PMS-ing....

Ok so yesterday I had a PMS binge. It happens almost every month and is generally an indicator of when my period will come. After my binge, I expect the flo to show (rhymes!) around 24-48 hours post-binge. I ate around 2700 or 2800 calories yesterday. About 1000 calories above my general daily intake. I used to feel guilty. Now I don't. Why? Because this is my body's way of letting me know that my period is coming. I fully embrace the idea that you can communicate with your body and allow it to tell you the good, the bad and the ugly. This qualifies under one of the communications with my body that I could ignore and go on my way. But honestly, what difference do those extra 1000 calories make in the long run? Sure these women's magazines will tell you that eating one extra apple, or one small bag of chips a day will cumulate in a 20lb gain or something crazy like that, over the period of 10 years. They operate on a mode of food fear. You should fear food and avoid going beyond x-amount of calories to reach this "x-weight" which THEY call your happy weight regardless of whether or not your body really wants to be there. I don't operate that way. I believe that each person's body has its own genetic code for a happy weight range and allows environmental factors to shift that range a few pounds (or tens of pounds in desperate cases like starvation or malnutrition) up or down. So I want my body to tell me that range. And if that requires my body engaging in a pre-menstrual binge, then so be it. It literally has hapened every month for the past couple years. ANd in all honesty those weight effects that result post-binge go away as soon as my period is over. I think its just fat stores that my body uses for the extra energy. I really crave meats and iron-containing foods. I also eat extra carbs but not too many. I just think it's natural and healthy and so I will not feel guilty for it! I think that my body will make up for it through the course of the week. This morning I didn't want anythiing heavy and was craving fruits: so i made a smoothie with some strawberries, blueberries and milk. I also want to walk a few miles just to get some brisk exercise in my day. It's this kind of negotiating with your body or "communicating" that helps us maintain healthy figures and sane minds. It's like you're married to your body. If your body wants to buy the 56" plasma television then you tell it that it must cut back somewhere else, like on the season tickets to the red sox games of the year. Similarly if my body wants to eat an extra 1000 calories then it also will probably crave lower calorie foods throughout the week. So now I'm going to step off of my soap box and remind you all to JUST COMMUNICATE with your bodies.