for the ladies...

Men, this post is titled for the ladies because it's for the ladies, but if you happen to live with a lady you might find this interesting, too. Just remember, I did warn you!

It seems about once a month I find eating paleo to be a bit harder and  I'm surprised by my need to get my hands on any and all carbs within arms reach.  I wasn't able to figure out what was going on by myself, but with a little looking around I came across this aha on the Whole9 forums and thought others of you might find it interesting.

During your luteal phase (pre-menstrual), the body shunts tons of energy in the form of glucose (sugar) to your ovaries and related activities, like producing more hormones. As more glucose goes to your reproductive system, less is left for the rest of the body... which responds by craving more "fuel" in the form of... you guessed it... sugar!

Understanding this, perhaps purposefully bump up your starchy carb intake during this time period. (Chocolate will provide fast glucose, sure, but any form of carbohydrate will do.) Pre-emptively eating more carbohydrates and providing your body with the glucose it needs may help to diminish some of those carb cravings.

Remember, you can get plenty of carbs without turning to bread and you might find it helpful to add a bit more carb dense vegetables or fruits to your diet to get through these cravings.