The period pain is real but eating the right foods, along with good exercise, can really help calm the rage monster inside!

NUTRITION

Looks like we allow ourselves to indulge with whatever we lay our eyes on and we excuse it with having our period.

There is no doubt that every woman in her period has the urge to snack on junk food and empty calories. This ends up not being nutritionally filling and can lead to an uncomfortable, bloated feeling which creates a loop that is hard to get out of and leads to regrets afterwards.

The best thing to do is  maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet. Looks obvious and easier said than done, right?! Stick to simple foods  during the day like leafy green vegetables, nuts, fresh fruits, whole grains and red meats.

I will try to convince you about these foods!

1. Leafy greens, like kale or Swiss chard, can benefit your body because they are rich in Vitamin D, iron and have a high fibre content which can help with digestive issues often associated with your menstrual cycle.

It’s important to increase your iron intake during your period to make up for what’s lost each month.

2. Red meat is perfect to get sufficient iron from food, however, if you’re not a meat-eater, Spirulina seaweed might be an option as a supplement to maintain adequate iron stores.

3. Nuts should come to your mind when snack time comes!
Although we need to be careful with the amount as we have no control at all and finish the whole package! Although it is quite more expensive, I would advise buying an individual package for period days. The daily recommended amount is 25gr so you can distribute them during the day rather than all in one, otherwise, they might make you feel swollen and give discomfort. You can add them to any meal, in your porridge breakfast or your salad dinner. Nuts are rich in good fats and omega-3s which are much more filling than the calories in junk foods.

4. Fruits! They have a high sugar content which will satisfy your cravings. Berries are antioxidants and relieve the stress so they might be a good option, as well as bananas – very sugary and will make you feel full. Fruits always will ensure a healthy digestive system so go for it! You have a great variety to choose from.
If you feel like craving something sugary, go for dried fruits, they have higher calorie intake than normal fruit, so a few slices of dried banana is like eating a whole normal banana but it might help for those difficult days 😀

5. Whole grains include complex carbohydrates like oatmeal, yams (similar to sweet potatoes) so sweet potatoes and white potatoes with skin – glycemic index be damned (a way to eat it is put them in the oven and once the skin is smooth… enjoy it!), brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread, can help you stay in line.

Why? These kinds of carbs provide specific vitamins and minerals needed and only included in them.

But sometimes that is not enough and we need to literally taste something SWEET! Here goes a sweet recipe 🙂

The earliest you take something sweet during the day, the better. The desire for sweet will decrease throughout the day, that’s why I leave you here, ladies, with a magic SWEET BREAKFAST and guys, you can also prepare this for your ladies, you will change her mood not just with your sweet breakfast but with your sweet behaviour 🙂

EXERCISE

And in addition to a healthy diet, we should also pay attention to exercise so what kind of exercise is recommended?
In my case, I am not really into weights but when I have the period I don’t feel like dancing at all, so unless I have to teach classes, I choose to lift weight. I basically play around with dumbbells and kettlebells.

But bear in mind that by doing any exercise, especially lifting weights, you use your core a lot, you might feel discomfort so other, better alternatives are yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises to help alleviate period symptoms.

Why is yoga better than pilates? Because in pilates, the core is engagement way more and the same effect may happen as with lifting weights.

I hope, ladies, you improve a little your period days!