has anyone experienced this or have any advice.. and yes i already know that no one here is a doctor..
i tend to binge during my TOM, diet or no diet, food is going in my mouth all day long... i get depressed and irritated if i dont eat.. and low carbing around that time makes in worse, if i eat some candy or cake i feel better for the time being, but it is a never ending cycle. i fall away from low carb every month around this same time.. i need some kind of appetite suppressant, no matter how hard i try to use my will power, it is like something else takes over and makes me eat. i cant explain it any better than than..

any answers?

Sounds like your brain, like most folks, is exeriencing a dip in serotonin around that time. SImple carbs temporarily cause a surge in serotonin levels, which is which folks tend to want them when they're menstruating or just feeling sad.

I don't know what to tell you. You don't want to start taking an SSRI (prozac, paxil, zoloft, etc.) just for this intermittent problem.

You could try doing something else to stabilize your mood. Exercise works extremely well -- but I find that I have to do it several times a day if I'm really in a funk.

You could also try to find a LC snack that you can "binge" on without interruption for the duration of that time. I think it's risky to eat the Atkins fake-sweet (shakes & bars) because they can just make those cravings more persistent. Is there anything else you can substitute for your carb fix?

thanks alot for trying to help..

TOM sucks! My appetite increases exponentially. Most days I'm never hungry anymore but when TOM visits all bets are off and I feel like I eat nonstop for a week.

Try not to turn to fake foods if you can help it. Just accept that your appetite is going to be big, and keep lots of legal foods on hand. The recipe forum has some good ideas for sweet treats if you absolutely must have something.

I just try to deal with the fact that my calories are going to shoot up on those days. Just hang tough. You know it's going to be over soon. Just keep telling yourself you don't want to ruin all your efforts and progress.

If you stay strong, you'll probably be rewarded with a nice whoosh when it's over.

good luck!

Normal, hormone related. Get some L-glutamine and take with meals. Eat a little more fat and higher fat protein. Or you can do CAD for TOM and go back to Atkins afterwards. CAD is not Atkins with a Reward Meal so it would be best to print out the cheat sheet and familiarize yourself with all the rules and strictly apply them during TOM. Otherwise you can gain weight. If you use CAD during TOM and Atkins otherwise, you might continue to lose weight during that time. It might be a strategy that would work for you.

I'm with Kaillean... if you are on Atkins, the key is to learn to listen to your body and give up the guilt.

Eat WHENEVER hungry until satisfied. Keep telling yourself it is ok.

Just stick to lc and you won't gain weight (other then the nasty TOM water weight that comes and goes).

I have no solutions yet.. still working on it myself. ::crunching of pork rinds and crinkling of sugarfree chocolate wrappers:::

I'm going to try St. John's Wort, since I hear it helps. Anyone else try it?

Until a cure is found... you have my sympathy.

I have been taking 2 x 1800mg St John's Wort tablets every evening for the past couple of months and I find that they have helped enormously with general wellbeing ESPECIALLY at TOM!

This dose was prescribed by my doctor and is the dose used in successful clinical trials.

Take this dose at night because the tablets do make you drowsy. Along with the St John's Wort I take a multivitamin/mineral tablet. This is my own decision and I find I feel pretty good most days.

I'm also drinking a lot of Chamomile tea. This is supposed to have a calming effect so perhaps enter that into the equation to!

Regards!

I also have this problem during TOM. Since I just started LCing I don't know how it will affect me, but before I did LC I usally had cravings for both sugar and meat. The latter should be easy to take care of next time... I'm not sure what to do next TOM, except for keeping my water bottle close, stay away from anyplace that sell's edible sweet things and exercise more.

I was so moved by the post that started this (the part about feeling out of control during TOM) that I found myself thinking about it last night when I couldn't sleep.

I came up with an idea for a LC "binge" food for teh TOM.

This really is delicious and I hope you won't miss cake when you eat it.

You make high quality pesto from scratch (just pinenuts, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and fresh basil) in your blender.

You take a couple packages of cream cheese and microwave them until they're soft & runny.

You take a (soup sized) bowl, line it with a damp paper towel, then spread a layer of the runny cream cheese to coat the inside of the bowl.

The you put a (level) layer of the pesto (i.e., not coating the whole bowl like the first layer of the c.c.), another (level) layer of the cream cheese, and so on, until you've filled the bowl.

You refrigerate it until it sets (a few hours?).

Then you turn it out and you have a cream cheese/pest terrine.

You can use endive to snack on this with.

It's not COMPLETELY carb-free (the cream cheese has some carbs, as do the garlic and the basil), but it's very LC, and unlike so many LC snacls, it's CRUNCHY, which is always key for me.

I hadn't made this recipe for years (too high fat) but now I"m doing the LC thing I can enjoy it again!.

Good luck to all of us at that TOM!

My biggest problem is that i love sweets- and creave them at TOM too- but for the most part, i keep peanut butter on hand. the texture helps a lot. but when that isnt enough, i go for the atkins peanut butter cups. or other low carb sweets. most of them taste like the real thing. =)

rhaazz,
I'm going to try this my next TOM! It sounds delicious!!

Great! Let us know how it goes next time -- we're pulling for you!

Hi rhaaz,

I've just been through a TOM without a single food craving, so I haven't tried your "binge food". I feel weird, because I can't even remember a TOM without cravings!

Oh I'm so glad you updated! I've been thinking about you and wondering how the TOM went.

So glad you're free!! That is AWESOME! Maybe you've just been LC'ing long enough to have finally been set free of food cravings.

I am so so psyched for you. COngratulations.