Why have I got hollow legs before my period?

I know I”m due on because I walk around my kitchen a few days before my period opening doors hoping to find a roast dinner behind one of them. There is just no filling me up, it’s like I’ve never been fed before!

Oestrogen does inhibit the appetite, while progesterone increases it so your hormones do play a part in all of this! Levels of cortisol, often dubbed the “stress hormone,” are usually slightly elevated during your period, which can cause you to become more sensitive to insulin. As a result, you burn though your sugar stores quicker than usual and thus begin to crave more sugar in order to bring your levels back to normal. At the same time, levels of serotonin — often referred to as a “happiness hormone” — drop right before your period which helps to explain many common symptoms of PMS, including the desire to consume carbs. In addition to generally being delicious, carbohydrates have been known to prompt the release of serotonin, thus making you feel better.

This is actually a thing, your body does burn up a few more calories as it prepares to bleed, which makes sense given it’s losing something, our bodies are smart like that! However, there were some rumors going around about it being 500 calories per day – I hate to burst your bubble but it’s more like 500 calories for the whole cycle.

You burn up through your sugar stores because cortisol – the hormones that creates that stressed feeling – makes us more sensitive to insulin so we crave the sugar to help regulate that. Serotonin (our happy place) also takes a nose dive- no shit sherlock welcome to PMT! Carbs help us feel full and that calms the nervous sytem and makes us feel a bit happier about the whole situation.

Now feel free to chow down on as much healthy food as you like, and you don’t need me to tell you what that all looks like fibre and proteins keep us feeling fuller for longer – but it tends to be sweets and carbs we crave, because of the above but also the energy thang. I feel a lot of this is because we are still trying to operate at the same level of energy that we were in our spring and summer part of our cycle. We are in the autumn/winter collection at this point and that means we need to slow up a bit.

Ah, but the resistance is strong! Getting more sleep really helps to combat food cravings – a testament to this when I used to work nights I just wanted to eat bread all the time when I stopped the night shifts I dropped half a stone just from eating at the right time of day and not craving the carbs for energy!

Chocolate is a big go to, invest in some really decent chocolate, I mean whey the hell, not ladies? At least it will give you something to look forward to right? Personally, I can’t get enough of mejdool dates stuffed with cashew butter and a lump of raw cacao in it on the run up to my period – I highly suggest you give it a whirl. These are a great alternative to chocolate and taste just like a snicker – you could leave off the nut butter if you want. The raw cacao is bitter granted but it packed full of the wonderful goodness of magnesium which is so helpful around your period so it’s practically part of your five a day 😉

Drinking plenty of fluids is also key because sometimes we can feel hungry when we are actually thirsty, and if bloating is your thing drinking more weirdly helps to flush that through so actually helps. I’m talking water or herbal teas here not wine 😉

So there you have it you aren’t making it up you do get a larger appetite before your period. Now I’m off to eat my second breakfast…

Want to know more about sorting out your periods then give me a shout here.