Coping With Aunt Flo

Hello to all my soul cystsers!! Aunt Flo is coming to town for her week long, monthly visit and she’s bringing lots of cramps, food cravings and bad mood swings! Should be arriving in a day or two but her symptoms came real early this month. She’s a terrible Aunt right? UGHH I hate this time of the month. Since we cystsers have PCOS, we get it a lot worse than people without. I feel like those cysts are just pounding down at my ovaries, wanting to escape. How to beat the food cravings that Aunt Flo brings?  The best thing I do (like I did yesterday) is take my mind off how bad I want chocolate covered pretzels, a Mocha Frappuccino, or yes, TACO BELL! Yesterday was one of those days. I took a lunch break at work to run an errand and go to the bank. My bank is in the same shopping center as the mall (tempting!) and a few restaurants, and cafes. As I was leaving the bank, I had food on my mind (what else is new), and I was craving Broccoli Cheddar Soup with a side of French baguette from Panera Bread. (What a coincidence, Panera is in the same shopping center!) I kept telling myself how I don’t need the extra calories, how I literally had my yogurt for lunch 2 hours before, and how I would be very very upset with myself if I caved in. So of course, being the stubborn Italian that I am, I drove to the side of the parking lot that Panera’s on, I parked my car, and opened the door. I stepped out, then something kicked in and I shut the door and got back in the car and left. (People probably thought I was nuts). On the way back to work I kept telling myself how proud I was that I didn’t cave in and had the willpower to pass up the delicious temptation. When I got back to work, I googled the calories in the soup and a piece of baguette. 350 calories for the soup and 150 calories for the bread. HOLY MOLY! I was so happy I had the willpower to just say no.

These are a few exercised and remedies that I do when it’s a really bad month, and they do honestly help not only my cramps, but my stress, mind and body.

Remedies:

• Drink decaffeinated hot tea (Chamomile, Peppermint, Ginseng)
  • The heat helps with the pain and, and if you like the flavors, they sooth the stomach and helps stress as well.
• Heating pad.
  • This works wonders for me. The heat feels so good and really helps numb the cramps.
• Hot Bath
  • Especially after a long day, a hot bath is the most perfect ending and probably the most relaxing remedy to help camps
• Massage
  • At night have your boyfriend, fiancé, or husband give you an all body massage. This helps the tension as well as the stress. And yes, have him massage the feet too, hehe!
• Drink Milk
  • I heard that 4-6 servings of milk helps symptoms of PMS. Personally, I don’t drink milk only if it’s in my coffee, when I used to eat Oreos and Chips Ahoy—(the original, in the blue bag are the best), and in my cereal. Not a fan of milk so I will not be using this as a remedy, but for those of you who like it, drink up!

Exercise:

• Seated twist
  • Sit with legs extended. Cross left leg over right, left food next to right knee. Bring right heel near left hip. Put left hand on the floor by left hip. Inhale. Wrap right arm around left knee and twist torso.
• Wind Pose
  • Lie face up. Bring knees to chest, reaching arms around shins; clasp hands. Keep lower back pressed in to floor as you breathe slowly and deeply for 20 breaths.
• Bow Pose
  • Lie face down, arms at sides. Bend knee, reaching heel toward butt. Grab one foot or ankle with each hand, palms facing in. Inhale, lifting ribcage and thighs toward ceiling.
• Jogging
  • Yes. Jogging really helps, trust me!
• Basic stretches
• Sometimes I’ll go on YouTube and search for Yoga videos and do them (15mins max)

Of course the last thing we want to do when “she” comes, is that dreaded word, “exercise”, but honestly it does help with the pain and hey it’s good for you too! So it’s kind of like killing two birds with one stone, right!?

  All the best, Sarah