The Ultimate Period Talk for Christian Girls: Hormones, Cycles & God’s Design

Kaase Levell

Sammie, welcome to the podcast. We are so pumped to have you tell us about yourself a little bit.

Sammie Terbrack

Thank you so much. I'm so honored to be here. This is honestly like something that I have been doing in person for a while, but to do it on a bigger platform and to be able to reach so many young girls that I wish when I was their age had this. It's just, it matters so much. So just want to thank you for having me here. like you said, yep, I am a, I've been a ⁓ functional nutritionist and a health coach for a really long time. I dove into women's health.

Kaase Levell

Totally, honored. 

Sammie Terbrack

Massively over the last six years and just understanding the vessel that God gave me so much better and appreciating it more. And so that's my goal today. My goal is that you girls walk away with a better appreciation for the beautiful design that God gave us in a female body. And then also a better understanding of your period, your cycle and why we have one, because it's massively important.

Kaase Levell

Yes.

Sammie Terbrack

I don't know if you know, but your period, your cycle, your whole cycle is actually known as a vital sign. This is something that is really, really important to tell you how healthy you are. And so we were kind of taught to ignore it and shut it down where I think that if we can learn how to appreciate it and honor it, you're just gonna live such a more fully fulfilled life. So last but not least, I also want you to walk away with some practical tools.

And that's going to be part of the story that I share, is that I just didn't know what I didn't know when I was young. And so I would love to be able to just take some of the fear away and pique some curiosity. So then that way you don't feel like you have to be ashamed or embarrassed by your period because we all have one and it's super important. Yes. 

Okay, so if you're okay, I would love to dive in and share my story of when this all started, which was 13 year old Sammy and I am a freshman in high school. And I have this visual of being in the locker room in a bathroom stall holding white soccer shorts. We had white soccer shorts and it was, yup, it was day one of my period, which means I was super heavy.

Kaase Levell

Yeah. Yeah.

Sammie Terbrack

And all I knew how to wear was a pad, because that's what my mom wore. And so that's all I knew. And I just was like, I want to crawl into the wall and never come out. Like it was so embarrassing. I didn't know what to do. Thank goodness there was a senior high school teammate. name was Joanna. If she is out there in the world, thank you, sister. Yes. And she just, she took pity on me and she came in and she very kindly and patiently tried to explain to me how to use a tampon. I didn't really get it at the time, but it was just such a kind thing for her to do. And even though in that moment I was super embarrassed, it was really nice to have somebody who had likely been on the period for three or four more years than me who was like, it's okay, we all have one. I'm going to help you through this. And so again, that's my goal today. So when I was young, there was a lot of the fear was because I didn't understand my body and I didn't know how to truly appreciate it. Right. 

Kaase Levell

Totally.

Sammie Terbrack

And to no discredit to my mom, but she didn't necessarily know how to explain that to me either. And it was just something that I didn't know who to go to to ask. So I just kind of held it in and just tried to hide it and and pretend it wasn't happening, even though it was. 

Kaase Levell

Yeah.

Sammie Terbrack

When I was young, I was that kid who stayed up super late because it was the cool thing to do. I was the kid who lived off of snacks, know, Cheez-Its and Reese's and Taco Bell. And so my body was just not being nurtured super well. But again, I didn't understand the connection between how I treated my body and how it was going to feel. That didn't happen. That connection didn't happen way later in life. And 20 years-25 years later. 

I wish I would have had that understanding, not that I would have been perfect in my nutrition or not that I would have gone to bed at 8 p.m. But I definitely think I would have taken better care of myself because I knew that it impacted me.

I didn't realize that those two were related. So hopefully the girls that are listening, if you take away anything, it's just that appreciation of, okay, there's some small things I can do with what I'm eating and how much I'm sleeping and how I'm taking care of myself. It will massively impact your period, which is.

Kaase Levell

I’m going to chime in. It's not self-absorbed, guys. This is just self-care. This is saying, there's other things going on, and I want those to be priorities in my life. But this should be a top priority, you guys. I think so often, I look at my own daughters, I just, it's hard. It's hard to instill it as a mother. So there has to be some ownership in this, where at some point, you step into that and you go, you know what? I care enough, and I know that in five years or 10 years, this is gonna matter so much more.

Sammie Terbrack

No, self care.

Kaase Levell

I'm gonna start now, but it's not easy. It's not an easy decision to make and at your age, it is honestly really hard to make it a priority and I don't wanna, I wanna be careful. Like we're not suggesting like diets or fads, we're just saying.

Sammie Terbrack

No, honestly, the opposite because that would be something, you you could also lead to some nutrient depletion, like not feeding yourself a nest. I will say, you know, and hopefully there's this good connection between the fact that your body is the vessel that holds your soul. Your soul is what matters the most to God. And so He made this one unique vessel and honoring it honors Him.

Kaase Levell

Yes, 100%. Good. ⁓ good. Yes.

Sammie Terbrack

And that does not mean that you have to be perfect because you won't. And there are so often times we think we have to be super restrictive or if anything that we put into our body is harmful, we're doing something bad, but it's really not. It's these small daily things. And it's more about what you're adding in, honestly, than it is about what you're taking away. And so I want you girls to really understand that, that it's not about you eating less or doing less or restricting yourself. It's really about like,

Kaase Levell

Good.

Sammie Terbrack

Is this food? Can this food nourish me? Can this give me a little bit more energy, more sustenance? Can I give myself more rest like that? It all impacts in such a huge way because it all builds off each other. Yeah. So so from a you know, and this is one of my favorite Bible verses that kind of connects this is Psalms 139 14, which is that I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made and your works are wonderful and I know that full well.

And so just appreciating that. And so I struggled with body image issues, I struggle just kind of hating my body when I was young because I felt so terrible two weeks out of every month. And I felt like I was broken and I felt like I was crazy. And that's like, what's wrong with me? And now that I look back, those were signals my body was sending me that I was undernourished, that I was under recovered and under rested. And I just didn't know how to listen to that.

Kaase Levell

Wow.

Sammie Terbrack

I think that that's also a beautiful design by God is that he gave us those signals. And women have those signals way more than men do. So we have this sensitivity to our hormones because we are the individuals that can hold and grow life, right? So we are the ones that can carry the babies. And that is such an important thing that he wants us to be able to listen to the whispers that our body sends us. And that's exactly what your cycle is. And that's why there's hormones that change throughout it. So your period is not a punishment.

It's a sign that your body is working the way God intended it to. So it's part of what, yeah. It's part of what prepares you to be a woman and one day be a mother. And so just understanding it now, even if, you know, being a mother is years and years away, like you said, what you do today will absolutely impact what happens in another 10, 15 years. Absolutely.

So what I would love to do a little bit is to dive into actually what your period is, what your cycle is, because sometimes people think that those are the same thing, and then just, you know, on kind of a surface and creative level, get you to understand it a little bit better.

So one, your cycle is actually starts on day one of your period, and then it ends the day before your next period starts. So even if your period is four or five days long, your cycle is much longer than that. And that was, I mean, it took me a long time to understand that.

Kaase Levell

What is a typical, what would be a range for that?

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah, so I what I would consider a healthy or normal cycle would be somewhere between like 26 to 34 days. It can depend, right? So 28 is what they'll is what a lot of individuals will say is the like norm, but there is a range there. Now, if we're getting below that, if we're getting like under 26, then that's likely telling us that's one of those signs, one of those whispers that something might be off hormonally. And if we're going longer than that or we're skipping periods, again, that's a sign that something could be off hormonally.

And it doesn't just impact your period, but it impacts your immune system. It impacts how you feel, impacts your energy, all these other things. So it is something that we want to make sure, like to the best of our ability, can we take care of our body enough to be able to like fit it in this window, right?

So let's just say you start your period on July 1st and your period lasts to July 5th, but you don't start your next period to July 29th. That means that your cycle was from July 1st to July 28th. That's a 28 day cycle. Yeah.

Kaase Levell

So helpful. Yes. Now let me let me pause you really quick. I know and I don't want to get too personal with my own daughter but I know that when she started it was very haphazard. So like we would have it she would have it like ⁓ maybe three days and like very light and then we would skip to 40 days 45 days and then we would have another period and it was really heavy and there was no rhyme or reason to it and I think once we little like listened and learned a little bit more it was like that's pretty normal for your first year.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Kaase Levell

I was the caveat in that I didn't start my period until I was 16, you guys. So for all those late bloomers out there, just a shout out. But like, I think because I started so much later, I didn't have that. So my period was regular immediately, right? So was like every single month on the dime. And so just speak to, would you just shed a little bit of light on maybe like, there could be some concern if they're not talking to mom about it or big sister. Like, my gosh, I had one in January and then I didn't get one till July.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah, so that while that's you know, common and normal are two different things So common is what can happen often, but it might not be normal like it again That's a sign that something's going on. It's very common to have lots of cramps It's very common to need to call off school or call off work because you're having like the first couple days of your period But that's not normal your body shouldn't if it's functioning really well, it shouldn't be that destructive it shouldn't be that painful for you not to go like live your life. 

So again, these are the signs and signals that God that God gave our body. We just need to learn how to recognize them. Now, when you first start your period in that first year, your hormones are trying to figure things out. I like to think of your hormones as being like Goldilocks. They don't want to be like too hot, too cold, too high, too low. They want to do this little dance in this flow, but it's going to take a while for them to kind of figure out what that flow is.

So it is, I would say, normal for there to be some months, maybe that range is, yeah, where it's a little bit inconsistent, but you're looking to see that that consistency starts to, yes, if it's continuing that way, I had girlfriends that all, even all through college would skip periods and they would only get two or three periods a year and they would be devastated and it would cause them to like throw up and stuff. And like, that is where it's like, okay, hold on, we've been having this for years now, something's not right, correct.

But that's really, really good information to share because It is also going to look different depending if you start your period. We have girls that start at 10, we have girls that start at 16. So there's going to be some things that kind of impact that, absolutely. So as we go, so when we're talking about your cycle and that full, let's just say it's 28 days, right? Just to kind of split it down the middle.

Kaase Levell

So good. Good. Yeah.

Sammie Terbrack

You're gonna have technically kind of four different seasons or phases where...we're gonna call it. And it starts with your period, which is funny because oftentimes, at least when I grew up, I thought like my period ended my cycle. It's not, it's what starts your cycle. So day one of your period, your hormones, and I'm gonna speak to two of them now that we need to know a ton about this, but estrogen and progesterone are kinda like your two major, major hormones when it comes to your period and your cycle.

So your hormones are at the all time low with day one of you starting your period. It's part of the reason why we have low energy. It's part of the reason why that shutting can happen where that period actually happens. And then through, so think of this as winter. Think about the winter. I live in Michigan. When it's winter, it's cold, it's darker. You wanna bundle up under a warm blanket. You wanna eat warm foods. You wanna kind of like just take it easy. That's exactly what your period is because hormones are at an all time low.

Kaase Levell

Okay.

Sammie Terbrack

And your body is then kind of suppressed a little bit. It's like, I just want to cuddle in and be kind to myself. So do that, right? Like eat nourishing foods, get some more sleep. That's what your body needs. It's also bleeding. So like if we had a wound anywhere else in our body and we were shedding a bunch of blood, we'd probably take it easy. So just understanding that we're losing some blood, let's just be kind to ourselves. So I like to think of your period as winter, okay?

Kaase Levell

Yeah. Wow, so good.

Sammie Terbrack

Now that's going to last somewhere between depending on what we've got going on, you know, somewhere between three to seven days. So depending on, again, like what the state of everything is happening, but somewhere along those lines as we come out of our period. So your hormones start to rise as you're on your period. 

And then as you come off that next week or so, hormones are on the rise. We're to think of this as spring. So you're starting to get a little bit more energetic, you know, the flowers are starting to kind of bloom a little bit. You maybe want to go outside. You maybe want to do be a little bit more active. Estrogen is the hormone that really starts to rise during this time. And so your energy does pick up your mood lifts, your focus sharpens. 

You might find that you're doing better in school. You know, it's easier to study for that test. This is all wonderful things and very, very purposeful because spring leads to summer and summer is ovulation.

And not that we need to like dive into that to a lot of detail, but ovulation is that peak hormone. Estrogen is high, your egg gets released. This is where you're gonna feel your most confident, your strongest. When you are ready to become a mom, this is when that happens. This is when that magic occurs is during ovulation. And so you are gonna feel a little bit more confident. You're gonna feel a little bit social. Two weeks ago, you didn't wanna hang out with your friends. You just wanted to watch a bunch of TV and eat popcorn.

Kaase Levell

Love it.

Sammie Terbrack

But now you're like ready to go hang out with your friends on a Friday night. That is normal. That's happening because of what's going on with your hormones. So I call this kind of like your main character energy season, right?

Kaase Levell

Love it.

Sammie Terbrack

Then, once that audition that happens, that's about three to five days. And then we go into the fall. The fall is that, you know, 10 to 14 days before your period. So this might be a couple of weeks and it's not going to hit you hard, but you're going to slowly notice after summer that things start to cool down.

Your energy starts to fall a little bit. This is where progesterone, that other major hormone starts to rise. And progesterone is like your motherly hormone. This is anticipating that you might be pregnant. So it's trying to like keep you safe, do less, get some more sleep, eat a little bit more. But if we don't take care of ourselves during this time,

Kaase Levell

Okay. Mm-hmm. Wow.

Sammie Terbrack

This  is the time before your period starts, this is where those PMS symptoms come in. This is where close, like getting closer to our period when things start to kind of go down, you get super moody, you get super irritable, you start to have cramps days before your period. Like this is where you're like, this is where you start to feel like you're going crazy and you're not sure why. And then when you start your period, you're like, yeah, that's why.

Kaase Levell

Okay. Yes. Right. Yeah. Which I'm gonna pause you really quick and I'm just gonna highlight and magnify for our listeners. So if you're not like just point blank getting what Sammy is saying, what she's saying is all these emotional mood swings, all these days where you're like, man, I feel great. And then the next day you're like, wow, I feel like crap. 

And then the next day you're like, and I'm so angry at the world and now I'm tired. Like I wanna just validate you. So normal you guys. I think so often I find my daughter being like, I just remember sitting down some nights and being like, gosh, today was so volatile. Like, did I look at her wrong? And I just want to speak into that moment and say, it's so validated. Like, your body, this is beyond your control to some degree.

And then we're also hearing from Sammy today that a lot of it is in your control. And the beauty of that is like, when we foster those seasons, when we foster winter, when we foster fall, and we give our bodies what they need, good rest, lots of water, healthy, nutritious foods.

Sammie Terbrack

Mmm.

Kaase Levell

I think we're gonna weather those seasons better.

Sammie Terbrack

One hundred percent…because you are designed to feel a little different, but I want you I think a big thing is to understand it was between your body whispering to you and your body screaming at you. Having the really heavy periods, having the massive cramps, feeling like you're on a roller coaster of emotion, that's the body screaming. Now I now know that the week going into my period, I'm going to progressively probably have a little bit less energy.

Kaase Levell

Yeah. So good. Yeah. Wow.

Sammie Terbrack

So I'm gonna feed myself a little bit more. I'm gonna get myself into bed early. If there's a bunch of social things on my calendar or if I'm being really active, so for the girls that are playing sports or like for my exercise routine, I'm just gonna dial it down a little bit just to help support my body. I also know that there are some things girls that are out of our control. might have some games coming up during that time. You might have a big test you have to study for. Like not all of it's in your control.

Kaase Levell

Yes. So good.

Sammie Terbrack

So that's what we kind of have to surrender to God, but that's where we can say, okay, if I have to deal with that - leading up to or on my period, what can I do over here? What can I do with my food? What can I do with my sleep? What can I do with like saying no to things that aren't serving me? So then that way I actually have the ability, the energy to be able to handle the test or go play the game or whatever it is. Yeah.

Kaase Levell

Yes. So good. So good. That's awesome, Sammie. Gosh, awesome. OK, keep going. And honestly, girls, this is something that is going to serve you for the next 40-ish years, like all the way through motherhood, all the way through the next transition, which is called menopause, which we don't need to get into yet. that's... But honestly, it's really, we approach it the same way.

So if you can learn how to do this now and give yourself a massive amount of grace, you're not going to be perfect at this. It's going to take a few years for you to kind of get it down once you do, it's going to make the next several decades so much easier and you won't have to undo a lot of the things that our generation had to do, which yeah.

Take notes you guys seriously. I'm just sitting here in awe because my mom was like next level gold award mom and still like I mean she was there she told me what to do but man I just I think that the way you said a moment ago you said to support your body to support your cycle it's self-support right it's like if I do these things then I'm going like you said I'm gonna be better off for years to come. And so even me, I'm sitting here being like, okay, what am going to do next week? I'm totally changing the way my next period comes. Like, this is awesome.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah. And I would love for you to treat your body like you would your best friend, right? Like if your best friend's struggling, you're like, hey, you need a nap. You need some food. Like what would you do? How would you love her? Like I need you to love yourself. We need to love ourselves the same way, which we don't tend to do.

Kaase Levell

Good! Amen. SO GOOD!

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah. So from a period standpoint, ⁓ you know, what are some of the things that we can do?T

Throughout our day, which we've mentioned nutrition, but like, what does that mean? I can say eat healthier, but like you said, what does that mean? Does that mean to some girls like go on diet? No, it's about adding in more nutrient valuable foods. So that means that foods that are actually gonna be packed with vitamins and with minerals. So think more whole foods. 

I'm not saying that you can't have your pizza and you can't have your pasta and stuff like that, but I want like, do we have a fruit or vegetable on our plate? Do we have a source of protein on our plate and depending on how you eat, like especially leading up and onto your period, you lose blood, which means you're losing iron and iron is one of those minerals that really impacts your energy. One of the reasons that we feel so depleted and low energy during that time is because we got lower energy. yeah, so protein you wanna think, you know, primarily animal if you wanna start there. So your chicken, your eggs, your beef, your fish.

Kaase Levell

Sammie, tell them a few sources of protein. Yep. Yep.

Sammie Terbrack

All those are really good to know, and again, it's gonna be you grabbing chicken nuggets from McDonald's is different than you, know, your mom making some chicken at home. So when possible, not always, I know that convenience matters, but when possible, can we get it a little bit whole food based or less processed?

Because you might have a good amount of protein in the chicken nuggets from McDonald's and the chicken from you're gonna have to 50 times the amount of vitamins and minerals in the chicken from home than you are from those nuggets. Hopefully that makes sense. So understanding a little bit more ⁓ you know, that's the difference between grabbing like a greens powder and actually going and eating a vegetable. 

Like you're gonna get more bang for your buck doing this stuff. So just add it in. Add it in and maybe eat it first. So when it comes to just giving your body what it needs, these are purposeful foods that are honoring your body. There is always room for pleasure.

Kaase Levell

Okay.

Sammie Terbrack

There's always room for pleasurable foods. So rather than thinking healthy, not healthy, good or bad, I want you to think purposeful and pleasurable. And the majority of the time, the majority of the time, we serve our body purposeful foods? We can always pull in that pleasure, but let's see, there is space for both. Most of the time, let's honor it, right?

Kaase Levell

So good.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah.

Kaase Levell

Yeah.

Sammie Terbrack

And then, you know, so again, protein at each meal. And then a fruit or vegetable at each meal, that's a really, really great place to start. And I also want to tell the girls out there, do not fear fat, especially if it's coming from an egg, it's coming from that fish, it's coming from, yeah, avocado, those good whole fats, because fats are really important for your hormones. If we eat too low of fat, you start to get some hormone issues going on.

Kaase Levell

YAH! This is gonna be a little advanced for some listeners when we're talking, when we're going to like the technicalities of protein, fat, carbohydrates, good sugars, fat sugars. But I think what the takeaway here is, and I think high level details if I can like boil this down, and I think Sammy's done so, but I'm just gonna reemphasize. I think it's really important guys to like, again, like you have the choice between McDonald's nuggets or mom's grilled chicken on the grill, right?

Obviously the breading, the bad mono-saturated fats or whatever the oil they  cook that McDonald's in, that's not good, right? And again, sometimes that's okay, but like if we are going to support ourselves, as Samuel was saying earlier, we have that choice. Now again, I'm gonna just totally validate, that's a hard choice. 

You put McDonald's chicken nuggets in front of me versus a grilled chicken from home, nine times out of 10, I'm gonna pick the McDonald's chicken nuggets. So it's an activated mindset where we enter in and say, yeah, my body wants this.

Sammie Terbrack

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Kaase Levell 

But.. I’m going to go for this. And again, it's not what's a protein, what's, it's really just saying I need to get some meats, I need to get some vegetables, I need to get some fruits, and just being mindful of making those, maybe those harder decisions. And yeah, it's just not always gonna be easy.

Sammie Terbrack

Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I want, you know, I want to bring this back to the Bible. Let's bring this back to God. So we've only had McDonald's around for the last, what, 100 years or so. But for the first several thousands since the beginning of existence, humans have eaten whole foods. So God, that's how God designed our body is he put not just the protein, the carbs and the fats, which are massively helpful, but he put the vitamins and the minerals in those animals, in those plants.

So that, and he designed our body to be able to break those down and grab all those nutrients. So when in the last probably 150 years when we started processing, massively processing foods, we're stripping them of all those nutrients. yeah.

Kaase Levell

Yeah, I saw this Instagram post the day. I just have to chime in. Two seconds. I saw this Instagram post. So stupid, you guys. It had a picture of peanut butter from like 50 years ago. Let's just say 75 years ago, okay? And then it had a second picture of peanut butter today. And it had the ingredients and it was like peanuts, salt, and like, I think that might've been it. And then this one was like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, mono-saturated, blah, blah, blah, blah, super low, all this stuff. And I'm like. Why? This is just, again, like God's design was not that. So we've taken something and exploited it that honestly you could say 50 years ago, like peanut butter had way more nutritional value than today's peanut butter just looking at a side by side comparison. So you're so right pointing it back to the middle.

Sammie Terbrack

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So again, if we can kind of rather than, because it can get overwhelming, right? All the food noise, all of it can get so overwhelming. And to the point, like we don't need that. I don't need you to figure out how many grams of protein and how many, you know, all of that right now. We don't need to do that. But again, if we go back to the purpose, purpose is as close to the farm in the field, these whole foods that God put on this earth for us to consume. If I can do that.

Kaase Levell

Yes. Yes. Right.

Sammie Terbrack

Most of the time, I don't want you to be perfect, but think like 80 % of your day, 80 % of your week. If I can do that most of the time and then I can pull in the pleasure, that 20%, I can leave room for the ice cream, can leave in for the Cheez-Its and I'm just thinking of the things that I had as a kid, you know, where I was eating that 90% of the time and maybe having a vegetable at dinner, maybe, right? Yeah. So flipping that - and I did that on accident. I did, I just started as I was a young adult, I just started eating healthier and choosing these foods more and all of a sudden my periods were fixed and I started feeling better. 

Yeah, but for me it was a total fluke that I didn't even realize that it was having that impact. So again, if we can do it earlier and say, hey, mom and dad, if you are at the age where like they're cooking food still, it's like, hey, can we make sure I'm getting a protein and a fruit or vegetable at my breakfast, at my lunch? I was eating cereal and then going to school. I was having pizza.

Kaase Levell

Hmm, that's better.

Sammie Terbrack

And that's it at lunch. was maybe getting in a meat and a veggie at dinner if I was home for it, but I also played sports half the time. again, this is just, can we kind of flip? I know that we live in a time where easily accessible, highly processed food is at, it's just everywhere. And so just like you said, we are gonna have to be a little bit more aware than our ancestors were on it, because they didn't have it. So they didn't have to worry about it, you know?

Kaase Levell 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so good.

Sammie Terbrack

I think if we can appreciate that, it's that much easier.

Kaase Levell

Sammie, so good. Man, coming in hot, you guys. This is so good. I hope you're taking notes, because I'm like mentally like, what am I going to put in the podcast show notes, because there's so much. So good.

Sammie Terbrack

Please do. So aside from nutrition, the other two major things are going to be hydration, which I think our young girls these days do a massively better job than we did. I drink water. I drink water out of a hose or a, you know, a water fountain. Maybe. That's it. Yes.

Kaase Levell

You know what? Stanley Cup or the Owala. Like that is just, let's just be really honest.

Sammie Terbrack

So I will say our young sisters are doing a much better job of hydrating themselves and that's so important. So continue to do that. Drink lots of water, at least half your body weight in ounces. And then, you know, again, like if you're sweating a bunch, if you're playing sports and things like that, increasing it from there. So it's super, super good. ⁓ I would be mindful of like some of the drinks out there that have a bunch of caffeine and stuff, especially for our young ladies, just caffeine can mess with some hormones. So, again, I would try to go as natural as possible most of the time, add in the drinks that you like every once in a while to that pleasure. And then, yeah.

Kaase Levell

Yeah. Okay, pause. Pause real quick. Half, you said, I don't want people to miss this, half your body weight in ounces. So let's do this. So let's say I weigh 120 pounds. I'm going to have 60 ounces of water a day. So I don't know, go get your Owala Cup. It's probably, I'm gonna eyeball it. Maybe like 14 to 18 ounces, it depends how big it is. So then you're gonna say, okay, let's just say it's 15 ounces.

Sammie Terbrack

…Body weight in ounces. Mm-hmm. Four times? Yeah.

Kaase Levell

15, 30, 45, 60. I need to have four of those and all the bottles a day. Okay. So just breaking it down. All right.

Sammie Terbrack

Fill it up four times. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

Love that. Love that. And that's, again, where that's where I think that those bottles, those water bottles can be super helpful. I have a 40-ounce-er and I fill it up twice a day. I know that that's what serves my, serves my body best. Yeah. So make it easy. Set yourself reminders. ⁓ But yes, that can be help so much. And then last but not least, this is probably the toughest one. This one might even be tougher than the nutrition, to be, to be honest. It's the sleep. It is the sleep.

Kaase Levell

Yes, calculating. Yes, exactly. So good.

Sammie Terbrack

So I get it, I was a teenager. I get that for some reason something clicked in our heads that sleep was the enemy and we needed, and again, now we have so much stimulation. We have our phones, we have our TVs, we have our iPads, we have things that keep us up at night. But again, let's go back to how God designed us and how our bodies worked for thousands of years. When the sun went down, we went down. That's how God designed our body. And there's hormones that click on… when the sun goes down…and those massively impact the other hormones, like the ones that control your cycle. 

And so when we start to disrupt things in one area, it's going to impact another because your body is so connected. It's such a beautifully designed mechanism. Yes. And so, again, it's understanding a girl should have somewhere between, and I would say the younger you are, the more the more you need between probably nine to 11 hours of sleep a night.

Kaase Levell

Alright so let’s calculate that out. So let's be reasonable. Let's say that our girls are going to bed. Okay, so my this is ironic, my oldest, actually, I think her body's just screaming right now, like, I'm so tired. So she actually she'll go into her room about nine and lights out about 930. But my youngest is a reader, and she still loves those tangible books. And she will probably read till 1030. So let's average it out and say they're going to bed at 10pm. How late should they sleep hypothetically?

Sammie Terbrack

So yeah…if they were, I would say a minimum, they're sleeping until six, that's eight hours. But really seven would be better, that's nine, potentially eight. So again, we're thinking about school. My kid has to go to school at eight, which means he's gotta be up latest at like seven. So work backwards, yep. 

And again, right now, if you're going to bed at midnight, don’t try to go to bed at nine because it's not gonna happen. But if you start over the next couple weeks and you start to kind of scale it back of maybe I set my reminder to go off, maybe I shut off my phone at 11:00 and then maybe next week I shut off my phone at 10:30, but really trying to understand especially during the fall and winter seasons of your cycle, especially during that time. So that couple weeks leading up to your period, if you're like, okay, I at least know now I'm gonna protect my sleep.

So I am gonna shut things off at like 9 p.m. so I can actually get to sleep by 10:00 so then that way I can get up at seven and I've had my nine hours. Like that would be something to be really helpful so then that way you feel better going into, that's what's gonna massively help with less PMS, less moodiness, right? Less cramping, less super heavy periods that will all start to improve.

Kaase Levell

Yeah.

So am I hearing you say that these things literally will physically shift if we, so like if we intentionally put in the effort to get more sleep, like you genuinely, there is buy-in that our periods will be less crazy.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah. Yeah. So your body, from a hormone standpoint, we kind of have two buckets of hormones. We have our reproductive hormones. That's the estrogen and progesterone we've been talking about. And then we have survival hormones. This is what keeps us alive. And again, not to get too far into it, but we have things like cortisol, which is our stress hormone, super important. 

That spikes when we wake up and then should drift down towards the end of the day. We have melatonin, which should kick on when the sun goes down and that's to help us sleep, right? So we have these survival hormones and we have these reproduction hormones. Your body will always choose survival, always. And if survival is threatened, again, beautiful design, if survival is threatened, it will suppress the reproductive ones because it's not safe for you to get, because again, God designed our body like we lived a thousand years ago.

Where if we had to stay up all night, that meant that we weren't safe. That meant something was coming to attack us. If we didn't eat enough, that meant we were in a famine. That means it's unsafe for your body to carry a baby. So it would naturally suppress those hormones so that you weren't getting pregnant when it was unsafe. Beautiful, beautiful design. It's so cool. Yeah.

Kaase Levell

Wow, I'm like speechless right now. I'm just speechless. I just hope the listeners are understanding. They're totally understanding. This is so cool, you guys. When I was saying earlier that you really didn't have a lot of control over it, I like totally take that back. It's obvious that you have so much control over them. So cool.

Sammie Terbrack

You do. You have a lot of control over it. Yeah, you do.

And that allows you, I hope that that leaves you feeling empowered of like now I know, like again, it's working with your body. It's telling your body, hey, it's okay to sleep. I now know that when I stay up until 1 a.m., scrolling TikTok, that my body perceives that as me being unsafe. And so then it's gonna mess with my reproductive hormones, which then causes me to feel really bad on my periods. It's all connected.

So hopefully what that does is just allow you to like, just take that second to be like, is this actually serving me? I know that like scrolling TikToks late at night is fun, but is this actually what my, like what's honoring my body? Maybe not, right? Maybe I can do that on a Friday or a Saturday, or maybe I can set a boundary. 

Maybe I can do it for an hour, but maybe not four hours, right? So it doesn't have to be hot or cold, just like with your food, it doesn't have to be all or nothing, but it's being able to set a healthy boundary and say, hey, like I just, wanna do these small things that actually just help.

Serve me a little bit better. Yeah.

Kaase Levell

So good. So good. I don't even know what to Seriously, you're killing it.

Sammie Terbrack

Love that. And this can be, this can be a lot. So if you have questions, if anybody has questions, like of course I know at end we're going to talk through that, but I love to talk about this stuff. like, if there's another way that I can explain it that resonates, like we're going to do it. Now I know.

Kaase Levell

That makes more sense, you guys. I will leave you with her contact info when we are done, but also, like, don't hesitate to reach out because she's saying, my door is open. I would love to walk through this with you. if maybe mom feels like a little, I don't know, just like disconnected or she's just not the safest option, great. Email Sammy. Open door all day.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah! Yeah, absolutely.

And again, like I just had a conversation with my niece about this not too long ago because it was again, I get that it can sometimes be challenging or as a mom, you might not know what to say.

Kaase Levell

NO! SO NICE! Yeah!

Sammie Terbrack

Now, I think one of the other things that we didn't have growing up as much as they have today are different options when it comes to actually taking care of yourself on your period. So we've talked about like how to take care of yourself leading up to it and around the different times of the month so that way you feel better. 

But listen, you're going to bleed every month, right? And so this isn't something you have to hide. It's not something you have to be ashamed of. It's not gross, but like this, it's actually massively important that you do have a period and shed that and get rid of it. 

So essentially what your period is, is that the couple weeks before, essentially after ovulation, that summer phase, after the egg gets released, it goes into your uterus and your tissue starts to, ⁓ starts to kind of build up, preparing for you to be pregnant. And when it recognizes that you're not pregnant, and that needs to shed all of that lining, and that's what your period is. It's all of that leaving your body, super important for it to leave your body. So there are some ways for you to deal with that, right? ⁓ While it's happening. 

So good old fashioned, these are just some of the things that that are out there. But the good old fashioned pads, pads are great. They're super comfortable. These are really great to start with. If you don't know, because this is just it's just going to lay inside your underwear. This is great for those really, really heavy days. So the first day or two that you need at great for sleeping. These are all wonderful to use pads. That's what I started with.

Those are great. Another thing that came out just recently, which is awesome is period underwear. So I have seen some girls I know right like I wish ⁓ So these are things that are great for school days could be potentially really awesome like for me if I you know when I was playing soccer like that would have been useful to super absorbent but allows you again something that's going to be not in you but something that's going to be ⁓ Just it's like a built-in pad inside your underwear essentially. So super helpful

Kaase Levell

Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna make one note on those guys. So a couple of things really, really quick there. And I say this from my daughter's own experience, so a couple of things, it's not ⁓ the only thing that you need. So a lot of times the period underwear do have enough absorption that it could probably withstand a solid four to five hours of blood if you're pretty consistent. 

But a side note, like you could also be safer putting a panty liner in there, which is a little even thinner pad or and period underwear just because so a couple things if you bleed through the pad you know you have a backup so we're not getting blood dripping down our leg in school right but also ⁓ I'm gonna say something that's kind of goes on the less appealing side it starts to smell so the problem with the period underwear is that after a 12 hour day so I will encourage my daughter hey maybe six hours is the max so like you have them on and so maybe you make it through school but then when you get home I would probably throw on a second pair of period underwear because if you do forego and don't use a pad on top of the period underwear, it starts to smell because it's catching all this blood and then you're just sitting in there and then pile on sweat and that kind of stuff. 

You've got like a pretty bad combination. So, they now recently came out with period swim bottoms. So, two days you can get a one piece swim bottom period. It's built in with absorption where the water is not being absorbed, but the chemicals of the blood actually soak into the period swim bottoms. 

So just something to keep in mind. They're a little pricey, but on Amazon, there's like six billion options. So you can get two piece bottoms for them or a one piece swimsuit. That's literally a period one piece swimsuit. So again, mind blowing that they have these incredible things now. So definitely something to take note of. All right, so we've got panty liners, pads, period underwear. Keep going. Okay.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely. So then as we get a little bit, now we're gonna talk about things that can actually go in. So then that way, so these go into your vagina and this is what would help absorb. So the first one that's been around forever are tampons. So these go inside your body. They're great for sports, they're great for swimming. Again, you know, before we had the swimwear and things like that, this is what you would use. 

Now it does take practice. They can be uncomfortable as you're learning and grooving in that. So this is something to definitely like, find somebody who knows what they're doing and can help you when it comes to different types of insertion. I will say from a, they're just like a health standpoint, try to go organic, try to go something that's unbleached, try to make these as natural as possible, because they do put a lot of chemicals and things in these and you just want to be mindful of how many chemicals you're choosing to put inside your body, right? 

Because that is going inside your body. Yep. And then there's also cups and discs. And so these are two different ways, again, they go inside and they collapse.

Kaase Levell

Yes. You're putting in there. Yep. Good. Yeah.

Sammie Terbrack

So the cup will essentially collect it just like a cup and then you have to take it out and then you have to dump it and then you can put it back in, right? Again, it takes some practice. And they also have discs which can kind of sit in there and they have like little holes in them.

So then when you go to the bathroom, you don't have to take it out, but it will, it should let some of that blood come out while you're going to the bathroom.

Kaase Levell

Yeah. Okay, now is there any fear with insertion of that?

Sammie Terbrack 

So there is, so these sit just right above your cervix. there should, you know, again, it's gonna take some trial and error. There's great Infograph's on there, but I definitely, this is gonna take some practice. These are a little bit more eco-friendly. 

These are things, the cups can be washed and can be used again. The discs, you would discard. They say to use them for about 12 hours and then you would discard. So I know for me, I have normally like one day that's super heavy.

So what I’ll normally do is I've gotten into the discs. I like the disc, but I will still wear a pad on that one or two days that's really heavy. Cause just in case there's a little bit of bleed through whatever, or I could absolutely wear like the period underwear for that just in case there's a little bit of catch there, right? And then, but normally throughout the rest of, you my periods normally about five days throughout the rest, it's literally like, yeah, it's nothing until I go to the bathroom and then it comes out a little bit and then.

I'm good to go for the rest. And I have noticed I wore tampons for years. And I will say personally that because you're releasing less, like you're expecting the tampon to absorb it all. do feel, and this is very, very much just like personal, I do feel like it extends the length of your period because you're not actually allowing things to come out with a pad, with a disc, with a cup. More is coming out. Does that make sense?

Kaase Levell

Yeah. Yeah, wow.

Sammie Terbrack

So I just noticed that my periods would probably be a day or two longer when I used ⁓ tampons primarily. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So lots to kind of play around with there. Now that's all stuff to kind of manage your bleeding. Now from a, and again, you're gonna have, you're gonna bleed differently. 

So normally you will have a couple heavier days. Now some individuals will start like their first day might be a little bit light and that so it's like second, second and third day might be the heaviest. So again, this is an opportunity for you to learn more about your body and how is your period because everyone's is a little bit different. ⁓ But then so I like now know this is when I'm I have your days. This is what I want to use. These are the clothes that I want to wear. This is like how I want to handle it. And then on my later days like. I can maybe have a little bit more freedom with like what I'm wearing and things. And so again, it's not always, you don't need to necessarily approach it the same way throughout the entire, your entire period.

Kaase Level

Sure, right, so good. And I mean, I'm sure you were gonna get to this, but I'm gonna just be one step ahead of you. So also, this is super relevant. this actually comes from my daughter's pediatrician. She was like, if you have a phone, you should get an app to track your period. ⁓ she was like, I need to know how long they are. I need to know how long her cycle is. I need to know if everything is seemingly normal.

And so ⁓ when we got our daughter a phone, which was not long ago, we put on an app that she will put in, like, I started on this day, I ended on this day, this was my heavy day, this was my light day. And I think the beauty of that is learning your body. So it's identifying the season. So like I'm in my fall season, so I'm gonna get more sleep and I'm gonna be kinder and I'm gonna do the things that I need to do to support my body. And so by having those period apps, and if you don't have a phone, great, all the better, I'm like rooting for you.

If you don't have a phone, can mark it on paper or get a paper calendar. Like that's what I used to do. I had a paper calendar and I would literally write like in my agenda. I was like, I had little symbols because it was a school. That's why I would put like a red heart on the day that it started. So not at a loss if you don't have a phone guys. There's ways.

Sammie Terbrack 

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Yeah, one of the apps that I really like is called Flo, F-L-O. That's one that I, that it's super easy to use and you put in those dates and it'll also, it'll prompt you, you know, that you might, especially once it starts to kind of track like month after month, it'll start to kind of predict a little bit on like, okay, you might be ovulating during this time. You might have this. So yeah, and now it's still guesstimating based off some stuff, but that could be super helpful for the girls that, and this actually brings up a really good point as well - that you're also going to have, and again, this is a word that might seem gross, but it's totally normal, discharge. 

So you're going to have different, it's called cervical, it's called cervical mucus, but essentially we have some stuff that's happening, even when you're not bleeding, we have some stuff that you're going to find in your underwear throughout the entire month. And that will change, and it changes throughout the month based off of what season or phase that you're in. 

So when it becomes like, a little bit more white and milky, like egg white consistency, that's probably around ovulation. And there's a reason that's there. So that's really tied to your hormones as well. So you're somebody who's really dry down there, you're somebody who's having a lot, like there was times, again, I'm 14, 15 years old and I'm like, why do I have all this coming out of me? And it's like, that's actually normal. Yeah.

Kaase Levell

Yes. I am going to validate you. Don't freak out. This is super super normal. I remember my daughter being like, there's, there's stuff in here now. And I'm like, yeah, all good. Nope.

Sammie Terbrack

Yep, yeah. And if you’re ever curious, this is also where it's really important for you to have an OB, have someone that you're going to to ask those questions. You can, of course, feel free to ask your mom, but again, like my mom didn't know, so it was something that we would have to add on there. 

So it's really helpful to know, because I think those were things that also freaked me out a little bit, that I was like, is this normal? And like, yeah, it absolutely is. Now there's also gonna be some things…that can help when it comes to just if you do have pain, if we are kind of it's it's going to take a little bit of time to I'm so sorry. Can you hear that?

⁓ for, ⁓ goodness, for, let's just say you're, you've been having your periods for a bit and you are the individual who you're like, I do have a lot of cramping, I have really heavy days and so I want to take some time to like eat better and sleep better and do these things. It, there's a little bit of a delayed impact. So what you do today serves you tomorrow. And I know just being in the next 24 hours, I mean, what you do during this cycle should help improve the next cycle.

So we normally look to see that the changes you start to make in your food and your sleep and things like that, then it's going to take a couple cycles for that to like start to to like feel different.

All right. So one that just that just like continue doing what you're doing to continue working towards it. Because if you're like, ⁓ my period wasn't fixed in two weeks, I must be, you know, something must be wrong. No, just continue, continue to do it. ⁓ But those are things. So in the meantime,

Kaase Level

Sure. That's a good note. Yeah. Good.

Sammie Terbrack

Grab things like a heating pad. Grab, you know, there are things to help you feel a little bit comfier when you are going through that, right? Adding electrolytes to your water, to your hydration, it can be really helpful. Magnesium and potassium are so helpful for that, including, we already talked about this, but increasing your iron-rich foods, like the meats and things like that, the meats and fish and things that have a little bit more iron, to be able, especially before and then during your period, that can help you feel massively better during that time. So there's some other things you can do as well to help.

Kaase Levell

So good. I think in the culture that our listeners largely live in is instant gratification. And so I just am gonna highlight that guys. This is not gonna be an overnight quick fix. This is gonna be something, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. So we're slowly making these changes and then eventually in time, you're gonna start to see some shifts that you're really happy with. So just stick with it. 

Don't throw in the towel too early. This doesn't work. Sammy said these changes would make things better. Just stick with it. Stick with it. And I'm gonna say one more thing here.

Now, before we sign off. ⁓ This is kind of funny, but ⁓ maintenance of pads and tampons, guys, I have a dog. I've always had dogs. I have a really disgusting story, but I was at a sleepover at my friend's house on my period, probably only like a couple months into my period. And I used tampons right away, because remember I started at 16. So for me, I was like, and I was an athlete, so fast track tampons. And I, wrapped the tampon up in, number one, don't flush them. Please flush them, don't flush them. 

Throw it away. One, two, be courteous enough to wrap it in toilet paper. Don't just throw some bloody something in a trash can. But this was my point. I wrapped it up in toilet paper, put it in a trash can with no lid, and five minutes later, the dog had grabbed the tampon, it was in the living room, shredded to pieces, and the girl who I was with had not had her period yet, so they all knew it was me.

And it was mortifying. And so I just would say a couple of things about that. Dogs, just like retainers, they want your tampons. They want your pads. They want anything that you're gonna put in that trash. So if you put it in a trash, make sure it's littered. 

If they don't have a littered trash, take it. This is gross, but like sometimes on sleepovers, I will send Ziploc baggies with my daughter. If I know they have dogs, like her best friend has two massive dogs, I will send Ziploc baggies. I will tell her to wrap it up and put it in a Ziploc bag and put it in her bag up high - and bring it home because and then we'll throw it away when she gets home because otherwise the option is going to mom and saying, Melissa, can you throw my damn one away? Right? Because the bathroom trash can is not littered. So notice that.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah? Yeah, such a good, good point. Yes. I mean, I recently did what just did a race and was on my period. so, yeah, like I went to, they had port-a-potties. And so, yeah, I just, I naturally now just bring a Ziploc bag or something, because I'm like, I'm going to have to like put this back in my purse and Ziploc bag and then discard it somewhere else. And yep.

Kaase Levell

Yes. Yep. So consider this your gold nugget, you guys. This is super important. Just maybe having Ziploc baggies in your backpack or something. All right, Sammy, anything else you want to leave us with?

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah, love it. I love it. I mean, I think the biggest takeaway here is that I think if we can transition from you feeling like your period and your cycle is something to fear, something to be ashamed of, something to be embarrassed by or to hide, or just to like, and again, we didn't dive into things like birth control and stuff, but you know, I grew up in a generation that if you had a poor period, I got thrown on birth control when was 14 because my periods were so bad. And it caused a lot of damage to my body because I was on it for 12 years. And so just under, if we can appreciate and work with our body versus against it, then you're gonna have one, better relationship with your body, but you're also gonna feel so much better.

Kaase Levell

Yeah. Yeah. I don’t want to miss the birth control. So can you give a high level? Cause I do have some older listeners and I know I was put on it at 16 and I got it on it because I had really bad headaches and really bad cramps. Now, so will you give a high level zoomed out understanding of that?

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah, so a high level is that essentially what the birth control pills do is they mimic pregnancy, which means they suppress everything. So part of what makes you feel so junky around your period is that your hormones are kind of wackadoo. 

They're going all over the place. So the birth control pills essentially lets just shut everything down and then you don't have to deal with stuff. So it's not solving the problem, it's like slapping a bandaid over it. Exactly. And again, your God designed your body to be pregnant, and for your hormones to be suppressed for nine months. 

He did not plan for it to be suppressed for 10 to 12 years. So now what I see is a lot of women who are now in their late 20s, early 30s coming off of birth control after being on it for 10 years because they originally went on it to fix their periods, quote unquote. And then now they wanna start families and now their hormones are still all wackadoo. And so it just goes to show like that this is something that you actually, like you said, we were kind of taught, well, you have no control over your bad period. 

My mom taught me, told me that mine, because she didn't know, were hereditary because she had bad periods and her mom had bad periods, but it was all lifestyle related. But she didn't know that, which is not her fault. So then we're told, we'll just go on birth control. And that is, again, it's taking one pill and you don't have to change your food and you don't have to change these things. So it seems like it's the easier way out. But again, we're taught.

We were put on this earth to serve a purpose and to honor our vessel. like, God, this is an important part of what makes you you. And so again, if you can learn how to work with your body and appreciate and listen to this stuff and not fear it, then you shouldn't need to go on birth control for the reason of controlling your periods.

Kaase Levell

So here's what I'm going to leave you guys with because I know this is going to ruffle some feathers, especially if there's some moms from our generation listening because I also was on birth control. Here's my POV, all right? I think that if you are, if mom is saying we should consider birth control or if you are saying my cramps really bad, I have headaches, it's not consistent and birth control is a conversation in your home. I would just one, encourage you to pray about it and ask God to shed insight and wisdom into that next decision and two, sit down with mom…throw it into chat GPT and say, can you give me the pros and cons of what going on birth control at 13 is going to look like in the short term? 

So for the next five years, but also in the long term. So in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, when I'm in childbearing season, what might these implications have on my life? So I'm again, ruffling feathers, but I think it's a super important point here because especially our generation was heavily promoted to go on birth control. I mean, I, there is not a friend of mine who wasn't on it. I think so often we think, it's just short term. It's not. It has long term ramifications. So we're thinking about that. So good.

Sammie Terbrack 

Yeah, absolutely. And honestly, even when I was on it, it may have made my periods less intense, ⁓ but I still didn't feel good. I still felt super moody. I even probably felt more moody, because again, I was like working against my body.

Kaase Levell

So the things that Sammy just spent the last hour talking about are going to be way more effective. They're going to have a far greater return on investment if you prioritize these things than just putting a bandaid on it with birth control. No brainer. So Sammy, this is so life-giving you guys. Can we just, I don't know, all of us say thank you to Sammy for taking the time to just paint periods in a different light. Like I just think so often culture gets a hold of something and toxifies it or makes it ugly or gross guys.

Sammie Terbrack

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Kaase Levell

So beautiful, like really soak in what she said about how God originally designed things. Like, whew, what a powerful takeaway. And then challenge yourself to make these things a priority and look at it through a different lens, a healthier lens, a lens that God put on it as beautiful and that only women get to experience. Like it's a gift. I just want to leave you guys with how you can contact Sammie. 

So Sammie can be found on Instagram. She has so many good things there. So for those who are on social media, she's at Sammie.Terbrack. Also, as we mentioned, she has an open line. So email her. She can be found at sammie@brookerozzie.com.

So don't hesitate. Sammie, I am so honored and privileged that you took the time out today to just dive into this with us. Like kind of a messy topic, but you did it so artfully and so eloquently. we are, mean, man, what a gift you are. Such a treat. guys.

Sammie Terbrack

Thank you.

Kaase Levell

Run, follow her if you have social media. This is such a great person to follow for positivity and encouragement, just honesty around some of these topics. So, Sammy, thanks again. Girls, we will see you next week and until then, I hope you have a great week. Bye, you guys.

Sammie Terbrack

Thank you.