More on trends and fluctuations (for women ;))

[trytrytry]

For those who like numbers...

I think many of us observed our weight being quite stable for certain periods of time and then drop suddenly. Now that I've been monitoring my weight (on and off) for almost three months of noS, I made a following observation:

I see a sudden drop of the weight for the first 5 days of my period (about 1.5 kg).
For the next five days, it goes up by about 0.5 kg.
For the remaining days it slightly increases fluctuating at around -1 kg loss relative to day 1.
Since I don't see a consistent significant jump before my period, it means that with every cycle I am losing about 1 kg.

This is consistent with my 3.5 kg lost in three months of noS

Another funny thing is that with my periods not being super regular, I see trends when counting from the 1st day of the period (right side of the graph), but not counting towards the 1st day of the period (left side of the graph being way more messy)...

Anyways, just thought it might be interesting to some of you

[blueskighs]

trytrytry

what a very visually beautiful graph!

Blueskighs

[rose]

Hi Trytrytry,

I noticed the same tendency last year (month long plateaus then 1kg lost "suddenly" => lowest weigh-in a few days before period). Must be some water retention thing.
Also I used to think that the urge to have an unbalanced meal of pasta carbonara when I dropped some weight was due to some "fear of losing weight" or some equally unhealthy need to "reward myself".
But, actually, sometimes I would have pasta carbonara without having lost weight and then notice a weight drop the following morning - somewhat perplexing. Must be some hormone-induced craving that happens roughly on the same day as the sudden drop in weight.

[bonnieUK]

lovely graph!

Not being able to present my own case so eloquently, it can be summed up as follows:

First 2 weeks of cycle - feel thinnest, loose weight easily, appetite low to manageable, crave light foods (veggies, salads, grains, fruit).

Last 2 weeks of cycle - feel heavier (even if the scale says otherwise), appetite monstrous, crave denser foods (beans, tofu, nuts, bread, pancakes).

The latter can be kept under control by adding more protein, drinking lots of water, getting excersise and cutting down on salt. Not surprisingly I focus weight loss efforts mostly on the "good days"

[trytrytry]

Hi - thanks for your comments!

I think it is interesting how much our bodies (and mind!) respond to hormonal cycles. And what I sometimes find a bit surprising is that we all respond differently - e.g. craving different foods on different days of the cycle (though I read somewhere that food cravings are partially imposed by culture...), have a lowest weigh-in at different point of the cycle (e.g. me around day 7, rose a couple of days before).

I personally found it very helpful in controlling my mood/self-image to realize that I always feel a little down just before my period. Somehow, it gives me a little hope that maybe it is not me being THAT hopeless, but my hormones being evil... So in line with what Bonnie says - my random thought is that it would makes so much sense from the evolutionary perspective to feel thinner and more attractive in the first two weeks of the cycle, ie before ovulation than in the second when the chances of getting pregnant are over hehe...