I am a PMS Craving Machine

Every twenty-eight days, like clock work, my Aunt Flo coasts in to town for a monthly visit. She has no regard for plans that I have been making, trips I may be taking or any other fun thing that I may have going on at the time. She just shows up and makes herself at home for five to seven days and then she disappears into the night until her next visit. She’s very annoying.

For one to two weeks leading up to my aunt’s arrival I usually suffer from some sort of PMS (premenstrual syndrome) symptom. PMS is the physical and emotional change that happens to a woman within the last 2 weeks of her cycle. Symptoms can be different from woman to woman but usually consist of fatigue, bloating, moodiness, food cravings and everything in between. I like to believe that my PMS is tamer and not as apparent to the outside world as others, it’s my dream world please let me live in it.

My most prevalent PMS symptom is the food cravings. For one week every month I am an eating machine. All day, every day all I want to do is eat. It doesn’t matter if I’m not hungry or if I just ate an hour ago my brain is hungry and it’s telling me to eat everything in sight. My non-stop eating habit, that one week a month, is the internal sign that tells my period is definitely on her way.

What do I crave during PMS?  I’m so glad you asked.

• Chocolate. This is my number one PMS food of choice. Anything chocolate will satisfy the craving. I usually find myself raiding the office vending machine for M&M’s, Snickers or any other random candy bar that has made it’s way into the machine. I’m not usually too picky when it comes to chocolate. On occasion I’ve even baked, and eaten, an entire pan of brownies during this week of hell.
• Chips. For 3 weeks a month I could care less about potato chips, but for one week a month, chips are my best friend. I tend to lean more towards the kettle cooked chips, I love the crunchiness.  My favorite flavors are jalapeno and the salt and cracked pepper variety, but really any chip will do, I hold no biases.
• Ice cream. When it comes to ice-cream, I’m a plain chocolate kind of girl.  I don’t crave ice-cream like I used to, but when I do it has to be Blue Bell brand.  What can I say, I’m loyal to the ice-cream made in Texas.
• Cheese. Oh, how I love cheese. Cheese is my go-to snack when I need something to munch on during the day. It’s so easy to grab a slice and go. I’ve noticed that I tend to eat more of it during my PMS eating binges. Instead of a slice I’ll grab two or three. It’s a great snack in moderation, but not if I eat the entire package.
• Carbohydrates. Pasta and bread and potatoes, OH MY! Peanut butter toast, a big plate of pasta, french fries covered in cheese and bacon; all things I could eat at every meal during PMS. Since surgery I’ve really cut back on my carbohydrate intake, but I still crave them, and on occasion I indulge, in moderation of course.

Every woman is different. We all crave different foods during PMS. What are some foods that you crave?

How do you curb your cravings? I need all the help I can get!

Greis (pronounced Grace) is a single, 30 something, Texas girl with an iPhone addiction. She loves her hometown Houston sports teams, Astros Baseball & Texans Football! When she’s not working as an inside sales analyst for a local manufacturing company, you can usually find her on the internet, watching trashy reality television or snuggling her niece, Audrey.  In her spare time she enjoys a good chick flick, reading teenage vampire books (the sparkly kind) and dreaming about what life will be like when she finally wins the lottery. You can read more from Greis on her blog, Amazing Greis.