While it may not seem so, if you are low in self-confidence, I strongly believe that you can do things to increase your self-confidence. It is not genetic, and you do not have to be reliant on others to increase your self-confidence. And if you believe that you are not very competent, not very smart, not very attractive, etc. … that can be changed. Here are the awesome ways to boast your confidence. Learning is a Good Thing, so sign up for that evening class and enjoy it. Get out of your own head by asking your partner or best friend what you can do for them today. Hit the gym. The physiological effects will leave you feeling great. Go to a networking event and focus on how you can be helpful to other people rather than being nervous about your own stuff. Get crystal clear on the things that truly matter to you. If they’re not in your life, you need to bring them in. Write a list of the things you’re tolerating and pu...
A period is the part of the menstrual cycle when a woman bleeds from her vagina for a few days.
While what's normal for one woman may not be normal for another, there are a few changes you should watch out for, particularly when it comes to the color of your flow. Below, find 6 things your period blood is trying to tell you about your health.
1.
You may have low estrogen levels. Especially
if it's accompanied by a lighter-than-usual flow, or if you're an avid
runner, says New York-based functional medicine nurse practitioner
Margaret Romero. Studies have found that excessive exercise can lower estrogen levels, which can subsequently mess with your period, sometimes causing it to disappear altogether. (It's not uncommon for female professional athletes to stop ovulating.)
While this may not seem like a big deal (who hasn't fantasized about never having to deal with a period at least once or twice?), low estrogen levels can increase your risk of osteoporosis if left untreated. So if you've recently started training for a marathon, have started working out for the first time in your life, or have upped the intensity of your workouts and you notice that your periods are suddenly lighter in color and flow or less frequent, talk to your doctor.
Romero says other potential culprits of a pinkish flow can include poor nutrition, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or perimenopause, which is when your ovaries start producing less estrogen in preparation for menopause (generally, it occurs around four to five years before menopause).
2.
You may have a nutritional deficiency. Ob-gyn
Alyssa Dweck, MD, assistant clinical professor at the Mount Sinai
School of Medicine in New York, says that a white-ish, diluted flow can
be a symptom of severe anemia, especially if you notice your period
getting lighter and lighter when it would ordinarily get a bit heavier.
If, after monitoring your period for two or three cycles, you're worried
that this could be the case, talk to your doctor about getting tested for nutritional deficiencies.
To make matters a little more confusing, an iron deficiency might instead be caused by heavy periods. (A 2014 Finnish study that examined 236 women with heavy periods found that 27% were iron deficient and 60% were severely anemic.) If you bleed through pads or tampons in less than an hour, wake up at night to change your pads or tampons several times, or regularly feel tired and foggy, it can't hurt to get your iron level checked.
3.
While this may not seem like a big deal (who hasn't fantasized about never having to deal with a period at least once or twice?), low estrogen levels can increase your risk of osteoporosis if left untreated. So if you've recently started training for a marathon, have started working out for the first time in your life, or have upped the intensity of your workouts and you notice that your periods are suddenly lighter in color and flow or less frequent, talk to your doctor.
Romero says other potential culprits of a pinkish flow can include poor nutrition, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or perimenopause, which is when your ovaries start producing less estrogen in preparation for menopause (generally, it occurs around four to five years before menopause).
2.
To make matters a little more confusing, an iron deficiency might instead be caused by heavy periods. (A 2014 Finnish study that examined 236 women with heavy periods found that 27% were iron deficient and 60% were severely anemic.) If you bleed through pads or tampons in less than an hour, wake up at night to change your pads or tampons several times, or regularly feel tired and foggy, it can't hurt to get your iron level checked.
3.
You may have older bits of uterine lining and
blood that are just now making their way out of your body. But don't
panic: This is normal. "We’re not sure why this happens in all cases,
but sometimes the blood is sitting around for a while and comes out
particularly slowly," Dweck says. "It has a lot of time to oxidize,
which is why it can look brown or almost black." (Just make sure you see your ob-gyn if you experience any of these period symptoms.)
Everyone will shed her uterine lining at a different rate (like snowflakes, each period is unique), but for the most part, seeing some dark brown blood at the beginning of your period or toward the end of it is nothing to worry about.
4.
You may have low progesterone levels and high
estrogen levels. While some clotting is normal, says Dweck, clots the
size of a quarter or larger can indicate a serious hormonal imbalance.
(Here are 7 hormones every woman needs to understand.) Romero recommends reducing your consumption of dairy, soy, and sugar and seeing if that makes a difference.
Uterine fibroids are another possibility. They're most often benign, but they can be painful, so if you suspect they're behind your heavy, clot-filled periods, ask your doctor for an ultrasound.
5.
Everyone will shed her uterine lining at a different rate (like snowflakes, each period is unique), but for the most part, seeing some dark brown blood at the beginning of your period or toward the end of it is nothing to worry about.
4.
Uterine fibroids are another possibility. They're most often benign, but they can be painful, so if you suspect they're behind your heavy, clot-filled periods, ask your doctor for an ultrasound.
5.
You may have: an infection, such as an STD/STI. You'll probably also experience a really "foul, necrotic stench," Dweck says. Get tested so you can get the right treatment.
Women who miscarry sometimes notice gray chunks of tissue that look like "liver," Dweck says, so if you think there's a possibility that you're pregnant or having a miscarriage, call your doctor ASAP.
6.
Women who miscarry sometimes notice gray chunks of tissue that look like "liver," Dweck says, so if you think there's a possibility that you're pregnant or having a miscarriage, call your doctor ASAP.
6.
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