Ladies - need your help/advice

[NicoleD]

Hi everyone

I'm feeling a bit frustrated right now... :-/

I went WFPB last year and lost over 25 pounds. Then I fell off the wagon (stayed vegan, but had oil, sugar, and processed stuff). I only gained 4 pounds back, so I guess that wasn't too bad.

A few weeks ago, I went fully compliant again. Lost 4 pounds (Yay!) and hardly any cravings at all.
Then, a few days ago the cravings hit - big time. I held off, but this evening I crumbled - just had a big plate of chips (fries), vegan sausages, and chocolate cookies for dessert...

Now I know this is hormonal, but this is what happens every time. People say "Just stick it out for a few days", but honestly... I've tried. I got hardly any work done today, because I couldn't focus on work. And when I have hormone related cravings, I get angry - like seriously peeved with everything and everyone. Irritable doesn't even cover it. (And I need to be diplomatic for work)

Have any of you lovely ladies had the same issue? I'm getting annoyed with falling off the wagon every time mother nature shows up, but I turn into Mrs. Hyde, if I don't follow the cravings.
Or maybe 3.5 out of 4 weeks isn't bad for compliance and I should just go with it? I don't know...

I'd appreciate any advice (or even just some understanding )

[roundcoconut]

YES, you are just like us -- we get especially emotional and irrational when our hormone levels shift once a month!

Please understand about cravings -- the more recently you've had access to your substance of choice, the more insistent and demanding your irrational voices will be. I mean, as a non-smoker, does your body say, "GIVE ME A CIGARETTE!" when you are irrational or emotional? Of course not! Or, as a grown-up, does you physiology scream, "GIVE ME BREAST MILK!' in the middle of the night? Ha. Nope. But if you've been on these horrible substances (which ARE stimulating and DO give you a high), then your body is screaming, "GIVE ME THAT CRAP YOU USED TO FEED ME! I NEEEEEEED IT!"

Your body is screaming for unnourishing and toxic foods, because they are one of our most common coping mechanisms as humans, when we feel emotional or irrational. But this food does not feed you, does not nourish you, does not help you. It is truly calorie rich and processed CRAP.

Be good to yourself. Give yourself nourishment -- give yourself broccoli, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, mangoes.

Whenever you are anxious, irritable or anxious, my strategy is always:
Make yourself as comfortable as you can, until these uncomfortable emotions pass. Without toxifying your system, without handing your physiology over to the substances that make these things worse.

Do your best! We're here for you.

(Also, the entire plant kingdom is here for you! Eat tangerines, eat quinoa, eat lentils, eat squash. They love you and want to help you.)

[NicoleD]

Thank you for your kind words!
And you are so right!
The funny thing is that I've read "The Pleasure Trap" and watched a bunch of videos by Drs. Lisle and Goldhamer.
The rational part of my brain knows (to the degree a layperson can) how these cravings work, but every time my rational brain says "Stop! Think about it!", the cravings monster beats that part into a pulp and I don't hear from it again for days....

After posting here last night, I emailed PCRM for help in finding studies that deal with this sort of stuff and then went and googled the living daylight out of it.
I haven't heard back from PCRM, yet, but 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!

The suggestion is to use starch as medicine and have two portions of it per day to outsmart the cravings. The trick is to see these portions as therapy and not nutrition (though they really are a 2 in 1) and to have them in addition to what you'd normally eat (I think).

I will give this a fair shot and see where it takes me, although I will allow myself some forgiveness this time around. It caught me off guard (I'm living in opposite month this time around.... When I eat horrible and live in chaos, I crave cucumber and tomato salad during PMS (yes, really ) and get the urge to clean and tidy. This time, it's the other way around. I've had a tidy house and healthy eating habits (they seem to go hand in hand for me for some weird reason) and am craving bad stuff while the house looks like a horde of trolls marched through it)

Here is a link to the article, in case you'd like to read it: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/th ... -your-diet

(I hope the link is allowed)

Thank you again! It's so good to know I'm not allone

[Jenna]

Hi Nicole,

I recommend finding some allowed food that will "keep you off the ledge," so to speak. For me, for a long time, it was frozen mango. I would defrost it in the microwave, and it made the most wonderful snack, 100% allowed (I don't worry about the size of fruit portions if I am eating plenty of starch and veggies). Recently, the frozen mango wasn't doing the trick, but I got onto Japanese sweet potatoes. Any time I am tempted by some food I shouldn't eat, I remind myself that I will enjoy the mango or the Japanese sweet potato so much more than that other food, and it won't pay me back by making me feel awful.

I also find it helps to indulge whatever healthy cravings I might be having, even if those veggies are a bit more expensive or if it means an extra trip to the store.

I hope that helps! Also, the more I have resisted cravings, the more they have disappeared. So hopefully time will also help you!

Jenna

[NicoleD]

Thanks Jenna

I'll give the extra starch a try first.... if that doesn't work, I'll start experimenting with sweeter things

[Lesliec1]

For me personally: If I fail to prepare, I prepare to fail.

Meaning, if I don't have a well stocked fridge with things made up and ready to grab, I will grab just anything if that mood you are talking about happens. I only have problems when the fridge is almost empty of healthy foods. That's when trouble can begin so I can't let that happen. I have to always have things that I actually LIKE made up and ready to eat.

[nicoles]

Hi Nicole,

I recommend finding some allowed food that will "keep you off the ledge," so to speak. For me, for a long time, it was frozen mango. I would defrost it in the microwave, and it made the most wonderful snack, 100% allowed (I don't worry about the size of fruit portions if I am eating plenty of starch and veggies). Recently, the frozen mango wasn't doing the trick, but I got onto Japanese sweet potatoes. Any time I am tempted by some food I shouldn't eat, I remind myself that I will enjoy the mango or the Japanese sweet potato so much more than that other food, and it won't pay me back by making me feel awful.

I also find it helps to indulge whatever healthy cravings I might be having, even if those veggies are a bit more expensive or if it means an extra trip to the store.

I hope that helps! Also, the more I have resisted cravings, the more they have disappeared. So hopefully time will also help you!

Jenna

What Jenna said. Word for word this is exactly me too! Frozen mangos - CHECK! (eating some now). Japanese Sweet Potaoes - CHECK! (just had one for dinner. It's like cake for me) Treat-y but expensive fruit - oh yes!

Also - frozen cherries. I can eat and eat frozen cherries.

For me, too, I indulge in more splurge-y on plan foods when the going gets emotional-rollercoaster-y.

Fun fact: there is increased angiogenic activity (formation of new blood vessels from existing blood vessels) in the corpus luteum during the luteal phase of menstruation. In other words, we are growing tissue during PMS. Sounds like a valid reason to have an increased appetite to me!

[nicoles]

accidental double post.

[Jenna]

Hi Nicoles,

Super funny that you mention frozen cherries! My husband and kids are obsessed with frozen cherries, but not me. There is something about the texture that I don't love. Maybe you all will win me over someday...

Jenna

[frozenveg]

Slightly off-topic, but I was intrigued by the frozen mango idea, and bought a bag at my local store. They taste fishy to me! It's just awful! $11 worth of frozen fruit, and I don't know what to do with it--maybe make my husband a smoothie with bananas and other fruit? I've had frozen mangoes from Costco that were heavenly, but they don't always have them. What do I do with these cruddy mangoes? (The worst part is that every 3rd or 4th piece is luscious, but the rest are really icky. Any advice?

[Jenna]

Starting in late December, the frozen mango I can get hasn't tasted right, either. Personally, if it is a store with a good return policy, I would return it. Something is not right, and $11 for bad mango isn't worth it. Previously to December, I was getting delicious frozen mango, but then something happened, and all the mango I can get is gross. After trying a bunch of yucky ones over the last few months, I have decided to wait until summer to try again.

[greentea]

Ok, Wow, frozen cherries! I just tried them, and they are unbelievably good!!!

[nicoles]

Yes, the dreaded fishy frozen mangoes! I think they are just out of season. I get myself the super pricey ones as a treat, they're ok, but they are better in summer. Same with frozen cherries, their tastiness changes depending on the season.
There's always frozen banana ice cream...

[frozenveg]

Thanks, guys! Glad I'm not the only one to find them bad sometimes! (Like the way DH looks at me when I say cilantro tastes
like soap!)

[PeripateticDanielle]

Hi, this is kind of off topic, but Nicole, how do you cook your purple sweet potatoes? I love them but have not had great success either baking or microwaving (they get hard at the ends). The Trader Joe's bag of sweet potatoes suggests baking them wrapped in foil and I suppose this keeps the moisture in.

THANK YOU in advance!