January 29, 2010

How Much Weight Do You Gain During Menstrual Cycle?

Posted in Category : Women's Health

A small amount of weight gain during menstruation is completely normal and nothing to worry about. The female anatomy changes a lot during the time that it ovulates and finally menstruates if there has been no conception half way through these two cycles. It is always good to understand the anatomy and how it works in order to understand this weight gain and cope with it. Once the female body has ovulated, this means that the eggs which it is supposed to produce are ready. This makes the body also start to get ready to carry these eggs to term. One of the basic functionalities in this process is that the walls of the uterus thicken in preparation for carrying the fertilized egg. Apart from this, there are also a certain amount of hormonal changes that occur. Typically, during the menstrual cycle, the body also tends to retain water to some extent. A certain amount of bloating is also normal. This too can add to some weight gain. Apart from this, craving foods that are high in fat, colloquially also known as ‘comfort foods’, is also a completely normal thing. Since the body has changed in its chemical composition so much, it is sometimes also impossible to ignore these cravings, no matter how much one may try. Due to these conflicting emotions and bodily signals, it is also totally normal to get irritable and annoyed with the smallest of things. This is sometimes also known as moodiness.

It is good to derive comfort from the fact that these things are completely normal and are also faced by more than 70 per cent women everywhere. The simple part of this problem is that miraculously, once the menstrual cycle is over and done with, most of these problems are automatically resolved. But till the menstrual cycle occurs, this mostly seems impossible. The negative aspect is that nothing much can really be done about it actively. As far as possible, it is important to have and stick to a routine of normal and regular diet and exercise. While exercising may seem like a tedious effort in the middle of the weight gain problem, it definitely has its positives. Continuous exercise can actually help to not only maintain better health; it can also be of long term help in a weight loss attempt. Eating sensibly will only aid and assist this further, so this too is important to keep in mind.