Your 30-Day Peri-Buster Plan

Perimenopause can feel like you're on some kind of out of control bucking horse-y.  You never know what's coming next and you're not even really sure you know who you are either.

Perimenopause symptoms like broken sleep, hot flashes, mega mood swings, anxiety, fatigue, itchy skin and so, so many more.

UGH.

It's really not fun.

And whilst perimenopause can feel like it's completely beyond your control, there are things you can do to get in the driving seat to reduce the severity of any symptoms you're experiencing.

Your 30-Day Peri-Buster Plan

We're not into super regimented, restrictive anythings - that's never any fun and we're pretty sure we've all had quite enough of being told what to do for most of our lives. 

There can never be a one-size fits all approach here but there are some guidelines that can definitely make a huge difference to uncomfortable physical and mental perimenopausal symptoms and poor quality sleep.

We encourage you to do a little experiment with yourself.  No mad pressure - just a curious little experiment to see if any of these things make a difference to the quality of your life as you move through these years of perimenopause.

The 30 day experiment - try it and see how you feel - what differences do you notice?

It could mean a world of difference!

Keep a journal every day and track any changes.

Guideline #1 - Meals

For each meal you eat, make sure you include protein and that 2/3s of your plate is fresh vegetables.

Include a thumb-size of good fat. Here are some examples:

• Avocados
• Almonds
• Peanuts
• Macadamia nuts
• Hazelnuts
• Fatty fish
• Olives and
• Coconuts.

Eat high protein snacks throughout the day - some ideas for you here.

A note about sugar: sugar can aggravate symptoms. We recommend trying to decrease how much you eat and maybe swapping out sugar for less refined options: monkfruit, stevia, maple syrup, honey or just giving it a bit of a miss for this 30-day experiment to see whether it makes a difference to you.

Go here to find out how to control sugar cravings

Processed foods: we do recommend dropping any processed food for this 30-days just to see how you go.  The focus of this challenge is to see how you fare nourishing yourself with whole foods.  

Guideline #2 - Drink!

Hahaha we know what you're thinking but noooooo, back away from the wine.

Ditch the booze and sugary drinks for 30-days and aim to drink at least 2 litres of water a day.

Drink green tea and other teas/drinks that will support your peri body. Go here for ideas of drinks to have on hand that will support your body through this challenge and perimenopause.

Guideline #3 - Move it

Nothing drastic but aim to move your body enough to break a sweat everyday. Make it something fun: dance in the lounge, jump with the kids, run with the dog, mow the lawn, park the car at the other end of the supermarket's carpark. We don't care what it is, do your body a favour and get movin'.

Guideline #4 - Magnesium

Supplement with magnesium.  Magnesium in perimenopause has been shown by numerous studies to soothe the nervous system, give you better sleep, reduce anxiety and more.

Our Peri Chai Latte is loaded with magnesium for this very reason and boy, does it work!

SheBANG!'s Clinical Nutritionist, Ange, recommends magnesium to peri women:

"Magnesium is the mineral needed for optimal metabolic function; especially important during perimenopause.

It is involved in more than 300 essential metabolic reactions within our bodies.

Magnesium Glycinate is the best form for peri ladies and is effective in treating peri mood symptoms, hot flashes, improving sleep, preventing insulin resistance and reducing migraines." 

Do yourself a solid and get some here.

Guideline #5 - Permission to relax

For this 30-days, you will grant yourself explicit permission, no matter what, to find a window of time for you to relax.

Whether it's a long hot magnesium bath, a walk outside, staring at a tree for 5 minutes, sitting on your bed just breathing, reading 2 pages of a book - anything.

It can be for 30 seconds or 30 days (😂imagine?!) but give yourself permission to relax every day.

Peri symptoms love to flare up at the mercy of Cortisol, the stress hormone, don't give it the satisfaction.

What do you think?

Think you can have a crack, experiment and see what happens to your perimenopause symptoms? 

Grab a buddy in the PeriSisterhood to stay on track and motivate each other along the way.

If you go for it, stay in touch with us and let us know how you go 😊