Bubble Baths and Rollercoasters

A couple of years ago, I was gifted a book about Bullet Journaling by my sister. Bullet journaling, also known as BuJo, is a flexible and customizable system to help you stay organized, track your progress, and achieve your goals. The core concept behind bullet journaling is to create a simple, yet powerful method to capture your thoughts and ideas, and translate them into actionable items.  I had my doubts, but I started right away. And it has literally changed my life - I don't think I would have been able to keep up with everything I have in my life, if I didn't have it. First of all, here are some basic rules to help you get started with bullet journaling: Keep it simple: The key to bullet journaling is to keep it simple and flexible. Don't worry about making it look pretty or perfect; focus on creating a system that works for you - Specially in the beginning. Use bullets: The basic building blocks of a bullet journal are bullets. Use symbols such as dots, circles, and ...

7 months into this adventure called motherhood. Status: Still settling in. I keep asking myself, who am I? What happened to the carefree spirit which moved countries just because? Who made rash decisions out of nowhere? What about the one that drank wildly without any fear of consequence, trading partners and jobs at a moment's notice? Ah, she was good and fun to be around - She's still here, but I don't miss her that much. I feel at peace and calm with where we ended up. But, I have no idea who I am now, this grown up speaking softly to her child, goofying around with and for all the time. This super organized person who takes care of bills, tidies up, meal preps, exercises. This person who is focused on her goals (most of the times), keeps a bullet journal, takes care of her pelvic floor (less than she should) and has a daily skin routine.  It's not that I don't like this new me, but sometimes I just want to stop the bandwagon and stand still. Lay down and rest. S...

 In the SIM course we were were recommended the following book: Take charge of your Fertility . While reading it - Which I highly recommend - I realized how much I have learned about myself and how much better that makes me feel. This knowledge makes me feel in control, in charge of my body and all its possibilities. This is NOT JUST a book for the woman who wants to get pregnant. It's for any woman who wants knowledge and control over her body. There is a lot of information about hormonal conditions, like anovulatory cycles, irregular cycles,  POCS, hypothyroidism, endometriosis, and ovarian cysts. Also, this book focuses on the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM). If you are curious about this, read below what it is about and why it can (or not) be a good alternative for you. This post is not only a summary of what I learned in the book, but also some of my experiences with it and personal opinions. Remember - Knowledge is power. Never feel like you're wasting time when you'...

Continuing what we've talked about in "part II", how we can regulate our cycles, was the endocrine disruptors which are so often found in women's cosmetics and skin product. Because of this, one of the most important life changes we can make is to make sure that everything that we use and that is directly absorbed by our skin is of the highest quality possible, without harmful chemicals. There are already great brands out there: For example, I've been using Lush's "Cosmetic Lad" as a daily moisturising cream and I love how little I use it to feed my skin more healthy in a daily basis.  I also strongly recommend the brand Unii - It's a Portuguese brand that's made of local and natural Portuguese products. Our "Natural Cosmetics" class in the SIM was taught by Cátia Curica, a super woman which does triathlons for fun (and often) and and has her own store of cosmetics. She was an incredible source of knowledge and has been studying mac...

We've talked already about sleep on a previous post  here , about the importance of sleep, particularly women. Sleep is one of the most important regulators of our menstrual cycle and, as a consequence, our well-being. Sleep is also very important for exercise and weight loss. I have been really careful with sleep lately since it is so important for tissue regeneration and it has a very big, real impact in my life. I have been successfully keeping the same weight for around two years now and I believe sleep is one of the root causes. Because life is all about the simple things , these are the simple things I do everyday to make sure I have enough sleep: I make sure to sleep at least 7 hours per night; I always eat maximum 2 hours before I go to bed; Go to bed and turn every device off at least 1 hour before I go to sleep. So, when I wake up at 6:00 AM for Crossfit training at 6:30 AM (So cold!): I don't have alcohol, caffeine or tobacco at night; I make sure to eat between 20:...

This is a not-so-technical post about how we can actively start to normalize our cycle and, as a consequence, our general health. Some of these are specific to women, but most are valid also for men.  There are small things we can start doing differently every day in order to, for example, lower PMS symptoms, make our periods more regular, and/or eventually getting ready for a future pregnancy with diminished risks. The covered topics will be as follows: Eliminate endocrine disruptors; Nutritional reset; Physical exercise; Stress management; Specific natural treatments. These are also known as "the basis of cure". (Note: The Nutritional Reset will be talked about on the Fertility Module) 1- Endocrine disruptors These are agents which interfere with synthesis, transport, connection, action or elimination of natural hormones in our organism, and which affect our development, behavior and/or reproduction, amongst others. Meaning: External agents that are responsible for destabil...