Breaking the fourth wall for a minute, as I’ve written about women’s menstrual cycle and how our hormones impact our wellbeing, I couldn’t help but share some of my journey navigating my own hormonal health and its various peaks and valleys. When I started to think about how to highlight the benefits of learning to understand your cycle, I thought it was a great opportunity to invite you to see some of the things that I pay attention to and how I’ve learned to shift gears to nurture my wellbeing and maximise some of the benefits that having a menstrual can bring.
To track my menstrual cycle, I use the app called “Flo”. I generally add the days I have my period along with any symptoms I may have (period flow, headaches, cramps, etc).
It’s important to say that I’m only going to share the things that work for my wellbeing and that there is still a lot that I’m learning and haven’t discovered yet, so what works for me may not work for you. In other blog posts, we’ve shared some of the science behind menstrual health, its impacts on our physical and mental wellbeing, and other details. If you’re interested in these, I encourage you to read them. Rather than going deep into each stage of the menstrual cycle, this is more of an example of how you could track your cycle and some of the practical things that you could implement to support your wellbeing at each stage. As usual, this is not medical advice and please see a medical professional if you need to.
That’s all to say, welcome to my very own menstrual cycle diary!
Week 1 – Not the usual flow of things
Oh boy, I chose a bad week to diarise my cycle because not only was my cycle 33 days (instead of its usual 28-30) but my period came with a level of fatigue and cramps that I have not experienced in over a year. I wondered why my period was a few days later than expected and why it came with an invisible force punching my ovaries and uterus and then it hit me (pun intended). I remembered that I had been more stressed out than usual and had not been eating or resting as well as I should have. I am well aware of how my diet and mental health affect my hormones, so I reminded myself to go back to my usual healthy routines and nourishing diets to improve the symptoms of my next period. To clarify, for the last 3 years my periods have been smooth sailing, with no cramps, not heavy, and very regular. Knowing that stress and poor eating interrupted the natural order of things made me immediately want to apologise to my ovaries and promise to manage my wellbeing more actively.
If you have a period, do you ever freak out when it comes late, thinking that you might be pregnant, even if you’re not sexually active? Yep, that was me this week.
Your cycle (that runs from day 1 of your period to the day before the next period) can vary in length from one month to the next, that’s why a “late period” is usually after 7 days.
According to the Flo app, my period was not late but just didn’t arrive when “expected”. Flo has been excellent in predicting my period, mostly because my period is quite regular. On the first day of my period, I went on the app and ticked the boxes to indicate that I had medium flow, headaches, cramps and felt overly sensitive- more boxes than I’ve ticked in a long time but still good to track.
I spent the evening of day 1 in bed with my trusted heated wheat bag and took some over-the-counter painkillers. I had a beginners’ ballet class scheduled the next morning, so thankfully I woke up feeling better and promised myself I would take it easy and tell the instructor if I needed a break.
The class was lots of fun and I was grateful I chose to move my body because it genuinely helped with the cramps I had. I generally know what my threshold is for exercising with menstrual cramps. If the cramps or headaches aren’t bothering me too much, I know exercise will help ease them. Thank you for the endorphins that exercise releases!
That evening, I cooked a steak and some roasted vegetables to ensure that my iron didn’t deplete and that I felt the strength I needed to work and get on with my routine. I was pleased that the majority of day 2 to day 4 felt like my usual periods, relatively pain-free, light in flow and rather uneventful. Nothing to report to flo except a light flow.
Day 4 came around on a Monday, and I felt fatigued and had a headache. Usually, I would have gone through my work day and had an evening at home but I had a dinner booked with a friend for her birthday. I know that usually I keep to myself if I’m feeling fatigued, but it is nice to spend time with a loved one who I don’t need to make too much of an effort to socialise with. Spending time with a friend when I’m on my period is comforting and ends up being a relaxing experience that fills my cup!
Week 2 – Let’s do all the things
Gosh I feel so great now that my period is over, I feel lighter, my mind is clearer and I feel like I could conquer the world. Thank God for giving us this time when we can go into our cocoons and come out a few days later feeling like a majestic butterfly. On weeks like this, I don’t usually add anything to the flo app, but I could if I wanted to track my energy levels.
This week I had a list of meals I was going to cook, I wrote down three delicious and healthy meals (A salad with mixed beans, rice and chicken sausages; Soft tacos with steak and coleslaw; and ricotta & spinach ravioli with veggie pasta sauce) and ticked them off as I made them. Sometimes I struggle with cooking, I tend to get into the groove of meal-prepping and eating well and then my routine gets messed up for a day or two and meal-prepping is forgotten about. If you have any good strategies for this, please comment below because I could use the support.
Given that I was feeling so energised, I made the most out of it and exercised in one way or another every day. My bare minimum is usually a 20-minute walk around the block, then one of my goals is to do a pilates or strength session using the KIC app three times a week.
Knowing that I was in my follicular phase, I felt confident going to pilates classes, lifting heavier weights and even doing a walk AND a pilates class on a busy day at work. On the work side of things, I even felt like I could concentrate more intensely and be more productive.
These are the weeks when I then overcommit to social activities and work projects, but I have learned to manage my schedule to still include time to rest and recharge. Otherwise, I tend to burn out pretty quickly and end up exhausted.
Week 3- Is it just me, or is everything just so beautiful?
This is the week when I’m ovulating. My body is essentially getting ready for a baby. I picture my womb being set up with comforting blankets, mood lighting, and making a cosy home for the egg to be fertilised and a baby to be formed. Knowing that I’m ovulating explains why I find everything (and everyone) so pretty and helps me understand why my sex drive is higher than normal.
If I were dating, this is the time of the month when I would honestly struggle with physical boundaries (check out the other BKT posts on that!). Because I am single, I just find some people more attractive than normal and it can get rather frustrating because well, God gave us a sex drive and while that is not a bad thing, it is something we have to steward because sexual intimacy belongs within the covenant of marriage.
Shifting towards the physical aspects of ovulation, I learned how to track it through the cervical mucous. During ovulation, the cervical mucous allows the sperm to have a superspeed highway to the egg. Just before ovulation discharge becomes quite clear and slippery, it can be really obvious when you wipe.
When I first started tracking my cycle, my doctor told me to not only track when I had a period but also learn the different types of cervical mucous. This is not only helpful for people trying to conceive but also to understand when you’re ovulating. You can identify what your discharge looks like by yourself by using two clean fingers, finding a comfortable position and inserting one finger into your vagina and then removing the finger to observe the cervical fluid. Do this by both looking at the mucus and rolling what you find between two fingers, usually your thumb and index finger. Try pressing your fingers together and then slowly moving them apart.
- Discharge right after your period: No discharge or very little.
- Days between your period and ovulation: Sticky, white, creamy. It kind of looks like body lotion, due to the rise of estrogen.
- A few days before and during ovulation: Clear, wet, slippery and stretchy. It can look like raw egg whites and your vagina can feel “wet”.
- After ovulation and until your period: Discharge decreases from the increase in progesterone.
Interestingly, sometimes I also get some cramps or tenderness on one side of my abdomen, presumably where my ovary is. I once read that around 40% of women experience pain in their ovaries during this time, I guess I’m in that group! Fun fact, ovaries take turns releasing the egg each month! In my experience, the pain is sometimes bad enough to warrant a heatpack or painkillers but it typically just feels like some tenderness.
Week 4 – My world starts to slow down.
In the lead-up to my period, I always start to feel more tired. Sometimes because I struggle to sleep (it’s the increase in progesterone!) or I simply feel like I’m moving slower. This really used to bother me a few years ago, but I’ve learned to do what I can to plan my month around it.
This looks like avoiding organising big trips, hikes or social events this week. I also avoid doing big house chores (big cleans, work in the yard, washing my car, etc) this week. This specific week, I am sitting in my room writing this blog rather than doing some work I need to get done in my garage. Today, I woke up a little later than normal, went for a 30-minute walk, did some laundry, and changed my sheets. Later today I’m having dinner with a close friend.
I’m checking in a few days later and I am having some pretty annoying cramps. I’ve been productive and energetic these past few days but today I have a feeling my period will arrive tonight or tomorrow. I’ve put on my period undies as a preventive measure and packed some painkillers just in case because I’ll be out all day.
I carried on with my day when I was suddenly hit with sharp pains in my abdominal area; my period had arrived. I got home later that night and curled up on the couch with my trusted wheat bag; it didn’t take long to start feeling better again. I make sure I have a nourishing dinner and an early night.
Takeaways
- It’s fascinating to learn how my energy levels, mood, and concentration ebb and flow throughout my cycle.
- I’ve learned (the hard way) how my stress levels, eating patterns and sleep set me up for success for a regular, pain-free period. It is true what they say, your period is really your body’s report card.
- I’ve learned that even my body changes throughout my cycle! I’ve noticed how there are particular days when I feel or look bloated just before my period arrives.
