Why You Should Start Tracking TODAY.
If I could recommend just one thing to start doing TODAY for your health and wellbeing, it would be to start tracking your cycle and your symptoms. Why? When it comes to cycle health it’s one of THE best ways to get in touch with your own body, understanding it better than you ever have before. Once you have this insight, you’re ready to start working in alignment with your flow!
Where to start? Cycle tracking on it’s own is a great starting point, but I would also recommend tracking feelings/moods/symptoms (especially if you believe you may have a hormone disorder of some kind). I say feelings & moods as well as symptoms because you don’t necessarily need to be experiencing severe symptoms to benefit from this work. Think of it as a way to elevate your understanding of yourself, regardless of the kind of cycle you’re experiencing. It gives the gift of understand yourself better than you ever have before. Living in sync with your cycle completely changes the game in so many areas; feeling your best self, feeling healthy, achieving goals, work, relationships, fitness and more.
The Happy Hormones club have a FREE easy to use cycle and symptom tracking guide. To download sign up here.
What will I get out of it?
Look, I appreciate that we aren’t all blessed with time. Adding another thing to the daily task list may seem impossible right now! But what if I told you that doing this work might actually help you save time? Really! Once you understand your cycle you alleviate the time that you spend fighting against it… and trust me, you might not recognise it now, but a lot of people are wasting a hell of a lot of time in this place. The key is making it easy;
Use an APP if you are on the move a lot - there are some great ones like Moody and Flo
Use a google sheet (there’s one available in my download) if you’re on your laptop most days for work you can add it to your daily work tasks
Print out the tracking sheets and stick them in your wardrobe with a pen nearby, or your bathroom cabinet, anywhere you go every day
It takes 2 minutes and as well as saving time in cycle turmoil, there’s so many other incredible things it allows you to do:
Predict your period - The most obvious of the benefits, but so often people go through the month not really knowing when to expect their period. How many times have you heard someone come on their period and then say ‘ahh that’s why I felt ‘XYZ’ the last couple of days’. There’s no need to be shocked every month. Tracking your bleed days helps you notice patterns, are you regular or are there changes? If there are changes, this may be useful to bring to your GP. If you are regular, very quickly you are able to plot in dates for the rest of the year and beyond.
Plan ahead - Predict times to be more productive, book in social events, tick of the life admin tasks or when to relax, recharge, prep for another time.
Empower yourself - Give yourself the power of control over your cycle and how you travel with it. The more you know, the more you can align yourself with your cycle and start living with the flow instead of against it.
Find any themes - tracking every day over the course of a few months may start to reveal some key trends - for example irregularities in cycle length, or experiencing the same symptoms around the same days every month. All of this information can assist in the discovery of any hormonal issues.
Be kind to yourself - You will feel the ebbs and throws of your cycle no matter what, but when you understand your cycle completely and can therefore understand why you feel those ebbs and flows it changes everything. With that understanding comes the ability to be kinder to yourself. Don’t waste time worrying why you feel like you can’t make that 7am gym class in your luteal phase, understand it’s your body telling you what it needs to get through and start working differently on those days!
Feel closer to your partner - we hear all the time how communication is the key to a happy relationship, and so many relationships suffer because there’s no understanding around cycle health. Learning about cycle health equips you with the tools to communicate about your own experiences effectively with a partner. Encourage your partner to learn with you or show some of the patterns from your tracking journey. Be open when you feel low, and when you are your best. Open yourself up to receiving their care and support.
Download The Happy Hormones club FREE easy to use cycle and symptom tracking guide (available as print out or digital) and START TODAY. To download sign up here.