I was the first one out of my friends to get my period. I remember being at my friend’s house when it happened, and of course I panicked. I jumped on my bike and rode all of the way home! I told my mom and made her promise never to mention anything to my dad and then we barely talked about it again.
It was the summer before the sixth grade, and from this moment forward every month I dreaded getting my period. It just felt awkward, icky and I absolutely had no idea how to talk to my mom or friends about how I was feeling and those pads were just horrible.
Flash forward to a few years ago when I was planning my wedding. I had way to much on my plate and my PMS was out of control. I’m pretty sure my husband thought I didn’t want to get married, even though I was really excited to marry him, that’s how much my emotions were out of whack. After our wedding my normal 28-day period starting coming either super early or really late. It took me about six months to get my period back on track to my bodies normal cycle. When my period was back in sync I felt so much calmer and in tune with my body which was such a huge relief.
Over the years I have learned to work with my body instead of fighting it, most of the time it feels better, but just like you I have those days or months that my cycle doesn’t feel right. What has helped me is eating certain foods each week to support my cycle and understand what weeks out of the month I am more creative and when I just need to be alone. This more feminine approach has helped me keep my hormones more balanced. (Here is an article I wrote for Maria Shriver about this.)
One of the many women I support went from a 60-day cycle to a 30-day cycle. By getting more in touch with her body and what her body really needs in order to thrive she has been able to embrace her period in a way that supports her more on a daily basis. It took some time so today I’m going to share three things you can can start doing today to help to improve your cycle.
Start Tracking
I encourage you if you are not already to track your period. I like the free app, Period Tracker, that you can download to your phone. I really like to use this a way to understand my mood, my cravings and my cycle. This is the first step to understanding your cycle. Once you do this for a few months you can see how many days your cycle is and then we can add in certain foods each week to help regulate your cycle and mood.
Eat More Fats 
I know that I talk about this a ton, but when you eat more healthy fats it really helps to regulate your body especially your hormones. We tend to shy away from fats because we believe that if we eat fat, we become fat. This is not true! You can check out this article I wrote all about fats and in the meantime try to take a look at the amount of fat you did eat this week. Did you have one avocado a day or maybe just one a week. Some healthy fats that are easy to add into your diet are walnuts, avocados, salmon and coconut oil.
Embrace Your Period
We have been brought up to believe that getting our period is a pain and that PMS is normal. Even when you talk with your doctor they sometimes dismiss your concern and prescribe the pill instead of looking into the root reason you may be experiencing acne, pain or moodiness.
Remember you are your own best healer so listening to your body is so important. Each one of us needs different individual attention to our body and hormones and I encourage you to join me for a complimentary call about your health where we can really take a closer look at what the root cause is for you not feeling your best right now.
Embracing your body is all about remembering how amazing our body is. We can carry babies, we have such strong connections to our family, friends and with ourselves. When our hormones are balanced and our period is regular it really serves us well to listen to our gut and intuition.
I encourage you to add these tips into your life and send me a note to let me know how you feel after a few months of tuning into your cycle.
Big Hugs & Health,
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