Everyday Systems

What do you do when it starts on an N-day and you want a piece of chocolate soooo bad?!?!

I know eating better helps, but there is just something about that time of the month that I just can't seem to function without a least a piece. Last month I was lucky, it started on the weekend, so I had my 2 S-days to get me through. But this month, I just started yesterday and I wanted chocolate soooooo bad! I waited and waited but it didn't go away. After midnight, I had a piece of a Lindt dark chocolate with orange...since I have something tonight and if was going to be a red day, I wanted just one since there will most likely be heavenly desserts....

That piece of chocolate was soooo gooood! I savored it and only had the one piece. I felt so much better after, but how do the rest of you deal with these cravings?!?!

I don't recall having had cravings like that when it was still an issue. But my daughter does.

She has been doing her own thing diet-wise since August and lost about 50 pounds to date. What she does is similar to No-S, except that she doesn't take regular S days on weekends. However at that time of the month, she allows herself some kind of treat.

This kind of situation is why I have problems with "rules" for diets and habitcal. Well, that's my issue.

Do what works for you and don't sweat it.

Thanks for the reply. I was starting to wonder if on my one bad day, I should just make it and S day when it doesn't fall on weekends so that I won't beat myself up when I feel I need some good chocolate to get me through. I'm also very against using conventional drugs and pills unless I'm really, really sick, so chocolate works well on my bad cramps and at least it's food.

hehe -- Sick days are S days, so I suppose you could call it a sick day. Heaven knows, it's often not a "well" day!

I'm so glad to see this topic addressed..I do have the chocolate cravings during that time for 2-3 days in a row...I try to keep dark chocolate (cacao) in thse house for times like that..I'm sorry, but this is the one time I have to give in to that craving..

Part of my variation of no-s is I am allowed to eat a chocolate every day. Before I started eating regular meals I had a chocolate (a dove chocolate) at bedtime (dumb time, I know, but I really feel better with it) almost every day, and I thought if I cut it out, I would feel really deprived.

As it happens, I rarely eat that chocolate anymore, but I am always allowed.

Again, a cup of hot cocoa may help on N days: mix 1 cup of hot milk in a mug with 1 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa and 1 tsp of sugar! Helps that chocolate craving!

I've had that problem with the last two periods, too. I think what you did was fine. My modification with No S is I do allow myself a small portion of dessert each day.
I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you -- especially if you keep it to a small piece. TOM is bad enough as it is.

For me, my trick is good old-fashioned cocoa. 1 tsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp sugar, boiling water and a splash of milk gives me a drink that is rich and chocolatey enough that I can skip the chocolate slab.

Thanks for the hot cocoa tips. I may have to try that in the future. However, I'm not sure it will be chocolatey enough for me. As someone who thoroughly enjoys very dark chocolate, hot cocoa is not enough. I may just have to allow myself that one piece on the one day and then I won't feel like a failure if I do have it.

clarinetgal wrote:My modification with No S is I do allow myself a small portion of dessert each day.

I've been allowing myself a handful of cookies daily -- but just recently not so much. I usually have them either mid-afternoon or after dinner, but lately I've been finding that in mid-afternoon they ruin my appetite for dinner. We've also been eating dinner later and I find that I just don't want them after dinner. So, now I'm enjoying them on an "as desired" basis.

Wosnes, I'm dealing with that issue, too. I've noticed over the past few days that if I have dessert after lunch, I'm not as hungry for dinner, and if I have it too late after dinner, then I don't sleep well that night. I'm thinking about seeing if I can slowly wean myself off of having to have a dessert each day. I may do what you do, and have it on an as desired basis.

I count my period - or at least the first few days as "S Days", not because of cravings, but because if I don't eat A LOT on those days, I get really awful stomach pains. as long as I eat every couple hours, I have no problems, so I figure it's allowable since eating is better than taking pills to try and get rid of the pain.

I know for some women its true that sugar cravings increase around period-time.

However, if this helps (because I notice you're relatively new to NoS) I found that after a few months will very little sugar (because of the structure of NoS) my sugar cravings in general decreased massively, including around my period. So I would hope yours decrease too . GOod luck.

And for what it's worth, if it were me I wouldn't be making exceptions aka 'sick days' around your period. I think its important in the first few months of NoS to stick to the basic structure faithfully even if it's hard & then you'll gradually see the decrease in sugar cravings (and cravings in general).