Go With The Flow...Literally.

It's that time of month.

Photo by Yuris Alhumaydy on Unsplash

You know the feeling. Your mood changes…literally every month, yet somehow it still takes you a few days to figure out it’s because it’s coming up to that time of month. You find everyone (mostly your partner) irritating, but you swear it’s got nothing to do with PMS because otherwise, that’s insinuating that ‘you’ are in the wrong. You feel bloated and hate the fact it makes you feel like all the clean eating was for nothing. Oh, and all you can think about is carbs and chocolate, which you know you’ll give in to, taking you back to square 1 of cleaning up your diet. I haven’t even started on the emotional toll it takes on you. It’s a vicious cycle, and I’m pretty sure this all sounds very familiar to you.

I used to hate the build-up to this time of the month, and it was mainly because I knew I was about to feel like absolute crap, would struggle to eat clean, and to not be a complete monster to everyone around me. I’d always have the best intentions by starting the day off with my usual clean breakfast and doing a quick stretch or yoga session, however, it would only take a few hours for me to feel hungry again.

Feeling awful was bad enough, but having the feeling of guilt added on top made everything even worse. The guilt of eating everything I’d worked so hard all month to avoid and the guilt of lashing out at my husband when he’d unintentionally irritate me.

I haven’t completely solved this dilemma, but I have realized, with the help of my husband's repetitive advice (every single month!) that I should give my body what it craves. He’d say that it’s only for a few days, so just eat the carbs and chocolate if it makes you feel better. I’m well aware that his advice is probably also to ease the pressure off him too! I do appreciate it because sometimes you need someone to tell you it’s OK. Someone to say it’s OK to eat the chocolate, lounge around, and binge-watch your favorite TV show.

Like I said, I’m still learning to fully embrace this advice myself, but I’m hoping it helps you in some way. You already go through so much every month, so give yourself a break and do what your body is asking, because you deserve it.