Many women wonder if it is OK to work out during their period. Short answer: YES! In fact, it may even be more beneficial to stay active during this point in your cycle. There are plenty of reasons women shy away from their workouts during this time of the month—bloating, fatigue, cramps—but there’s really no reason to skip out on exercise just because you have your period.  

The key is knowing your own body, because, let’s face it, every body is different. Some women report low energy levels during their period, while others have more energy than usual. This is due in part to changing hormone levels through the menstrual cycle. The week leading up to your period, hormone levels associated with menstruation drop, so on the first day of your period, estrogen and progesterone levels are at their lowest. This is when many women report feeling premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms—these, too, can be different for everyone, so keeping a fitness journal to track your menstrual cycle and energy levels might help you see when you have more or less energy during your cycle. Physical activity can help with PMS, even if your energy levels are low, because exercising gives you an endorphin high. Endorphins elevate your mood and are a natural painkiller, so when you get moving there is a higher chance that cramps, headaches, back pain or any of the other uncomfortable symptoms associated with your period will temporarily be alleviated.  

So, what exactly is the best exercise to do when your period arrives? The one you feel like doing. Yes, that’s right, you’re allowed to listen to your body, give yourself a break and ease up on the intensity. The menstrual cycle has not been shown to affect your ability to exercise; rather, it impacts the intensity of exercise you choose to do. While some women find they are able to continue their regular fitness routine with minor adjustments, others find that their body doesn’t perform like it usually does and should consider cutting back on intense cardiovascular or endurance training. During this time of the month, increased fatigue could have an impact on your perceived rate of exertion, so what you’re normally used to might feel like too much. 

If you feel unusually fatigued or nauseous or there is an increase in pain or discomfort, stop what you are doing and rest. This may be a good time to reduce your exercise intensity, relax your body and potentially relieve symptoms like cramping, breast tenderness and muscular fatigue and soreness. If these symptoms continue, stop completely. This is not a time to subscribe to the idea of “no pain, no gain.” Listen to your body. If you feel up to it, light aerobic exercises like walking, low-volume strength training, yoga or gentle stretching are great options to keep your body moving.  

Being gentle with your body and moving it in ways that feel good will set you up for a better experience during your period, but exercise is only 20% of the equation. The other 80% is dependent on your diet. While you might experience more cravings during this time of the month, choosing whole, nutrient-dense foods instead of reaching for that bag of processed potato chips will make a huge difference in the physical symptoms you experience. A little “treat yourself” moment here and there is encouraged, but in the long run, healthier choices will be more beneficial—especially during your period.  

Believe it or not, the foods you eat can help reduce period cramps, help you feel less swollen and bloated, and help with mood swings. Too much sugar and processed carbs—while tasting delicious! —will likely only make you feel more bloated and lethargic. But rather than avoid specific foods completely, try to focus on adding foods into your diet to make up for the nutrients you are losing due to menstrual bleeding. Here are a few great examples: 

Iron: Women lose about 1 milligram of iron every day of their period, so it’s not surprising that iron deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency in women. An inadequate amount of iron is associated with common PMS symptoms—including overall tiredness. Try adding iron-rich foods such as dark greens, beans, nuts, red meat and eggs. 

Calcium: Low levels of calcium are associated with symptoms of PMS, like depression and irritability. Dairy products are great sources of calcium; if you don’t eat dairy, try dark leafy greens, like kale or spinach.  

Magnesium: Fun fact: Foods rich in magnesium, like nuts, beans and tofu, are thought to reduce bloating in menstruating women.  

Complex carbohydrates: Listen, we love the snack aisle as much as the next person, especially during that time of the month. But if there is one thing we aren’t fans of, it’s cramps. Choosing the pack of cookies or chips may seem like the solution, but having a piece of sprouted- or whole-grain bread with honey, almond butter or peanut butter will make you feel way better. 

Vitamin E: Raise your hand if you want to reduce period pain! Yeah, us too! Vitamin E is our friend when it comes to decreasing the severity and duration of PMS pain. Avocados are great source—slice up half of one as a snack or whip up some guacamole. 

Vitamin C and zinc: These nutrients help with iron absorbency, which is particularly crucial during your period. Try eating foods like broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, red berries, kiwi and bell peppers for an extra kick of C. And a great source of zinc is pumpkin seeds, which double as a tasty topping for salads, oatmeal and yogurt.  

H₂O: Being dehydrated is the easiest way to feel even worse when you’re on your period. Women with heavy periods lose extra fluids, so drink a little extra water during this time of the month to make up for it. Eight to ten, 8-ounce glasses of water throughout the day should do the trick (not all at once)! 

To summarize:

During your period, it’s OK to take a break! If you are up for it, keep moving—just back off on the intensity, especially if you’re feeling fatigued. Make sure to honor your body and fuel it with the proper nutrients to make up for all of the ones you are losing. Lastly, remember that you’re a boss babe and we are all in this together—you got this!  

You don’t need to deprive or restrict yourself from feeding your body certain foods. Your body is way smarter than you think. Your body knows what it needs; you just have to listen to it.

This is where intuitive eating comes in.

What is intuitive eating?

Intuitive eating is a way of eating that resets your relationship with food.

Intuitive eating is not a weight management program. It focuses on letting your body find its natural weight. We all have a set point that our body feels its best at. When you nourish your body properly, listening to what it needs, eating when you are hungry and stopping when you feel full, your weight will level out at a point that is comfortable for your body.

Intuitive eating is not anti-nutrition—you focus on eating a balance of nutrients while still including the foods you crave into your diet. You tune into what your body is telling you it needs without restricting or depriving yourself from eating at certain times or eating certain foods. Intuitive eating focuses not only on balance but also including the foods that make you feel good. When you learn to eat this way, you build a healthier relationship with food as well as see better results in the long run.

“If you are constantly thinking about food, you are not on the right diet plan.”

“I was under-eating during the week and binge eating on the weekend, constantly thinking about food and eating a meal and thinking about what my next meal was going to be. Food was always on my mind. Since becoming an intuitive eater and balanced eater, it’s barely on my mind anymore. Of course I still think about food, but I don’t have those crazy cravings for those bad foods because I don’t have that restrictive mindset. If you are constantly thinking about food, you are not on the right diet plan,” says Morgan Kline, COO of Burn Boot Camp and host of the Coffee & Kettlebells podcast.

How do you know if you are eating right for your body?

If you experience the following symptoms, you most likely are not eating right for your body and may want to consider adopting an intuitive eating style:

• – You are constantly hungry
• – You stress and obsess about food
• – You feel deprived all day
• – You experience regular bloating
• – You have digestive issues
• – You have developed new food intolerances
• – You have eliminated entire food groups from your diet
• – You lack energy and feel sluggish, fatigued and tired
• – Your skin breaks out regularly
• – You have crazy food cravings
• – You over-restrict your calorie intake
• – You struggle with binge eating
• – You regularly yo-yo diet
• – You have lost your period

So how do you begin to eat intuitively?

What works for one person may not work for you. Intuitive eating allows you to learn to eat right for your body. You can begin eating intuitively by implementing these twelve principles into your daily life.

• – Let go of dieting
• – Give yourself permission to eat all foods
• – Give yourself permission to eat when you are hungry
• – Stop eating when you are full
• – Relate what you eat to how you feel
• – Stop defining foods as either “good” or ‘bad”
• – Don’t allow the diet industry to influence your diet/food choices
• – Eat foods that actually satisfy you
• – Deal with your emotions without using food
• – Love your body regardless of what you eat
• – Exercise
• – Focus on eating foods that make you thrive

If you struggle to give yourself permission to eat certain foods or you regularly overindulge, ask yourself the following questions:

• – Am I hungry?
• – What am I in the mood to eat?
• – Am I full?
• – How does this food make me feel?

You also want to ask yourself why you are making the food choices you are making. Are you eating certain foods because of something you read somewhere, because someone else is doing it, because your emotions are taking control or because these foods make you feel your best?

Most importantly, be honest with yourself and what your body needs.

Keep track of your answers by writing them down in a food journal, or regularly go through these questions in your head throughout your day.

Let go of “cheat meals” and allow all foods to fit.

“I think they set you up for a poor relationship with food and make you feel unnecessary guilt for eating the food you love. Cheat meals can lead to dieting, restricting and a cycle of bingeing, which can do more damage to your body overtime rather than eating the food you want.” says dietician Chelsey Amer.

If you are craving pizza on Tuesday and your cheat meal isn’t until Saturday, this leaves you with four days of salivating over pizza, obsessing about it and over-analyzing what it would do to your diet. Instead, give yourself permission to eat the pizza on Tuesday. You will save yourself a lot of mental energy and stress. Over time, you won’t be so obsessed with this “off limits” foods that you are only allowed to eat one day of the week.

“When you take food off of its pedestal, either a good pedestal or bad pedestal, it’s easier to create a much healthier relationship with food.”

“When I have a craving for pizza and make myself wait until a ‘cheat meal’ to satisfy it, I overindulge way more than I would have if I would have just eaten the pizza right when I was craving it. When I wait for that ‘cheat meal,’ I eat the entire pie. But now, when I eat the pizza right when I am craving it, I am okay eating only one or two slices. That is all that it takes to satisfy me,” says Morgan.

Don’t put your foods into a box of good or bad. Allow all foods to fit into your diet. “When you take food off of its pedestal, either a good pedestal or bad pedestal, it’s easier to create a much healthier relationship with food,” says Chelsey.

Following a meal plan and dropping a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of weeks will actually do more harm than good. When you start introducing the foods you eliminated back into your diet, you will gain the weight back. Cycling your weight, losing and gaining, causes damage to your metabolism. Intuitive eating promotes sustainable eating habits like balancing the nutrients on your plate and choosing foods that make you feel good.

How do you reach your weight loss and fitness goals while eating intuitively?

“A lot of my clients don’t know which foods will make them feel their best and which will give them the energy they want,” says Chelsey. She suggests getting educated and learning more about nutrition to find out what foods make your body feel best. It’s important to know the difference between carbs, fats and proteins, as well as the different types of each one in order to reach your health and fitness goals. Understand how each macro fits into your diet and which macros provide you with optimal energy. You may not adhere to this 100% of the time, as each day you burn more or less calories and your body’s needs will constantly be different.

If you are eating white bread every day, you may find yourself lacking energy throughout your day. When you switch to a sprouted grain bread instead, you may notice you have greater sustainable energy. With intuitive eating, you wouldn’t define sprouted grain as “good” and white bread as “bad.” You would observe your energy levels and base your choice to switch breads on how each one makes you feel.

Portion sizes have the same effect.

Eating an entire pizza most likely will make you feel sluggish the next day in your workout, but eating one piece for lunch may still provide you with the energy you need. So observe not only how each food makes you feel, but also how the portion size of each food makes you feel.

Through only eating foods that make you feel more energized and nourished, rather than sluggish and unmotivated, you will set your body up for success to reach your health and fitness goals.

If you struggle with binge eating, how can you begin to eat intuitively?

Intuitive eating may seem impossible for you if you struggle with binge eating or overindulging. Here are three steps you can take to begin eating intuitively without triggering your binge response:

1. Avoid getting overly hungry. If you are starving when you start cooking dinner, by the time you sit down to eat, it’s inevitable that you will overeat. Give yourself permission to eat when you are hungry instead of shying away from your hunger. Eat a balance of nutrients throughout your day and you will tamper down your overeating.

2. Anticipate and prepare. When you are well planned out, you are able to make the best choices for yourself. Keep snacks with you at all times so you are prepared when you get hungry. When you come prepared, you are able to choose foods that provide you with sustainable energy and reduce the chance of triggering your binge response. Keep healthy snacks in your office, your car and your bag.

3. Meal prep. “Meal prep is a great tool if that is something that works well for you,” says Chelsey. “Meal prepping doesn’t mean you have to eat the same thing every day. Cook a variety of vegetables, grains and protein and mix and match throughout the week to keep it interesting.” Keep in mind that if you are meal prepping and feel bored with what you are eating, and you are always craving more foods, meal prepping may not be working for you. That’s okay, it’s not for everyone! You don’t have to meal prep in order to eat healthy.

Is giving yourself permission to eat everything scary?

How do you you know if you are giving yourself too much permission when you start eating intuitively? You may be fearful you will allow yourself to indulge too much, leading you to gain weight.

When you first begin eating intuitively, you might find yourself eating indulgent foods more often. It’s common to overindulge in the foods you have kept “off limits” for so long, as you are now allowing these foods back into your diet, so it is normal to allow yourself to eat them more often. But when you do so, you will notice that you do not feel your best. You may feel bloated, sluggish, a foggy brain and also that you are lacking energy and nutrients.

Soon you will realize that these foods are not working for you and naturally you will begin to gravitate toward more nutrient-dense foods that provide you with optimal energy and nourishment. Chelsey says, “Over time, that shiny object syndrome for those foods you previously restricted will wear off.” The more you allow yourself to eat your previously “off limits” foods, the less power they will have over you, the less you will crave them and the less you will overindulge.

What is bone broth?

Bone broth is made by simmering animal bones, with or without the meat, in water for an extended period of time, usually 18 hours or more. It is typically made from pork, beef, veal, turkey, lamb, bison, buffalo, venison, chicken or fish bones. Bone broth differs from stock due to its longer cook time, allowing it to absorb more nutrients. Stock is generally cooked somewhere between 4 and 6 hours.

Why is bone broth so healthy?

High in protein and low in calories and carbohydrates

Including bone broth in your diet is a simple way to increase your protein intake without over-consuming calories or carbohydrates. One cup of bone broth contains 10 grams of protein and only 40 calories and .5 grams of carbohydrates.

Collagen

Bone broth contains collagen, which is the most common protein found in your body and provides strength and elasticity to your skin, bones, muscles, tissues and tendons. As you age, your production of collagen decreases, which explains why your skin can become wrinkled and look “saggy” and why your bones and joints grow weaker. Consuming more collagen through bone broth can provide amazing anti-aging benefits, like tightening of the skin and a reduction in the appearance of cellulite, stretch marks and wrinkles. Another benefit of the collagen in bone broth is assisting in building lean muscle mass through boosting the production of amino acids in your body, helping your muscles repair and grow faster. It also helps decrease joint pain by reducing inflammation.

Amino acids

Bone broth has a high amino acid profile, but more importantly it contains all four of the conditional amino acids: proline, arginine, glycine and glutamine. Conditional amino acids are those that your body is capable of producing on its own, but does not produce as well when you are under lots of stress. According to Dr. Axe, a well-known health and wellness doctor, these conditional amino acids provide you with incredible health benefits:

• – Proline rebuilds cartilage, heals joints, reduces the appearance of cellulite and improves gut health.
• – Arginine boosts growth hormones, improves the immune system and helps detox the body.
• – Glycine prevents muscle breakdown, helps detox the body and improves sleep and memory.
• – Glutamine protects the gut lining, which improves gut health, boosts metabolism and increases muscle growth.

Electrolytes and other essential minerals

Bone broth contains the electrolytes sodium, potassium and magnesium, which are crucial for a variety of bodily functions. Electrolytes help to control nerve and muscle function, keep the body hydrated, balance the body’s pH levels as well as blood pressure, and rebuild damaged tissue, especially muscle tissue damaged during workouts. Electrolytes are primarily lost through sweat during exercise. Drinking bone broth is an easy way to rebalance your electrolyte levels. Bone broth also contains other essential minerals, including copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus, sodium and zinc.

How much bone broth should you drink?

The simple answer is: as much as you can! Although the taste is not for anyone, try to drink at least 8 ounces one or two times daily to reap bone broth’s amazing health benefits.

Where do you get bone broth and how do you consume it?

You can either use store-bought bone broth or make your own. It can easily be found at grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Make your own by using grass-fed beef bones or chicken bones, which you can buy from your local farmer, butcher or grocery store. Toss the bones into a crockpot and cover with water, ensuring the water rises one inch above the bones. Add your favorite spices and vegetables, as well as 2 to 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and allow to cook on low for 18 to 24 hours. Continue to add water to ensure bones remain covered. Once cooked, strain the broth and discard the bones and vegetables.

Heat up a cup of bone broth and drink it like a cup of tea or use it in soups and stews. Bone broth is interchangeable with chicken or vegetable stock.  

Start incorporating bone broth into your daily diet to increase your overall health and well-being!

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