Hunger pains during TTOTM

Okay, I know I'm not the only one around here......that week before leading up to TTOTM, I get SO hungry......craving greasy food hungry too.  For example, right now I would LOVE to have a local pizza joints pizza and not just one slice.....it seriously crosses my head to order a large pizza and eat the whole thing! And I think I could! I haven't ate like that in a really long time! Thankfully I have had the willpower (so far!) not to pick up that phone.....plus, looking at the website and having it confirm that large pizza is like 3700 calories is enough to kill the taste atleast a little bit.....

So, that being said, is there a biological reason for food cravings at TTOTM? So many of us experience it, I didn't know if there was actually a physical need for more calories or if I'm just sitting here hoping someone gives me an excuse to do something stupid. LOL  If nothing is needed, anyone have some tips on how to help curb cravings? Its not like I just need something sweet and 1 small 50 calorie piece of candy will fix it, this is specific food in mass quantities! LOL

I used to get that way but I had PMDD and that is one of the symptoms.

Our bodies do burn more calories in the days running up to TTOM - but we're talking about 200 per day not thousands! 

I tend to give into the cravings but with small portions (one slice of pizza or a 1/4 cup of chocolate fudge ice cream or 20 g of fudge, etc.).  I don't know why we get the specific cravings we do - other than that the need for extra iron/magnesium seems to trigger chocolate cravings in most women.  I'm not sure what I'd do if the cravings required volumes of food, so can't be of any help on that front.  Good luck, though!

Your body does burn SLIGHTLY more during TTOM and the days leaning up to it, but not too many more than normal! Many people do use that as an excuse ("I'm losing blood! I must need WAY more calories than normal!" or something like that) but the reality is that unless you have some sort of menstrual problem/disorder, you won't need more, you'll just WANT more.

Thanks for your answers....I won't feel guilty about eating an extra slice of pizza now.  :)

Try making your own alternatives to things.

For example, if you want a pizza, take a 100 calorie whole wheat tortilla, add on 50 calories of some kind of premade sauce like prego, and sprinkle 100 calories of half skim milk mozzarella. Bake in toaster oven or a regular oven until the tortilla is crispy. Only 250ish calories and it's like eating 3-4 slices of extra thin pizza!

Ok... here is a first year med student's thoughts on the whole thing haha.... So after you ovulate, your body begins producing a lot of this hormone called progesterone.  It peaks about a week before your period starts (assuming you're not pregnant), and then falls off and that's when menstruation (bleeding) begins.  Progesterone is "the hormone of pregnancy," so I kind of think of the week before my period as being a bit like pregnancy haha.  Although the levels of progesterone are MUCH MUCH higher during pregnancy and last for 40 weeks instead of a few days.  I'm pretty sure (but not completely... didn't do a medline search or anything!!) that progesterone is the reason we want to eat a lot, get painful boobs, etc.  It's biologically good to want to eat more during pregnancy because you're trying to grow another human, but during our menstrual cycles it's just annoying!  Anyway, this doesn't help with wanting to consume a whole entire pizza, but maybe next time you can just tell your progesterone to take a hike?

AfterI  had my baby that I would feel hungry all the time I learned it was because I was tired. But,  I wanted pizza and burgers, chips and chocolate. I learned from a docter that when you are tired (which happens around TTOTM) you crave foods high in sugars also comfort food ( which is different for all of us). Now, here is the interesting thing about CHOCOLATE.... it contains a hormone in it that helps strengthen the uterus. This is why women crave it during that time. I actually have friend who was ordered by her doc to eat choc bars everyday during her time due to serious female probs. Hope this is helpful.