This Post is for the Ladies

I'm not kidding.  Guys, if you're reading this, you may want to stop now.

Ladies: (imagine sexy background music in this infomercial) Don't you get sick of the symptoms of PMS? Want to eat anything and everything that resembles chocolate, even if it's just a piece of brown construction paper? Have mood swings that make your man say sarcastically, "What, is it that time of the month?" which causes you to want to beat the living daylights out of him even though it may be true? Feel so bloated that Goodyear might as well paint their logo on you and fly you over a football stadium somewhere?

Yeah, it sucks.

Truthfully, I don't suffer much from PMS.  Sure, I have the sugar/chocolate/grease cravings, but beyond that the only thing that really bothers me is that I tend to suffer from that Goodyear scenario mentioned above.  In fact, I've done experiments, and at my worst I weigh an extra 5 pounds from the week before my cycle starts to the week after.  Otherwise known as, I am feeling gross and nasty for half the month.

"Um, thanks JC," you say.  "This is way more information than I ever wanted to know about you."

And if you're a guy who is still reading after my warning above... you have no one to blame but yourself.  Stop reading now.  Meh, it's too late, you might as well continue.

But, as always, there is a point to this post.  I've discovered that since January, when I started the Au Naturale lifestyle, the Goodyear scenario doesn't seem to exist or, if it does, not to the extent that it did before.  At first I thought it was a fluke, but now I think it's a pattern. I fully credit the switch to the Au Naturale diet, but even beyond that I think this example truly shines a light on all the hidden things we tend to put in our bodies on a daily basis without realizing it.  All the extra sodium, fat, and who-knows-what-else in processed food may very well be reacting with our bodies in a way that we always assumed was natural, but truly isn't.  I mean, who says we have to suffer every 28 days?  Do we know for a fact that ladies farming back in the 1800s went through the same discomfort we do now?

Granted, I am eating healthier overall, but I still tend to partake in some extra "crap" in my diet as always during that time of the month, such as the buffalo/bacon/gruyer burger I had last weekend (boy, that was good) and candy and chocolate.  However, I'm becoming convinced that choosing items like the range-raised, grass-fed buffalo instead of pen-raised, corn-fed beef, and an actual piece of chocolate instead of a HFCS-loaded candy bar is having a positive effect on my body. Specifically, one I never counted on when I started the Au Naturale journey: deflating the blimp.  Hurray for unintended consequences!

Oh, loyal 3 or 4 female readers: what do you think? Are my conclusions accurate or a placebo effect (please note that I never said "I hope my Au Naturale diet helps with PMS."  I noticed this after the fact)?  For those that follow the Au Naturale lifestyle themselves, have you noticed any other positive effects like this? And for those that may want to try being Au Naturale for a month... let me know what happens (or doesn't) to you.