104. cycle self care : all things motivation, cravings & pms while on your period

Hello, hello. Happy Wednesday. Welcome back to the Wellness Cafe podcast, year go to Hawkerwalk podcast. I'm your host, Trin Tondelier. Today, we are finally discussing all things being on your period. This has been a highly, highly, highly requested episode. And as I have shared before, because I have an oversharing problem, when I'm on my period, I am a literal gremlin. Just that's it. Enough said, I'm a gremlin. And I truly believe that I get the worst periods in the whole entire world, like debilitating. And I could honestly just hibernate in a cave for one week out of every single month, if I could. And I'm sure that you would also like to do that. But unfortunately, we don't get a week off pass. I truly believe that we should have a week off pass where we don't have to show up as normal functioning human beings. Because why is it fair? Like, how does that make sense that we have to show up as normal human beings when we are bleeding out of our vaginas? And you know, everyone else just, they don't have to do that. We should get a week off. But since we do not get a week off and still have to show up as highly functioning human beings, I'm here to discuss all the T, all the cheat codes on how to live your best life and not get let down by your period. Okay, we are going to discuss hygiene on your period, mental health when you're PM messing, exercise motivation, how to control your emotions and stay positive, how to deal with cravings and period pain, just all of the things. Okay, we're going to discuss it all. And then I actually asked on the Wellness Cafe Instagram stories, if anyone would like to share some period horror stories so that we can all laugh together. And when I was going through the submissions at gathering them for the episode, I was genuinely just laughing alone at my computer, because it is wild how we are all one in the same, even though it seems like these things are only happening to you. I won't spoil any of the stories, but if you want a good laugh, wait around until the end of the episode for those funny stories. Anyway, I hope that I sound better today than I did last week. Holy shit, I was devastated when the audio of last week's episode was all fuzzy and messed up because I thought that episode was really good. And there was just no way that I could rerecord that. So sorry for the audio. But if I sound a little better today, that is because our King, our boyfriend Brody drove two hours to the only store in and around Vancouver that had extra supplies that I needed for the new mic setup. So hopefully it sounds amazing now. When I upgraded mics to a mic that needs an interface versus before I was just using a mic with a USB that plugs into my computer. Now it's like literally a whole entire witch potion that I have to get this podcast up and running for you. I have an interface. And the missing piece of why it sounds better now is I needed something called a cloud lifter. Like I just want to hop on the mic and talk to my girly pops. I don't know what a cloud lifter is. I don't know how to use XLR cables. I was googling how to set my phantom power of my microphone to 48 Hertz. Okay, I like what? So it's very confusing. But I always tell you, if you don't know how to do something, you know, you keep trying until you know, I just got a whole like two and a half hour lesson on YouTube on how to set up this equipment. So hopefully I'm back better than ever. And we will never ever cross our fingers, knock on wood, ever have audio issues again. Okay, you know, I love to be a tell all girly. I tell you all the hacks. There is no gatekeeping around here. However, I think I finally regret telling you one of my secrets because picture this. Okay, I don't actually regret it, but picture this. It is Sunday night. You are fresh, ready to snuggle up in bed and get a good night's sleep. But you have your sleepy girl mocktail on your nightstand, your salt rock lamp is on, you have sprayed the bed with your sleeping spray. And you bust out YouTube to get your free Harry Styles ASMR bedtime stories just to find out that the video has been taken off YouTube. Devastating. But I honestly think I did this to myself because I can't fall asleep without Harry Styles talking me to bed anymore. Is that an issue? Yes, or no, probably yes, but it's fine. You have to do what you have to do. But anyway, I think that after I shared my deepest darkest secret of the Harry Styles bedtime stories, it got so much traffic on YouTube that it was taken down because of course you are supposed to pay for the calm app to have access to it and someone had uploaded it to YouTube. And I was just cheating the system and not paying for the calm app yet getting Harry Styles bedtime stories. However, the video is now down. So if you're going to look for the video after the fact and you're like, Trin, what the heck? Yeah, I don't see it either anymore. The video has been taken down. So you're probably going to catch me out here paying for the calm app. But I just thought that was funny. And also you are such bad influences. Good bad influences. Okay, I talked about whether I should treat myself to a new vehicle or not last episode. And like, I know that we are all one and the same, but the amount of DMs that I had of you all telling me to spend the money and treat myself to a vehicle. Like, I love you for it. It's not bad. Obviously, you're my people. We have the same mindset, but you're like, treat yourself girl, you work so hard by a car. And just all my, all my trying to save money tendencies just went out the window. Brody and I went in test drove a couple cars this week. I'm still deciding the deal is not done. I'm going to think it through, sit on it for a bit. That's always what I think you should do with any big purchase. Honestly, even if the items like over $100, I will never impulse by it. If I see something online or at the store, I will sit on it. And if it's a week later, a couple days later, and I'm still thinking about it, then I will buy it. But the amount of times that I've wanted to impulse buy something and then I just wait on it and never think about it again happens quite often. So that is my little tip for all my material girlies. We love a little shopping self care moment, but always sit on it if it's actually an expensive item and wait and see if you still think about it. However, one thing that Brody and I did sit down and do we had a very big it was a long weekend and we had a very big sit down and do adult things long weekend. So we you're going to be so proud of me. We sat down and did a big budget, Google sheet, excel sheet, whatever there was graphs, there was categories. Anyway, we broke down all of our expenses, all of our bills, all of our income, all of our actual spending, and just broke it down and realistically looked at what it would look like with a car payment. However, during this, we discovered that we had that we have been paying like half a rent, half a monthly rent on groceries living downtown Vancouver. It is absurd. We honestly, we had no idea. And we were both like, we wanted to cry. We were disgusted at how much money we had been spending on groceries downtown. So we looked at that and we said, absolutely the fuck not, this is not okay. And we made a game plan of how to spend less on groceries. So now we will be driving out of downtown to get our groceries once a week and then just going to the expensive stores right downtown when we need like things here and there. Anyway, the reason I'm sharing this is if you're someone who also has like just an idea of what you're spending monthly, but you haven't actually broke it down. It was, it was very telling once we actually put everything into a graph into an excel sheet, it was, it was very eye opening, if you will. But there's my suggestion for the week do without what you will just food for thought about tracking your money. I am also entering my apartment makeover era. I've been sharing it on my Instagram stories and TikTok. I think when Brody and I had a roommate, we really just, I didn't put my full potential into our apartment. And now that it is just the two of us here. And like I said, I want to design a whole entire podcast recording studio. We have been doing a lot of home decor, just revamping everything. And it is so much fun. We ordered a new kitchen island because we live in a tiny little open concept apartment. So it didn't come with an island. And I was always missing that counter space. And then I was like, holy shit, we can just order an island on a wayfare. So we ordered an island. If you catch me popping off with my cooking content, it is thanks to the new island. Anyway, if that interests you of home decor stuff or any apartment stuff, if you're moving out, if you're designing your apartment, I have been sharing a lot more of that content lately on Instagram. I also posted the Coachella vlog finally on YouTube. I think I finally have my videos figured out. And the video podcast will be back ASAP. If all goes according to plan, now that I have my phantom power and cloudlifter figured out, it is tragic. I tried to post the video episode of the one that Brody and I filmed together. I've tried to upload it four times onto YouTube and something just keeps processing wrong. So unfortunately, I think I have given up on that one, which is tragic because there was the one segment that I didn't upload on the episode. And it was supposed to be on YouTube if you wanted to hear more. And it was really funny and good. But you know, I'll have Brody on back sooner than ever. Any who I love you. I hope you're having a great week. How's your week going? I wish that we could talk real time. Actually, that reminds me I was thinking about I don't know. I don't know how many of you are in the Vancouver area. But I would love, love, love to do something plan an actual hangout a meetup for this summer, where we could all get together in person in Vancouver. I don't know what that would look like if I would like rent out a space or we could do a workout together or even everyone just going on walk together. I don't know. I would love to do a wellness cafe meetup in person and actually hang out. I don't know how many of you are in the area, but let me know if that is something that interests you. What I'm having this week, I am having, as we all know, my crazy social light era. I've really been putting so much work and it actually is work. It's it's weird to say it's work, but if you don't have friends where you live, it actually is something you have to be consciously working at, which I have recently discovered the hard way. So I've been putting in the work to make friends and I am in my social light era and it just it feels really good. I don't know. I feel like a little nerd being like, I finally have friends, but it is true. However, my mom does hype me up every time I post a story with a new friend and it's really funny. She's like, Oh my God, you have so many friends. But yeah, I've been putting in the work for friends. What's up? Catch me with like five or six people now that I know in Vancouver. What I am grateful for. Okay, so this is your reminder. I want you to stop and pause and think about something that you're grateful for to get into a positive headspace today, wherever you're at, whatever you're doing, honestly pause right now and say something out loud that you're grateful for. I'll go first. I'm grateful for you. I'm grateful for this community. I am grateful. Honestly, frick it. I am grateful for my new friends in Vancouver. What I am working on is obviously last week I shared what's been going on with my bloating and stuff like that. And first of all, I want to say thank you so much to anyone who reached out with that just saying that they're going through the same thing or that you have gone through the same thing and told me what worked for you. It honestly means so much and I think it just like really warmed my heart because it showed like whenever I need help and you're there for me, it just shows that we're like true friends and that we're there for each other. But with that being said, I'm so excited. I'm actually over the moon excited. Tomorrow I am going to a naturopath and when I first started having these issues and my doctor just nothing was clicking. We weren't vibing. He wasn't, you know, it just wasn't working. I looked into a naturopath but it was so expensive and at the time I couldn't afford it and now that I can afford it, I'm just like whatever health is wealth, that health is the most important thing and I want to know what's going on inside of my body. So I'm going to be going to a naturopath. I'm over the moon excited. If you could tell my high school self that adulting is being excited over going to a naturopath, I would laugh out loud but I'm so pumped and really excited to get some answers that I have been looking for and if you want, let me know if it would interest you. I want to share everything that I learned from her to the podcast because I know how freaking hard it is obviously to find doctors and find someone who really helps you and understands you and listens to you about your body. So if you are curious about what I learned from the naturopath, let me know because I would love to share that with you if it interests you. Okay, moving on to all things self-care on your period and everything that I'm about to discuss was all sent in from you. So if you don't follow the Wellness Cafe Instagram, make sure you're doing that so that you can interact with what is on the episodes because most episodes when I come up with a topic, I'll always ask you what you want to hear about the topic to make sure that I'm actually helping you and giving you what you need to hear. So today as I said, we're going to talk about hygiene on your period, dealing with period pain and cramps, mental health when you're PM messing, exercise, motivation and how to control your emotions and cravings on your period. So if you deal with any of those, first of all, this was the most asked for topics regarding being on your period. So this is shit that every single woman goes through. I thought I would start with exercise motivation. So like I said, I'm a full gremlin. I would honestly take a week out. I would tap out of living my life for the week if I could on my period. And I'm sure you feel the same way. It's horrible. Periods are it's literally it's brutal. I mean, it also is beautiful if we look at it that way. And we should be grateful that we are able to have our periods. And that means that we're in good health. But damn, sometimes it does it does test me. Okay. Sometimes I am not so grateful for the wonderful human functions. And as you and I both know with how tired you get when you're on your period with the PM messing with your actual period, honestly, it is basically like two weeks out of the month where you don't feel like yourself. And unfortunately, that is just life. But there are hacks on how to feel better and keep the momentum going because as much as I would like to just to come to the period, grog and be a little couch potato during my period, that is looking like two weeks almost out of the month if we just let it get to us. So I'm going to tell you the hacks on how to keep it powering through when it is at that time of the month. First up, let's talk about PM messing and the mood swings and that irritability because I'm your girl to come to for this. I like my mood swings when I'm PM messing truly, truly insane. Honestly, Brody deserves an award for living with me when I'm on my period and PM messing. I am crazy. I'm a crazy person. My hormones, like they go insane. Actually, last week, Brody came home and I had let my PMS get the best to me this day and I was having a horrible time. And all it took, like all day I was trying to power through, I was trying to be strong and do the habits and get my work done. And Brody came home and he just looked at me and he goes, what's wrong? And you know that feeling when you're doing fine, well, you're not fine, but you are doing bad and you're trying to push through and get through it and not cry. And then someone asks you what's wrong. And that is the final line. And that puts you over the edge and you immediately start crying. That is what happened. And I burst into tears over the stupidest shit ever. And I was crying. And then while Brody was comforting me, I literally started laughing crying. And he was just like, I don't even know what to do. What am I supposed to do? Are you sad? Are you laughing? Do I need to help? Like, what's going on here? And it ended up with me just laughing and crying for about 15 more minutes and then pulling myself together. So if that sounds like anything that you deal with, that is normal. That is what happens. And it took me way, way too long to finally start realizing that I wasn't having a bad week and I wasn't like my life wasn't horrible. I was just PMSing because it took me a while to realize that the mood swings and the irritability were a result of my hormones and not because my life was absolutely crumbling beneath me. So my first tip for you is to if you don't already track your cycle. Because I got a lot of questions on how to tell if your mood swings are because you're PMSing or if something actually is bothering you. Because as we all know, it can get quite blurry when you're just a raging PMS mess. And you don't know what's going on. You're sad, you're happy, you're crying. Like, you don't know what's going on tracking your cycle so that if you're having a bad day and you feel like everything's going wrong and you're tired and you're irritable and you just want to cry and you don't even know why you want to cry, then you can go check your calendar. And then when I'm feeling this and I go check and I'm like, okay, this is just my PMS that somehow makes it not completely go away, but it makes it so much easier. And then I know that it's time to just dial it back, relax, pull out all the self care and just do what my body needs. I've talked about this before, but especially those feelings when you're on your period, number one, your period, you get bloated when you're on your period and you don't feel as good about yourself. And I started realizing that before my period, I would always think that I would just get those negative self talk thoughts coming up in my brain whenever I was getting ready or looking in the mirror, getting changed for the day. And my brain would just start saying all these nasty rude things about myself. So if you get negative self talk and you've been working on it and you want it to stop, seriously track your cycle. And I almost guarantee that if you have been working on those negative thoughts and you practice your healthy habits and you're really trying to transition into like a wellness, a high vibration mindset. However, inevitably, these thoughts keep creeping up into your head, I will almost guarantee you that it's because of your PMS. So I think that my biggest tip is honestly just tracking it. Track when you don't feel good, track when you're about to get your period, because all the PMS symptoms and like the negative self talk, I mean, it's different for everyone, but for me, it happens the week before. And that was the worst part when I wasn't tracking my period, because I wasn't actually on my period. So I didn't know that I was PMSing. And I thought I was just having a bad day and it makes you feel so bad. And you're like, why am I feeling like this? So track, track, track ladies, that is my number one tip. So honestly, that is pretty much my biggest tip that's different on your period, because you know my tips already for stopping the negative self talk and mood swings and to just be a more positive high vibrational person. And those all still stand, but it's like when you're PMSing, that's a whole other ballpark that's inevitable. And that is not your fault. And that also means that unfortunately, there isn't a magic secret to just poof. And it all goes away because it is your body. And there's nothing that you can do to control your hormones. When it comes down to PMS, that's the frustrating part is you can be doing all of the things you can be working to stop the negative self talk and you can be doing your healthy habits and taking care of yourself. And then randomly one day, the little negative PMS hormones that come to town. And it's like all hell breaks loose. And suddenly the negative self talk is back. You feel gross. You don't want to do anything. And it can be honestly, it can just be disappointing and hard because you feel like your progress has been lost. And then it can just lead to that worst cycle of negative self talk. And you just dig yourself down the rabbit hole. So my biggest tip to deal with the emotions and the negative thoughts that come when you're PMSing is to track your cycle. And then if you're having a bad day, when you feel sad and you feel like you're having mood swings and you're irritable and confused, because just a couple of days before you were doing so good and on top of all your healthy habits and feeling wonderful. And then all of a sudden one day, it's like a flip switches. It will probably help you knowing that, oh, it's just because it's that time of the month. And this doesn't make the thought school away. Like I said, there's no magic secret as far as I know. But the way I look at it that may help you is that it puts a stop to that negative rabbit hole of being mad at yourself for feeling down or maybe mad and unproductive because of your PMS. You know what I mean? When you randomly just get that wave of negative self talk and sad thoughts, you can go through the rabbit hole and realizing and being aware that it is your PMS. Then you can just say, oh, it's just my hormones. It's just that time of the month. Okay, it's not my fault. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm just going to be gentle with myself and do what my body needs. Personally, I went through so much of my life. And especially on the beginning of my wellness journey, where I would be doing so great, I'm feeling awesome and working out and eating healthy, nutritious meals. And then all of a sudden, I would wake up and have a bad day and I would just be confused and mad at myself and why I wasn't feeling good. And I would feel disappointed until I started putting all the pieces together that these waves and this what I thought back then was me losing progress was really just my hormones PMSing. So my biggest tip is to feel the feelings. Just no one except that it is just your PMS. It doesn't mean that you're doing something wrong or that you're making no progress or that you're not being healthy and positive. Like it is okay. It is normal to feel like shit when you're PMSing. Personally, I feel disgusting on my period. Obviously, sometimes are better than others, but I realized that when I'm PMSing the week before my period, that is when my negative self talk comes up, just way worse than other times. And that would usually just make me feel so upset. And I would feel like I was set back. And then like I said, that rabbit hole of that I'm upset with myself for being back in that negative headspace when really it is not your fault. Not to mention the bloating and the tiredness and mood swings and just cravings like all of it can make you feel worse. And when you identify that it's your PMS and that it's beyond your control, that is the first step to gaining back your control. Because if your goal is to feel your best and be your happiest, healthy, self, all the time, you need to be able to identify and stop the negative PMS rabbit hole in its track before we can move on to the next steps. And once you have identified it and you've taken a deep breath in and a deep breath out and told yourself that you are just PMSing, you are doing great. It is time to just honor that time of the month and dial into the habits and self care things that make you feel good. So I actually asked you to share your tips so that this is coming from all of us together because I only know so much. And what works for you is very specific to you and everyone has something different. So I wanted to share self care on your period from all of us, from TWC. This one is the one that popped up first and it is honestly a mood. So the question was your favorite self care on your period. And this says just listening to my body and not restricting my cravings, especially not if I have cramps because then it just feels like the end of the world and girl, I hear you literally the end of the world. The next one says, take a bath with a lush bath bomb and then watch my comfort show. This one's a mood, my favorite trio, a heating pad, ice cream and a comfort movie. I swear it's the only thing that makes me feel better when my uterus is trying to kill me, honestly mood. The next one is the full self care shower, exfoliate shave, hair wash, hair mask, and going for a nice walk after. There is a lot of responses for hot baths, hydrating like crazy naps to deal with the extra fatigue, eating good healthy foods and staying hydrated, a warm bath. Oh, I love this one. It says journaling so I can look back and work out which emotions are associated with hormonal change. I love that. I think that is the key to getting through this is just recognizing and realizing that sometimes those negative thoughts and the lack of motivation is not under your control. So yoga and ice water and the day with red wine and pasta, face masks and hair masks in the bath with candles and a book. Okay, it seems like the TWC vibe is taking a hot bath when you're on your period, watching your favorite show and doing all the self care. This one says taking a long relaxing bath while watching Gilmore Girls and then fresh PJs on and fresh clean bed, hot water bottle ready and hot chocolate to watch a movie. This one just says that heating pad stays glued to me and that is a mood. So yeah, if you have really bad cramps, a lot of these are saying just the hot heating pad laying in bed, doing your favorite things. The next one says literally just lounging in my bed with my heating pad and blank it while binging my favorite TV shows. And this is a mood and this just goes to show that you need to honor what your body needs to feel your best during this time of the month. You don't need to put extra pressure on yourself to get all the things done and be super productive. Wellness is about feeling good and being your happiest, healthiest self. And if you're pushing yourself to just extreme fatigue and burnout and pushing through these PMS and period cramps to get your stuff done or do a workout in the end of the day, that is going to lead to burnout because you need to honor what your body needs and make sure you're getting proper sleep so that the rest of the month that you can show up and be productive. But there's no need to burn yourself out during that time of the month. All of these responses say that your favorite self care on your period is just nice, long, hot shower, putting on fresh, clean jammies and going to bed with your favorite movie, your podcast book, like all of these are the same. We are all one and the same and don't push yourself to do stuff if you don't want to. And that is basically what I love to do on my period too. I'll finish all my tips and then I'll tell you kind of my favorites during that time of the month and then we'll get into it, the period horse stories. So how to feel good on your period. This is for everyone who was wondering on how to keep the motivation for working out when you're on your period. And first up is you don't. So it is normal to not be motivated and not do the same workouts. You really need to honor your lower energy levels while you're on your period. You want to do workouts that are low intensity because if you're doing high intensity workouts and forcing yourself to just go to the hit class and do the same workouts that you always do, doing high intensity workouts can actually raise your cortisol and make you more stressed and more tired. So honestly, when I'm on my period, I focus on low intensity calming movement. This looks like, you know, our famous candlelit Pilates. I always talk about going for a long walk with a nice coffee. Yoga, honestly, any movement that you find peace in that isn't high intensity is going to be the best. Don't push yourself to do crazy intense workouts. It is normal for the workout motivation to be gone during your period. I want you to know that because I got so many questions on how to keep the motivation to get to the gym and do your workouts, but you really don't have to. We all get super tired and groggy on our periods. And like I said, I genuinely think that we should get a week off of life to hibernate. Like it's not even fair that we're expected to go to work and go to school and leave the house, but since we still have to function, it is the most important to listen to your body and do things that will make you feel better and raise your energy levels back up again so that when that time of the month is over, then you're able to show up as your highest, most productive self again. Truly, I always like to do at home workouts when I'm on my period. Just in my ugly clothes, you know, I don't want to put on like the cute workout set and get ready for the gym. I just like to work out at home, be comfortable and bloated and sweaty and wear my PJs and just like roll out my yoga mat and do an easy Pilates or go for a nice walk in a sweat suit. There is no reason and there is no rule. There's no one telling you that you have to get your ass to the gym and do all these crazy workouts that you love doing. You're not slacking if you take the week off. And of course, I think it's still good to get movement in during that week because movement will make you feel better, but don't bust your ass. OK, next up that was asked a lot is how to handle cravings during your period. And you see, that is a tough one because I live my life just eating intuitively, eating what I want, when I want and making sure that I have a balance of 80, 20, but basically I just eat what I want when I want. However, on my period, it's different because I turn into a full blown gremlin, as I said, like literal cookie monster vibes that I could just eat and eat and eat. My cravings go insane. And obviously there comes to a point where you don't want to be honoring all the cravings because the only thing is is that it will not make you feel better. And of course, everyone is different, but for myself, like I've noticed after I started tracking it, these intense cravings, like literally, I want to say the urge to stuff my face with just everything. I don't even know it's insane. It usually starts about a week before my actual period. And that's when all my PMS symptoms come to, like the bloating and fatigue and just laugh crying into Brody like a crazy person. So that is usually when the cravings start. So if you get insane cravings on your period, too, the same applies to this tracking and just being aware that it's your hormones. It helps a lot not to mention. If you're getting insane cravings on your period, this is not because you're losing progress or not living up to your healthy lifestyle. There is literally scientific reasons as to why you get certain cravings on your period. So this is nothing to be ashamed about. This does not mean that you have no progress. I just feel like that was one of the main things that you all had questions about how to keep up the standards of your healthy lifestyle during your period when as women, this just happens to us once a month and it's something that we inevitably deal with and you are not expected to maintain the same levels of energy and motivation as you would the rest of the month as when you're on your period. Like your hormones are changing and your body is doing crazy things. It is OK that you have cravings. Everyone is getting those cravings. It doesn't mean that you've done anything wrong. However, for me personally, like I said, I get the urge to just stuff my face with everything unhealthy on my period and tracking this and recognizing that this is my hormones has helped a lot because I like to eat intuitively and I never restrict anything. However, if I were to just eat whatever, like if I were to honor all my cravings, that happened on my period, I would one, I would feel like shit. It wouldn't be healthy for my body. I think this is the one time where I don't think it is great to honor all your cravings, but it really depends on how bad it gets. Like for me, it would it would never stop if I just honored it. So of course, I always indulge and have a couple snacks, but if you're getting crazy cravings on your period, I actually looked it up. So if you're craving salty foods, this could be that your body is lacking in minerals and water and you could just try to incorporate foods that have sea or pink Himalayan salt as a natural alternative to refined salts. And it said, if you're craving candy and sweets, you may be experiencing low blood sugar and that that can be balanced through natural sugars found in fruit and raw natural nuts. So of course, honor your cravings. I never want you to restrict anything. However, I'm just speaking from my personal experience. What I mean is that my cravings on my period tell me to eat chips all day long for all meals of the day. And I don't want to honor that because I know that that won't make me feel good and I want to feel good. So that's what I mean by like curving the cravings. I never want it to come across that I'm telling you to restrict yourself of things. I just mean like if my mind is telling me to eat chips for seven days straight, obviously I'm not going to do that. So I do have some snacks lined up for you that will help your cravings, but still make you feel good. So of course, honor your cravings. It is OK to eat pizza. It's OK to eat pasta. It's OK to eat all the fast food, get a burger, like whatever it is. It's fine. I'm just talking about curving those seven day 24 seven cravings because then it's just an issue of I'm going to feel like shit. So I think that that mindset is what really helps the most is, of course, I'll honor it, I'll have the chips, I'll eat whatever. But then, you know, once you give in, you never feel good. So obviously like I'm giving in, but then I'll probably only do it once because then I'm just feeling more gross and more bloated and more tired. You want to be feeling your body with nutrients so that you feel good. And that mindset of wanting to make decisions that make you feel good always helps me in the end. So I'll have a little conversation with myself, honestly, and be like, do you want to honor this craving or is it just going to make you feel worse? But some of my favorite healthy, nutritious snacks that still satisfy those cravings are I love to cut open dates, add a little bit of like almond butter for healthy fats and then close it up and freeze the dates. Dates always help with my cravings for really high sweets. And then you could also like dip it in chocolate, dark chocolate specifically and then freeze it. I also like to do that with bananas. If you get, oh, these are the best. My mom makes them all the time. If you make like a little muffin tray, like those tiny little miniature muffins when you do a slice of banana, almond butter and dark chocolate and then freeze it. Oh, my goodness, best thing in the world. And then I also love apple slices with cream cheese and chocolate chips on top of it or oh my gosh, I used to do this so much when I lived at home. Microwaving peanut butter. OK, this was like this is my infamous like late night period snack. Microwaving peanut butter, adding dark chocolate chips into it and then microwaving it so it all melts together and then dipping apple slices and bananas into it. It's the best thing in the whole entire world and it's really common to crave chocolate on your period. Dark chocolate is a really good source of magnesium and it also contains antioxidants. So dark chocolate is actually great to satisfy those cravings on your period. And that's pretty much all the tips I have. I think the most important message that I wanted to get across is that you are not expected to do all the things and get everything done. It is OK to honor your tiredness, your emotions, your cravings. Do not put extra pressure on yourself to perform at your highest when you're on your period and PMS thing. What I like to do on my period, I for one, if you think I'm leaving the house jeans on my period, you are mistaken. It is sweatpants, it is leggings and hoodies, just ultimate comfort, prioritizing what makes me feel good. And then like I said, my favorite types of movement on my period is like I am taking a break. I'm not going in for those high intensity work out classes at host concepts. I am opting for a long walk along the sea wall with my favorite podcast on. I'm doing Pilates at home, just nice, easy movement that makes you feel good and putting relaxing music on and then doing an everything shower, getting your fresh PJs on, hopping into bed, just really tune into those rituals that make you feel good. And I feel like this is all I've said the whole episode, but this is this is what helped me the most is tracking it and just being aware that it's your period and it's beyond your control because there's no worse feeling than prioritizing your healthy habits and then one day just waking up being pissed, pissed at everything and mad at everyone and you're so irritated and mad and tired and you have a headache and you feel like shit and you're just confused. You're like, what is going on? I've been trying so hard to prioritize my wellness and do healthy habits, but sometimes that is just what's going to happen being a woman. That's just how it goes. Some periods are worse than others, but if you wake up feeling like that, track your cycle and you'll probably be like, oh my goodness, I'm just PMSing. If you're having crazy cravings, it's OK to honor them and then focus back on the habits that make you feel your best. No one is expecting you to show up as you would. A heating pad is your best friend for period cramps. Take the bath, take time for yourself. You don't need to go out to the workout class. No one is going to blame you and it doesn't mean that you're not being productive because taking care of yourself is productive. Now for my favorite part of this episode, we are just going to laugh at some period horror stories together because unfortunately, I don't have any magic secrets to make all of this shit go away for us. It is just something we have to deal with and learn how to get through. However, there are some funny period horror stories. I've had my own good share of period horror stories and I know you have to. So I thought I would read them out together for all of us to just have a laugh at. Remember that it's not that serious. This stuff happens to all of us and you are trying your best and I know that and your best is enough. You deserve love. You deserve self care. Don't be too hard on yourself. And you know what? It's not that serious. And the first one says upcoming period horror story. I'm going to be on my period on my wedding day. I'm so sorry. I would literally reschedule my wedding. I'm very sorry. I'm wishing you all the best luck, but also congratulations on getting married. I am sure it will all go fine. If that were me, I would probably just cry a little bit harder than usual at the time. I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more and I'm going to be a little bit more before because I've been so confused and I have googled why period poops are a thing because it's not even it's not just a saying like it is a thing and there is a reason for it, but I wanted to add this one in here because just so we all know, just so we're all clear, it does happen to all of us and it is a real thing. This one, oh my gosh, it says, OK, this is really embarrassing. But when I was in holidays in Greece, I met a girl at the same hotel and she was the only other person who was speaking my language. We met the night before I got my period and we made plans to go swimming at the pool the next morning, so the next morning comes and I see my whole pants are red. So I freak out because I promised her that I would go to the pool and I didn't know how to put on the tampon. I asked my mom for tampons and she had them, so I just took the box to the bathroom and tried a million times to put them in. I'm pretty sure I watched almost every single tutorial, but it still didn't work. And my mom came back to the room when she saw me ugly crying with an empty box of tampons and I ended up going to the pool with a pad, which was probably disgusting, but I was too scared to tell the girl I just met that I can't put a tampon in. And this is the most relatable story I've ever heard in my life. I'm so sorry that happened to you, but if it makes you feel any better, the exact same thing happened to me. So you all know that I was a competitive swimmer and when I got my period, obviously, I feel like everyone starts off with pads and then you transition to tampons. So I wish I knew how old I was, but I just remember that my period lined up with a huge swim meet. So that pretty much just meant that I was going to have to use a tampon for the first time and I just remember freaking out. I didn't know what to do. I was so like grossed out. You know how it is before you've done it. It just seems like the weirdest thing ever. And I remember like, I think I was almost crying. Like I did not want to do it. I didn't know what was going on. I was terrified and I remember my mom just helping me, bringing me to the bathroom, giving me a tampon and just giving me her best advice. And I kept trying to do it, but then I would be in so much pain that I ended up missing my race at my swim meet. And then it was like this whole ordeal because my mom was like, well, where do I say you were? And I was like, just make up a story when like really I missed my race because I was trying to put a tampon in and I couldn't. So it was this whole thing. And I remember just being stressed and my mom was like, come on, you can do it. Like just try. And I was freaking out. I was like, I can't put the tampon in. And I was like, it hurts. It hurts. It really hurts. And I come to realize it is because my first time that I was trying to put a tampon in, I was only putting it in like half way. So I am a chronic oversharer with you, but it's just funny. Like this shit really happens and it's hilarious because no one really talks about it. And especially when you're younger, like being on your period is such a taboo, not talked about thing. And I remember just when I was younger, this was like I was scarred. Like I was terrified of these tampons and I did not know how to put it in. So I truly missed my swim meet because I didn't know how to put a tampon in. So I can relate. We've all been there done that. I'm pretty sure the first time like and then looking back, everyone I talked to, the first time they put one in, it was like the weirdest hardest thing ever when really it is not that bad and it is not that scary for my younger listeners who had to experience this. Don't worry. But yeah, take it from me and don't put it halfway in. I just remember like putting my swimsuit back on and then trying to walk, but I was literally like crying in pain and I was like, I'm just going to miss the race. Like I can't get the tampon in. I'm seeing it all in my head too clear right now. Moving along, the next story says I got my period one morning in grade seven and I didn't know what it was. And I thought that I actually pooped myself and I woke up and had to deal with everything. And I went crying to my mom telling her that I just pooped myself and she told me that I didn't. The exact same thing happened to me. I was so confused because I got it. I got it at a sleepover actually, which was way worse and I woke up and I was so scared. But yeah, I thought the same thing at first because when it was like dried up and brown, don't worry. Totally, I thought the exact same thing. This one said got my first period at school. I was sitting in class and I had the worst cramps. I didn't know why I was in so much pain and I felt like I had peed my pants. I asked the teacher to go to the bathroom, but he wouldn't let me. So I struggled to the end of class. Holy shit. This makes me so mad. The amount of times that this has also happened to me where a male teacher is telling you you can't go to the bathroom and I'm like, oh, like get off your high horse. I need to go to the washroom and change my tampon immediately, sir. She said, when I got up off the seats, I saw that I had left a stain and I quickly put and I quickly pushed my chair and tied my jacket around my waist. Then once the bell rang, I went to the toilet and put a pad on and it felt weird because it was my first time using one, but I went out of the bathroom feeling accomplished. Oh my gosh, this says I went to my next class a little late. Then when I went to my seat, I saw some boys snickering and people whispering to each other as I sat down, I went to untime my jacket for my waist and realized that it wasn't there. I had bled through and the whole class saw it. I told the teacher that I felt sick. I went to the bathroom to find my jacket and then let my mom pick me up from school. I stayed off for the next two days because I was so traumatized. Honestly, mood. I think we've all been there done that as well. I am so sorry that that happened to you. My one biggest thing that I remember is I think we were all watching a volleyball game in the school gym after school was over and I went up to go like hop onto the stage to sit on the stage and watch. And I remember all my tampons fell out of my purse and I had no idea. So I walked by everyone with them falling out and then like one of the cute junior high boys that brought them to me and he was like, ha, ha, ha, you drop these. And I just remember people were laughing and that traumatized me as well. But also like, why is that a thing? Why is it embarrassing for a tampon to fall out of a girl's purse in school? Like especially junior high or high school? Why? It doesn't make any sense. Anyway, I just looked at the time. So I think I'm going to wrap up today's episode. I know that I didn't have that many tips, but I hope just hearing me talk about it, knowing that you're not alone, knowing to give yourself grace and just go gentle on yourself during that time of the month. I hope that was able to bring you peace and clarity so that you're not as hard on yourself next time around and you just really practice self care and take it easy yourself so that you're able and ready to bounce back when it's all said and done. I love you and I will see you next week.