WEBVTT - Getting Your Period Back with @victoriamyers 0:00:01.240 --> 0:00:03.880 Maybe that's Lisa and We're just two girls that want 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.360 to have a conversation with you. Dear sixteen year old Andrea, 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:12.360 Hey gorgeous, Dear younger Lauren. Each episode is stories from people. 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.760 I would deprive myself by myself obsessively because I was 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.360 eating healthy. I couldn't understand that I had a problem 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:21.079 with food. Losing my period scared me the most. My 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:24.159 story starts when I was around seven. That's when I 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:27.400 started to hate my body. Body image is like our 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:31.319 inner picture of our outer self. Healthy behaviors play a 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:33.720 much bigger role at all health than the actual number 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:37.199 on the scales. Internal dialogue could be so powerful and 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:40.080 often it's super negative and critical in a way that 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.360 we wouldn't talk to other people that we care about. 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.760 When you start to share your story, that gives other 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:46.920 people the courage to share theirs. I know you would 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.159 be proud now of how far you have come in 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:53.640 your relationship to food, exercise, and to yourself. I felt freedom, 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.560 I've gained relationships. I've found my true sense of self worth. 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:01.360 There's one thing I need you to take away. You're 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:05.520 going to be okay, okay, Lisa and I are excited 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.720 to have Victoria Myers back on. If you missed our 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.479 episode with her, she was on previously talking about intuitive 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:16.880 eating and ibs. We had an amazing conversation, so we're 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.760 pumped to have her back on to talk about how 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.800 to get your period back, which I personally have never 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.440 dealt with, but I know others listening may or it 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.040 might be something that they have a loved one has 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.240 gone through, So this could be a perfect episode to 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.600 share with someone. I know we have a lot of 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.160 moms that have daughters and this is a real thing. 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:39.800 It's a real concern, and I'll go ahead and say 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:41.920 Victoria's Instagram handle here, but we'll have it in the 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:47.640 show notes at Victoria Myers Underscore. And Victoria's definitely qualified 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.360 for what she is talking about. She is a podcast 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:54.280 host of her own nutrition Minds. You can check that out. 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:57.400 She is a registered dietitian, and she is the founder 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:02.360 of Nourishing Minds Nutrition. So Victoria, welcome back. Thank you 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.640 for having me. I'm so excited to be back again. 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.000 Before we jump in and go through all about how 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.560 this happens, why it happens, what the cause is something 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.560 that I've noticed with my friends I'm thirty two years old, 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.880 so I have a lot of friends a few years 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:19.240 younger than me, a few years older than me, and 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.600 some who have lost their period because of dieting, and 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.400 there was no concern while they were dieting and staying 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:30.040 in control of their weight and bodies. But when it 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:34.480 came time to think about having a baby, all of 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:39.200 a sudden, they were terrified and we're scrambling to get 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.320 their periods back and to learn about their bodies. So 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.120 I just thought it was super interesting to kind of 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.120 think if I was twenty and I lost my period 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.119 because of disordered eating habits, I might sweep that under 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.160 the rug. But when you're a few years older or 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:57.600 in your family planning years, all of a sudden, it 0:02:57.720 --> 0:02:59.960 kind of bites you in the butt and you wish 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.280 you didn't do the things that you did. So, just 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:04.960 for anybody who's maybe not there yet, I want you 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:09.040 to be thinking about what that means for your body. 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.320 And while it might not be critical to fix it 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:13.959 in the moment, you don't want to get to the 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.160 point where you two are scrambling. Yeah, because your period 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.359 is your monthly report card, and you definitely want to 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.520 think of it that way, like it's telling you that 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.200 your body is safe and seen and heard and taken 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:26.960 care of. Truly, I will say that there are ramifications 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.320 for not having a period, even if you aren't trying 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.880 to have a baby. There's uh, you know, impasted your 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:36.400 bow density, it can affect your heart health. Estrogen is 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:38.720 very protective to our hearts. And I know like people 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.680 often see periods as like this annoying, a monthly thing 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:43.320 they have to deal with. But hopefully we can also 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.080 change that conversation to be an empowering message of like, 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.720 this is your body taking care of you, and also 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.400 appear it can be a wonderful, restorative time. I know 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:53.520 that sounds a little hippie of me, but it's true 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.600 it can be. So hopefully that helps shift someone's perspective 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:59.400 about their period too. Hey, can y'all quickly since I 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.440 know Victoria, you and Lisa both know the official term 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:04.080 for what we're talking about, but I want y'all to 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:06.400 say it out loud for everybody else because I, for 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.000 the life of me, cannot say it. I feel like 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:10.640 I'm going to invest saying it now that we're like 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:13.200 laughing about saying it round, so we're gonna talk today 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:17.479 about h A. So hypothalamic and nerrea. Boom. Now you 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.960 can like use that whenever you're talking about it and 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.080 sound super smart. Let's call it h A for the 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.560 purpose of today. I feel like, you know, so anytime 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:30.120 we say h A, we're talking about what victoria hypothalic 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:34.159 nerrea or a missing period. Okay, but it's missing period 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:38.039 due to h A. So hypotholgic and norrea is means 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.240 that you have once had a period and now it's 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.560 missing because there's technically a version called priory and norria, 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:45.920 which means you've never had your period before. But hypothogic 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:47.800 and norria means that you had a period and now 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.279 it's an it's missing in action. So h A is 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:55.000 you know a really interesting thing that there's this, you know, 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:56.840 I think we understand a lot of times with like 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.479 eating disorders, that there are gonna often be like a 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:02.800 missing pure There's also the female athlete triad where we 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:04.760 often like this kind of a known thing that a 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.680 lot of times athletes can lose their periods. But there's 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.400 this huge group of women that also superior is just 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:14.760 from disordered or de dieting behaviors alone can also And 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:16.600 the way you basically want to think of h A 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:20.480 is your body has stopped getting the fuel or the 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.720 necessary inputs it needs to create a cycle. There's a 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:27.080 lot of different mechanisms within the body, and I wouldn't 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.960 want to necessarily get super scientific in today's so because 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.320 that can get really boring really quickly. But basically think 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.400 of it like this, if your body is in a 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:39.200 famine mode of feast for famine, it thinks that it's 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.599 unsafe to produce a cycle right now. And there's a 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.039 lot of things that happen with your hypothelic put to 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.880 a terry internal access or your hp a access where 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.159 your body starts to shut down the pathway. So again 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.240 you can just think of as like your body isn't 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:53.240 getting what it needs, so it starts to shut down 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.800 these pathways. There's these like amazing reproductive neurals that tell 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.600 your body that it's just time to stimulate and mature 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.560 an egg, which leads to ovulation, which leads to your period. 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:05.839 Other things that can happen in addition to like your 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.000 your neurons not firing correctly anymore and your body going 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.719 into that Sandon mode is your hormones should just start 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.600 to decrease as Mentioning estrogen earlier is a really important 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:16.880 reason why you also want your period because it's very 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.919 protective to your bones into your heart help. But estrogen 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.080 is involved with your unine binding, is also involved with 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:25.960 the first half of your period, your filick, your phase, 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.320 and it helps tell your body it's time to ovulate, 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:31.680 which then tells your body to search your progesterone. And 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.240 often when we have h A, you have really really 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:37.280 low levels of estrogen and progestion. I've seen women with 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.599 postman and pousial ranges of estrogen and progesterone. And that's 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.520 another thing that happens is so not only are these 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:47.680 like HV access stops faunctioning correctly. It tells your neurons 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.520 and different components and chemicals in your body to stop 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:52.440 firing the things that needs to stem like the egg, 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.400 but also you just stop producing enough literal hormones to 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:57.560 have a cycle. And the main things that cause it, 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:01.160 we call them the big four practices food, exercise, sleep, 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.159 and stress. I will say above all the food is 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:07.080 the primary culprit of why period you can go missing. 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.000 So that means that you're not eating enough. That's like 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:12.320 the primary thing that you can think of is when 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.960 I say food intake, I mean you are not eating enough. 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:18.440 And it's really interesting. You can actually lose your period 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.600 from not eating enough with or without a low body 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.440 fat because that's a really big common misconception. People often 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:26.520 think you have to have a really really low body 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.200 fat and that's simply not true. You can just lose 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.960 it from calorie restriction alone. I'll also say calories are 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.360 probably most important when it comes to food intake, and 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.560 second after that is carbohydrates because we have glucose sensing 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.560 neurons in our ovaries and another reason why we can 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:44.680 really quickly lose loser period if we're not eating the carbohydrates. 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.600 So as an example, I've seen people maybe collorqually eat 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.320 enough from something like a keto diet, but then they 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:52.800 still lose their period because they're not eating any carbohydrates, 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.600 and they're really really important for your period. So that's 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:58.760 the food piece. With exercises, typically just someone is over 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.920 exercising exers I seem too much and that can cause 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:04.239 a lot of stress to the body and also cause 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.440 in an adequate food intake to exercise ratio, and that's 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:09.560 also part of why they lose their periods. And then 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.840 not quite as important but definitely important is stress levels. 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.440 Do someone's had like a big change of alife, they've moved, 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.640 they've gone across thease, they've had maybe a new job. 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.760 Stress levels can definitely cause a missing period. I would 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:23.360 say that's a little bit more common with just like 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.000 missing your period here and there, though u h A 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:28.200 is probably gonna be a little bit more specifically related 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:30.960 to food into exercise. And then I will say sleep 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:32.920 is really important too. Sometimes we see people have a 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:36.719 regular cycles if they're not getting adequate quality of sleep too. 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.080 So the big four is what I've had to your 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.560 body and again all these different pathways. Basically saying your 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:43.760 body starts to shut down and not produce a cycle 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:45.840 because it thinks it's in a famine or it's not 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.120 in a safety mode is the way I always describe it. So, 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.240 how many months of a missing period does it take 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.880 to diagnose or warrant and call it h A. I 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:58.439 believe it's three or more months. Yeah, okay, so I 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:03.199 assume at that point will need to seek medical attention 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:05.880 and get some help there. But what are some ways 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:09.240 or some steps people can take to help restore what's 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:11.360 been done. Yeah, so I agree. I think sing a 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.880 medical doctor is always something I'm going to advise as 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:15.520 you go see your O, B G. Y in and 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.520 talk to them about this. Occasionally PCUS can be part 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.040 of the conversation or not occasionally, but I will say 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.040 PCs can cause a missing period. We're talking specifically to 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:26.800 ahe A today though. I just mentioned that because sometimes 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.280 when people go to a doctor, they immediately get splashed 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.360 with the diagnosis of PCOS, and a missing period is 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:34.800 not only caused from PCs. Just wanted to mention that. 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.520 But the main thing, can you can you define PCOS? Yeah, 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:42.240 so polycystic over eat syndrome. It's when we have I mean, 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.320 there's a lot of different criteria. You have elevated androgens, 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.000 you also have a missing or a regular period, and 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:51.520 you have polycystic ovaries. Usually we're looking at twenty five 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.240 or more follicles on each ovary. Is what you need 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:56.559 to get diagnosed with it, and that can cause a 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:58.600 missing or a regular period. I know that's again it's 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.400 not the purpose of this converse ation, but h A 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:03.880 is a little bit different of what causes in the 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.320 same period in comparison. So you did say that body 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:12.440 fat does not necessarily have a correlation to h A. However, 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.000 what about weight changes, So do you need to go 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:21.880 through weight loss for hypothalmic a manorrhea to occur? Yeah, definitely, 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.040 Like weight loss can definitely contribute to h A. And 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.040 that makes sense to just from the energy and take perspective, right, 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:31.240 Like usually weight loss is happening because there's a calorie 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.360 restriction of some kind happening. But weight loss or like 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:37.760 especially like sudden weight loss can definitely also indicate to 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.880 your body that is again not in a safety time 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:43.760 and not a healthy time to produce the cycle. So 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.400 that's a good question. I mentioned this in the very beginning, 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:48.199 but I mentioned it doesn't have to be a low 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.520 body weight because there is this perception that you have 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:52.160 to be in a thin or small sized body to 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:54.559 have h A, and that's not always true, and you 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.080 can be in a variety of body sizes and experience. 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.560 Just to drive that point home and correct me if 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:01.880 I'm wrong, you can have a b M. I your 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.360 doctor says your your body mass index is overweight or 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:10.760 even obese, and you can still have hypothalmic amenorrhea likely 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:15.040 if you are restricting calories exactly. Yes, okay, and then 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.800 can we continue on with the possibly seeing O B 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.080 G y N or a medical professional, but being careful 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:26.240 of them immediately diagnosing you with something else because they 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:28.959 may not. I'm I'm wondering if my O B G 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.640 I N has ever really asked me about my food 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:35.679 intake or caloric intake. I mean, they definitely just want 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:37.680 to weigh me and make sure that I check whatever 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.480 box that is. But I'm just wondering if someone goes 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.200 and yes, you're right, they go to that appointment, will 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:45.800 they get the proper guidance? But let's say that they 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:48.720 know it's h A, are there other steps you could 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:52.600 share that they could take to help restore their period? Yeah, 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:54.760 And that was a really good point to make any 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:56.960 because sometimes, yeah, it's not so cut and dry off, 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:58.800 like someone's going to sit and ask you what is 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.280 your relationship with food like and what are you doing 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:04.360 with your exercise habits? And let's be real, a lot 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:07.760 of times these habits are praised. Orthorexy is definitely something 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.640 in any disordered eating where like women eating less and 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.360 exercising too much is often a praise think in our 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:16.360 in our society specifically, so really good point to make. 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:19.240 I mean, this does sound so simple, why I understand 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.120 it's not at all. It's why like we've worked one 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:22.760 and one with people on this, but you need to 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:26.840 eat more and exercise less. That's the basics behind fixing 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.120 h A. But eating more. I don't know if we 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.680 talk about calorie ranges here, I can share some of that, 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.520 but it's usually eating an appropriate amount of calories to 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.440 restore h A. And then with exercising, typically what we're 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.520 looking at. Not everyone can take an exercise break all that. 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.360 That's my gold standard. I usually prefer a small time 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.840 frame of an actual exercise break, but sometimes that's not 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.400 possible for all people all the time. Exercise addiction is 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.600 a real thing. So then we just focus on reducing 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:55.480 overall exercise or let's say taking out high intensity interval 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.199 training and just focusing on walks or yoga or something 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.360 like that to get their period back. I think it's 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.800 so interesting about as it sounds really easy, but the 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.000 reality is is like those are really hard things to 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.120 work through, and I think that's where like working one 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.400 one can be so helpless because I swear more of 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.199 my job at least, I wonder if you feel to say, like, 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:12.880 I feel like my job is more talking about the 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:15.600 mental assets of life so challenging than it is like 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:17.880 just giving someone like a cali arrange and telling them 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.400 not to exercise, Like it's never that simple. It's always 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:24.400 like talking through why we're so stress or worried or 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.000 anxious about things, or why we have the fear of waking. 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:28.840 Like that's I feel like such a huge part of 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.880 my job. Yeah, and when it comes to a period, 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:36.199 it can further the stress and anxiety when that report 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.120 card comes and you're doing all the things that your 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.840 dietitian tells you, you're eating more, you're exercising less, and 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.240 then your period still isn't coming back, and that can 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:48.640 kind of put you into a cycle of feeling like 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:53.679 a failure, having more stress, furthering the loss of period 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:57.359 by way of that stress part of the equation, especially 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.400 if you are in family planning mode and that is 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:02.920 on a timer. Yeah, I think that's a good point. 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.160 And my thing with the fertility too, is like if 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.040 you're doing this work in addition with fertility treatment, like 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.520 I'm going to support you with whatever decision you make, 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:13.320 because some people have the time to wait for h 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:16.400 because it can take six plus months to heal from right, 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.040 and then some people don't have that time at always 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:21.440 really want to honor and respect that, but I still 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:23.760 always encourage doing this work. In addition, if you are 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:27.400 doing something like fertility treatment, because it is so important 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.240 to heal just because again it's your body knowing that 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:34.520 it's safe and taking care of my personal experience, I 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.000 lost my period when I went off of birth control. 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.760 Same here is that h I don't think of it 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.160 as h I think if it more like post birth 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.680 control signings, That's the way I would personally describe it. 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.600 But I do think if it's an extended period of time, 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:50.240 it is probably more likely that it is h A 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.640 and you may have always had h A, but the 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.720 birth control pill disguised that, which is like, oh my gosh, 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:57.440 I could made another episode in itself, right, like how 0:14:57.480 --> 0:14:59.600 the birth control pill like just gives us withdrawal blieds. 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.080 It's not the same thing as a natural monthly cycle, 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:04.280 and it can be really confusing because it makes you 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.760 think that you know you're good and you're having a period, 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.000 but it's not the same thing. So so if you're 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:14.040 having a regular period on birth control, it's not that 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.280 it's a false good report card in theory, not necessarily, 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.800 but you can't say this is my report card, I'm 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.880 doing everything great because it's synthetically happening. Would ud be 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.200 the right word. Yeah, So you're on typically some amounts 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.120 is different for every birth control people. You're on a 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.560 synthetic amount of ashagen and progester and it's not the 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:34.480 same as the like the beautiful epps and flows of 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:39.440 your natural monthly period, and that causes whenever we saw 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.440 taking it, when we start taking the sugar pills, a 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.320 withdrawal bleed, and that's not the same thing. Now I'm 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.080 going to say, like just to be real clear, like 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.680 I have no qualms with birth control, Thank goodness we 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.040 have it, that say, you know, but so important for 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:53.440 so many years of my life because I didn't have 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.080 an unwanted pregnancy. So I'm not hating on it at all, 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:58.720 but it's important to understand, like it's not the same thing, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.359 So it's not hating on it as also like understanding 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.040 its purpose and that's not giving you the same thing 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:06.400 as a pill. I will also say, just real quick, 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.520 sometimes with eating disorder recovery, uh, this is different than 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:11.560 what we've been talking about disorder eating with Sometimes you 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:14.640 actually want someone to take something like synthetic estrogen or 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.680 birth control as they are to underweight so much so 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:19.280 where it's going to take a long time to get 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:21.600 their period back, and that can be protected to their 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.320 bones into their heart health until we know they're safe 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:27.560 to get their period back. So there's always caveats, of course, 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:29.760 but most of the time we want to work to 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:33.680 get back that natural monthly period. Such an important distinction. Yes. Yeah, 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.760 in the beginning you said something about how we really 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:40.040 want to change the conversation around periods, and I think 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:43.840 this will open the conversation up to all listeners, even 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:47.440 if you're not going through loss of period. And for me, 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.040 this has been such a wonderful way to take my 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.880 health back because when I lost my period because of 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:55.680 birth control all of a sudden, I didn't have that 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.360 report card coming in and it came back within about 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.120 six months, and I did some things that I'm not 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.000 going to mention here because it might not be applicable 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:06.359 to everybody. And I don't want to confuse everybody, but 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.840 when I started getting it back, it really changed my 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:13.440 mind about periods and my own health. And even with 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.120 my now husband boyfriend then, you know, we were high 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:18.720 fiving each other when I was getting my period, which 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.720 is a complete opposite framework of you know how I 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:24.480 was in my early twenties of my period. You know, 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:28.199 a boyfriend you know wasn't celebrating it either. So you know, 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.359 it's just so amazing to think about how wonderful the 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.679 body is and really double think or check in with 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:38.600 ourselves when we're quick to complain about something that it's 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:43.000 doing just because we're conditioned to complain about what it's doing. 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.399 So I personally love my period. I'm also not one 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.000 of those people that gets crazy cramps, so I know 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:50.720 that that it could be very uncomfortable experience for a 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.480 lot of people, But for me, I feel so womanly 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.320 and good and in charge of my health when I 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:59.719 get that as a read on my body. Okay, I 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:02.560 love that so much and I'm going to echo that completely. 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:05.040 I love my period. I'm actually on my period right now, 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:07.040 and I'm like, hell, yeah, girl, I'll get your your 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.080 body is doing good, like I genuinely like get excited 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:12.679 when it happens. I also, I don't know how much 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.080 you guys talk about the period, so maybe people aren't 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:18.160 familiar with this. There's this whole idea of like cyclic living, 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.680 and we talk about that with our clients because intuitive 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.320 eating is really about going with the seasons of life 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.280 and going with the epp and flow of life. And 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.399 I love this idea of being very introspective and like 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.560 really not having a lot on my calendar when I'm 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:34.360 on a period, and that changes as I go towards opulations. 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:36.439 So I just have always looked at it as this 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.840 really fun way to connect deeper, more profoundly with my body. 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:42.600 And yeah, of course sometimes I'm more moody on certain 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.400 parts of my cycle and I get annoyed, but overall 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:48.400 it's just allowed for a greater appreciation for like being 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.600 a woman, because our period is actually like our like powerhouse. 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:53.679 It's not like the negative thing that we have to 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:56.479 deal with every month, something you also said earlier, and 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:58.360 I love that. By the way, I think I might 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:01.760 start implementing a little to that into my life of 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.200 when I am in my period, what is my schedule 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:07.439 look like? And how can I give myself that permission 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:11.359 to just step away from certain activities or things. But 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.919 I also want to say to you said something earlier 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.679 about with your clients and when they have h a 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:22.560 and really getting to the root of why they got there. 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:24.840 I'm paraphrasing kind of what you said to get to 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:27.360 what I want to ask you is like, Okay, let's 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:28.840