Another day today when everything seemed to fall into place, everything was effortless, almost like second nature. No cravings, no hunger pangs, tons of energy and a good night sleep.
It was in fact so seamless that I was surprised to discover that my period had started (sorry if it's too much information for you, this is pure physiology, turns out this happens to most women every month). I was amazed, as I didn't see it coming one bit.
I fall in the category of those women who don't suffer terribly from PMS and I'm convinced that this is largely due to my diet, as many years ago I did experience some of the telltale signs of being premenstrual such as: acne, tender breasts, tiredness, difficulty sleeping, digestive complaints (bloating, constipation, diarrhoea), headaches, backaches, appetite changes, food cravings, joint or muscle pain, difficulty concentrating, irritability, mood swings, anxiety and depression.
Alarmingly, most of my female clients report suffering from them all.
I don't really get those, apart from a bit of acne even though I never suffered from it in my teenage years (how unfair is that has been my thinking: wrinkles and acne?!), and being absolutely ravenous roughly a week before my period is due. I don't crave any food in particular, I'm not more interested than usual in sweet things but I'm noticeably more hungry than normal. It doesn't particularly worry me because I can make good food choices, because I'm not overweight and because my appetite regulates itself soon after my period has started but I've always suspected it was something to do with a degree of hormone imbalance.
Changes in hormone levels have been blamed to be the cause of PMS, as up to two weeks before the period starts the hormone oestrogen starts declining while progesterone rises. However, I think that this in itself isn't the cause of PMS, this hormonal change starts impacting on us when other hormones are out of whack and especially when insulin is out of whack, which I suspect is the case for 98% of the people I see (men and women). Our insulin levels are all over the place because we live off a processed diet that is way to high in refined carbohydrates and because we're constantly eating.
High carbohydrate, especially high sugar diet and constant snacking worsen PMS symptoms by increasing insulin levels, which messes circulating sex hormones.
The idea behind the Metabolic Balance programme is to balance out your hormones by lowering insulin levels, so it's no surprise really that this went completely unnoticed. More than simply having gone unnoticed, I chose to start the diet right at the time when my oestrogen was falling and progesterone rising and I didn't have a clue I had entered my premenstrual phase. I haven't been that hungry, I experienced no headaches, no mood swings, no digestive complaints, I slept really well and had tons of energy.
I was expecting weight loss but Im getting much more from this and I'm thrilled!
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