Vegan female on period while trying to lose weight

AmandaPotechko

So basically my period came a day early...at 1:00 am or later since that's when I finally slept, and while I know some ways to keep myself healthy during this critical time, less caffeinated coffee, more iron, light exercise, I was wondering if anyone else had some valuable insights. P.S. - I am 37 and four months away yesterday from turning 38 so I won't have a period much longer. Noticed I started getting cramps recently again like I did when my period first started at 13... Feel like it's leveling out... Not four days, not 2 1/2 weeks(the worst), but about a week and a half overall.

AnnPT77

Hi, Amanda!

I'm not exactly sure what kind of advice you're looking for.

I'm female, had periods for decades, but am now in menopause.

I feel like getting overall good nutrition the majority of the time is what's important, not so much timing nutrition during periods. That's true for anyone IMO, any eating style. (I'm vegetarian, 50+ years now, but not vegan.)

Some women have higher appetite at some point in their cycle, so choose to eat at maintenance calories during those few days, which seems rational. More iron is generally good, including during that time, since us veg people can be lower on iron if not attentive to it as you obviously are. From other posts, I've seen that you're also aware of the other possible concerns, such as calcium, B12, zinc. That's great!

I'm assuming you're probably eating some soy foods, which do contain natural phytoestrogens, so those are helpful for some women in that ways as well at to us veg people for protein.

One quibble: Unless your family history suggests otherwise, average age at menopause is 52, though it can be earlier. You could still have a few years yet. I went into menopause at 45, but it was triggered by chemotherapy, so it would've been later if not for that. You could still have a few years yet before menopause, including some peri-menopause, which others tell me can be different for some than either what precedes or follows it. (I didn't do perimenopause in any meaningful way because the chemo thing was a hard stop immediately on everything like that.)

I'm not sure what to suggest other than what you're doing, and of course consistent sleep and overall good nutrition is a plus. A folk remedy for cramps is warm ginger tea, so that might be something to try. (It's pretty tasty, especially with a little lemon and something sweet.)

Best wishes!

AmandaPotechko

Thanks Ann... Sorry about the misinformation... I really didn't know so thank you for enlightening me.

AnnPT77

AmandaPotechko wrote: »

Thanks Ann... Sorry about the misinformation... I really didn't know so thank you for enlightening me.

Huh? Misinformation? I don't see anything you need to apologize for, there. Maybe I should apologize for offering the news about probably more years of periods ahead. :flowerforyou:

AmandaPotechko

It's okay