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Hi Whole30 ladies.

I wasn't sure where to post this because it's a lady thing but also a Life After Whole30/Food Freedom/Staying On Track thing. So here I am. 

The cravings for all things sweet are UNREAL leading up to and during my period, particularly for chocolate. I've found some higher quality ingredient cookies and chocolate that don't seem to mess me up too bad, but it's like I can't stop at one. And even when I manage to stop at one per sitting, I find myself having something every day for the entire week of my period. And THAT eventually messes me up. Plus, to me, it seems like eating well only 21 out of 28 days is not really quite the standard I am looking for, but my "worth it,"-o-meter doesn't seem to work right during this particular time of the month. Plus, these one cookies are found are ALWAYS worth it in the moment - they are so stinking good. Every. Single. Bite. Eyes closed, romantic and everything. But then a couple days in or after my period is over I look back and am like, "Wtf just happened?" 

Does anyone else have this struggle? Any suggestions? The tough love version is probably just, "Stop doing that," but I'm just wondering if I'm alone in this and if maybe I'm just not learning what I'm hoping to learn from my Whole30s at all. I've done 5 and they seem to have very little impact on my Sugar Dragon long-term, but according to FFF, I can't just keep going to the Whole30 every time I look at my week and go "Oops." I JUST WANT THE CYCLE TO END.

To be clear: I'm looking for ways to KILL THE EVIL SUGAR DRAGON FROM HELL, not prop up my sweet tooth with healthy alternatives. Thanks. :) 

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Actually it's very normal to have cravings at this time of the month as your body tries to prepare itself for pregnancy. What we'd suggest is that you up the volume of your starchy rather than opting for something sweet as it's the starch rather than the sugar that your body needs.

Personally I find increasing the size of my meals in general at this time, and specifically my fat intake, works well for me.

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  • 1 month later...

maybe try a square of 100% cacao chocolate bar with a small spoonful of coconut butter on top. No sugar, but may calm your cravings. That's what I do sometimes. But don't get in the habit of thinking of it as a dessert or treat to have every night, or the dragon keeps yelling. 

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  • 3 months later...

I so know what you mean! Like a quarter of my life, I'm a different person. And it's not like you're never going to eat sugar again for the rest of your life.

I've tried adding an extra egg to my breakfast every day (even if I don't feel like I want it), and really focused on loading up my lunch and dinner with starches, extra potato, and fats, olives or the whole avocado, and put a chopped up apple with almond butter on my plate at each meal (again, even if I don't feel like I want it). I eat a lot of food and am pretty active, and those foods all work for me, but I really try to eat big meals when I have hormones-craving brain, and I really try to eat them as confined meals. It helps me psychologically to be like, "Yeah I'm definitely not hungry so I don't need snacks, and my next meal is gonna be big and satisfying."  It kind of goes against listening to your body at all times, but so does drinking milkshakes and beer instead of dinner (which I've done).

As far as choosing chocolate things because they are so worth it: I try to really let go of any 'It's okay because I'm just going to have one' narrative, or 'I should be satisfied with just a couple bites.' Because if you're not (which, probably not in this hormonal state), then that narrative is going to hurt you, not help you. So I order a flourless chocolate torte and I eat the whole thing, like 'I'm gonna enjoy the heck out of this, and if I want another one tomorrow, I'll come get one.' It helps me just enjoy the thing, feel satisfied, and not constantly ruminate about whether I'm going to have another one while I'm still eating this one. I often realize I actually don't want another mouth full of sugar.

I haven't made a spreadsheet about how much dessert I eat during a cycle now versus how much I did before, but I can guarantee you I don't worry about it during a cycle as much as I used to, which I think is just as important, if not more. And, I'm pretty sure it's way less.

 

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