8 Tips for Regulating Your Hormones and Cycle!
Ladies, we’ve all been there with mood swings, hormonal breakouts, fluid retention, body weight fluctuations, painful periods, even irregular, heavy or non existent periods!
Many of these factors are due to hormonal imbalances, poor lifestyle factors and nutritional deficiencies in the body. Talking and educating myself more on my cycle I have learnt that these symptoms are actually quite common for lots of women so I though I would share what I now know in the hopes of helping some of my beautiful lady friends out there as part of a series I will be writing about on mastering your feminine!
I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic ovarian syndrome) a couple of years ago now which affects the regularity and consistency of your cycle, increased chance of acne ups and has a few other symptoms also but those were my main problems and is due to hormonal imbalances and for the fact that there were cysts found on my ovaries (Don’t worry this is not life threatening at all and I am still capable of having children!!). However, due to this diagnosis I have delved deep into learning about my body, my hormones and cycle so that I can best support myself and minimise the symptoms associated with it. Even if you don’t have PCOS perhaps some of the culprits I mentioned earlier such as mood swings, painful periods, heavy or super right periods, hormonal breakouts rang a bell with you, if so then this post may be beneficial to you!
I was told constantly by GP’s and medical professionals that it would be something that only the contraceptive pill would fix. However, I chose not to believe what I was constantly being fed by doctors and do my own research trusting my bodies own innate ability to regulate and work properly itself. Instead of going on the pill I educated myself on how I can better regulate my hormones and balance my body holistically and can now confirm that I have almost no symptoms, have a regular cycle and my acne has definitely almost stopped in flare ups! Don’t get me wrong I’m still on the road to absolutely mastering my hormones and creating body balance but its a promising start! The pill was not a way to heal my body it was a temporary bandaid to the underlying problem which meant that as soon as I came off it, the problems would re-arise (and not to mention to bad side effects of the contraceptive pill!). I made it my goal to heal myself and become more connected with the natural cycling of my body. I did have help from a naturopath along my journey but here I will share with you some fundamental tips that I learnt during my research and that I incorporated into my lifestyle to create this shift and promote feminine wellness within my body.
So hormonal imbalance can be helped by :
Eating a source of protein with every meal such as: tofu, eggs, chickpeas, lentils, nuts and seeds, chia, tempeh, or an animal protein sources if thats included in your diet. Protein is super important for the repair and maintenance of body mass and tissue such as your muscles, bones, hair, nails and skin health. Protein also helps regulate your appetite, food intake, increases your metabolism and fat burning capacity too!
Eat a source of healthy fat with every meal such as: nuts and seeds, avocado, peanut butter, tahini, coconut oil, ghee, eggs yolks, oily fish, olive oil ect. Healthy fats help to decrease insulin resistance within the body and are actually essential building blocks for some hormones in our bodies therefore, is a must to consume in your diet. Healthy fats and protein also help to stabilise blood sugar levels which prevent energy crashes, these crashes and spikes in blood sugar levels can lead to hormonal fluctuations and ultimately hormonal breakouts (something I have just personally experienced and overcome). Healthy fats are also wonderful to promote healthy glowing skin, hair and nails.
Preventing stress and increased cortisol levels. This may come in the form of physical or emotional stress. When there is high levels of the stress hormone cortisol within the body, other important sex hormones such as progesterone, oestrogen and testosterone production may stop. Stress tells your body you are not comfortable and safe so why should it be putting energy into synthesising healthy sex hormones? If your body is in high state of stress more energy will be put into the activities you are pursuing rather than healing within the body.
Eating enough quality food and regularly. Making sure you are at your bodies unique healthy body weight is so important for the production of hormones and getting a regular healthy menstrual cycle. Women need a higher body fat percentage than men which helps to produce hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone. Your body needs to feel safe and loved in order to regulate itself correctly! Having nourishing, consistent meals helps your body to feel safe and relaxed enough for it to produce hormones and cycle itself by increasing your stores of nutrients and having regulated blood sugar levels.
Exercise but the right way! Girls stop forcing your body. If you need rest, rest. If you want movement and exercise, move! Doing too much strenuous exercise wreaks havoc on our sensitive bodies. By all means I’m not saying don’t exercise, but doing too much puts the body under lots of stress and stimulates the production of cortisol (your body no longer will feel ‘safe’). Mindful movement in sync with your cycle is favourable. Maybe instead of running you opt for a pilates class or a long walk. I have learnt to become much better at doing this and it sure has paid off! Listen to your intuition when it comes to exercising as you are the only one who truly knows how you feel and what you need at a given time.
Getting in touch with your body, sexuality, and mood cycles. Putting more energy and focus on healing your body and honouring the cycles sends more energy to the areas of weakness and aids the body to recognise what you are trying to work on. This can also be done in visualisation meditation where you visualise yourself as a perfectly hormonally balanced being specifically focussing on what you’re trying to work on like a regular period, clearing your skin, no longer getting major PMS symptoms. For example if you’re trying to clear your hormonal acne imagine your body working in perfect symbiosis and having beautiful, clear glowing skin and how good that makes you feel. Focus on the feeling and give it time, everything takes time.
Yoga. Different poses and movements in yoga help activate different energy pathways and channels in the body opening and enhancing the work of organs responsible for hormonal balance. Yoga also helps to reduce cortisol and stress levels.
Patience and Consistency. Just like in nature a tree doesn’t miraculously grow or heal overnight, it needs plenty of water, sunshine and nutrients consistently fed and given to it along its growing, budding, flowering journey. Just like the tree our bodies need consistency and patience when healing magic and adjustments are at work. It is said that the body needs at least 3 months to be fully able to use and put into practise what has been changed. Like if you’re starting a new diet, it will take around 3 months to fully see and feel the effects in your body . Your body also needs consistency like the tree, adequate water, nutrients, sleep, exercise and self love to be able to grow, blossom and bloom as it was designed and knows how to! It took me a year to get my period back since coming off the pill, a year of patience, consistency and care and sure enough it returned.
I truly hope this has helped you and maybe there were some tips there that can help you have a better more supported cycle. Fertility is a sign of absolute health and radiance in a woman as it means you’re in a state that your body was biologically designed to be in! There needs to be a reduced stigma and taboo around periods as every female will experience it! I hope to shine a light on this area and how important it is to love your cycle and have regular periods. Lets embrace it instead of suppressing it! Also, maybe you could share this with friends or loved ones in the hope that they will benefit from some of the information and help them build a better more understanding relationship with their body, their cycle and hormones.