Festive stress
Health expert offers hormonal holiday guide
December 23, 2010
Trish Crawford
LIVING REPORTER
“Save your receipts” during Week 2, warns women’s health writer and hormone expert Gabrielle Lichterman. That part of a woman’s cycle “is when you buy a mini skirt, leopard print or cleavage-showing blouse that you’d never wear.”
Hormonal self-awareness can help women avert holiday disaster, says Florida-based Lichterman. As the feel-good estrogen builds in a woman’s body, she might be more prone to impulse buying and partying, says the founder of Hormonology, a horoscope based solely on a woman’s hormones.
After ovulation and the waning of estrogen, an increasingly irritable and forgetful woman might require a warm, relaxing bubble bath to cheer herself up or an extra nip of egg nog to feel better, she says.
These are just some examples of the importance of knowing where you are in your cycle and adjusting your behaviour accordingly, says Lichterman, author of 28 Days: What Your cycle Reveals about Your Love Life, Moods and Potential. She offers these tips for handling family get-togethers over the holidays:
Week 1
The lowdown: The first day of your period until Day 7. Estrogen and testosterone start out low and steadily rise.
The effect: You’re in the mood to make merry! Rising estrogen and testosterone are prompting your brain to churn out loads of feel-good chemicals.
The result: You’ll have the kind of holiday fun you enjoyed as a kid. You want to sing Christmas songs, decorate and follow all your cherished family traditions to the letter. And, if something goes wrong, you will roll with the punches. You’re a Boxing Day sales warrior.
Alert: Don’t push others, who aren’t as into the season as you, to join in.
Week 2
The lowdown: Day 8 to Day 13. Estrogen and testosterone rise until they peak. One or two eggs are preparing to be released from your ovaries by the start of Week 3.
The effect: High estrogen and testosterone are making you energetic, chatty, flirtatious, confident and bold.
The result: You’re the life of the party! Holiday cocktails only make you more audacious. You’re likely to be the one with the lampshade on your head. You will enjoy all your presents, have energy for Boxing Day sales and make lots of resolutions.
Alert: Avoid flirting with absolutely everyone you see. Try to keep your inner party girl in check at corporate functions.
Week 3
The lowdown: Day 14 (or ovulation) to Day 22. Estrogen and testosterone dip for the first half of this week, then rise during the second half. Progesterone rises throughout this week. Your egg (or eggs) makes an appearance at the start of this week in hopes of getting fertilized.
The effect: You feel mellow from the pregnancy hormone progesterone, which later disappears when the egg isn’t fertilized.
The result: You’re quiet and desire gooey, salty, sugary comfort foods. The good news for you is that there always seems to be a plethora of delicious treats. Progesterone is a sedating hormone, which makes you less likely to show any other kind of excitement when receiving gifts.
Alert: Avoid bores and alcohol — they’ll just make you sleepier. You’ll find it hard to muster enthusiasm for Boxing Day sales.
Week 4
The lowdown: Day 23 to the end of cycle. Estrogen, testosterone and progesterone all nosedive until the end of the week.
The effect: Plunging hormones can make you a bit weepy, irritable, sensitive and impatient. That’s because they decrease feel-good brain chemicals that balance out your mood.
The result: Holiday merriment can get on your nerves. Suggestions of blind dates for New Year’s Eve will grate. You are less resilient in the face of change or disaster. Skip the resolutions — you’re in no mood.
Alert: Buy yourself the one gift you really want this year so you will have that to cheer yourself up with when you don’t get it from anyone else. Take a bubble bath, go shopping, have a massage.
When asked about how she handles holiday family stress, Lichterman, 40, says she and her husband are spending it alone.
“It’s more fun to send our presents off and go out to the movies,” she says. And yes, she will be in Week 4 of her cycle.
tcrawford@thestar.ca
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