The Perimenopause Chronicles: The Great Refined Sugar Moratorium of 2023

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My last menstrual cycle was EPIC:

  • June 15: Day One! My period arrived around noon. Great mood. I experienced three days of PMS beforehand, including one night of insomnia and lots of edginess.
  • June 19: Day Five – only faint traces of “residue.” Period ends.
  • Late June/Early July: We went on our annual summer trip to Vegas and Nebraska. I ate all the refined sugar and processed food, very little fruits and veggies. By end of trip, I was dying for a salad.
  • July 13: Day 29 – Lower back tight and achy.
  • July 14: Day 30 – Horrendous diarrhea – PMS?
  • July 15: Day 31 – Great mood, energy and sleep. No PMS.
  • July 16: Day 32 – Hormonal and edgy all day.
  • July 17:Day 33 – Hormonal, very short-tempered in the morning but hot yoga helped my mood.
  • July 18: Day 34 (Fuuuuuuck) – Jump and edgy. Also achy, especially in the morning.
  • July 19: Day 35 (Seriously?!) – Slept poorly night before. Exhausted. Felt broken by PMS. Decided to take a break from refined sugar.
  • July 20: Day 36 – Better energy and mood but a little edgy when I woke up.
  • July 21: Day 37 – My uterus was officially ghosting me. But better energy and mood than the past few days.
  • July 22: DAY ONE BITCHES.

So that was my last cycle. Thirty-seven days, which is abnormally long for me, and several days of PMS. I can handle diarrhea and even a little insomnia, but the days of feeling short-tempered and edgy inspired me to take a ninety day break from refined sugar.

I have not had refined sugar since July 18. Today is the twenty-second day of The Great Refined Sugar Moratorium. of 2023, and I don’t miss it.

Except yesterday I found myself craving something sweet and we didn’t have any good fruit in the house. Nathan bought me a pint of utterly divine Keto ice cream over the weekend but I had polished that off while watching trashy reality tv. But despite my craving for something sweet, I still didn’t want refined sugar. Right now, when I think about refined sugar, I think of July’s PMS and cringe. Ugh, it was like an emotional hangover that lasted for days, and I do not want to subject myself to that again.

Yesterday, when I was craving something sweet, I wondered if my period might be arriving, but it was only Day 18. Then, I felt teary in a hormonal way and watched some TikTok videos of military dads being reunited with their kids after deployment so I could cry out my feelings. (It helped!) Before bedtime, I noticed my breasts were tender. I was disappointed because I thought quitting refined sugar would help my PMS, but if my PMS was starting on Day 18, then sigh, my intuition on that front must have been work.

Then I went to bed and slept deeply.

I woke up this morning.

AND I HAD MY PERIOD.

That’s right, after an eighteen day cycle, today is Day One – woot woot! I experienced a few hours of PMS moodiness but nothing severe. I did actually sleep like shit on Day 15/16, so in hindsight, that must have been my PMS insomnia. Each cycle, I usual have one night of bad sleep. But still, this cycle was 100x better than my last.

I will definitely be continuing the Refined Sugar Moratorium of 2023 to see if I can accrue any more health benefits. As my body detoxes, perhaps I’ll experience less PMS!

And maybe, gulp, I’ll finally take the plunge and experiment with reducing/eliminating caffeine. If cutting refined sugar improves my wellbeing, how amazing will I feel if I quit refined sugar and caffeine? But one thing at a time. After all, I’m practicing slower living this summer, so that means sloooowly improving my health. (And I realize I’m just justifying the can of Coke Zero I just polished off. I know, I know. It’s poison, but it’s so freaking satisfying.)