12/13/2025
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑺𝒂𝒚𝒔 “𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚” (𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑰𝒕)
Earlier this week we talked about laying the groundwork for 2026 and choosing a few anchor habits that actually support your body in peri- and post-menopause.
Today, I want to zoom in on something that doesn’t get talked about enough:
What to do on the days when your body says, “Absolutely not.”
(Pain is higher, sleep was awful, pelvic or GSM symptoms are louder, mood is flat.)
Those are often the days, either of these happens:
* push through and flare everything up, or
* give up completely and feel guilty on top of feeling lousy.
There’s a third option that I use a lot in my work:
👉 Have a “bad day” version of your habits.
For example:
𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 20–30 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 ….. 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 “𝑏𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑦” 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 3–5 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠.
𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 ….. 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 “𝑏𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑦” 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛 (𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑡, 𝑒𝑔𝑔𝑠, 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠, 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑛) 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒.
𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒 ….. 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 “𝑏𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑦” 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤.
It doesn’t have to look impressive to “count.”
On tough days, the goal isn’t progress, it’s being on your own side.
As I build out my 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲™ 4-week gentle program for January 2026, this is a big part of the approach:
Creating movement and self-care plans that have room for both good days and not-so-good days, instead of all-or-nothing cycles.
If you’d like support with that in the New Year, especially if you’re dealing with pain, pelvic discomfort or GSM symptoms, keep an eye out here. I’ll be sharing more details soon.
And if you’re joining the “12 Days of Sleigh the Day” event, this is your reminder that “bad day” versions are absolutely allowed. If you’d like to jump in or catch up, send me a DM and I’ll share how it works.
💬 Question for you:
What could a “bad day” version of your movement or self-care look like—something you can do even when you feel rough?
You can share below, or just jot it down somewhere only you will see.