If we don’t burn more calories, why do we feel hungrier?

So, when it comes to dieting, women will have to eat far fewer calories to lose fat.

How to Workout \u0026 Eat According to Your MENSTRUAL CYCLE \u0026 Lose Weight - Joanna Soh

Due to women playing a key role in the survival of the human race, namely childbearing and birth, evolution has made fat loss that much harder for them. The menstrual cycle is probably the biggest impediment to female fat loss.

5 Reasons You’re Gaining Weight During Your Period Every Month

None of which are helpful when calories are already low and training is already taxing. On average, women tend to be smaller and will burn fewer calories during exercise and general movement. Naturally, this means women have to eat fewer calories when dieting than men. Women often feel under pressure to look a certain way. This can make them more likely to fall for fad diets with the hope of losing weight fast. And if not careful, this can become a vicious cycle of crash diet — gain weight — crash diet — gain weight. It is, therefore, easy to become overwhelmed by information about what you should eat, or not eat, how to exercise, or not exercise.

As mentioned previously, due to women burning fewer calories than men, they also have to diet on fewer calories.

2. Constipation

This can become tough mentally and make sticking to the diet harder. We are not doctors and if you have any health concerns you should seek professional medical advice. The menstrual cycle has three distinct phases: the follicular phase, ovulation, and the luteal phase. Your training and nutrition during these three phases will vary drastically. Contrary to common belief, in females the oestrogen hormones do positive things, such as reduce appetite, increase fat burning, and help with performance.

We referred to hormones, plural, because oestrogen is the title given to a group of female sex hormones. Progesterone is another hormone that is secreted during the menstrual cycle and is what causes increased hunger and cravings — especially for carbs and sugars — lethargy, strength loss, and generally making women feel terrible during menstruation.

The follicular phase day is the time in your cycle when you should be focussing on progress and training hard. This phase is also when your insulin sensitivity is at its highest, which means your body will utilise glycogen carbs a lot better. Hunger, especially cravings for sugar and carbs, will also be higher during ovulation — this is due to the slight increase in metabolic rate. Make sure to consume enough protein during this period for satiety and balance your carb and fat intake.

If you find that your sugar and carb cravings are higher than normal this can be a good time to reduce protein intake slightly while increasing carb intake to compensate for the cravings and reduce the chance of overeating. The luteal phase day is the hardest on women out of the whole cycle.


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This is when you feel tired, irritable, have extreme sugar and carb cravings, and generally feel low mentally and physically. Due to the physical goings on, trying to attempt high intensity training will only do more harm than good.


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On the brightside, during the luteal phase your body is primed to burn the most fat, so adding in workouts like yoga, walking, stretching etc can help with your body recomposition goals. The luteal phase will also see your hunger and carb cravings at their highest point, while your insulin sensitivity will be at its lowest. It can be helpful to reduce carb intake during this period slightly to help increase fat loss. Tracking is an important part of the fat loss process. This is another area where there are slight differences between men and women.

Due to the menstrual cycle women can see pretty crazy weight fluctuations on a day to day basis. Seeing the scale fluctuate can push women to resort to crash diets, or increase exercise to try and lose the weight.

How a Big Change in Your Weight May Affect Your Period

We recommend that you track progress every week, but compare changes once a month. Below is an example of what we mean. In the example above, the hypothetical trainee was lbs on the anchor week in the first month, and she was lbs on the anchor week in the second month. As we mentioned at the start of the article, the main difference between men and women is really seen during the menstrual cycle.

1. Fluid retention

But bloating isn't the only gastrointestinal problem to play a part in period weight gain. Research suggests that these changing hormone levels can impact the speed and function of the GI tract and, in turn, cause "prolonged transit" or, yup, constipation. And when you're super backed up, the number on the scale is understandably going to change—but only until you can finally get things a-go.

Once your period is over, your period weight gain should gradually lessen. Food cravings. As you approach the first day of your period, your body's busy riding a veritable hormonal rollercoaster that cuh-learly plays a major part in period weight gain. In addition to belly bloat and fluid retention, your changing hormones are also the reason for your serious sugar cravings , which, not shockingly, can also lead to weight gain before and during your period.

There's no reason to starve yourself of treats when PMS-ing—just make sure to keep it in moderation, especially because cravings-caused period weight gain will not come off after your period, warns Dr. Although, if you're craving and eating salty foods, the sodium may be causing some of your bloating. If you're set on weighing yourself regularly and monitoring your period weight gain , you can weigh yourself once a week, on the same day, at the same time, using the same scale.

If you're focusing on losing weight right now, consider looking at non-scale victories instead of the scale to measure progress. If you want to manage your period weight gain and bloating, focus on maintaining your usual healthy behaviors, such as exercising and drinking a lot of water to help get rid of water retention, says Dr.

PMS Weight and Your Period: How to Avoid It

Also try to avoid fatty foods, alcohol, and salt, which triggers your body to hold onto water, says Dr. Moral of the story: you can check your weight, but don't be paranoid about it. And keep your chin up: Your best days are ahead of you, explains Dr. Dardik, as women usually feel at their peak in the first days after their period.

By Amber Herring Updated July 15, Save FB Tweet ellipsis More. By Amber Herring.