water. Before I know it I’m back up four pounds. And then I eat. And I’m back up another four pounds. And then I get sad and frustrated because yet again…I’ve lost and gained the same ten pounds– so then I eat. A day later I’m back right where I started. And this my friends, is my struggle. And I’ve never shared this portion of my issues.
For fear of advice, that “well, if you just did this…” or “if you weren’t doing that” or the “you’re doing it all wrong!” .
What I’ve decided to do is share. And that is right. I’ve also decided on an action plan. A two week action plan to get me through until I’m back to feeling normal about food.
It involves exercise, protein, fresh fruit and vegetables, plenty of sleep, journaling (lots of writing!), meditation and checking in with myself daily. I won’t let these two weeks derail my process. So what if I’m dealing with a little water bloat? It will go away and I will continue losing weight.
What I won’t do is bake, sneak around, or eat trigger foods. That’s the cycle.
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