More exercise and massage every day

I have been massaging my legs quite diligently the last two days (since my periods ended), for about five minutes each leg, about twice a day. The massage I have been giving my legs has been over my clothes and it's more of a rub-down, vibrational one, where I do a motion with the sides of my palms vertically down on my legs, all over. This has the effect of stimulating the circulatory and lymphatic systems to function better.

I have also been doing quite a lot of leg exercises and leg stretches, but I have also been doing other exercises and stretches for other parts of the body too, because any exercise program should include your whole body (or at least certain parts on certain days, but all the body to be exercised throughout the week).

I have been trying to make sure I massage my legs as they seem to feel the worst effects of the fluid retention when I get my periods and also prior during PMS, so I'll have to monitor my progress when I get into PMS mode and when menstruation starts to see if this has any effect.

PMS Not So Bad This Month

This past month, I have not had such bad PMS nor did I have really bad period pain either and my periods came 28 days after the previous month's menstruation. This menstrual cycle was one of my more nicer ones, so that was a great relief.

I think it was because I didn't eat much of anything that was bad for me - I think I had only one packet of chips (and they were made with all organic ingredients) and I generally ate mostly healthy things every day, lots of vegetables and fruit (all organic of course), some protein, some nuts and seeds most day (pecans, walnuts, sesame seeds, hazelnuts, almonds) and every meal I had for lunch and dinner was home made from scratch by me. The only junk food I may have had was chocolate, always dark and mostly always organic (or at least European). But as we all know, chocolate is actually good for you, especially dark chocolate and definitely organic, so it's not a bad thing to eat chocolate.

I also did some exercise every day, just a little and that helped to ensure my circulation was working properly.

In addition to that, I did some affirmations most nights (and some days) as well as proper breathing and some meditation, plus I did a little bit of massage on my legs - both upper and lower parts - on a number of days, so that also helped with circulation.

The only part of my periods that was a little annoying was that my stomach got bloated and my ankles hurt (from the fluid retention) for a few days. The bloating though, stayed throughout my whole period, but as soon as it was over, my stomach went back to being flat again. The other thing that is really annoying about my periods is that I get excessively tired (hypersomnia) for 2-3 days just before my periods, during PMS and all through my periods. I think it is because of the iron loss in the blood so I am replacing it with an iron supplement this month to prevent this next month, as I know that I am slightly anaemic.

The PMS I had was less severe and didn't affect my ability to function, so it was quite bearable. I only felt it at certain times on a few days, but it was not anything severe so it was nice. I can only wish my cycle was this good every month with little PMS and basically no menstrual pain.

PMS is over

Menstruation arrived today just after lunch and the intense emotions have also gone (for the most part). 

Interestingly, my periods came 4 weeks and 1/2 a day since last month. So obviously by not buying into the irrational thoughts of PMS must have normalised my hormones in some way and not extended PMS/PMDD (like it would have in the dark horrible past) and so my periods have come in a regular manner. 

See, mind control works! If we can control ourselves, then we can achieve so much.

No wonder I was feeling so horrible and my emotions felt totally out of control yesterday. Lucky for me I was just feeling that way, but not letting it take over, so I was able to remain calmer than I normally would feel on such an irrational day.

This month. I am going to diligently do the following to get back to having wonderful periods and no PMS again:

• Daily self-massage of my legs mainly, but also other parts of my body that I can manage myself
• Daily exercise for at least 30 minutes
• Eating more regularly every day (I eat really healthily, just had not been eating regularly lately)
• Meditation every night before I go to sleep, which will help me sleep, but will also clear and refresh my mind and make me feel calmer all month

Come back to see how I fare next month.

Pretty bad PMS

I am close to menstruation, so it means PMS is pretty bad again.

Yesterday, I was having a discussion with a family member and when they said something totally outrageous, I could literally feel the anger rising inside my head threatening to take over. It was a weird feeling, because I was calmly eating one second and the next, this intense anger just rose inside and I literally couldn't "see" anything other than the anger, which was like this wave of intense emotion , a tide of irrational and intense emotion that just grew so huge and threatened to engulf me, just all of a sudden. It was quite surreal as I was almost observing it from the outside (and thank goodness that I was), but it wasn't the observation that was real, it was the actual feelings, how quickly they formed and how badly it affected my mind.

This sudden surge of emotions was extremely difficult to control, but I did manage it. I didn't let it take over. I took a deep breath, told my family member they should look at themselves first before laughing at other people (in a rather calm manner), all without getting getting out of control. In the past such a thing may have culminated in an angry outburst, but not this time.

Because it is so close to menstruation, PMS is at its worst, so that is why a comment such as the one my female relative made got me irrationally upset. But, I can congratulate myself, because I did not allow the extreme emotions consume me and cause me to get really angry, be totally irrational, have a huge argument and feel bad about everything. After writing the previous posts, I have told myself that I need to control my PMS/PMDD because if I cannot it will literally be hell for me, like the past times when I have had bad PMS/PMDD. I will not allow myself to experience those awful feelings again!

So today, I feel a little tired, a little deflated but not angry. And every time I get any excessive emotions that come out of nowhere, I tell myself: "it is only PMS" and those emotions do go away because that is all they are - unreal, exaggerated and irrational - totally of no use to me. Because this month's PMS is entirely my fault for not doing what I should have been doing - meditation, exercise, self-massage and regularly healthy eating - I don't feel like it has come out of nowhere: I know that it is due to me.

I know some may say that you should not need to have to do all these things to get better and relieve the PMS, but the thing is, because I used to get PMS/PMDD so bad before, I need to continue the treatment (meditation, exercise, self-massage and regularly healthy eating) for at least one year (I think) before I can expect to have any major relief, where, if I am neglecting myself one month, it wont cause any bad PMS/PMDD like it did this month.My PMS/PMDD has been happening for over 10 years - I know I cannot expect a magic cure in one month. And anyway, the treatment I am proposing, is going to help me in every area of health, not just for this.

So any women reading this - seriously, if I can do it, you can too. And I have had the more serious and worse form of PMS - PMDD and I have done it without medication of any type. So that means you can too!

Some detoxification

I have decided to start detoxifying the fat around my thighs and behind (where most women have some fat deposits) by using a hand-held massage unit. Basically I use it for about 10 minutes on each leg (front and back), massaging every bit of my upper and lower legs:

• from the top of my foot to the point where my leg joins my torso and
  
• at the back, from the ankle to the start of the lower back
  

I make sure I massage every part of my legs really well and always massage upwards, towards the heart.

This has the effect of stimulating the lymphatic system to remove any toxins that have built up in the fat cells (as that is where they are stored) and detoxify them through the liver and excrete all toxins through the urine.

If there is too much oestrogen stored in the liver (which is also a problem for many women with PMS and PMDD), this massage stimulation should help to get rid of that in a safe and effective manner too.

The great thing about this massage I am giving myself, is that it not only stimulates the lymphatic system, it also stimulates the circulatory system and ensures that my circulation is working properly in my legs. By increasing circulation (especially since mine is not exactly great in my legs - they are always cold) and increasing lymphatic draining, it means I am increasing the the rate of toxin removal from my system and ensuring that my veins and arteries (and capillaries) are working properly. It also means that I will be at less risk for varicose veins, which are a problem for a lot of women, older women especially, but also for younger women too.

I know this massage therapy I have embarked upon is working, because a little time after I have completed the massage, I need to pass some urine, even though I have not had any liquids to drink in the intervening time after the massage. This is a really good sign. It means that the massage therapy is working exactly as I have described above.

I will gradually increase the amount I massage my legs each day - I started with 5 minutes each leg and now I am at 10 minutes each leg.

I aim to make it about 30 minutes each leg, which I shall continue for about 30 days at that length of time (each day).

After this, I will reduce it to 30 minutes every two days.

I will gradually taper it off to about 15 minutes each leg about once a week or once every two weeks.

I hope this is another item of assistance not just for PMS, but also for my good health!