Ladies - need your help/advice

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Re: Ladies - need your help/advice

Postby Plumerias » Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:29 pm

Two FWIW things....

It's been ages since I had PMS, an advantage of being older, but I transitioned from SAD to vegetarian during the menopause from hell. PMS without the periods, lovely. I did find that calling on the "services" of my husband when I was ready to kill really helped. So if that's an option, well, mine never objected! :lol: Beat eating bad foods! :nod:

Second, ataulfo mangoes are in season from now until some time in May. They're the small ones about the size of a loose fist. They're easiest to find at Walmart, Hispanic, and Asian groceries. Kind of single serving size. They're the best when they start getting all wrinkly. If you find them at a really good price, they do freeze quite nicely.
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Re: Ladies - need your help/advice

Postby fiberdrunk » Fri Mar 25, 2016 8:05 pm

[quote="NicoleD"]
I came across a very interesting article in "Psychology Today" from 6 years ago.
It's written by Dr Judith Wurtman and deals with the exact problem I'm having here. And guess what the secret weapon for beating crazy PMS cravings is??? => Eat Starch!!! Hah!

/quote]

This doesn't surprise me at all. Whenever we have a big hormonal shift, it takes a great deal of energy to accomplish these physiological changes every month. It's no wonder we crave carbs at this time, especially junk carbs. Carbs = energy. I think the secret is to do what marathon runners do before a big run, and that is to "carb stack" i.e. fill up on plenty of unprocessed, high-fiber, high-quality starches for a few days beforehand. Eat extra, even!
"To live long, live slowly." --Cicero
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Re: Ladies - need your help/advice

Postby NicoleD » Sat Mar 26, 2016 7:57 am

Update:

I'll have to admit that I gave in and stuffed my face with cookies and soy ice cream and vegan sausages and all sorts of stuff....
Gained 5 pounds in only a couple of days :-(

However, I decided to go back full on MWL over night 5 days ago. I have lost 7.4 pounds since then... (What???) It sounds like a lot, but my guess is that it's mostly water retention resolving itself once the hormones went back to normal.
This time, I had withdrawal symptoms (headaches, a bit of nausea, and absolutely rotten mood). That just shows how quickly the body gets used to sugar and fat again...

I love the tips from the thread!

I got a reply from PCRM, which pointed me towards this video, if you're interested: http://www.pcrm.org/health/healthcare-p ... tive-foods

Next month, I'll be better prepared (the major point I'm taking away from this thread!) and will buy some frozen fruit along with preparing some easily available starchy treats.... no mangoes, but I'm sure I can find some goodies :-)

And now fingers crossed that I can keep the weight loss going over the next few weeks. (Though I'm not expecting to keep up with 7 pounds in under a week ;-) )
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Re: Ladies - need your help/advice

Postby greentea » Sat Mar 26, 2016 9:03 am

We all have cravings and moments of weakness. But you don't have to go off the deep end either, you have a choice. You want ice cream? No problem, make your own with frozen bananas. You want french fries? Great, make your own no oil baked fries. Vegan sausages? Sure, you can make your own oil free sausages, no they won't be MWL, but still on plan. Cookies? Also not MWL, but you can make your own fat free cookies with oats and bananas. If you search the forums you will find tons of ideas for recipes.

ice cream: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-cr ... tchn-93414

Fries: http://www.brandnewvegan.com/recipes/cr ... ench-fries

Sausages: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2014/07/ho ... -dogs.html

Cookies: http://blog.eatplant-based.com/recipe/o ... n-cookies/

Here's a list of MWL recipes where you can find inspiration: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10076
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Re: Ladies - need your help/advice

Postby frozenveg » Thu Mar 31, 2016 7:39 am

FWIW, also, here is my favorite recipe for (really) 2-ingredient cookies. If you stick with just the oats and bananas, and resist all add-ins that aren't just spices, they are MWL and when you're being strict, they feel like an indulgence! Even my husband, who is mostly a good sport about all this, liked them--at least the first 3 or 4 times I made them!

http://www.theburlapbag.com/2012/07/2-i ... ur-choice/
5'3", 74 YO. Started Jan. 11, 2010
Starting weight: 222.6
Current weight: 148.2.0


Success Story:
https://www.drmcdougall.com/articles/st ... -rockwell/
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Re: Ladies - need your help/advice

Postby roundcoconut » Tue Apr 05, 2016 8:23 am

lynns wrote:I have problems being obsessed with or using food when any kind of stresses enter my life, knowing it's coming or not.

...

We get caught up in this cycle of stress mounting in our life and garbage food comes to the rescue. We have to break that harmful cycle and release that grip it has on us.


LynnCS (as I will always think of you!), welcome back! I enjoy your comments, always.

It's funny, I am reading a book on frustration tolerance in modern America, and the main takeaway is how we are constantly setting or resetting our notion of what we can "handle". So when we say to ourselves, "I CAN'T TOLERATE the anxiety I'm feeling about my car" or "I CAN'T TOLERATE the temptation of being in a room with that trigger food" -- we reinforce the idea that this is true -- and then we act accordingly.

On the other hand, each time we do the opposite, we build up our ability to handle minor discomforts. We say, "I can tolerate the anxiety I'm feeling about my car, and really don't need food-related coping mechanisms to get through this." Or, "I can handle being in a room with a trigger food, and it's not going to kill me to endure the temptation for 15 more minutes."

Over time, I think we can train our minds to understand that even moderate or major discomforts will not kill us, and that we can tolerate them without doing anything that self-sabotages our health or our feelings of self-efficacy.

The author of the book I'm reading is a big fan of making every effort to down-regulate the body when the body is screaming "I CAN'T TOLERATE", because you're likely doing physical patterns that correspond with a situation of outward physical danger. Like, no matter how non-threatening the situation is to your actual safety, you probably have shallow breathing, increased heart rate, maybe even adrenaline in your system for a fight-or-flight response. So you kinda gotta lie on your back somewhere and let those symptoms settle out, because that CAN be unsettling.

Handling minor discomforts and slowly building the frustration tolerance is a good thing!
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Re: Ladies - need your help/advice

Postby Birdy » Sun May 29, 2016 10:10 am

Hi Nicole,
I'm in my 60s now, but I went through what you're describing during the years before menopause. I did find the starch based diet helpful, but was consistently overtaken by cravings and super strong irritability/anger. What helped me most with the irritability/anger and just general miserable feelings at times was black cohosh which is an herb traditionally used by Native American tribes. It's available as a product called Remifemin over the counter. You can google it if interested. It should not be used by anyone with an allergy to aspirin. There are other warnings about it, but I never had any problems and took it for about four years. It's a good idea to check with your M.D. or naturopath before taking any supplement. I found it took between one and three months to notice effects of taking Remifemin. There seem to be new products that contain "enzymes" but I just used the original product containing only black cohosh. There may also be other brands but, as with all herbal supplements, purity is very important so check for a certification of purity label. Please note, I'm just sharing my own experience as I'm not a doctor or otherwise medically trained!
"The program is essentially cost and risk free." ~ Dr. John McDougall
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