Ask Elisha - How To Reduce Cravings During Your Menstrual Cycle?
If you’re a woman reading this, you’ve likely experienced cravings both in the week before and during your menstrual cycle. Before I delve into my favourite strategies to tame these really intense, irresistible cravings, it’s important to understand what these cravings mean and why we tend to go a bit nuts and over-indulge around our cycle …
In the week leading up to your menstrual cycle (that is day 1 of your bleed), women require 100 to 300 additional calories per day. Visually, this looks like a decent sized snack or even a small meal in addition to what you would usually consume per day.
So many women don't allow themselves the grace to eat these extra calories though and so they get to the end of the day, experience these relentless, hard-to-control cravings which inevitably leads to binge-eating or over-eating because they didn't fuel their body efficiently throughout the day. If you increased the size of most meals or introduced another snack, it's highly likely that you wouldn't have these cravings at all come the end of the day. Not eating enough calories to fuel your body efficiently is one of the most common reasons women suffer through these pre-menstrual cravings.
Why is it always chocolate though?
There is actually science-backed evidence behind this and the 3 main reasons women crave chocolate the most are -
Cacao is one of the highest plant-based sources of magnesium. Magnesium is one mineral in particular that women need in the lead up to their period.
“Better-for-you chocolate” (as in 80% + dark chocolate that contains more cacao, less refined sugars) is also an antioxidant which helps reduce inflammation and improve brain function. If you think about it, a lot of women experience inflammation/ bloating and it's not unheard of for women to experience brain fog in the luteal phase of their cycle as well.
Although slightly more intuitive - many believe that cravings arise as a way to somewhat balance the hormonal roller coaster that we've got going on. During the luteal phase, progesterone levels typically dip and there are compounds within chocolate that help to balance and counteract this decline in progesterone.
So, it makes sense why women reach for chocolate over anything else but how do you reduce these cravings so you don’t turn into an eating machine?
Truth be told, I don't ever aim to curb or minimise cravings. In fact, I'm a big believer in that cravings are your body's way in guiding you to homeostasis (balance). Instead, I always aim to fulfil a craving but I do it from a place of control.
Women can feel a lot of shame & guilt when it comes to giving into cravings because excessively bingeing on chocolate or over-eating on any food can make them feel like they've lost that sense of self-control.
To take back some of that control, there are 4 strategies that I recommend women experiment with -
Choose A Healthier Alternative To The Food You're Craving
To explain, let’s use a craving for chocolate - I would choose a “healthier” alternative, one that’s made from natural sweeteners and has fewer additives and ingredients. I'll still have chocolate because that is the thing I'm craving but I might choose a brand like Pana Organic, Loving Earth or Loco Love that I know use good-quality ingredients. Carob Bears are delicious too. Ideally, you want ingredients with minimal processing and ones that aren't going to spike your blood sugar levels.
Make It Yourself
Just quickly and while we’re on the topic of chocolate, making your own choc is so easy. You can make a big batch, store them in the fridge/ freezer and it takes less than 5 minutes. Here’s one of my fav recipes - Homemade Chocolate. Ok, say you’re craving a warm, gooey pizza. This one’s common too! It's the carbs, saltiness and oiliness that creates the perfect storm. This is a great opportunity to make your own. What's more, you can go ham (pun intended!) on the toppings. You can bulk it up, increase your portions, plus I can almost guarantee that your pizza will be a lot more nourishing than a cheap & cheerful one delivered by Uber Eats.
Use The Snack Plate Approach
This strategy is courtesy of my beautiful friends, Abbey & Lil (The Clean Kweens). I love these girls. Years ago, they introduced me to the Snack Plate Approach …
You could easily sit down to a block of chocolate. I could, you could, we all could! Ideally though, it’s best we don’t, so using the Snack Plate Approach, what you're going to do is take the food that you're craving - eg. add a few squares of chocolate to a small plate (this choc doesn't need to be a healthier alternative; it can be the exact chocolate that you're craving).
Then you want to ask yourself - what can I add to this snack to make it more nutritionally balanced?
You could add things like veggie sticks, berries, hummus, nuts (or nut butter) or a yummy dip with some seed crackers. Doing this will not only keep your blood sugar levels stable but it's also going to fill any nutrient-deficient gaps which may cause further cravings as the day goes on. It’s helpful to add a protein source too because protein will keep you satiated but more importantly, keep cravings to a minimum.
Sit With Your Cravings
It takes roughly 90 seconds for a craving to peak and eventually dissipate & dissolve. 90 seconds is not a long time to sit with an uncomfortable feeling yet so many of us have become too scared or fearful to sit with any hard feelings. Next time, a strong craving bubbles to the surface, meet it head on. Become aware of how it feels in your body - can you feel a sensation in your belly or your throat? Can you describe the feeling? Can you give it a rating out of 10? Sit with it and trust that it will dissolve.
To summarise - cravings usually arise for a reason so it’s important not to dismiss them but instead, fulfil those cravings from a place of control. Ensure that you're consuming enough calories during the day but also acknowledge that it's not the craving itself that’s “bad” or unenjoyable, it’s more the feeling that these cravings have some level of control over you. Aim to take back some of that control in a mindful way and cravings will likely not become an issue for you moving forward.
Have a question you’d like some help with? Please get in touch either here, by email (elisha@feelbelook.com) or DM me over on Insta @feelbelook.
Next month is all about the dreaded plateau and how to move through a weight loss plateau x