Hello, my love. Welcome back to the busy yet pretty podcast. I'm your host, Jane Haley. I'm really looking forward to today's episode because this is a topic that is not talked about enough, which is periods, having a menstrual cycle, PMS, period cramps, everything. So I'm really looking forward to this episode because as you guys may have known, I have lost my period for over two years now and just this year have gotten it back and
I would say it is a pretty regular schedule now, and it truly is just such a blessing. So we'll talk all things period, how I got it back, and what maybe could help you. But first step, let's get into our weekly review. The past few weeks, there has just been such unfortunate fires happening in LA, and C&D I go to, and my heart is just so heavy for so many of people who've lost their home, and not only that, I know so many people who lost their homes, lost their entire life,
in a flash and I just think it's so unbelievably heartbreaking and my heart truly goes out to everyone who has had to endure this. Another thing this week is I've really been trying to dial in to my 2025 intentions. I feel like this year has gone off to a quite odd start for many of us so
I feel like I'm just trying to dial in and it's going to be a great year for us. Another thing this week is I have been brainstorming birthday plans because my birthday is in March, St. Patrick's Day to be exact and I really want to have a fun little trip maybe with my mom. So trying to plan that right now. Also, we had a big TikTok band going on here.
If that happens to disappear, make sure to stay tuned for more episodes here, of course. And I'll also be over Instagram. Now into my current sessions. The current sessions of the week are white chocolate. I feel like white chocolate is underrated and I had just been loving it so far this year. A white chocolate cranberry cookie and tea just sounds so divine. Another thing this week is bronzer. And I mean, a lot have bronzer in the winter. I feel very pale and I'm just wanting the sun. So
It really feels nice and lively when you add some bronzer. Or I like to add a little self tanner to just give me that summer glow in the winter. And my last crab session at the moment is my candle warmer. I got candle warmer and not only do I use it to warm up my candles, but I also use it to do a little simmer pot, which I'll add like cranberries. I'll add cinnamon sticks and orange peel. And I'll just make my apartments well so nice. Now on to the goal of the week.
My goal of the week is to practice them in car driving. I just did it yesterday and I feel like the more and more you do it, the more comfortable you become. This is just something I put off way too long now. A never goal of the week right now is to sort through my closet and get rid of things that I don't wear anymore, donate them, sell them, just let things go because in order to get new things and things that you like in your life,
you have to bring out the old to bring in
If you do things earlier and ahead of time, then it's going to prevent you from being doing things last second and it's going to save you a lot more stress. Now onto the affirmation of the week. I am healthy and in tune with my needs. I love that affirmation so much and I really recommend you affirm that to yourself. Now onto a self love question.
What have I been hard on myself lately that I need to let go of? I love this question so much because it allows us to be mindful of when we are kind of giving ourselves a hard time and we're letting the pressure get to us. So what is something that have you been hard on yourself for that you need to let go of?
I love this question so much because it allows us to be mindful of how we're being harder on ourselves and if we are, we need to let it go. Of course, you can be disciplined, but when you're constantly being hard on yourself, it's not at all going to
allow you to grow and achieve everything you want to do. Let alone, it's not going to leave you happy. Now into yourself of question of the week. Now into your challenge of the week. Step into this week by being mindful of your distractions and eliminating them. As an example, that could be you realizing that you're just endlessly scrolling and scrolling way too much and
It's not allowing you to get your work done and you're just putting your phone down, putting it in the other room or that could be you just playing too many games on your phone. Put your phone away or maybe you're just talking and chatting too much with your best friend. Whatever it is, be mindful of your distractions and really just try to eliminate them at this moment for you to dial in, get what you need to get done and
I promise you, it will pay off an end. Now on to the podcast review. If you want to be featured on next week's episode, make sure you leave a podcast review over Apple Podcasts and leave a rating over Spotify. This review is from Shea May and she said, I have literally just started listening, but my life has already changed. I found this podcast on Pinterest while aspiring to be like one of those it girls go get her golden girls on my free page.
Jayden has shown me that I can have that life so thank you. This always gives me motivation to go achieve my dreams. Shay, thank you so unbelievably much for your sweet review and I am so grateful that it has changed your life so fast listening to this podcast and that it has been a step for you to become your own it girl.
Now without further ado, let's get into today's episode, which we have all been waiting for. So like I was saying, as you know, I got my period back a few months ago after losing it for over two years, almost every woman faces PMS period loss, raging hormones and or any hormonal imbalance. I being one of them, and I can only assume that you've experienced at least one of those things before in your life.
But periods and menstrual cycles are beautiful. Beyond beautiful and is truly a gift. There should be no shame whatsoever when talking about this. And I feel like society has taught us to feel ashamed and embarrassed and have periods and menstrual cycles be a sensitive topic. But this is the beauty of being a woman. No, it's not always comfortable and no, we always dread that time of the month. But this is something to realize how it is a gift when if you did not have a singer in life,
you would want it. After losing your period, you don't realize how much you wanted it before when you had it. Because having a menstrual cycle is a good sign that your body is working properly. A normal, healthy, essential to a woman's body should not be a sensitive topic.
and you should never be ashamed to talk about this topic because this is something that is not talked about enough. And when someone finally hears someone else's story on how maybe they struggle with irregular periods or they experience extreme cravings, then that allows you to realize, oh my gosh, I'm not the only one experiencing this. And other people are too. It makes you feel like you're not alone and that your problems are not abnormal.
other people experience this, which is why transparency is so important. And I'm really trying to do this as much as I can when it comes to periods, because this is something I struggled with. And I want other people to know that you're not alone, whether you have horrible PMS cravings, horrible period pains, PMS, irregular periods, or of course, no periods at all. So if you are someone who struggles with any of that, I hope that you realize that you're heard and are not alone.
And before we dive into this episode, this is not medical advice, but this is just my experience and what has helped me. But let's get straight into it. So I just got my period back a few months ago, and you may be thinking, how did you lose it in the first place? And honestly, I don't know. And I don't think many people know why their period disappeared. And having no period can also be referred to as amenorrhea.
But let's backtrack a bit. So I had briefly struggled with anorexia years and years and years ago when I was a teenager. And during that brief time, I struggled with anorexia. I also began recovering pretty quick and I would say over a one to two year time period. And during that time, I still had my period. It was not extremely regular.
And interestingly enough, I lost my period later down my road in recovery. So I never had an extremely regular period growing up, but I also was not a heavy flower. That being said, I still had a period. So when I lost my period, I felt like I would get it back every month. Every month that would go by, I would think, oh, it'll probably just come next month. And then soon enough,
it became two years of no period. But within those two years of me losing my period, I felt like I was stuck on an everyday loop of PMS. Imagine, you know, the feeling of PMS right before your period and you're just, you're so tired, you're so hungry and you're just very moody up and down, very emotional. That is exactly how I felt for two years straight. It was truly a never-ending loop of PMS and my face would break out.
I would have acne, I was so moody, lots and up and down emotions, cravings, tired, everything. Which I can only assume was stemming from a hormonal imbalance, which it was. Personally, I wanted to take a different route than birth control and wanted a more natural route because I wanted to heal naturally for long-term success and results.
I didn't want to force a period on me artificially and I really just wanted to heal my body and allow it to come naturally back. So after my first year of having a period is when it finally clicked to me how important it is to have a period, not only from my emotions or how I was feeling externally, but my internal part of me, meaning my ovaries and everything else that is supposed to be working right was at a higher risk for complications.
when you don't have your period. And for my holistic girls, if you know, you know, there's so many times where you just go to the doctors and they say the same thing where they'll just prescribe birth control or try to give you a quick fix rather than trying to actually help you have long-term results. So I feel like I would just go to so many doctors and feel so disappointed leaving every single time. And the number one thing I wanted to know was why did my period disappear in the first place?
Again, I don't know why it did and nobody really knows why their period disappeared. No one knows that answer. I went to both doctors and naturopathic doctors and both sides of those doctors would say the same thing where they would mention that my weight was a little lower than it should be. I do not weigh myself. I do not count calories just because personally that's something that I'm not interested in doing.
Since when it came to my eating disorder, I was really triggered by the scale and that would be my sort of fixation. So to me, I don't care to wait myself. But when I would go to these doctor appointments, they would always mention my weight. And since I was recovered mentally, I would think the same physically. I'm recovered physically. It's been so many years since my period. I don't need to gain weight.
I don't want to have to think about gaining weight. I just want to live my life freely and not have to think about weight. I was both mentally and physically with my eating disorder recovered, but I always still lean towards the leaner side. Ever since I was little, I have always been more leaner and petite, but since growing up and growing into a woman's body, you do need and your body requires extra weight on you in order to work properly. And it was something that I had to really think about this past year where I am not
a teenager anymore and having a woman's body really requires extra healthy weight and fat specifically for your hormones and your menstrual cycle. So instead of pushing it to the back of my mind and being annoyed every single time I heard a doctor say, I need to gain some weight, I finally kind of realize I'm not 18 or 19 anymore.
And in order for my hormones to be supported and for me to lower the risk of ovarian cancer and many other risk, I have to gain some weight. And you think, oh, well, that's a pretty easy step. But I found it so discouraging to always hear that I had to gain weight because one, I was fully mentally recovered and pretty much fully physically recovered. So I didn't want to have to think about weight anymore. I want that to be in the past.
Number two, I thought, how could weight really play that big of a deal when it comes to your period and your menstrual cycle? And let me tell you, I really truly do believe that gaining some healthy weight.
was extremely needed in order for me to start my period again after two years from losing it. So as an update, it's been a few consecutive months of me having my period so far and landing pretty exact on the days. So having a very regular cycle, I felt the best I felt in so long and I learned so much this past year, what I truly believed helped me get my period back and what supports healthy
in regular menstrual cycles. So if you're someone who struggles with a regular period, loss period or PMS symptoms, here are some ways that has helped me and that I truly believe could help you. Number one, if you tend to be on the leaner side, gaining healthy weight is so essential. Really try on increasing your caloric intake. And I know it's hard, especially when you don't track calories.
And I would really suggest you stay away from doing that because tracking calories can just lead you into a very unhealthy mindset. But I would really encourage you trying to incorporate more healthy fats into your diet, more protein, more carbs, more fiber, more of everything. And also when supporting your hormones, it is really recommended to have an animal based diet. So whatever you're eating now, just add in maybe some red meat that can really help with iron.
if you're someone who struggles with having a very heavy period. And of course, meat in general can actually be a really great protein source to help support your hormones to get your period. Another thing to add into your diet is tea. Tea is so good for you. Raspberry Leaf Tea is great to help any PMS symptoms in your period. And there's so many other different types of tea for fertility, fertility, and any type of fertility supporting
vitamins, tea, or diets can really help towards getting your period back. Another essential way to getting your period back and just managing your hormones in general is lowering your stress. You need to begin lowering your stress and balancing your cortisol levels.
I cannot stress this enough, but start taking care of yourself and your body. You have to stop being so hard on yourself and in such overdrive mode, and allow yourself to relax. And that could be taking a nap, doing self-care in the mornings in the evening, having your matcha, doing hobbies you like, doing things that you enjoy. When you take time to heal and recharge is when your body is able to work properly,
and not just be in this overdrive mode. One of my biggest motivations when it comes to health and taking time for self-care, it's such a great reminder is thinking that you can have a hundred problems, but when you have a health problem, you have one.
And I think that is so important to remember because you don't want to have to get to the worst of the worst in order to change. Start changing your habits now because I promise you doing that is going to allow you to actually heal instead of you just waiting to hit rock bottom to finally change.
Another essential is get enough sleep. No more of just five hours sleep nights or staying up and just scrolling all night or watching TV. Start getting rest and allowing your body to heal every single night because you are not a male if you're a female listening to this. If you are birth a female, your body runs on a monthly cycle versus a male runs on a 24 hour cycle.
Don't try to force your body into overdrive to try to work like a male because physically females are unable to have our body work in that same capacity as males can. And this is where I'm going into another important thing is tap into your divine feminine. When it comes to your period and your menstrual cycle and just everything in general, allow yourself to touch base with your feminine side and your femininity.
by practicing soulwarming activities that bring you joy and allow you to be in touch with your feminine side, that could be baking, picking flowers, making a little flower basket, or reading, having a picnic, and of course, letting your body rest.
Another really important thing is having a routine. Stop putting yourself to the back burner and start putting yourself on a pedestal by giving yourself the same treatment you would to someone you love. Allow yourself to have those mornings and evenings to yourself. And of course it's hard with kids or a significant other when you are more a little bit in a harder situation to be independent.
But wake up earlier if you have to have that time alone. Don't put yourself to the back burner and rest your morning routine or rest your evening routine or stop putting yourself last. When it comes to vitamins, vitamins and supplements can be very important to supporting your hormones and having a
good, healthy cycle. And I have discovered a few different things that has possibly helped me the past few years get my period back. And one of them being anositol, specifically myoanositol. That can be a great way to help support your hormones. And I really suggest reading up on all these different vitamins and supplements before taking them to see if it works for your needs. Another one is magnesium L3 innate and glycinate. Another great one is B12 or B complex.
And of course, any, like I said, fertility supplements because having a loss period and taking fertility supplements to support your hormones are go hand in hand because they're both helping you support being more fertile in the way of being able to have a cycle. Something I have not done yet, but I really, really need to assume because I've heard wonderful things about this, but acupuncture
acupuncture can be really great to of course fertility and getting your period back. When it comes to PMS and hormones in general, castor oil packs can be very very helpful whether you put it on your belly button or target areas where your liver would be. Another thing that I really like to do is use heated rice pack warmers and I go to bed with them and whenever you're uncomfortable whether it's a period pain or just in general you can just get a
warm rice pack. They have them at the store or Amazon, but they're like little sack warmers and you heat it in the microwave and they become the perfect warm pack to help, help get rid of any discomfort that you're feeling. Another thing is raspberry relief tea, like I said, is really great for PMS. And something, of course, you should be very mindful of is overall a healthy diet. And I always preach, do not take away, but instead add
You don't need to take away all your unprocessed food or sugar. But of course, be mindful to have it in balance. But instead, you can still have any processed food that you want or sugar, but really be mindful of adding on top of that. So instead of taking away, you can add on top
healthy fats, vegetables, protein, start having less caffeine. Something you could do is cycle sink. Cycle sinking can be really helpful for your workouts and for what food you eat to get in tune with your body to see what it needs the most during your cycle that you're in. Because sometimes that you don't realize that working out can actually do more harm than good when your body needs rest at times. Something that I feel like we can all agree on is that we are just dialing in this year.
2025 is our year for success and our business, our happiness, everything. And I feel like something that always stops us from taking action and starting a business. Or if we have a business, taking it to the next level,
is the back end of the part where it's not the creative aspect, but more of the sales and marketing. If I have an idea when it comes to a creative aspect, I want to dial in the creative part and kind of let the sales and marketing part off my hands. So a way many of your favorite brands have taken their business to the next level and made the business they are today is with Shopify. Shopify makes it simple to create a brand, open your business and get your first sale.
It also makes it easy to have everything all in one place, such as taxes, shipping and payments, all in one dashboard. I have so many great ideas that I have been storing the past few years that I'm wanting to hopefully launch this year or the next year. And it feels nice to just dial in the creative aspect and let the back end part be a little more simpler and handled. Established in 2025 has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sign up for your $1 per month child period.
shopify.com slash busy yet pretty all lowercase go to shopify.com slash busy yet pretty to start selling with Shopify today shopify.com slash busy yet pretty when it comes to PMS cravings I am someone who gets extreme cravings I can easily for a snack just eat a full box of cereal a bag of chips and
everything else. I love a good old PMS craving. After you ovulate and are in your luteal phase, you can become very ravenous as if you have a bottomless pit in your stomach and it's like you were stranded on an island and have an E in four years. We typically just crave everything sweet and savory processed foods in sight and the best for my self care is to listen to your body. So allow yourself to indulge in your cravings
Eat the ice cream, eat the chips, but at the same time also incorporate some veggies and protein and things that are actually going to support your cravings and allow your body to kind of rest and not be in such an extreme hunger state of mind. So you can support those extreme hunger pains by nutritious foods and supplements.
But let's be real, at the end of the day, there's nothing better than having those cravings and just indulging, just eating that box of cereal, pastries, bag of chips, taking the extra nap, allowing your body to rest. And even though those cravings and those feelings can be annoying,
Be grateful you're having them because it's allowing you to know that your body is working properly. You are not the only one in the world feeling this, so allow yourself to be resting and give yourself time. You don't even realize how lucky you are to have a period until you lost it. Periods in having a menstrual cycle is beautiful and you should feel empowered and just feeling like it's a blessing rather than a curse. Don't get me wrong, it can feel like a curse many, many times when you're in your period.
But at the end of the day, it's a sign that your body is working properly, so be grateful. And today, be grateful for your period. Be grateful for having a menstrual cycle. And if you don't, work on getting it back. Take action into realizing that your body needs something from you and your body's trying to tell something to you. Maybe go make some doctor appointments. Get your blood drawn and get your hormones tested. Take action, and I promise you, you are not the only one feeling this way. So the next time
Aunt Flo is here. Welcome her with open arms and love and gratitude. I love you guys with all my heart. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. And if you did, please share over your Instagram story and TikTok. I always repost. And maybe if you know a friend or someone else struggling with their period or their menstrual cycle, send this to them because we need to start talking about this topic more because so, so many of us struggle with period loss, PMS, everything.
I hope you had the most lovely, productive, happy, and successful day. When Aunt Flo is here, welcome her with open arms and do not forget to stay busy at Pretty.