I am writing to you on my period.
Mine are particularly bad. I’ll shit, vomit, cry, curse God. Nowadays, I’ve mostly learned how to time the Ibuprofen and Tylenol to deliver me to a painfree bliss.
It took me more than 15 years of menstruating to realize that I could, should, change my behavior based on how my body feels at different points in my cycle (or to realize that my body even felt different at different points in my cycle).
I had previously subscribed to a “no days off” self-help book mentality, and would feel guilty if I failed to always be performing in tiptop shape. Then I realized most self-help books are written by men who have not and will never experience the natural cycle of decay and resurgence.
In fact, it wasn’t until that I saw a functional medicine practitioner for my acne that I started to pay closer attention to my body, its rhythms, its needs, it screams. My practitioner actually flat-out told me to not do heavy exercise the week or two before my period. This led to me noticing that I actually did get fatigued in the days leading up to my period —and instead of blaming myself for it, working with it.
What I do differently in each phase of my menstrual cycle
Firstly, I use a period tracking app (MyPeriodCalendar) with a calendar view that lets me easily see my predicted period and ovulation dates (red is period, blue is “fertile”).
I also find this visual helpful to understand how your body changes during your cycle:
Here are the lifestyle changes I make during each of these phases:
🌞 Follicular phase (roughly 1.5 wks after my period)
Feeling more energetic
Eat more fiber (veggies), protein
Work out more (4x/wk)
Attend more social events
Go harder at work, push myself more on personal projects, do things that scare me
🌚 Luteal phase (roughly 1.5 wks before my period)
Feeling more fatigued
Eat more carbs
Work out less (2x…0x/wk).
I remember times in the past where I’d be exercising a “normal” amount and feel so f a t i g u e d for absolutely no reason afterwards. My period would come right after, and I would falsely believe that I had exercised so hard that I had caused my period to come early (lol). I now realize that it was the opposite — I was fatigued because my period was about to come. Now, I plan my exercise around my period and avoid heavy exercise right before it.
Decrease social obligations
Whenever I make social or travel plans, I actually check my period calendar beforehand (before I even check my gcal). If I’ll be in my luteal phase, I’ll be more careful about overscheduling.
Do more “rote” work, work that doesn’t require as much strategic thinking or activation energy.
Still haven’t figured it out
Full disclosure - I still have no idea wtf is wrong with my uterus, and what causes me extreme monthly pain. I have an appointment with OBGYN in June so hopefully I will find out. (In fact, it was my somatic therapist who pushed me to finally get checked out).
But in the meantime, I take comfort in the fact that I have these built-in rest periods. (Even though honestly, we only really get one good week aka ovulation, which is such a scam, huh).
Yours in period blood,
Michelle
More resources:
Here’s a podcast episode I liked about this topic :) Muse Cycles: Mapping Your Productivity to Your Health and Hormones