PMS- my favorite topic

Believe it or not, PMS is one of my favorite things to talk about and no, it’s not because I am a masochist, although I have been researching ultra running lately so maybe I am, but that’s not why I like talk about PMS. I like talking about PMS and painful periods because I want to shout from the mountain top that PMS is NOT normal. Yes, PMS is incredibly common, most all women experience it at some point, but I have some great news: YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP LIVING WITH PMS. Yep, that’s right gals, read it again if ya need! 

What is PMS?

  So before I go any further, I want to define PMS for you. So, PMS is a group of symptoms like breast tenderness, mood swings, irritability, cramping, headaches, and bloating that you may experience before your period. We have been so accustomed to these symptoms that it seems we have almost come to look at these things as a right to passage. However, if you are experiencing these symptoms, it’s your body’s way of saying, “pstttttt…something isn’t quite right in here.” Unfortunately, as a society we have learned to pop a Midol and slog through the day and while this works as a temporary fix, it’s hardly a way to handle a problem that occurs every month. The truth is your period should come and go with little to no interruption to your daily life. This may seem impossible to you right now, but with some small lifestyle and diet changes this can be your reality. 

Phases of your cycle

To get a really good idea of what’s going on with you individually, I think it’s really really important to first understand your cycle. When I say cycle, I mean the time from the start of your bleed to the start of your next bleed, this is normally about 24-38 days, however, it might be different for you. A lot is happening between each bleed, like A LOT, and I think it's really empowering to know these different parts because your energy is going to go up and down with your cycle. Understanding this can help you be better at building your social calendar and curating your workouts to when you have the most energy.  

Menstruation Phase

There are four phases of your cycle and we can relate these to the seasons. The menstruation phase is like winter, the follicular phase is like spring, ovulation is like summer and the luteal phase is like fall. So day one of your cycle is going to be the first day that you bleed and this is the first day of the menstruation phase, this phase typically lasts about one to five days. During this time, our hormones kind of tank and that is why it is perfectly normal to feel low energy during menstruation and like you just want to hibernate.  During menstruation you want to include high iron foods and anti inflammatory foods like turmeric and ginger. You may want to take rest during this time or do gentle exercise like an easy hike, yin yoga, or some light stretching. 

Follicular Phase

After menstruation, we move into spring, which is our follicular phase. Estrogen is rising during this time so you may feel your energy rising as well. You might start doing some more intense exercise again and start to feel more social. You want to focus on foods like cruciferous vegetables, high fiber and high protein foods. During this time you want to support gut and liver detox pathways to ensure you are properly detoxing estrogen. 

Ovulation

After the follicular phase comes ovulation. Ovulation is like summer, this is typically when your energy is the highest, you may feel your skin is glowing and you feel the most social. This is the time to be a social butterfly, try new things and do high energy workouts like HIIT. This phase typically occurs around day 14-17. 

Luteal Phase

As summer ends, so does ovulation which moves you into fall or the luteal phase. The luteal phase brings progesterone which is our calming hormone. Progesterone also raises our body temperature slightly which can result in feeling more hungry or craving comfort foods. Listen to hunger cues during this time because if you are properly producing progesterone, you may be burning around 300 more calories a day. During the luteal phase, you should focus on strength training and foods high in magnesium like dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds or spinach. For almost all women who are experiencing PMS, I recommend take 300mg of magnesium glycinate. During the luteal phase you will also want to include omega 3 fatty acids like walnuts and fatty fish. To get a sufficient amount of omega-3, I recommend eating fish 2-3 times per week. The luteal phase is typically the time you may start experiencing PMS, so it may also be helpful to start incorporating anti-inflammatory foods like ginger and turmeric. 

Kick PMS in the butt starter plan

Understanding your body and listening to what it is telling you during each cycle isn’t only important to figure out your root cause for PMS, but it is so EMPOWERING to know and understand what’s going on within you. By connecting deeper with your body, you can live your life with so much more ease and flow. 

While I wish I could prescribe you an easy plan to fix your PMS in this very blog post, we are each much too unique to give an across the board fix. However, I want to implore you to start by learning your body and incorporating foods and movement that I outlined in this post. While you are doing this I want you to focus on three other key pillars to hormone control: 

• Sleep- focus on getting at least 7-8 hours of restful sleep each night. 

• Stress management- find ways that work for you to de stress every single day. For extra support you can try adaptogens like Ashwagandha. 

• Balancing your blood sugar- Be sure to make sure each meal contains protein, carbohydrates and fat. 

If you are looking for individualized support, I would love to help you reach your goals, send me a message on Instagram or apply for one on one here. 

Be well!