Friday, 15 May 2015

Weight Loss + PMT = Impossible?


Why can't I seem to lose weight when I have PMT?

One of the only times I’m not keen on being a woman is when ‘Aunt Flo’ is in town. However, it’s not due to the stomach aches or general cravings – it’s mostly due to the fact I feel bloated and no matter how healthy I’ve eaten or what exercise I’ve done, if I step on the scales 3-4 days before my period, I may as well have eaten 20 muffins and a few tubs of ice-cream.

Why do I always seem to put on weight before my period? It’s like an eternal curse and I also find it really de-motivating.


I honestly do sometimes want to go and stuff my face with junk food as I think ‘What would it matter? It’s not like I can lose weight at the moment, anyway’…

However, obviously that’s not the right attitude to have, and apparently there are loads of reasons why us ‘lucky’ ladies put on weight (0.5 lbs to 8 lbs). Namely:

1.Progesterone Hormone – Each cell of our body retains an extra microscopic drop of water (Hurrah!)
2.Magnesium levels in the body - These typically go down in the days before our menstrual period starts. As they drop, insulin levels rise resulting in the need for more sugar - so we actually do crave more chocolate / sweet stuff and as we all know ‘a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’
3.We bloat – It’s so attractive, isn’t it? We can bloat due to increased gas in our intestine, constipation, or the fact we feel just so crappy, we decide to watch TV on the sofa, rather than hit the gym..

Doesn’t really help the old motivation though, I have to say… I daren’t go anywhere near the scales which really frustrates me as I really want to know if I’m doing well or not.  Equally, I feel crap and icky and when I feel crap – I reach for the comfort food as I am an emotional eater.

Apart from stress, my period is certainly the other time I find it hard to eat healthily.

So, what can I do to try and stay motivated?

1.Meal plan – Tonight I’m looking forward to finding out what lovely vegetables I’ve got in my vegetable box and cooking them with a Quorn pesto escalope

2.Don’t have any chocolate in the house – Nope, none whatsoever (First time for everything!)

3.Give me some ‘me time’ – I’m going to have a nice bath tonight, paint my toenails and watch TV, wearing my Cow onesie.

4.NOT STEP ON THE SCALES FOR AT LEAST 4 DAYS – I’m going to try and stay away from the scales until at least Tuesday morning – I know I said a month, but I’m so impatient! Either way, there’s no point in stepping on them at the moment as I don’t think I’d like the result.

5.Drink more water – Apparently this can help the bloating (Weird huh? It’s like ‘Hey you’re bloated so DRINK MORE WATER’, but may as well give it a try)

I guess I'll report back in a few days as to whether or not this works, but I'd like to think it will - I've never really thought about my periods and how it affects my thinking about weight loss. Maybe by approaching it in a more thoughtful manner, I'll be able to stay on track and stay motivated!

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