Heart to Heart with Hads

5 Things to Help Your PMS

• Hadlea Shaw

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Your menstrual cycle's luteal phase presents unique challenges as progesterone rises and estrogen dips, affecting everything from mood to energy levels and sleep quality.

• Hormonal shifts during luteal phase cause increased progesterone and decreased estrogen
• Common symptoms include mood swings, fatigue, increased appetite, breast tenderness, and insomnia
• Insulin sensitivity decreases during luteal phase, making blood sugar management more challenging
• High achievers may need to modify workout intensity during this phase
• Strategic cycle syncing means working with your hormones rather than fighting against them
• Magnesium bisglycinate (200mg) and zinc picolinate supplements can help manage symptoms
• Magnesium-rich foods include spinach, avocados, eggs, salmon, and dark chocolate
• Creating proper sleep hygiene starts in the morning with sunlight exposure
• Evening routines should include reduced lighting, limited screen time, and calming activities
• Consistency with healthy habits is essential for long-term hormone balance
• Incorporating daily stillness practice is non-negotiable for hormone health

Share this episode with a friend who might benefit from understanding their luteal phase better.


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Speaker 1:

Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Heart to Heart with Hads. So glad to have another episode. I'm feeling a lot better this week in regards to kind of what's been going on inside of my life as far as my little baby dog, my little pride and joy, I think I mentioned last week but my other dog bit him. He like got paralyzed in the back, two legs. He's still not walking well, so I've been having to like rehab with him every single day. So twice a day, rehab him, give him three baths a day. There's just so much that goes into it. I feel like I have a newborn child, but I'm starting to like get the hang of it actually and so I'm fine. It's like just another part of my day and it's actually actually I kind of like it because it gives me something to do that's not just always worried about myself, essentially myself and helping my clients, and it's nice. I actually do really like it and I do enjoy helping you feel better. But here and there we're going to talk about kind of what's going on in the luteal phase of your cycle, because I'm currently in the luteal phase and I thought there'd be no better time to have a podcast episode on this, because I'm single-handedly dealing with some of the things right now, but some things that I've incorporated that have helped me and that have helped my clients, yada, yada, yada.

Speaker 1:

So first thing we need to discuss and uncover is what's going on in your luteal phase. So your luteal phase essentially this is after you have ovulated, and so the luteal phase, your progesterone is going to start to rise up and your estrogen falls a little bit. Now it doesn't completely tank, but we get that rise in progesterone and a dip in estrogen, and that's when we start to feel tired because progesterone and a dip in estrogen. And that's when we start to feel tired because progesterone is that like calming, chill hormone, and estrogen is kind of what makes us more spunky, fun, have the energy right, and so whenever that declines, usually our mood declines as well. And if you're somebody that goes to the gym trains fairly hard, you know you have a lot of stressors on your plate, you know with work, all the things then you probably have experienced some sort of PMS symptoms, and you've probably experienced PMS symptoms ever since you could remember. And while they are normal, there are some things that we can do to help kind of mitigate that. So, symptom wise, there's a lot of.

Speaker 1:

There are a lot of things that can go on inside of your body. Like I mentioned, your progesterone is climbing, estrogen is declining, some moods going down, so you may notice a lot more mood swings. You know, just feeling under the weather, depressed, anxiety is one that goes along with like your mood, brain type of things. As far as like how your body can feel, you can just feel more ran down. In general, you can have an increased appetite, because when we get into that luteal phase, our appetite actually increases. Well, actually what's crazy is our insulin sensitivity goes down, so actually our blood sugar is more likely to be quote unquote higher and spiked in our luteal phase, which is crazy because we're more hungry. So that kind of sucks for us. But another thing too to mention is you could get hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, cramping, even like, and all of this can happen after ovulation Anywhere from like 14 to right up until your period starts. You can deal with these kinds of things and they actually suck. So there's actually ways sorry, my mouth is dry. So there's actually things that you can do and ways that you can kind of work with your body instead of against it during this time, kind of work with your body instead of against it during this time, and so you can kind of quote unquote, do cycle syncing.

Speaker 1:

Now, I think each individual person is different. Some people they may feel fine in their luteal phase, they don't need to pull back on their stressors or their training. But if you're somebody that's like me and you're a high achiever, you're a high performer, then your body likely does kind of feel the effects of your hormones changing throughout that time. Now, with that being said, if you are somebody that deals with a lot of these symptoms you could have either you could have some estrogen dominance, meaning your progesterone is lower compared to your estrogen, and so your PE ratio is a little bit off. You could have that's probably actually the biggest thing Progesterone to estrogen ratio. If that's off, that can cause a lot more load of symptoms. And so, getting into what I was saying about the cycle syncing sorry, sometimes my brain goes 90 miles a minute Whenever we're cycle syncing and like wanting to work with our body, we, if you're somebody that, like I said, is a high performer, high achiever, and you also go to the gym and you also train, there's some things you can do.

Speaker 1:

For instance, if you're somebody that trains pretty hard, maybe you keep your exercise routine kind of high intensity, right. You're thinking 9 RPE or 1-2 RIR, which, if you know anything about lifting which you should that means reps in reserve. You want to keep your training in that kind of bout. You would probably want to pull back a little bit on the HIIT training. So this last week actually I was, I trained, I ran, I trained, I ran and then I ended up training, didn't end up training Saturday just because my knee felt terrible. And then I didn't end up running yesterday, on Sunday, because I wanted to give extra time for my knee to kind of ease up. But, with that being said, I should have taken it maybe a little bit easier last week. So, going into this week, I'm about to start my period, probably like any day. I started spotting a little bit today, so I know it's either coming tomorrow or Wednesday, here or there. I know for my next cycle that I need to pull back a little bit because I had been dealing with a little bit of insomnia, breast tenderness that's when I didn't mention, like literal breast swelling.

Speaker 1:

That could also be an indication of your estrogen being too high compared to your progesterone. So a little bit of estrogen dominance and you're like Hadley. Well, well, how do I fix these things? Well, a lot of these things are induced by, you know, stress. They're induced by just a little bit of hormonal imbalance going on inside of your body. So it could be your digestion's off, like if your digestion, if you're not detoxing properly, if you're having constipation, diarrhea, not absorbing nutrients, your body could be sending you into that estrogen dominance. And so if you and I always say this too but if you're not getting to the forefront of your hormones, like if you're not getting to the root cause of that, it always goes back to digestion. If digestion is off, then likely hormones are going to be off too. So this is just proven fact. Everything starts inside the gut, literally everything. So if your gut is wacky, expect your hormones to be a little bit wacky.

Speaker 1:

So you need to get to the root of what's going on inside the gut. Is it leaky gut? Do you have gut dysbiosis? Do you have SIBO? Do you have H pylori E coli? Do you have something going on in there? That's where a GI map can come into play, and that is only if you've already, you know, done all the things like you're eating healthy, you're getting in fiber, you're drinking your water, managing your stress, all those things. That's only if you're doing that. I've been doing that for a long time and you're still not seeing a change, right? So that's whenever a further testing would come into play. Maybe, like gut issues have been lingering for a while, and so I'm currently waiting for mine to come back.

Speaker 1:

But going back to the symptoms because I mentioned breast tenderness leading up to cycle there are some things, supplemental wise, that you can help to kind of ease some of that, especially if you're dealing with insomnia, um, the breast tenderness, like I said, and just overall feelings of depression and anxiety. I'm going to do 200 milligrams of magnesium bisglycinate, along with zinc I think it's picolinate picolinate, I don't know I, but that's going to be the most bio. Those two are going to be the most bioavailable of their, going to be the most bio available of their kinds. And so another thing you can do too, if you're not like oh, I don't want to take any more supplements. Which supplements do help Magnesium rich foods, things like spinach, things like avocados, eggs, salmon I don't know if I already said that, no, eggs, salmon I don't know if I already said that, no, I didn't Brown rice is good Bananas, any antioxidant foods, blueberries, dark chocolate's really good. These are things that you can incorporate. Another good vitamin two would be vitamin B6. It's kind of like a good little hormone. Balancing those three would be good.

Speaker 1:

Another thing, too, going back to what I was saying about pulling back on some of the stressors in the training. It's actually a proven fact and also, too, just because where your hormones are at that, when you're in your first half of your cycle, you know day one to whenever your luteal phase starts, that's whenever you're more like I want to have fun, like I, my testosterone, my estrogens higher. I get a good boost here. This is when I feel like I can run the world and accomplish all these tasks and I'm more creative and that's cool, and so that's how you can really utilize your time. In those days of like, okay, this is, this is what I'm going to get the most things done.

Speaker 1:

And then, whenever you get into this phase, I'm not just saying like, oh, just lay on the couch and don't do anything. I'm just saying make your things more restorative, take time for more breaks, more deep breathing, more meditation, more breath, me preparing you and the baby, say, for if you do continue to carry out a pregnancy, right, most of us are not trying to do that, and so, unless you are, that's cool too. But if you're not, like, it's still going to give you that same effect of like preparing your body, so like it needs to chill and calm down and not do as much crazy things, right. And so in your work, you know, in the gym, in your relationships, whatever it is, it can just be more chill vibes to kind of help support your body during that time. But, like I said, everyone's different Go based off of what feels good for you. But, like I said, everyone's different Go based off of what feels good for you, and I mean in the sense of like what your body can handle, not mentally, I mean your body because we can get into this state of like.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I just, I need to be lazy because I'm in my luteal phase and everything sucks and I can eat whatever I want. No, like, you still have to have that discipline of like. Yes, I still need to eat healthy. Yes, I still need to prioritize my rest. If anything, I need to prioritize my rest more. I need to be sleeping more, I need to be doing more chill things, like I already mentioned, but this doesn't mean that I just throw everything out the window. Like today, I'm like I have a such a huge burst of energy and so I know that, like I am about to start my period, but those days leading, leading up like I was tired this morning, I was tired all weekend I just want to do anything. I just knew like, okay, my period's about to start anytime, but I still have to show up and I still have to get the things done. Like you still can't rely on motivation to get you through that, but if you're dealing with it, you're like my gosh, I can't sleep during the middle of the night. I feel terrible, terrible, I feel awful.

Speaker 1:

The magnesium, the zinc both of those will help so much. But also make sure that you're creating a really good bedtime routine. Now everyone's like oh, you want a nighttime routine, whatever, whatever. Nope, it's crucial. But the bedtime routine starts in the morning. It starts with getting the sunlight into your eyeballs, it starts with moving, it starts with hydrating and that sets the tone for the day.

Speaker 1:

Now, when we get into later in the day, movement, we want to make sure we're not exercising in the evening. I mean exercising as in like in high intensity, strength training, things like that. You can still walk, you can do things like restorative type things and also reducing the likes which are like I have these big bright lights on me. Now what I want? These on me at 8, 9 pm, no, so things like lamps, candles, reducing the screen time, obviously blue light blockers. You know, take a shower. I like to do lavender underneath my nose. There's like different things you can do reading your book, like get into bed 30 minutes before you think you want to be asleep and so you can just lay in there and read. Last night I just was reading the bible and my eyes got so heavy and I slammed it shut and I went to bed and I slept really, really good, and I think that was the first night that I actually got in bed earlier than I wanted to. And so maybe it's like making sure that you're getting into bed at the same exact time every night and just truly winding down, doing deep breathing exercises.

Speaker 1:

Everyone, everyone, I know everyone says this stuff, but I don't know what it's going to take for people to actually wait, get the wake up call and listen to like this is the shit that actually works. And if you want long lasting change for your health, for your hormones, for your body, for your mind, then you have to do it. There's no ifs and or buts. It has to be a part of your routine and stop negotiating with yourself because it's not going to get you anywhere. I just needed to say that. I just needed to get that off my chest.

Speaker 1:

Seeing far too many women be way too way too chill with themselves and then they get mad that they feel like crap or they're not where they want to be, or their hormones are out of whack and it's like, okay, there has to come a point in time where you, you get a grip, you put some discipline in play and you get to work, because whatever you're doing has not gotten you has not worked so far. It's gotten you to this point of feeling like crap. And also remember, too, the things that got you here did not get you here in a span of four, four to six months or even six months to a year. It's been culmination of years after years after years of these poor habits, and so don't expect, whenever you do start to bring good habits in, that it's going to happen in eight to 12 weeks, because that's not realistic. You know, your body has to adapt to these new things. And so, doing them consistently and not getting mad if one day sucks and you just keep showing up, that's how the real progress is made. That's how you're going to feel better, that's how you're going to sleep better, that's how you're going to move better, that's how you're going to be more productive and work better.

Speaker 1:

And I just went on a tangent and it's semi-related to what we're talking about. It's not totally off topic, but women just think that they can just chill out and let everything you know. Women just think that they can just chill out and let everything you know vibe, and that's fine to an extent, but you still have to be disciplined enough to actually do the things that are going to make the things happen right. So, anyways, let's see what time we're at. We're at 15 minutes. Why can I not get an episode over 15 minutes? I feel like I talk really, really well and I don't know what happens. Anyways, that's. I think that's all I have to say on, you know, luteal phase, managing those kind of symptoms. But a lot of people said that they like the shorter, shorter timeframe videos better. So my last tips would be to have more fun.

Speaker 1:

If you're a woman, find a hobby that you love, you know, do something that gets your mind. Let your mind run free. Create stillness in your day. Literally, I lay my ass on this ground every day and I put on a mask and I put just like frequency sounds in my ear and I lay there.

Speaker 1:

If you cannot do that as a woman who is trying to self-regulate and get herself to feel good, then we need to have a conversation. You need stillness in your day. If you cannot have stillness, you cannot have still hormones, you cannot have good hormones, you cannot sleep well, you cannot have strong muscles. Like that part of your day is a non-negotiable. Put it in your day. If you don't, it'll come after you anyways.

Speaker 1:

That just making sure you're eating nutrient-dense foods I mean that's 100% the best thing that you can do for your body make sure your gut health is spot on. If it's not, I'm going to have a chat and my camera just died, so that's why I kind of went brain fog for a moment, but I think I mentioned everything that I wanted to Stay hydrated, electrolytes, all the things. Everything that you would do in order to be healthy is the same thing you need to do in order to keep your hormones healthy. So hope you guys enjoyed this episode of things you can kind of do in your luteal phase and just planning your productivity, and supplemental wise things you can do to help sleep, anxiety, pms. And if you found this helpful, you should share it with a friend, because why not? If it helps you and you want to help somebody else, do it. But in the meantime I appreciate you guys for tuning in and I'll see you in the next episode. Bye.