A big week...

Friends…what a week. I’m going to cut to the chase.

I GOT MY PERIOD!

24 days after committing to ‘All In’, my good old pal returned home. There are no words to describe how amazing this is. I am over the moon. It's like a weight has lifted from my shoulders, knowing that my body is able to function this way - I am SO GRATEFUL. As one friend said, “Happy Birthday” to me.

Let’s be real though - this is really fast recovery. Most people need a couple of months, if not longer, to get their cycle back. So why so speedy? Well, I think it’s as my instincts were telling me – I’ve been close to a healthy weight (or a fertile BMI) for a while, I just needed to take some time off that cortisol-producing exercise I love to help my body recognise this!

What next? The advice is to wait for 3 recovery periods before exercising again. Since my recovery was so speedy, however, I think my biggest issue to overcome is how to exercise and fuel sustainably…so I have made the risky decision to ease back in slowly…we’re talking max 2 runs a week + a light strength session. If I can get my second period with that, yay! If not, will be back to some more time off…

I actually went for a beautiful sunny run this weekend. It was hard, and I was so proud of myself, not just for getting through the run, but also (and perhaps even more so) for

a) running in my sports bra only, embracing whatever my body looks like after 4 weeks off, and,

b) what I did when I got back. I wasn’t hungry at all, but I have been listening/reading about the importance of fuelling the female body post workout…so instead of listening to the voices in my head telling me I’d had enough food at breakfast, and that I didn’t really need anything more, and that it was close to lunch etc…I had a post-workout schnak. #smallwins.

Seriously though, it’s important that we recognise that thoughts and voices in our head are just that. We have the power to turn down these ego-based, pesky little (somtimes big) voices, and tune into what we know is right. As my beautiful Mum says – “we are not our thoughts” (I would recommend The Surrender Experiment and The Power of Now for more related to this).

I plan to continue this blog as I progress in my recovery, because these conversations and issues need to be discussed. The female body is different and beautiful, and we (all genders) need to understand it and treat it with respect. And we also need to talk about the voices in our heads, the thoughts that we allow to make us feel so low sometimes, and the pressures that we put ourselves under to achieve certain things and be a certain way. There may be a brief posting hiatus next week as I am moving house (wahoooo), but I will be back after that!

Until then, stay groovy and check out my resources post for inspiring and informative podcasts, books, videos and people to follow on the ‘gram.

IMPORTANT: In case anyone who is actively recovering from HA reads this, you should know that I am sharing my plan because I want to be honest and transparent. I do not recommend following what I am doing blindly – if you are recovering, you need to read the literature, assess your own situation and your mental health, and then make a decision. I am comfortable with my decision because I have a much better relationship with food now than I have had for a long time. If you’re not there yet (and you will know if you’re not), please be sensible about when you choose to start exercising again.