Getting my period - and hormones - back on track (naturally)
August 20, 2010 - the day I got my first period at age 13.
Ever since then, I've had a strange relationship with my period. I never paid much attention to it, when it came, it came but when it was MIA, I didn't notice or worry too much. I rationalized this by thinking, "my body knows what it's doing, I just have to trust its timing".
Until this year, when I noticed around August that I had only gotten my period 3 times so far in the year. For reference, I don't use an app to track it, I just note it down in my bullet journal calendar so I'm fairly certain I didn't forget to track a month.
Three times in eight months...I remember thinking that can't be normal. So naturally, I went down the rabbit hole of Googling, self-diagnosing and scaring myself. Was it cancer? PCOS? Amenorrhea? Pre-diabetes? Initially, I was convinced it was PCOS because of another symptom: excessive hair growth. As an Indian girl, I was hairy but my hair growth didn't seem too thick or manly - that's the thing with self-diagnosing, you often make the wrong conclusion.
I also asked all my female friends if their period was regular and all of them said yes - I was happy for them but I was also disheartened and thought, "there's only something wrong with me".
From the get go, I knew I didn't want to visit a doctor or get a blood test done - I wanted to try to fix this myself first.
Initially, I thought that I was too stressed at work which is why my period went MIA but then I thought back to 2019 - hands down the most stressful year of my life. I started (and finished!) my Master's program and wrote a 3-day professional exam in September. I consulted my bullet journal from 2019 and realized in fact I had gotten my period 10 times that year! I tried to recall what I was doing and eating and realized two things:
I used to go to the gym every morning at 5AM for a workout and walk around a ton on campus
Every day, I had overnight oats with chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp hearts and peanut butter and on Fridays, I would have an avocado sandwich
From my research on how to cure any of the menstrual disorders and from speaking to a friend who studies public health, I concluded on a few courses of action:
I would exercise more frequently: prior to this, I had only been going on walks and doing yoga occasionally, but decided to pick up Chloe Ting (I'm now 10 weeks in!). At this point, I was also at my heaviest, I could see it and feel it too.
Inclusion of more healthy fats and omegas: including walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp hearts, peanut butter and avocado. I also re-started taking an omega-3 supplement daily.
So I set off doing Chloe Ting six days a week, eating my zucchini oats or superfood pudding for my first meal and then incorporating avocado somehow into my evening meal. At the start, I tried to limit high carb foods like pasta, quinoa, bananas and sweet potatoes, but this proved difficult given my vegan diet. Instead, I decided on a more balanced approach with a big focus on eating whole-foods plant based.
On September 5, I went for acupuncture and told the therapist about my MIA period so we focused the treatment around my abdomen. During the session, I was thinking positive thoughts and visualizing the effect of the acupuncture.
The next day, on September 6, I got my period.
I know this was a total coincidence but I was so surprised and almost burst into happy tears. Everything I was doing was working and this was my body sending me a sign.
For the most part, I kept up my healthy fats and exercise for the next weeks, in preparation for my October cycle. I was losing fat around my stomach, my legs were getting toned and I just felt so much lighter and better about myself.
Then October 6 hit...and nothing. No period.
I told myself I shouldn't be expecting my period to be this punctual after years of irregularity, but a small part of me thought that just maybe, this would be the start of the regularity. I tried not to lose faith and still kept up my diet, exercise and positive self talk.
On October 9 as I was nearing the end of my Chloe Ting workout, I felt that familiar feeling and saw that I had gotten my period. This time, I really did shed a few happy tears. A 33 day cycle is still better than what I was at before, and I'm so proud of my body for being so resilient.
Some may think that this method of eating or trying to include all these things on a daily basis is draining, but I know that I'm eating whole foods plant based and that my body is using the nutrients in a good way. An added plus is working from home and being able to prepare fresh meals from scratch.
To all those struggling with their hormones, I know what it's like. It was the scariest process and I'm not saying I've completely healed myself but I'm on the right track. Let's see what November and December bring.
Sending you lots of love and extra light
-Reina xo