How to curb your pre-menstrual cravings!
Picture the scene. You’ve taken some giant leaps towards living a healthier lifestyle. You’re feeling in control around food and have managed to fit in some pretty impressive sessions at the gym.
It feels good, right?! You’ve finally cracked it!
But suddenly, you feel different. The sugary, fatty or salty snacks are calling you from the kitchen and you’re not sure what happened.
Until your period arrives. And it all gets much clearer.
Does this sound familiar? I know for sure I’ve experienced this and I have many clients who’ve felt the same way too.
The good news is there is a good reason for these cravings! And there are lots of things you can do to help curb them and keep moving towards your goals. Let me explain and give you my 8 tips to curb these cravings every month.
Why do these cravings happen?
The cravings you are experiencing are very real and are caused by several things going on in your body.
Cortisol & Serotonin
Right before your period, you experience a spike in cortisol (otherwise known as the stress hormone) along with a dip in serotonin (the feel-good hormone). It can be a harsh double-whammy of hormones.
The combination will see you craving high sugar foods, carbs
Magnesium
We have an increased need for magnesium on the lead up to our periods. And one of the foods that
Salty foods
Hormonal changes in your body put the adrenal glands to work. The adrenal glands use minerals to function and mineral deficiency can lead you to
Which makes that family-size bag of crisps feel completely irresistible…
There’s no need to completely ignore these cravings – while crisps are perhaps not the best choice, there ARE lots of other options! It’s always worth remembering too that too much salt can lead to more water retention and bloating around this time.
8 Tips to Curb Your Pre-Menstrual Symptoms and Cravings
All these hormones and mineral fluctuations don’t HAVE to leave you feeling rubbish and sabotaging your goals. You CAN make a huge difference with a few simple changes.
1.Smart Carbs
The sugar and carb cravings are a real symptom of our hormone fluctuations. But we CAN get smart about this and alleviate these symptoms by choosing slow-release carbs instead of simple, highly processed carbs.
This means we don’t experience the sugar and hormone dip that we would experience after eating the simple carbs.
Some great options would be a baked potato, some oats or a wild rice salad.
- Magnesium
We talked about chocolate earlier – and a great alternative here is to use pure Cacao powder, to give you the magnesium hit your body needs. You can make date balls from it, add it to smoothies or make banana chocolate ice cream with it.
Other great sources of magnesium are dark chocolate, oats, green veggies, nuts
- Salty Cravings
No need to completely ignore these cravings – but as I said before, having too much salt can lead to more water retention and bloating (which is the last thing you need around your period!).
Options that might be a little better than crisps are edamame or kale chips with
- Eat Balanced Meals (and don’t skip them!)
Don’t skip meals to make up for snacking. It just gets you into that vicious circle of eating less nutritious food (and then beating ourselves up for it!).
Instead, start with breakfast and make sure you get adequate protein (about a palm-size portion at every meal). This will ensure you stay satiated until your next meal and less likely to experience cravings.
- Eat More Whole Foods
The more processed food you eat throughout the month, the more susceptible you will be to these cravings. Try to slowly reduce your intake of processed foods and swap with more whole, minimally- processed foods.
- Shape Your Own Path
When you know your period is due, it’s WAY easier to stay on track if you’re prepared for the cravings ahead of time!
It’s probably not the best idea to have a fridge full of chocolate and a cupboard full of crisps left over from last week’s barbecue.
If you know these are your ‘red light foods’ then get rid of them or give them away. At the very least, put them somewhere unreachable and make sure you have lots of appealing healthier snacks (that you really like) at hand.
- Move
None of us always feels like exercising – but you’ll feel better
- Be Kind to Yourself
Above all else – please remember to show yourself some self-compassion. Go for a walk. Talk on the phone with your best friend, take some time out to meditate or get your nails done.
And if you do indulge? Don’t beat yourself up about it. Try to enjoy it and look for the next opportunity to make a decision in support of your goals.
If any of today’s blog resonates with you – do click here to join our (free) Facebook group. It’s a community of over a thousand women like us, on this journey together.
And determined to beat the vicious dieting cycle, once and for all!
Until next time
Fran x