My PMS: Overcoming Cravings, Cramps and Fatigue (PT 1)

I eat clean more than 2 and a half weeks a month. Low salt and sugar, high fiber, home cooked meals and I fast intermittently. Add that to me working out 6 hours a week or more and I’m your perfect fitness role model.

Enter PMS. I’ve noticed -only too recently- that 3 weeks after getting my period, or about 7-10 days before my next period, my body starts to feel off-kilter and will abhorrently reject the Kale I’ve been kind enough to give it for the past few weeks. Ordering wings for lunch with my coworkers becomes increasingly more appealing than the baked chicken and brown rice with salad I had for lunch the past 2 days.

And once I give in to that temptation, BOOM, it’s down the rabbit hole from there. I want MORE MORE and MORE!! I want chocolate, cake, cereal, cookies! COOKIES (in my cookie monster voice)! Nyam nyam nyam. I’m a bottomless pit! And the fatigue!!! I'm tired all-the-time!

Carbs have grown to be my most severe craving! Last month, 5 days before my period, I’m ashamed to say I ate exactly 1 6-inch Turkey hero ever-single-day! Those sandwiches from were orgasmic. I TRIED to plan in advance: since I normally crave sugar before my period, I thought I would get ahead of my cravings by buying a bunch of fruits like grapes, strawberries, and cherries. The fruits helped a bit but they eventually rotted away in my refrigerator never to be heard from again.

My gluten tolerance is low so eating like that made me really foggy brained. But somehow it was still so satisfying. I wanted more like a drug addict. Getting my fix also got me a few extra pounds. I felt so bloated and awful!

I’ve spoken to my gynecologist and my GI docs in the past about these extreme cravings. Their responses were always vague and generic. “Many women experience your symptoms” they said, and, “you just have to workout harder.” I asked if there were perhaps nutrients I was lacking or was it hormonal and if so is there anything I can do to balance out my hormones if fluctuations had anything to do with my mood. Both doctors say that working out is one of the best ways to boost my mood and stave off fatigue and other pms symptoms. Well listen, it hasn’t been enough doc. For every problem, I know there’s a solution. So, I starts my search for answers.