I'm Hormonal | functional hormone insight + advice

How to start tracking your cycle | Ep. 25

• Episode 25

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#25. This week we are talking about cycle tracking: what is it, why can it be an asset to your health, and how do we get started? Host, Bridget Walton, shares details about her cycle tracking styles throughout the past six years and overviews tracking methods including:
- App-based tracking
- Journal-style tracking
- Calendar reminders

You'll hear about what factors to start noting, including:
- cycle start date and duration
- symptoms throughout your cycle (cramps, bloating, mood, etc.)
- basal body temperature
- and more.

If you are interested in starting to track your basal body temperature, which provides you with insight into whether or not ovulation has occurred, consider using this link to get a 10% discount on your TempDrop purchase. Bridget has been using her TempDrop thermometer since late 2022 and it's a great way to keep track of her cycle health without having to actively think about taking her temperature first thing in the morning. USE THIS TEMPDROP LINK FOR 10% OFF YOUR PURCHASE.

Free downloadable: Irregular Cycle SOS Guide

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to I'm Hormonal, your source of information about women's hormone health and how to support your body. Naturally, I'm your host, bridget Walton, and I'm a certified functional hormone specialist and menstrual cycle coach. I am on a mission to hold these hormone conversations with as many menstruators as possible, because you deserve easier access to accurate information about what's up with your unrelenting menstrual cycle and with your fertility mysteries. Don't you think it's time that we figure this out once and for all? On today's show, I'm going to be talking about cycle tracking how tos. So if you're somebody who is thinking about starting to track your cycle but you're not sure where to start or maybe you're thinking about coming off hormonal birth control similarly, and you want to understand how to get in tune with your body and understand how your hormones are changing and coming back to normal, then this is going to be a good episode for you. We're going to keep it high level. We're not going to be technical. There will be no four syllable words in this episode, because I'm just going to be really practical with you and walk through my experience of how I have tracked my own cycle, just as one kind of baseline example for you to go by. So before we get into that stuff, I want to say welcome, welcome to. I'm Hormonal and thank you for listening. I really am so appreciative that you're here and glad that you're listening. If you have listened before, then welcome back, and if this is your first time, then I'm so happy that you found me.

Speaker 1:

I started this podcast last year because I think it's really important to share this information that I have with other women or other menstruators about how our bodies work, what our hormonal symptoms mean and how we can interpret them so that, overall, we can support our hormone health better, support our overall health better and feel better, thrive more, and that's what it's all about. So I hope that, as you listen to this episode and more, that's what you feel. If you ever have a request for a certain topic or if you have any questions on anything, feel free to shoot me a DM on Instagram. You can find me on Instagram at Bridget Walton, which is spelled B-R-I-D-G-E-T-W-A-L-T-O-N. That's me, and, yeah, I just would love to hear your feedback and any questions that you have.

Speaker 1:

One quick reminder before we get started as always, I'm still not a doctor and therefore the information that I share with you today and always is not something that should be misconstrued with medical advice or taken in exchange or in lieu of support one-on-one from a certified practitioner. So if you are somebody, though, who's looking for that type of one-on-one support, reach out to me. We can see if working together and hormone coaching is the right fit for you to get you to where your hormone goals are, but I always need to give you that disclaimer. One final thing I want to mention at the top here is that if you have found this episode and found me because you have some type of symptoms that you're not sure how to interpret, then head over to wwwBridgetWaltoncom. Slash common signs, and you'll be able to get my free download. It has the rundown of what are the top signs or symptoms of hormonal imbalance, kind of what is generally the root cause behind those and what you can do to start addressing it. So, if that's you, head over there, grab that document and, again, let me know if you have any questions on it. Now that that's out of the way, let's get into the good stuff, because my hope for you is that at the end of this episode, you feel inspired to start tracking your cycle, or, if you have been tracking your cycle, then you feel confident in what you're doing, or maybe you find a couple of ways that you can refine or tweak or add on to what you're doing.

Speaker 1:

So why do we even care about cycle tracking? Like, what's the point of this? One of the main benefits of cycle tracking is really just the connection with your own body and understanding what's going on inside our brains. Our hormones impact our mood. Of course, they impact our physical symptoms like bloating or breast tenderness, and then, of course, just being aware, like when are you going to be on your cycle, if that's something that you want to be able to plan for. So that's kind of a baseline benefit of just understanding and being able to predict for your future self what you're going to want to do, have the energy to do or not have the energy to do, etc. If you're somebody who is trying to conceive or in the future you want to try to conceive, then having an awareness of your cycle and your own bodies for them's can help you to ideally expedite that process. And, on the other side of the coin, if you're somebody who does not want to conceive, then it's a great idea to have awareness of your cycle so that you don't conceive.

Speaker 1:

I started tracking my cycle back in 2018, just a hair before my 25th birthday, because I was just deciding to come off hormonal birth control and I knew that there were some apps out there that I could use to track when my period was going to start and what symptoms I was having rather so that's how I got into it. I started using Flow right from the start and that's the app that I still use today to track all my symptoms. You can track things like cramps, pain, nausea, bloating. You can track different details about your cervical fluids. You can track your basal body temperature, also your activities, your energy levels. There's a wide variety of stuff is what I'm really trying to get at Super easy interface and I found that that worked really well for me. I would generally go in and update it at least once a day with whatever the relevant input was. The thing that I really love about tracking my cycle digitally is that now, six or so years later, I have so much historical data on my cycles. I can really go back and see when did a trend start or how is my cycle length changed over time, things like that. So if you are a data person or an analytical person, or you just love a graph, then that's one thing to consider.

Speaker 1:

When it comes to using an app to track your information, it's certainly worth noting that a lot of cycle-tracking apps will have both a free version and a paid version. So if you're trying out a new app, of course, well, do a full send and go for the paid version if you want. But there's no risk in trying out the free version to see what interface works best for you, how they present your trends over time, and so, again, if you're just new to this, then give it a whirl, see which one you like. There's no risk. You can always just delete that from your own screen. I have tried out the paid version of Flow in the past and the main difference that I observed, or that I took advantage of, was that it'll give you more customized responses or recommendations. So if I put in that my symptom is cramping, then it'll pop up with a little quiz that asks me more questions about cramps how often does it happen or other information, in order to give me a recommendation of, or more information on, why that certain symptom is popping up. Again.

Speaker 1:

If you're somebody who really enjoys writing or a longer form sort of reflection on your day, your cycle. If you already are in a journaling habit, then you can always pick up a journal or dedicate a new journal or planner to cycle-tracking, so you would want to record a lot of the same things that we've already talked about. Right, what are your cycle dates, what are your symptoms. But because you have this longer form ability to reflect on your day, that would be a really great opportunity to say okay, what are my desires, what are my wishes, what are my frustrations and challenges today. You know what are the days in my cycle when I have or when I'm most likely to strike up an argument with my partner or feel any type of way, and the benefit for that is being able to get to know yourself better, but really being able to predict and say, okay, hey, next month, when I feel this way, when I feel isolated, or when I'm feeling like I'm not gonna be able to meet my goal or meet something, where you're feeling a little down, you can say, hey, no, bridget, don't get in your head like this. You know that you're feeling like this often on the 20th day of your cycle, and this, too shall pass, and I think that that's just one good thing about the journal style of recording and tracking your cycle. If you want to go back and check out episodes 15 and 16 of I'm Hormonal, I had a conversation with Elizabeth Tidwell. We talked a lot about menstrual cycle awareness but also cycle tracking, and she had, I thought, a really good rundown of what her practice is. So check that out if you haven't already.

Speaker 1:

For me personally, I've tried this style of cycle tracking. I had a journal that was specifically for this and basically each page was laid out as day one, so that all of the day ones or first day of my period, all of the day ones would be recorded or reflected upon on the same physical page, because then it's a lot easier for me to see, okay, what are the correlations between all of my day ones, and I think that's a really great way to do it. I would definitely do it that way again if I picked it up. But, guys, honestly I can barely do my Duolingo every day and that takes me probably 90 seconds and is on the phone that I have in my hand all day. So for me at this point in my life, I'm not cut out yet for journaling, but maybe someday. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Speaker 1:

The third and final thing that I do to keep aware of my cycle is I always put a reminder in my electronic calendar for when is going to be the first day of my cycle or when I expect it to be, as well as what is the day that I expect to ovulate. And the reason why I like to put this here is because those are the two anchor points of my cycle that help me to stay oriented or aware of what my mood is going to be like, what my energy levels are going to be like. I like to plan to do harder workouts and do more social events around the time of ovulation and, conversely, I like to plan to chill at home on my couch with my cat when I'm going to be on my period or otherwise. You know, I like to have a little mental heads up if I'm going to be out of town for a wedding or another event and know that my period is going to be coming while I'm on the road. So that's one other thing that I recommend, super easy to do. This could be something that's helpful if you want to keep your partner up to date on where you're at in your cycle, so that he or she is aware. And now that I'm saying that too, I do recall that there are some apps I think Flow, although honestly I don't use this feature, so I don't remember for sure but some cycle tracking apps have the ability for you to share your time of your cycle, share some of the information that you log with your partner so that he or she can stay up to date.

Speaker 1:

Let's take a super quick break to talk about the sponsor for today's episode, but when you get back, I will tell you more about what is my current tracking routine and we'll also talk a little bit about tech and what you can use to augment your cycle tracking routine, if that's something that you're in for. So today's sponsor for our episode is, as always, my own, one on one hormone coaching. If this is new for you, then heads up, we can do one on one coaching together. If you're somebody who has a missing period, if your cycles are irregular, really painful, or if you're planning for conception and you just want to make sure that you have a good understanding of what your hormonal landscape looks like, then maybe working together would be something good and we can get you to your goals. What we would do in working together is get to know you and your cycle. We can go through any lab testing that may be necessary, and what I focus on or use most often is the Dutch test, which is a really comprehensive assessment of all of your sex hormones, stress hormones and more. Using that data will work together to create a plan that'll be customized just for you to get you to where you want to be in your hormone status, and those tweaks would be with regards to diet, lifestyle, movement, stress and more. So if you think that this is something that would benefit you, you can reach out to me through my DMs, through the link in the show notes, to set up a call, or you can head over to Bridget Waltoncom slash coaching to learn more and when you're ready to take the next step, set up that call with me and we can make sure that we're a good fit.

Speaker 1:

All right, friend, let's bring it back to our cycle tracking topic. So I want to run through what's my current routine and what are the things that I focus on and that are kind of the most important metrics to me. So what I use right now is flow still, and I also use temp drop, which is a thermometer that I use through an arm band. I wear it to sleep each night and then in the morning I wake up I just it'll use a Bluetooth connection to my phone to upload what is my or what was my lowest temperature throughout the night. And the reason why that's important is because understanding how your temperature changes throughout the month can help you to understand how you are, rather when you're ovulating. So, to sum that up, the most important things to me right now are what is my temperature? I log that every day and also logging what my cervical mucus is and how that changes.

Speaker 1:

So what you're thinking to yourself. What are some things like? Why would I see my cervical mucus change? Well, your cervical mucus changes as you approach ovulation, basically as your cervical mucus becomes more, when there's more fluid. So whether it's more liquidy, but also if you see that kind of egg white-like or ropey-like consistency, then that's a really good sign that you are about to ovulate. And why? Because that cervical mucus is what helps to keep the sperm alive, because sperm can survive inside for up to five days waiting for you to ovulate, and the cervical mucus can help to shuttle that sperm to the egg. So I guess a little deeper dive than expected on cervical mucus, but that's why that's important to me as well, so that I'm understanding what is my fertile window and getting used to that.

Speaker 1:

As one other quick note on me, I myself use a copper IUD, but at some point in the future here I would love to have that removed. Once that happens, I would just rely on fertility awareness method and an understanding of what are my fertile signs, like cervical mucus and also my temperature, in order to effectively family plan or avoid conception. If you're somebody who is looking to conceive, then I think that tracking your body temperature can be a really great metric because it helps you to, like I just said, have a better awareness of when is your fertile window, so that you can time your intercourse for conception when you're ready to start tracking your temperature. If you want to start using the temp drop thermometer, then consider using the link that's in the show notes here for a 10% discount on your temp drop purchase. All right, so I have two more things that I want to mention here. What I still do, and that I mentioned a minute ago, is I keep a reminder on my calendar so that I can try to do my best to plan ahead so that I'm scheduling more activities around the time when I'm ovulating and less around the time when I'm menstruating, or just being aware if that's not the way that it's going to go for me. So that's a visual reminder that I really like to see and be able to plan around.

Speaker 1:

A second thing, too, is that I oftentimes will just look to see what are the seeds that I have on my counter. If you're not familiar with seed cycling, then basically seed cycling is the practice of rotating between two different combinations of seeds depending on which half of your cycle you're in, because it's going to either help prepare for ovulation or help with metabolizing hormones in the second half of your cycle. So I don't necessarily every single day go into check. Oh okay, I know, today is Tuesday, I'm on cycle day 13 or whatever it might be, and so I look for these cues like, okay, bridget, well, great job, you already have the flax seed and pumpkin seed on your counter, so you're in the first half of your cycle. On that same theme of automating things that I do, since I like to plan ahead, I oftentimes will schedule out fitness classes that I'm going to do well in advance. So the fact that I've scheduled a HIIT workout or a Yin yoga class or whatever it might be, helps to keep me aware, just intuitively, of what part of my cycle I'm in, based on what I already planned for myself last week. That's the last note that I had for you today.

Speaker 1:

I hope that you found this conversation to be helpful. If getting into cycle tracking is something that's been on your radar for a bit, hope you feel inspired to take some action and get more aware and in tune with your body. If you're listening because you have irregular cycles or maybe your period is missing, you're waiting for her to come back and you want a little bit more guidance on what could be the cause and what you can do from here, then go to BridgetWaltoncom slash IrregularCycleSOS All one word and you can download my free resource about irregular cycles or missing cycles, what's the cause behind that and why. Again, that is wwwbridgetwaltoncom slash IrregularCycleSOS.

Speaker 1:

If you thought this conversation was helpful, consider sending it to somebody you know who would find it helpful as well. I know that she would appreciate it and you would also be helping to grow the I'm Hormonal community, which I would be endlessly grateful for. Consider subscribing to I'm Hormonal if you'd like these episodes to show up automatically in your feed. And, with all that being said, I am so grateful for you listening, especially to those of you who have made it all the way to the end here. Thank you so much, and I will see you here next week.