PMT wobble/weight/nutrition

[HandHoldVent]

I’m mid 40s, definitely perimenopausal but think I probably have a few years of it to go yet.

I have made some changes to my diet, like giving up crisps, daily dark chocolate and eating a lot less pizza. I just need to give up the biscuits now and then there will be no serious bad habits left. I don’t drink alcohol and have chocolate once or twice a week at most. I don’t eat ready meals unless you count things like fish fingers.

I have eaten a lot more oily fish this month.

For some reason this cycle has sucked more than usual. I felt a bit depressed for most of it. Very down about my appearance. I look very wide. I don’t look in full length mirrors very often so I think I had a false impression of my width.

And now towards the end of my cycle I feel anxious.

There was a minor issue in the neighbourhood. My anxiety drove me to look up all the paperwork so I know I don’t have a problem but I still feel wired about it.

When I socialise I feel embarrassed because I used to feel quite confident about my appearance and even flirt a bit. And now I think the men must’ve been dismissing me in their minds.

I am wondering whether changing my diet has actually had a negative effect on my mood as my body reacts.

God this is familiar.

How you've described your emotions is exactly how I feel at the moment and it sucks. So here's some flowers 💐

You're doing all the right things with your diet so I'd encourage you to keep it up - maybe don't aim for total perfection though. You need some joy in life!

I'd say it's just likely to be general hormonal rollercoaster that can't be predicted or explained!

I do find it helpful to constantly remind myself that it's not real, it's the peri talking / driving my mood / anxiety. That stops it really taking hold and helps me 'faking it to make it' but doesn't remove the constant slightly shit feeling.

Do you do regular exercise? The endorphins / general benefits are massive

Thank you for your comment. Exercising is the one thing I haven’t been doing. I was walking a lot until fairly recently. Thinking about it, I was also a lot more confident about my appearance when I was walking a lot. I suppose if the exercise made me feel good I was more likely to be pleased with my best features and less likely to focus on my girth. Thank you, you have given me something to think about.