How to Get Through Your Monthly Cycle

LADIES! This one is for you, and all my gentlemen that join each week, please take notes for your family members, your friends, or your significant other.

How many of us have been told it’s normal to feel cramps, get cravings, or be miserable during our visit with Aunt FLO?

Well…

NEWS FLASH!!! It is not ok! When we experience these symptoms or any symptoms at all, it shows that we are hormonally out of alignment. Now, a few things you can do is to go get your levels checked by a doctor. Am I a strong believer in that…no. Why? Because a close friend to me has a hormone imbalance, and all the doctors tell her is she is fine. Uh, wrong-o she is not fine. However, each professional just dust her under the rug.

So, let’s chat about things you can do to get through your monthly cycle…

(We will discuss next week hormones and how to balance those babies…so stay tuned)

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Bloating

Bloating is a sign of water retention. Which I feel we all know. So for those ladies that swell like a balloon, yep, increase that water intake. There are teas that can also help such as Green Tea (& others). As your body changes estrogen and progesterone levels it will cause a fluctuation in water retention. You will also want to avoid processed foods, high sodium, and refined carbohydrates. Try and stick with more potassium-rich foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, spinach, avocados, etc.

Cramps

Grab the heating pad ladies, and gentlemen give your loved one some TLC. These are not easy, and suck! It is actually funny to see the men on Social Media Platforms go through a stimulator of what it feels like… beside the point…

Cramps are caused by your uterus contracting and expelling the hormone, prostaglandins are the main culprit of this pain. When this hormone is too high the cramps and pain are going to be higher. Whelp, here are a few tricks to ease the pain, and hopefully make it through those first few days. Heat, like stated above grab a heating pad. If you can do a warm bath, sure, however, a heating pad is better. Believe it or not, EXERCISE… now I can hear y’all right now… “but it’s too painful to work out.” I know I use to be in this same boat. However, the best thing for me was to move my body. Go for a walk. Go to the gym and just move somehow, stretching, light weights, light cardio, some type of movements. Also, there are yoga routines for menstrual cycles and cramps. If you search through YouTube, you will find some guided videos to assist. If pain is severe also take Ibuprofen or naproxen (if your health allows).

Cravings

OoOoO boy this was my biggest issue. Give me all the cheesecake, Oreos, and baked goods. Can y’all tell I have a major sweet tooth. When I was younger my go-to was Jack in the Box New York Style Cheesecake, as I got older my go-to was anything with sugar related honestly. It would change each month. Sometimes it would be Reese, other months it would be donuts, and then on occasions, there were the cravings for “healthy” treats.

However, the reason women experience these cravings leading up to the time of the month is a drop in serotonin, and imbalanced hormones.

So, how do we get through this time without eating the whole candy store, or with my ladies who love salt… not buying all the chips. Well… stick to complex carbohydrates…” what does that mean?” It means sticking to healthy carbs, rice, potatoes, quinoa, oats, carrots, etc. Eating foods rich in calcium, leafy greens (kale chips), edamame, yogurt, salmon, almonds, etc. STAY AWAY from sugars, alcohol, and processed foods high in salt, and fats. You want to eat more frequently, even if it means dropping the portion size. The point of that is to maintain your blood sugars to decrease cravings.

Mood Swings

Ever feel like one minute you are singing/dancing, and loving life, then in a millisecond you want to rip someone’s head off?  I feel like at some time in life each woman has experienced this. Whelp, it’s coming from those hormones again. It is coming from a fluctuation of when your hormones are off. The Hormones are the same hormones when you get cravings. So, to save your family and friends from the madness you are experiencing, just simply following the same protocol you would for cravings will help. Alcohol is a huge indicator of this too. So, ladies out there that drink the red wine thinking oh it’ll help, it actually makes it worse. Stay away from alcohol during your cycles. And refined sugars.

Acne

Now let’s be clear there is a difference between common acne and hormonal acne. Hormonal acne will see appear on your, chin, upper neck, lower lip, or space by your ears. You also want to make sure that the acne is consistent with your cycle. If you experience acne continually regardless if you are on your cycle or not, then it probably is just regular acne caused by other factors. Now, if you find that the acne is correlating and always coming up when Aunt FLO is in town, then it most likely is hormonal. Why does this happen? Well during the phases of a woman’s cycle, the progesterone and estrogen levels will fluctuate, causing an increase in oil production (sebum).

Getting through this time, and not wanting to hide your face forever…

Again, the nutrition you eat. Stay away from refined sugars and processed foods. It is only making it worse. Also, stay away from dairy for it will increase oil production too. Make sure you have a great skincare routine. If you do not have a skincare routine, then that is something to start looking into for your skin type. Exfoliating with salicylic acid that way it unclogs your pores. Face masks that hydrate your skin can have ingredients like aloe vera, honey, green tea, echinacea, etc. Zinc supplements either topically or internally will help during this time too.

Fatigue

Feeling so tired you just need a nap or 6 more cups of coffee, yet nothing is working the way you want it to work…

Like most of the other culprits, fatigue is commonly the same. It is caused by an imbalance of progesterone and estrogen. It can also be a cause of lower serotonin too.

Nothing new that wasn’t already previously stated can be done. Make sure to be supplying your body with proper nutrition. That means staying away from refined sugar, processed foods, and alcohol. Staying hydrated and implementing some form of activity to get your body moving.

When you combine proper nutrition, with a form of movement somehow (whatever is fun for you) you will notice the change in your body internally too. When I first started to figure out that all these symptoms weren’t normal. And I shouldn’t feel bad during this week of the month. I start to do my digging. Now for me and what worked was a supplement by Alpha Lion called SuperHuman Woman. The natural ingredients this powder has was amazing. I didn’t notice a change until a few months. Then I thought ok I’m cured so I stopped using it, and it came back again. So, I kept it as a staple in my routine ever since. Now I don’t have any PMS symptoms, and it feels incredible!!! I am not a sponsor of Alpha Lion, nor do I have some fancy code to save you money. There are some supplement stores that carry it. Or shopping online. However, if you have some type of underlining medical condition consult your physician before taking it. It does not have any medication in it, it is 100% natural, however, I do not know your medical history, and if you are being supervised you need to consult before doing anything.

I hope this helps, and subscribe for next week’s