the fight on food.

[rivermilk.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone. I have a question about eating certain foods during my period that I hope someone can assist me with.

About a week before my period begins, I get absurdly ferocious cravings for foods that are loaded with salt and sugar, like chocolate and potato chips. Also, sometimes I get intense cravings for meat, like a whopping double-quarter-pounder from McDonalds and this disgusts me when it happens because I loathe McDonalds! (no offense to anyone who eats or works there; it's just a personal preference.) Now, I know these cravings are normal, but after I gorge myself on all this junk food, I feel so gross and bloated. My question is this: does anyone know of any healthier foods I could eat that would satisfy these cravings so I wouldn't have to resort to feeling like a human trash compactor? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

(crossposted to menstrual_lib)

Comments

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

Sadly I don't have lots of advice on this front but I've always heard that cravings for salty foods, etc. can be related to how much water you drink. Might be worth checking into that. If it doesn't help with the cravings at least you'll flush the salt through your system fairly effectively with the extra water consumption. Can you try "healthier" alternatives like pretzels and microwave popcorn instead?

As for meat, if you're not vegetarian why not try making yourself some hamburgers/steak/etc. that are high-quality enough for you to not beat yourself up about? If you are vegetarian the craving might well be for something with iron/protein in it, so try alternatives that have those instead.

[rivermilk.livejournal.com]

It's funny that you mention the water, because I have been drinking a lot of it lately to flush out my system. Also, I've just been incredibly thirsty.

I'm not vegetarian, but I don't eat meat that often, so the meat might not be what I'm craving, it just might be the iron/protein that my body needs, like you suggested. Also, Gardenburger makes a pretty mean soy riblet that tastes just like the real thing, so I might have to make those tonight. ;)

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised if it were iron/protein, simply because your body needs those resources at that time of the month! Make sure that the riblet really is high in both or if that is the root of the craving it won't help.

Also, if you've been drinking lots of water you might need a little extra salt--so long as you don't normally eat lots of sodium in processed foods or added table salt you probably don't need to worry. Try a healthier source of salt and see if it helps at all.

[cathubodva.livejournal.com]

Drinking more water will often make you want to eat salty foods, as the increase in water in your body decreases the salt levels in your blood. It's actually possible to drink too much water (it's called "water intoxication"), where you become severely hyposalinic.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_last_serenade_/]

i like carrots myself. they're good to have sitting around and you can mindlessly munch on them till you get full without feeling too bad about yourself. and they're sweet enough to kind of satisfy my sweet tooth.

[niseag03.livejournal.com]

When the salty cravings hit me I tend to go for things like mixed nuts or Chex mix. Microwave popcorn is a good alternative, or even salted rice cakes. A couple months ago I kept a can of almonds on my desk for those cravings.

As for the meat, like the last person said. Why not make your own hamburger? Satisfy the craving and you know what is in it. Beef jerky is another alternative -- not only to the meat craving but to the salt as well.

[starlytehu.livejournal.com]

I usually switch to iron-rich foods the week of my period. My husband always loves the suprise of a beef or lamb roast.

You also may be craving a little fat and calcium.

Salty? I get pretzels or drink some sodium rich broth

Chocolate? Plain old chocolate chips are cheap and only have like 70 calories a serving.

[lacrimose.livejournal.com]

In place of the nasty fast food burger, perhaps make your own so it isn't as unhealthy, or eat a nice side of beef for dinner that night. I'm the same way on the junk food though, I just keep the mini bars of chocolate around so I eat about three of those and not three larger sized candy bars.

[cathubodva.livejournal.com]

I know you're a vegetarian, but if you're not a vegan, try drinking chocolate milk for the chocolate.

I switch to from 1% milk to 2% or even whole milk during my period, because I get really sick and don't usually eat much of anything, so my fat and calorie intake drops really low.

Of course, if you're lactose intolerant or allergic to milk, this is not such a good idea. :) But you could always drink chocolate soy milk!

[rivermilk.livejournal.com]

I already drink vanilla soy milk, so switching temporarily to chocolate during that time of the month wouldn't be a problem.

:)

[cathubodva.livejournal.com]

You might want to edit your post to specify that you're a vegetarian/vegan, with all the people suggesting that you eat some meat!

[cathubodva.livejournal.com]

Or just that you don't like to eat meat very often, as looking back I see now that you're not a vegetarian. :)

[stripling.livejournal.com]

meat attacks- eat a can of tuna! also, eat only really rich dark chocolate, because 1)it's better for you, and 2)you won't feel the need to gorge on so much of it. If you're craving sweets, get a bag of frozen blueberries and eat them like ice cream. so tasty! dried, slightly sweetened cranberries are good too.

as for salty, almonds are good for you, but only a small handful. try eating that, and then drinking water, and going for a short stroll. should help.

hope this was helpful!

[sofiaviolet]

Well, for the meat cravings... instead of Big Macs, you could get some tender steak and cook it with some olive oil in a skillet. It's really tasty and a bit healthier.

If you really want chocolate, try some really rich dark chocolate. It's slightly healthier than milk chocolate (and I prefer it, but that's just me).

[rivermilk.livejournal.com]

Dark chocolate!!! I love dark chocolate and actually lean toward it much more than milk chocolate when my cravings strike. Or anytime, really.

i have the same problem as you do, with the bloating

[hiphopdiary.livejournal.com]

soup is good for filling you up and keeping the bloat down.

watermelon is good because not only is it not fattening, it's cleansing.

edamame is a great source of protein and are not fattening so you can binge on them and not feel guilty.

salt free tortilla chips and low fat salsa are good (i like desert pepper trading company's black bean, corn and roasted pepper salsa).

raw cashews aren't exactly non-fattening but they're healthier than mcdonalds.

oh, and i like to buy a jar of orville redenbacher pop corn kernels and make a batch of popcorn on the stove.