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Is your sleep all over the place? Try the 10-3-2-1 method for a new year reset
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“I froze my eggs out of ignorance – here’s what I wish I’d known about fertility before trying to become a mum”

Worried about falling off a ‘fertility cliff’ in the future, Anna Byrne set about freezing her eggs. Instead of it being an empowering experience, she found that the clinics she dealt with almost capitalised on fertility fear-mongering and ageism by refusing to provide adequate information. “There’s no guarantee that egg freezing will result in a baby one day,” she writes. “You can’t know anything about the quality of your eggs until you come to fertilise them –  and for that, you need to either choose a sperm donor or solve one of life’s great puzzles: finding a partner you want to do it with. In addition, the egg freezing process is incredibly expensive and emotionally and physically brutal.”

Here, Anna shares the things she believes all women in their 30s need to know about fertility, age and self-advocacy. 

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8 women with SAD on how they navigate the dark days of January
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3 activewear essentials you'll want to get moving in
For affordable, feel-good gym gear, we’re obsessed with Primark’s new-year drop…
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Farzana Ali is a sound therapist and author of Sound Healing: How To Use Sound To Beat Stress And Anxiety. Find her on Instagram @thesoundtherapist 

The first thing I do in the morning is… open all the windows – even when it’s freezing outside! It’s so important for good health to have clean air inside your home, and many of us don’t realise just how poor the air quality might be inside. Cooking, hairsprays, cleaning products, drying laundry inside – it can all quickly accumulate.

I really believe in ‘breakfasting like a king’… which is why I don’t believe in ‘breakfast’ foods. Some of my favourite morning meals include turmeric-baked fish with rice and savoury baked eggs with kimchi. If I’m eating breakfast on the go, I know my life is starting to fall out of balance.

The most important wellness lesson I’ve learned is… do what works for you. I’m super-productive in the morning, so that’s when I’ll do my admin, check my emails and get planning. Despite teaching people how to meditate, I can’t start my day with meditation – it just doesn’t work for me. I love to wake up with the sunrise, but I totally believe that natural night owls shouldn’t force themselves to be part of the 5am club. It’s all about learning to lean into your own inner wisdom – it’ll help you live a life you’re happy with.

My most valued self-care habit is… going on nature walks. I’m very lucky to live near the water and have a huge park near me, so I try to go for as many walks as possible. Listening to the birds and the sounds of the river lapping against the river wall are nature’s version of sound baths; they help to calm the nervous system. You also can’t beat a warm magnesium bath after a full-on day.

As a sound therapist, I know all about stress relief… and some of my go-to tools include attending sound baths, booking in reiki and having massages. I’m also a huge fan of supplements. Bare Biology Omega 3 + Vitamin D for my brain and Symprove probiotics for my gut help me to better handle stress that comes my way.

I no longer enjoy HIIT… like I did before turning 40. So, I’ve turned to barre and pilates instead. Carrying gongs and crystal bowls across London for work means that being strong and having good posture is a top priority for me. Both of those practices help massively with that.

My current snack obsessions are… M&S’s courgette and halloumi triangles. They’re small but so delicious. Cashews are another firm fave as are Walkers cheese and onion crisps.

The one thing I wish more women knew about is… how much our menstrual cycle impacts our energy during the month. Your energy will ebb and flow – you don’t have to keep the same pace across all 28 days.


5 dietary changes that could give you more energy in 2025, according to nutritionists
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“Can you lower your cortisol levels through diet?” A dietitian explains
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This protein-rich, hormone-friendly rosemary lentil ragu is the perfect pre-period recipe

We could all do with some warm comfort food right now, and nothing says ‘cosy’ quite like a filling pasta ragu. This recipe, from registered naturopathic nutritionist Jessica Shand, couldn’t be simpler to make (essentially, you just bung everything in a big pot to boil) but it packs a serious nutritional punch.

The lentil base offers a big dose of gut-loving fibre and plant-based protein, as well as hormone-healthy nutrients such as B-vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc. Shand also notes that the recipe uses rosemary, a herb known for “its ability to stimulate circulation and support blood stagnation, which is particularly helpful in cases of endometriosis”. There’s some evidence to suggest that rosemary can be beneficial as an anti-inflammatory at certain points of the cycle and also helps the liver to break down oestrogen, so if you do feel inflamed in the run-up to your period or know that you’re dealing with an oestrogen imbalance, it’s a good herb to add to your meals.

Other science-backed nutritional things that might help with endo symptoms include avoiding a diet high in trans fats and red meat, eating plenty of plants, prioritising omega-3-rich foods and ensuring that your iron levels are adequate. 

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Image credits: Stylist; Getty; Farzana Ali; Lizzie Mayson
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