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Fertility Awareness

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Birth Control, Books, Fertility Awareness, Health, Learning

Fertility Awareness Reading: “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler

by Tami Stroud
Fertility Awareness Reading: "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler | Starry-Eyed Pragmatist

I thought I’d start a series about fertility awareness reading that includes things I’ve read or things I’m currently reading on the topic of fertility awareness. The first book I have to mention is, of course, the beloved classic “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler. This was my first introduction to fertility awareness […]

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Birth, Birth Control, Feminism, Fertility Awareness, Health, Interviews

Health Coach Interviews Me About Exploring the Fertility Awareness Method

by Tami Stroud
Victoria Thorogood: Health Coach Interviews Me About Exploring the Fertility Awareness Method | Starry-Eyed Pragmatist

In the fall of 2017 I joined Victoria Thorogood: Health Coach on Facebook Live to chat about Exploring the Fertility Awareness Method. We talked about how to get started with FAM, the effectiveness at preventing pregnancy, how to use FAM to get pregnant and to tell you information about your health, as well as fertility […]

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Birth, Birth Control, Fertility Awareness, Health

Postpartum Birth Control Options (Without Artificial Hormones or IUDs)

by Tami Stroud
Postpartum Birth Control Options (Without Artificial Hormones or IUDs) | Starry-Eyed Pragmatist

Many women, who love the idea of fertility awareness, think they can’t use a Fertility Awareness Based Method (FABM) while they are postpartum and waiting on their return of fertility, because they are not experiencing a regular cycle. Actually, there are ways to effectively fertility chart during postpartum amenorrhea, however it is true that many […]

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  • So, what am I working on if I’m not taking on new 1:1 FABM clients right now? 🌟 Well, one project I’m working on is a Neo Fertility course called Chart Your Cycle, headed up by Melissa Buchan of Virtus Fertility Care. Melissa has actually assembled a team of FABM instructors from a variety of training backgrounds to work with the students in the Chart Your Cycle course. I’m really excited about what she’s building with the approach she’s using with this course. . 🌟 As you may already know, I’m a FEMM certified FABM educator, I'm also finishing my certification with the Sympto Therm Foundation (Sympto) as well as working through instructor training with WOOMB International (Billings). I also love trying out femtech. So, I'm just an all around #FAMgeek and I have this drive to #learnallthethings. . 🌟 Why Neo Fertility? Neo Fertility caught my interest, because it’s an interdisciplinary charting approach that pulls from research in a variety of FABM traditions with a focus on Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM). RRM is an approach to women’s healthcare which focuses on ultimately restoring health, restoring hormonal and biological function, not simply masking a series of symptoms while the underlying issue remains untreated. Another aspect of an RRM approach is the use of a fertility chart to aid in diagnosis and assessment of treatment progress. It’s really an approach where patient and medical provider work hand in hand towards a healthy outcome. Medical providers typically need additional training in various RRM diagnostic and treatment protocols. This is why randomly taking your chart to your doctor can often be met with really disheartening responses. . 🌟 The approach in the Chart Your Cycle course is to teach women how to chart in a way that many RRM doctors are taught to read using the Neo Fertility FABM guidelines and Neo Fertility app. Then to help women find RRM friendly doctors to review their charts for health purposes. . 🌟 Can you see why I’m so excited about this course and this approach?! . 🌟 Join me! Doors close Oct. 1 💖 #linkinbio or Short URL: 👉 http://bit.ly/ChartYourCycle2
  • My daughter makes the most adorable tiny creations. Just look at these little envelopes, letters, and mailbag she made. #cuteoverload 😍
  • I love finding compass artwork when I’m out and about! 🧭 Found this one at Asakusa Station in Tokyo, Japan. 🇯🇵🌟
  • #Tempdrop Giveaway! 🤩 Signup for the FREE Online Workshop: How to Manage Your Cycle without the Pill 👇 Go to Profile 👉 @virtusfertilitycare https://www.melissabuchan.com/workshop This is a FREE workshop by a friend and fellow FABM instructor, Melissa Buchan. If you have been thinking about coming off #thePill / #HBC / #IUD and want to be able to naturally manage your fertility, or if some of my #FAMfriends have a friend you've been trying to gently nudge in that direction (you know who you are #ahem), check out this FREE workshop and share with your friends. "In this workshop, I promise you will learn something new. AND...you'll learn how to win a FREE TEMPDROP!" – Melissa Buchan
  • I can’t believe I’m going to share this! I’m 41, premenopausal, and for the first time in my life I tried a diet and exercise program. I’ve always been naturally “skinny enough” not to be bothered with actively managing my weight and body shape. Well, then premenopause hit. My midsection grew to where I’d get questions about being pregnant (when the last time I was pregnant was over 6 years ago!). Not fun! I was having hot flashes and wonky fertility cycles. 💫 🌟 I tried a few different programs, but the one that I ended up falling in love with is Metabolic Renewal by @jadeteta. The thing is, I was starting from a place of ignorance of all the various trends and best practices in the diet and fitness world. It’s just not my geeky wheelhouse. What I do know is fertility charting and the female hormonal cycle. So, when I came across a program that specifically looked at how to leverage the normal hormonal changes in the female cycle, I was interested! 💖 🌟 To cut to the chase, swipe to see a before and after picture of me (I can’t believe I’m sharing this!🙈). Not only did my waistline improve, but so did my cycles, energy, mood, sleep, and the hot flashes that were plaguing me vanished. Also, all that improvement was from me bumbling through the program in a vastly imperfect way and tweaking things as I went along. I’m now starting a new round of MR and I’d love for you to join me on this journey. I have some great tips about how to get started and set yourself up for success. 🙌 🌟 Read more about my experience with the Metabolic Renewal program, including what specific implementations and tweaks are working for me, at the STARRY ✦ LIVING blog. Go to the home page (#linkinbio) and scroll down to see the latest blog post or use the URL below. 💫 🌟 Metabolic Renewal: A Cycle Friendly Diet & Exercise Plan http://www.starryliving.com/metabolic-renewal/
  • This weekend we went to a Saitama Seibu Lions ( @seibulions_saitama ) babaseball game in Japan. They played the Chiba Lotte Marines. It reminded me so much of an American Southern college football game. There were organized cheers going on nearly constantly from the crowd. Everyone knew when to bring out the flags to cheer and everyone knew when to bring out the balloons, such as here with the “Lucky 7” balloon releasing for the seventh inning. The Lions won with an exciting extra inning. The whole game was just a fantastic spectacle to behold. ⚾️ 🇯🇵 💖
  • “The Art of Natural Family Planning” 4th Ed. by John and Sheila Kippley was the textbook used with the first Natural Family Planning (NFP) course I took with Couple to Couple League (CCL) over 12 years ago. I believe this book is currently out of print. It’s an oldie, but goodie, though. 💕 🌟 The Kippleys went on to found Natural Family Planning International (NFPI) and CCL went on to revise and simplify the charting rules they teach. I believe the rules that NFPI teaches are the same as the rules in “The Art of Natural Family Planning,” but this specific textbook is no longer used by either organization. 💫 🌟 I find this book fascinating. It’s a really comprehensive resource and gives the user lots of information to make nuanced and individualized family planning decisions. I love that about it now, but I must confess, at the time when I first got the book, as a new charter, I found all the various options for applying rules to be somewhat overwhelming. However, as the #FABMnerd I am today, I find this book to be an engaging resource that has really rounded out my understanding of basal body temperature rules, their origins, rationales, and application. If you like to geek out on this stuff, then “The Art of Natural Family Planning” is definitely an old resource worth hunting down to add to your bookshelf. 📚🤓💖
  • A few years ago I read the book “Better Than Before” by @gretchenrubin and it really changed my perspective on my behavior and motivational patterns. My own behavior and motivational patterns had perplexed me for many years. In “Better Than Before,” Rubin lays out a framework of four motivational tendencies that people can embody. I discovered from reading “Better Than Before” that I have a Rebel Tendency. That means that I resist both inner and outer expectations. For me, this resistance to expectations is like a curse and a super power all rolled into one. On one hand, it feels like a curse, because I never really know how my commitment to a thing will shift over time. Things easily change on whim for me. Accountability groups are just kryptonite for my motivation. On the other hand, my Rebel tendency like a super power, because if something is not working, I can often “just stop” or “just start” an activity indefinitely into the future with ease. It’s like this internal ON/OFF switch that I somehow magically find. I don’t pretend to understand how it works, though, nor do I pretend to be able to make the magic switch happen at will. That’s really where the trouble comes in. If that magic ON/OFF switch isn’t trigged, then it can be ridiculously hard to get myself to do something. 🔒✨ 🌟 However since coming across the #FourTendencies framework, it has allowed me to see my own strange “motivation problem” from a whole new perspective. I now know how to leverage my own natural tendencies towards things I would like to do instead of being a slave to it. 🔐 🌟 Read more about my experience as a Rebel tendency at the STARRY ✦ LIVING blog. Go to the home page (#linkinbio) and scroll down to see the latest blog post or use the URL below. 💫 🌟 What It’s Like Having a Rebel Tendency http://www.starryliving.com/what-its-like-having-a-rebel-tendency/