Temporary Malfunction

How does Dr. Stavnezer get right inside my head? Read her article on why we crave chocolate during PMS if you haven’t already and then join me back here. Done? Okay, now, do you recognize yourself in her article at all?

This was perfect timing for me, as I found myself waking up yesterday with an incontrollable urge to, both smash things, and eat things. Since I couldn’t find anything to smash, without consequences, I looked for high-fat, high-calorie things to eat. Did I eat my daily ounce of chocolate? Um, yes, but let’s multiply that by three or four, or ten ounces. I know I was just writing about how great this experiment was going and how I was really taking charge, but yesterday just blew that to pieces. Today, though? Back on track. Cravings minimal. Bluebirds and rainbow-colored unicorns dancing around my head.

One look at the calendar and my suspicions were confirmed. Oh yes, it’s that time again, that time when I temporarily take leave of my senses. Of course we know women experience hormonal changes before our periods, but as Dr. Stavnezer’s article explains, this does not account entirely for cravings. In other words, we can’t just blame our hormones. Dr. Stavnezer writes, “Experience teaches us that ‘that time of the month’ is a set of special circumstances when giving into a chocolate craving will be met with understanding rather than guilt and shame.”

This just means that we gals have each others’ backs, as in, oh, it’s that time of the month, of course, have an extra piece of pie. You’re feeling crazy? I hear you, sister. It is widely accepted in our culture that women have PMS and react to it by indulging in their cravings. The question is, how much of this is a reaction to actual processes taking place in our bodies and how much is learned behavior (chocolate tastes good, I want chocolate at this time of the month, chocolate will help me deal with it, etc.). And does it really matter? Personally, I’m okay with falling off the wagon, if it’s only one day a month, and I hop right back up there.

On a related note, I’ve got my eye on the hubs…he took a half bar (!) of my orange flavored chocolate the other day, and I’ve also noticed that he gets extra cranky a couple days every month. Where is the researcher who can show me a study on male PMS? Because I am absolutely sure (based on my sample size of one hubs) that it exists!

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