Food recommendations for PMS:


http://voices.yahoo.com/the-top-10-food-remedies-actually-reduce-pms-209776.html

well I increased my risperdal because I was concerned about my bipolar and felt like I needed some extra support from my medication.

and cue: the weight gain.

up from 152 to 154.  and I feel super sluggish, lazy, slow...  and totally craving carbs.  however, cravings lots of food and feeling sluggish is typical "during my period" behavior, gaining weight is NOT.  (usually I would be down to 149ish by now)

so THANKS medication for making me:

a) sluggish
b) retain water
 and
c) crave junk food

when are they going to invent psych meds that don't make you feel and look like a pig?  (no offense to those of the porcine persuasion)

anyways...  it's good to be feeling more "normal" mentally at least, and I know I can handle the weight if I just keep trying.  drink a LOT of water, eat a LOT of vegetables...  and minimize stress.

and exercise.

152

Well I finally got my period yesterday and today I'm at 152...  I am back to my regular neurontin dose of 300 and sleep is back to normal.  I am doing a lot of things to pay attention to getting good sleep, which I am now remembering I used to do, and I guess I just kind of let those things slide for a while... and maybe that's why my sleep got worse.  So now I'm getting focused on them again.

For example: making sure the cat has water, food, and a clean litter box before i go to sleep.  this is so key, because otherwise he wakes me up in the middle of the night.  I got lazy about doing this for a while...

anyways so now I'm doing a bunch of stuff (also cleaning the house before bed, taking a bath before bed... etc)

and my weight is getting back to where it was.  I'm pretty happy to be at 152, I think it shows a good amount of loss.  I was at 162 when I started my journal, and to be at 152 now is pretty good.   I want to make sure I don't get so bloated next month before my period, so I want to keep paying attention to my sleep and drink a lot of water (I also started slacking on the water drinking, and I really noticed how much of a difference that makes)

I rented a book from the library "cinch" about weight loss, so I will let you know what I think of that one.

and I've been doing some exercise videos I really like: cardio burn sculpt by tanja djelevic - this is AMAZING.  i love this personal trainer, she works with jennifer garner and uma thurman.

i would like to start doing this video more often, and really tone my abs.  i think it could really benefit me.

i noticed that I got a massage on monday afternoon.  it was pretty deep, and the massage therapist recommended that I hold off on exercise for 24 hours.  however I wasn't able to, and ended up going to dance class that night, yoga tues morning, and a walk tues afternoon.

he suggested that exercising after a massage could end up actually damaging me and I have noticed some pain since then.

so, lesson learned and I will try to schedule massages in the future at better times.  I think it is best to get a lot of exercise in first, then a massage.

however...  I am not going to get too "psychological" about it, or "in my head"...  sometimes pain can just be generated from worrying about something, and I don't want to worry about it too much.

also, estrogen is low (which i have now) so I would be more sensitive to pain anyways.

sooo... lots of water... and enjoying life.  happy to be at 152 and just planning to focus on sleep.

:)

feelin groovy.

I got my period yesterday.  I am thinking..  what are good foods to eat when you are on your period?

you want to make sure you have enough iron.  which means eating lean protein sources.  such as chicken.
you can also eat leafy greens (always good) but if you choose vegetable iron sources you should combine them with vitamin C to increase absorption.

you should also probably keep your salt intake down...  I ate some salty popcorn before going to sleep last night which was a mistake.

anyways...  reduce salt intake.  increase iron.

make sure you have enough calcium, so eat some yogurt (however greek yogurt doesn't have very much calcium so make sure you have some skim milk too)

nuts and seeds and pineapple to get enough manganese

Lentils: provide fiber, protein, satieting

oatmeal: B vitamins boost serotonin help with mood

Bananas: potassium helps with cramps and bloating

Yogurt: I think that yogurt helps everything.  I want to eat some every day.

soybeans can help with hormone balance.