Ok this might be a little on the TMI side of things, but I have been wondering about this for a long time.

Does the female body need more calories during the certain time of the month? What can I do to curb my cravings for ruffles and ice-cream?

I have been in the Zone for about 8 weeks and really love the results, but I feel Shark-week really undoes a lot of progress.

Thanks for your time,

Julia

Julia,

I've seen a Zone recommdenation for women with your experience to add a little more carbohydrate at that time of the month. If you're not hungry the rest of the month, then try it, just for that week. It might help. I'd say add about 1 more block of unfavorable carbohydrate to each meal.

Thank you Sue.

I hope this will help, because today I feel that I could eat a horse.

Julia, also make sure you're eating your full protein requirement each day. You can check it with the Body Fat Calculator here (link in the Tools tab above).

Sue,
I tried using the calculator but it did not work for me. The site kept on reloading, with out showing me results. :(

Oh, that's notgood. Maybe try it again. It's working for me right now.

Julia

essentially with the fluctuations in estrogen during menstruation it causes changes in insulin levels influencing hunger levels. This is why prior to your cycle its important that you really fine tune your carbohydrate intake, making sure you limit insulinogenic foods and sticking mainly with veggies and some fruits in addition to taking your omega-3s.

Thank you Tech Support. Hopefully my craving and hunger issue will be fixed soon.

Sue,
the calculator worked for me after all. Here are my numbers:

Body Fat %: 27
Body Fat Weight (lbs): 39
Lean Body Mass (lbs): 106
Daily Protein Requirement (g): 85
or # of Blocks of Protein: 12
# of Blocks of Carbohydrate: 12
# of Blocks of Fat: 12

If you have any pointers I would love to hear it. Let me give you a little background on me. I am thirty-three years old and play roller derby two, sometimes three times a week, I recently finished rehabbing a knee injury, and now I am looking to get back into my cross fit training. I try to work out five times a week. My goal is to shed unwanted pounds and build strength for the 2012 bouting season.

Thank you for you help, it is very much appreciated.

My additional thoughts. Looks like you used "active". Adding cross fit would put you at " very active" , 14 bl daily. You might want to try 13 now and go to 14 when you start cross fit. As Tech said, you'll get the best hunger control from the better carbohydrate choices for ghe rest if the minth, basically the less carbohydrate dense veggies and berries. A little additional fat added to meals might also help with the hunger, but keep it minimal, not more than a few extra blocks fat.

Thank you for the pointers Sue.

:)