It’s something that perhaps I’ve never focused on until now. But then, I’ve never really tracked my cycle or kept an eye on my weight until last year sometime. And with my New Year’s “Resolution” (I say this because it could very well fall through and I will not admit defeat) being to lose weight and get back to my pre baby body, my eye has been tightly fixed to the scale.

I just didn’t know my own body was capable of sabotaging me.

When our cycles come around, we women suffer from a variety of symptoms. Some of us may experience some symptoms one cycle and other symptoms another cycle. Commercials for over-the-counter PMS relief will often talk about the bloating, the cramps, and the headaches. These aren’t our only symptoms, though!

Other symptoms include:

• Cravings
• Fatigue
• Insatiable appetite

And those three right there have spelled “diet killer” for some of my friends, myself included. So what’s a woman to do? Through trial and error – and my own need to watch what I eat due to food intolerances – I’ve come up with a couple tips.

1. Eat smaller portions more frequently. Rather than having three large meals per day, having six smaller meals will keep you feeling full longer and cuts down on the urge to snack. It also keeps your metabolism going at a steady rate.

2. If you still feel hungry, have a glass of water first. I’ve noticed that around that time of the month, I’ll usually want nothing to do with water and instead reignite my love affair with my coffee pot. The sensation I feel that I think is

hunger is often simply my body begging for some hydration.

3. Yoga is my friend. It may not be for everyone, but when my cycle comes around, I don’t feel up to doing my cardio workout as much as I normally do. (And I skip through the living room with joy for that one.) But I make a point to still take time to move my body and keep the blood flow going, as well as my metabolism. It may be helpful to scale back and take it easy on what’s otherwise a pretty painful time to begin with.

4. Watch the salt and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Salt causes water retention, which can add to bloated feelings and may cause the scale to tick upwards with water weight. What cures that? Drinking more water! When I was in boot camp for the Navy, I swore I was sick of hearing about how we had to keep our bodies hydrated. You want me to drink seven canteens of water a day? At least? I didn’t even do that before I got in! Now that I’m out and a mom, though, something changed and I now see the importance of staying well hydrated.

These are just the few tips that I’ve found through discussions with friends and through trial and error on my own. So now I want to know – what tips do you have?

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