What have you learned, over time, about how your body works?

14 comments

1. Pandemic times made me more aware of moments when I have an itchy throat and feeling like I’m beginning to be sick. I now know that I get this feeling when I’m menstruating. I still test now but I expect to feel like this and not worry as much as I did before. I also tend to have more extrasystoles in that same week.

2. That my sex drive also depends on how my partner treats me

3. I require at least 6 hours of sleep. I cannot power through the day and be OK with 3 hours of sleep and some coffee. I legitimately suffer when I don’t get enough sleep. I have to prioritize it.

4. Coffee in the morning : fine. Coffee after 2pm: awful headache.

5. If I start to get clumsy and forget words, a migraine is coming.

6. Learning about my body’s natural hormone cycle was a game changer

7. That the gut is basically the second brain and needs to be treated well.

8. Hormonal birth control causes me problems.

9. Do emotions count as part of my body? Because I wish I’d learned sooner that my anxiety comes out as anger.

10. This autoimmune disease takes my body for joyrides all of the time and I’ve got no say.

11. I don’t respond to anything less than an obscene amount (5-600 mg) of caffeine, so I mostly avoid it. And coffee messes with my stomach.

    Acetaminophen does not work for me.

    If I sleep on my back, I’m way more likely to have nightmares. (I did the math once – 8 out of 10 times I woke up screaming)

    I seem to be physically incapable of penetration without lube.

    It takes me about 2 weeks to recover from a run-of-the-mill cold virus, 4-6 for more severe illnesses.

    And finally – my feet and knee joints warn me when it’s gonna rain. Lol

12. Any SHRED of stress, here comes the spotting.

13. I need a regular sleep schedule or I will get sick. I should never make big decisions after 10 pm. I have to sleep on my back or I’ll end up in pain.

    Most of my neck and back pain is stress related and if I feel like I’m going to throw my back out I should call out sick from work and that will usually stop it.

    I shouldn’t walk barefoot on hard floors. House slippers for life if I want to avoid bone spurs.

    Rum, gin, and certain types of wine are guaranteed hangovers no matter how much water I drink.

    Being unprepared for breakfast is a quick way to have a bad day. I need to keep my kitchen stocked because I wake up starving and very much not in the mood to go get ingredients or throw something together.

    I’m good with all the fruits I consumed regularly growing up, except kiwi, but almost any new fruit I’m going to find I’m allergic to. Luckily my parents bought a wide array of fruits in my childhood so it’s not too disappointing not to be able to be wildly adventurous with fruit.

    Can’t do too many squats or my knees start to click, gotta do ass exercises on all fours or on my side like Jane Fonda

    No eating acidic foods before doing anything that makes me nervous. I get frog throat

    If I believe I can carry the heavy bag, it is a lie my body tells me. I will feel fine now but hurt tomorrow. Whatever feels manageable, take one thing out of the bag and that is my actual weight limit

    I can have 1 drink without dinner, 2 drinks with dinner, 3 drinks with dinner + snack before the last drink (cannot do this last one two days in a row). 1.5 glasses of water per drink consumed = no hangover.

    Anything that looks like a subtle femme detail on the model (ruffles, tulle, peter pan collar, floral patterns, cardigan, pleats, pastels) is going to look Zooey-level cutesy on me. Anything that looks sexily androgynously oversized on the model is going to look unintentionally baggy and dowdy on me. On the flip side, stuff with really strong lines and tight tailoring might make the model look like an 80s career lady but it just makes me look like I have regular people proportions.

14. * HOW DID I LIVE FOR ALMOST THIRTY YEARS WITH A TIGHT FACE?! I started moisturizing at 29 and I had no idea my face was that dry/tight/dehydrated/uncomfortable until then.
    * I feel best when I don’t overeat. I can basically eat whatever I want without problems as long as I don’t overdo it.
    * If I’m worried I’ll forget something, I need to write it down. If I don’t, I won’t be able to sleep because I’m lowkey worried I’m going to forget.
    * I am at my best when I prepare for bed around 9:30pm and read for an hour/an hour and fifteen minutes (going to bed at 11:15pm, at the latest). Any later or any screen time too close to bed, and I toss and turn for most of the night.
    * I prefer a period of quiet, alone time first thing in the morning, spent with coffee, a book or *maybe* an episode of a favorite TV show, a candle, and if I’m lucky, rain, to start my day off on the right foot.