Healthy Living with Jilisa Ghareeb: Getting in Sync with Your Cycle

Happy April! Welcome to Spring! Doesn’t it feel like it took a long time to get here? As I get older, winter sure seems to get longer and longer.

For the ladies

What I want to talk about this month is mainly for the ladies. Gentlemen do not be afraid to read this though. You become more attractive the more you know and understand about the women in your life (especially your other half). What you read here today could be something very helpful in knowing when to ask questions that require big decisions or when to be more helpful and a bit more sensitive. From a life experience point, it would be very difficult for me to write about men and their hormones. Although women and men have the same hormones, the levels are different and that makes the way we react to things different. As you know all bodies are different and we all react to things in our own unique ways.

Let’s get right into it! Ladies, as you know the menstruation cycle is 28 days. Now I know that we are all different and some women’s cycles are shorter and some longer. For the sake of the article and research we have to have a basis, we are going to have to pretend that we are all at 28 days. No matter the number of days, we all have 4 phases that our body goes through and each of those phases brings different emotional and physical strengths.

Phase 1 – Menstrual Phase. This phase lasts anywhere from 3-7 days.
Phase 2 – Follicular Phase. This phase is from days 7-14.
Phase 3 – Ovulation Phase. This phase lasts for 12-24 hours.
Phase 4 – Luteal Phase. This phase is from days 15-28.

We repeat this cycle every 28 days. I encourage you to track your cycles. There is a lot you can learn about yourself and why doing some things during certain days is harder, from working out to doing chores or even making a small decision. Let’s break this down even further.

Breaking down the phases

Phase 1 is the menstrual phase and this is when our energy is at the lowest. What happens when we have low energy? We are moody. We also want to eat foods that give us a boost of happy hormones, which for most is sweets. During these 7 days, continue to eat as healthy as possible, limit your sugar intake because sugar could possibly increase the intensity of your cramps and mood swings. For working out, you will want to take it easy on yourself. Keep the intensity level down and include meditation and breath work into your day. Instead of a long run filled with sprints and hills, go for a walk or an easy jog. For my weightlifters, grab the lighter weights, do a few more reps to work to fatigue and keep the work out shorter. Keep the cardio light, no HIIT (high intensity interval training) during these days.

Phase 2 is the follicular phase. This is the phase to turn it up. Estrogen and testosterone are on the rise. Your energy is up, your mood is great. Weightlifters grab those heavy weights and go for the PR. Heavier weights equal less reps, but you can do more moves and workout for a longer period of time. Get those HIIT workouts in. Runners get out there and run! This is a great phase for brainstorming and making decisions. You are feeling great, get out and do all the things!

Phase 3 is the ovulation phase. Remember this lasts for about 12-24 hours. Estrogen and testosterone are at peak levels boosting the effects of the follicular phase. Keep up the intensity with your workouts.

Phase 4 is the luteal phase. This one sort of blends with the last 12-24 hours, you are still feeling good at the beginning of the phase. Your body just completed a huge goal, ovulating, and is now going to prepare to start the process all over. This is where tracking your cycle comes in handy. The first week you will still be able to keep that intensity in your workouts. Keep doing all the things that make you feel good. Take note of the week before the menstruation phase starts. You will want to dial down the intensity that week. Make sure to dial back on sweets, highly processed foods and loads of salt. These can intensify cramps, bloating and headaches. Eat as healthy as possible to help reduce these symptoms during this week when PMS occurs and during menstruation. Working out during this week will be just like during phase 1…walking, yoga, light jogs, lighter weights.

Benefits of Tracking

Please note that tracking your cycle is not just for knowing when you may or may not get pregnant. Knowing your body is not only beneficial to you but to those around you, especially when it comes to your mood and making decisions. If you have high anxiety like I do, then I know that during that last week of phase 4, most everything will trigger me. This is when I ask for more help around the house and for everyone to give me 5-10 minutes once I get home before they start bombarding me with questions and homework.

Tracking will also help you make gains in your health. Lifting too heavy or doing high intensity cardio during a low energy phase could not only cause frustration for you but also increases your risk of injury. I am not saying to skip your workouts, just dial it down a bit. Remember that your body is doing a great deal of work and we need to work with our bodies not against them.

Knowing your cycle and being able to work with your body will help ease the stress you may feel when you are experiencing frustration at the gym, home and work. That benefits everyone! Please remember to work with your doctor if you are experiencing anything that you feel is not normal for you during any part of your cycle. There is no need to suffer physically or mentally.

The move of the month is a great move to do at any time during your cycle. You are going to need light weights or try it with no weights. Check it out!

Move of the Month: Sumo Squat with upright row and arm raise

This move may read and look a little complicated, but it is not once you get the hang of it. This is a whole body move. Let me break it down.

1. Grab a pair of light dumbbells.
2. Start standing with your feet wide and turned slightly out, your knees are going to follow your feet.
3. Holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of you with your palms facing toward you.
4. Lower down into a sumo squat (pretend that your back is against a wall and you are sliding toward the floor). At the same time bring your elbows up into a row.
5. As you rise out of the squat, lower your arms.

2nd part, not same as the first (does anyone recognize that, it’s a nod to a song and I cannot just say it, I have to sing it).

6. In the starting position you are going to lower down into the sumo squat and this time raise your arms straight in front of you and all the way above your head. If you stopped right here, you would look like the 5th image.

7. As you rise out of the squat, you will start to lower your arms to your sides (creating a half circle) with your palms facing out. If you stopped right here, you should be standing with your arms at your sides palms facing out (like the 7th image).

8. Now you are going to reverse,, keeping your arms straight, raise them up above your head, creating that half circle while you are beginning to squat. As you are rising from the squat lower your arms straight in front of you and you are back to the starting position.

You are going to repeat this for one minute. You will be alternating between the upright row and the arm raise with half circle. Remember to squeeze your cheeks each time you rise out of the squat. Always keep your core tight. If you feel any pain or impingement anywhere, please stop the move. In the picture I am using 5lb weights and I feel it after 1 minute. The recipe of the month is super refreshing for after a workout but you will need to prepare ahead of time.

Recipe of the month: Kombucha Float with Mango Raspberry Sorbet

Recipe by: Beeya Wellness

Makes: 1 loaf pan of sorbet
Prep Time: 15 mins
Freeze Time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

4 cups frozen mango, about 20 ounces in total (chop into smaller pieces before measuring if you have large chunks)
⅓ cup maple syrup
½ cup coconut cream
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
½ cup frozen raspberries
Kombucha for floats if desired (we used raspberry flavored)

Instructions:

Add the frozen mango, maple syrup, coconut cream, and lemon juice to a food processor.

Pulse and scrape down the sides until the mixture starts to come together and smoothen out.

Once the mango mixture runs smoothly leave the food processor running for about one minute to get it nice and creamy.

Break the raspberries into smaller pieces and layer them with the mango mixture in a metal loaf pan.

Cover and transfer to the freezer to firm up. After about 3 hours it is typically perfect for scooping into glasses to make floats, though it can keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Just make sure to give it some thaw time for easier scooping once it’s been frozen for more than 6 hours.

To make floats, scoop the mango sorbet into a glass and top with a kombucha flavor of your choosing. Serve with extra crushed raspberries if desired.

I used GT’s Peach Paradise kombucha and it was so tasty. If you do not like kombucha, you can just eat the sorbet by itself, it is so good. I blended my raspberries in with the mango and instead of yellow sorbet mine was pink. I read the recipe and still did my own thing, at least I got all the ingredients in. If you don’t have maple syrup, you can use honey (warm it slightly, it will mix in better) or monk fruit sweetener. Recipes are great, but you can always tweak a little and still achieve a great dish.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. Starting and navigating a new journey can be intimidating and overwhelming. Working with someone who has been in your shoes is extremely helpful and encouraging. Journeys are better when in the company of others.

Jilisa Ghareeb has been a Beachbody coach for 6 years.  Her favorite part of being involved with fitness and nutrition is watching her clients change and open up a whole new world.  As a coach, she is able to help others by introducing them to a change that is often scary, intimidating, and full of “what ifs” to an encouraging and inspirational lifestyle full of “I cans”. She uses her own story to show others that everything is possible with hard work and determination.  If you’re interested in reaching out to Jilisa for more information you can contact her via email, on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube.