3 simple ways to boost your hormonal health—today!
I hope you had an amazing July 4th yesterday.
We celebrated at a friend's house and Felix fell into her pool... I totally had a moment of "I'm a terrible mother" after I fished him out and he looked at me with his huge blue eyes gasping... ughh :/
Thankfully he loves water so much that he recovered fast and kept jumping in a million times more (those times into the arms of his dad and grandparents who were in the pool). Phew... having two little ones definitely requires you to become really good at running fast and dividing your mental attention.
Besides yesterday's accident, we are all doing really well and Felix has been great with Hendrix. He brings Hendrix's pacifer when he hears him cry, gives him kissies, and throws away his diapers after we change him. Fingers crossed it will stay this harmonious for a while longer:) You can follow me on instagram for more pictures and videos.
Anyways, over to today's post on some quick tips for your hormonal health:
Over the years of coaching women, I have noticed that so many women think of "healthy," purely as "physically healthy" and many even equate if with being skinny, toned, eating a certain (often restrictive and very controlled) way or exercising a lot.
Throughout my own health journey, I have come to redefine what "healthy" means, because there was a time in my late 20s when I "did all the right things": I was at my thinnest, I was exercising constantly, BUT I was tired, my period was non-existent and, I often felt irritated with anxiety looming just around the corner on most days.
Here is what I believe TRUE HEALTH for a woman looks like:
She is vibrant, full of energy on most days and aware of when she needs more rest, as comfortable as she is confident in her own skin. She is at home in her body without the feeling of being bloated, moody or like her weight fluctuates vastly especially around her middle. She has radiant skin, a resilient mind, a healthy digestive system, positive emotional balance, and—you may have guessed it—a rocking fertility which means having a regular, painfree (yup!) cycle without emotional ups and downs!
Here is the truth:
Your menstrual cycles tells you SO much about your state of health, and is a wonderful assessment tool for the general health of a woman.
I talk to women about their menstrual cycles ALL the time and there is so much wisdom to be gained from understanding them... even for women who recently had a baby and don't currently have their periods, we can know and tell so much from knowing what their cycle has been like in the past!
If you've been having trouble with your period and finally want to solve your physical pains, emotional aches, PMS, amenorrhea, PCOS (to name a few), I highly you check out Nicole Jardim's Fix Your Period programs. (She's running a huge sale right -70%off- if you enter coupon code FREEDOM at checkout.)
Looking at your greater health through this holistic lens, it's pretty clear that it's all about hormones, which is why I want to give you 3 simple ways that anyone can implement in order to boost your hormonal health (& maybe even up your libido;)). This is where I start with most of my clients no matter if they are trying to conceive, currently pregnant, or mamas already.
*Note: there is obviously a lot more to health than these three steps, but we gotta start somewhere. Overwhelm only creates stuckness and leads to non-action. These three steps—if you implement them consistently—are absolutely key and will make a massive difference.
1. Add a healthy fat to each meal.
Why? Fat is the building block for our hormones so we need to make sure we get plenty of high quality ones. Fat also keeps you full longer and allows you to feel calmer and more grounded.
Fat does NOT make you fat. In fact, it enhances your metabolism.
Here is where you can start: add chia seeds, flax seeds or hemp seeds into your morning breakfast bowl or smoothie or even on your avocado toast or into your eggs. Add avocado, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds and olive oil into your lunch salad. Try salmon, grass-fed beef or pasteured lamb for dinner and start cooking your meals with coconut oil or grassfed butter. The point here is not only to make meals more nutritious but to make them more delicious too.
2. Rest more.
Why? Your adrenals cannot run in overdrive for a prolonged time. The human body is designed to withstand the occasional, short term stress, but in today's society we often spend our lives with poor boundaries, over-doing it every day, and pushing ourselves beyond what feels good. Rest comes last on our priority list. However, if your adrenals are in constant high demand and your body uses up cortisol faster than it can produce it, it will affect your fertility: your body will turn progesterone (necessary for a healthy cycle) into cortisol to survive. This process is called Progesterone Steal and trust me, you don't want that to happen!
Use the summer months to slow down, scratch things from your to do list, build better boundaries, tune into what you need and spend time reading outside rather than being tied to your phone screen or TV (I bet you'll get far better sleep that way!). Need some book suggestions? Click here.
3. Reduce your toxic exposure.
Why? Toxins are endocrine disrupters. Excuse me what? Endocrine disrupters are essentially disrupting your normal hormonal household causing havoc on all sorts of ends. A big no no.
A good place to start is your skin care since your skin is your biggest organ and will absorb chemicals you put on it. To start, look out for chemicals from the phthalate family (DBP, DEHP) as well as paraben preservatives (methyl, propyl, butyl, ethyl) in your lotions and skin creams, foundations, concealer, deodorant, and nail polish.
Is there something you pay special attention to when it comes to your health from which you've seen massive results? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below.
PS: If you've been struggling with your period for a while and you know that you need to make some significant changes to your nutrition and lifestyle habits, I recommend that you check out my friend, colleague, and mentor Nicole Jardim's Fix Your Period programs.
Nicole -also known as The Period Girl- has a wealth of wisdom when it comes to helping women reclaim a healthy period; no matter if your cycle is painful, emotional, non-existent or if you have PCOS or endometriosis, Nicole is your girl. Right now, she is offering a 70% July 4th discount on all of her programs, so I wanted to be sure to share this amazing opportunity with you. Check it out here and enter coupon code FREEDOM at checkout.
