Cycle Syncing Series, Ep 6: A phase by phase break down

Download your free cycle syncing guide to get more familiar with how you can incorporate this practice into your routine. CLICK HERE.

This is the last of six episodes in this cycle syncing series where Bridget reviews recommendations phase-by-phase so you know what adjustments to make as you start cycle syncing. By tailoring your diet, exercise, work tasks, and more to align with your menstrual cycle phase, you're able to work with your cycle instead of against it. 

Check out the earlier episodes in this series to learn how cycle syncing can benefit you, why ovulation is important for cycle syncing, and how to prepare to implement these principles. 

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Chapters

• 0:05 Cycle Syncing and Hormone Health
• 13:31 Optimizing Health Through Cycle Awareness
• 24:40 Navigating the Luteal Phase

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

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 unruly menstrual cycle and with your fertility mysteries. Don't you think it's time that we figure this out once and for all? Hello and welcome to this week's episode of I'm Hormonal. I'm Bridget Walton, your host, and this is episode number 45 of the podcast. On today's episode, I'm going to be talking to you about cycle syncing. If you've been here for a minute, then you'll know this is the sixth episode in this cycle syncing series. So if you're here because you want to learn about cycle syncing, I would really encourage you to go back and check out those other episodes once you're done listening here. What I will cover today is, phase by phase or cycle, season by season, what you may want to do, what you may want to incorporate into each of those phases or seasons in order to cycle sync. What I covered before were the pros of cycle syncing, how you can get ready to cycle sync, the ovulation of benefit, the benefit of ovulating, and how that's still tied in with cycle syncing. So check it out, let me know what you think. I would love to hear your thoughts, your takeaways, how applying cycle syncing to your life has worked for you. You can connect with me on Instagram. Find me at Bridget Walton there's a link in the show notes for you on that, of course and let me know how it goes. Also, check out the link in the show notes if you want to get a downloadable. That'll cover a lot of the topics I go through today, of course. So click in the show notes for the cycle syncing guidebook.

Speaker 1: 2:20

If today is your first time listening, then I want to extend a particularly warm welcome to you and just let you know I'm so glad that you found me. If you've been here before, welcome back. I started this podcast just about a year ago now because I think it's really important to share what I know about hormones, about what these signals we're getting from our body actually mean and, of course, what we can do about those things. There is so much that you can do to influence the health of your cycle, how you feel while you're on your bleed and all throughout the month. So I'll get off my soapbox there. But I really want to create this podcast as a space for you to learn and grow and understand your body and your cycle. If you like what you hear today and there's somebody in your life who you think might benefit from hearing this conversation as well, I would be so appreciative if you would mind sharing this episode with your friend, with your sister, whoever it might be, and I'm sure that she would appreciate it, and I would be very appreciative for you helping me to grow the I'm Hormonal community. So, without further ado, let's go ahead and dive right in.

Speaker 1: 3:44

The first season, or the first phase I'll just call them seasons from now on that we will talk through is the menstrual phase, also known as winter. So each of the four phases in your cycle correlates with a different season of the year. Let's recap that really quickly your menstrual phase is correlated with winter. You'll find a lot of parallels between the things that you eat or the things that are nourishing for your body during that phase of your cycle, as well as during the winter season. Similarly, when you look at the follicular phase, that's, spring, when you're really growing, getting out and about trying new things. The ovulatory phase comes next, which of course correlates with summer, and then, last but not least, the luteal phase correlates with autumn. We'll go ahead and move through in just that order and for each of these phases I'll talk through things like exercise, food how you may want to prepare your food. When it comes to work what kind of tasks, and whether this is work like in an office, at a job, or work around your home perhaps around your home. Perhaps I will also talk about communication and social connections and energy levels. So those are some things you can expect to hear as I run through this. My hope for you is that at the end of this episode, you're able to think to yourself and say, okay, I'm going to start cycle syncing. So I will.

Speaker 1: 5:26

For this upcoming cycle, I'll focus on incorporating exercise and how I can exercise in alignment with the four phases of my cycle, and maybe the next month you add on cycle syncing, your food and what you're eating, and then maybe the next month you add on another thing, so it doesn't have to all be everything at the same time. You can do it piece by piece. There's no wrong way to psychosync. All right now that I've said 84 disclaimers, let me really get into it. So winter your menstrual phase is, of course, the time of your month when you are bleeding. Now, during your winter, that's when, generally, your energy levels are at their lowest point and it's really a focus inward, a time of reflection and a good time to be nourishing yourself. While you're nourishing your body, also nourishing your mind, focusing on that self-care side of things.

Speaker 1: 6:32

So when it comes to exercise, you probably don't need me to tell you that you might be a little bit more tired during the menstrual phase than other times in your cycle. So friendly reminder going for a walk still exercise. Stretching also still very good for your body. Doing some gentle swimming if you're feeling like, doing some gentle yoga those are all ideas for getting out moving your body. That could be well in alignment with the level of energy that you have at that time. Overall, you might find that you need a little bit more sleep during your menstrual phase as well. So if you can be sure to get into bed a little bit earlier, or maybe you'll have a bit of flex in your morning routine and you can forego your alarm and wake up when your body naturally wakes you up. I think that would be a good one to consider during your menstrual cycle.

Speaker 1: 7:39

When it comes to food, there are certain foods that best align with each cycle, based on what are the nutrients that you might want to focus on during that phase. So, for your menstrual cycle specifically, you're going to want to focus on foods that are rich in iron, right To help replenish some of the iron that we're losing through our blood. If you're somebody who experiences some period pain, then, keeping in mind what are anti-inflammatory foods, that can be something good and nourishing and helpful for you. Also, keeping in mind where are you getting electrolytes from in order to maintain a proper mineral balance in your body. So the downloadable that I mentioned. Right, it'll have a more specific list of foods to incorporate, but some of the other honorable mentions that I'll run through here include turmeric ginger, turmeric ginger, avocado, berries, different legumes like black beans, edamame, kidney beans or lentils, when it comes to things like spirulina, seaweed, nutritional yeast and dark chocolate. When it comes to grains, looking at barley, buckwheat, oats, sorghum, soba noodles, and then I'll end here.

Speaker 1: 9:14

Of course, vegetables. You always want to incorporate cruciferous vegetables, but during this time, too, beets can be really nourishing Sweet potatoes, mushrooms and kale, and then, last but not least, when it comes to seeds, focusing on chia seeds, ground flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds those are some of the top ones to mention. Certainly, you do not need to restrict yourself to eating just these things. I only mentioned a handful of the items that were on the page before me, but if you are making your list at the beginning of the week and you say, okay, I know that my menstrual phase is coming up here soon, so what I'm going to do is okay, yeah, berries, let's put them on the list, let's make sure they're there. Or, okay, what bean salad can I make with the particular legumes that are on the list here? That is the way that I use this, it's the way that I would encourage you to use this, and I would also encourage you not to overthink. It necessarily right, think it necessarily right. It is, of course, good and nourishing to eat these items that I've just mentioned, but all food is nourishing and so don't limit yourself to this. But if you need some ideas, if you want to switch things up, I would suggest going this route and finding new recipes so you can incorporate some of the things that I just mentioned, or the other meals or suggestions you'll find in the cycle syncing guidebook.

Speaker 1: 10:54

Last note, on how you can prepare the food During your menstrual phase. You'll find that soups or stews or roasts things that have been baked may be well suited for that phase of your cycle. In contrast, what is the opposite end of the scale? That would be raw vegetables or other produce that are not cooked in the same way You'll see those examples later not cooked in the same way. You'll see those examples later. But that can be a good way to switch it up and again align the way that you're nourishing your body with what you might like to do in the winter time, or especially, like I grew up in Michigan right, maybe some of you've grown up or live currently in a colder climate. You'll know what you like to do in the winter when it's a little bit more chilly.

Speaker 1: 11:49

One final thing that I want to mention here to wrap up the menstrual phase winter is related to work tasks or tasks around the home and socializing. This might not be the time when you want to get out and do a big presentation, when you want to go out to a bunch of networking events or host a really big party, depending on, of course, your experience with your cycle and what other symptoms you may have that come along with it. So I find it really helpful to put a reminder on my calendar for when I expect the first day of my period to begin, and it can help me to just avoid planning a trip or avoid well, I wouldn't avoid planning a trip, that was a bad example, but anyway I can say all right, do I really want to host 10 of my friends for brunch on this day? That's the first day of my period or do I not, and at least make an informed decision so that you're not caught off guard or surprised when that day finally comes around? Just a little bit of food for thought, moving on to the spring, which is the follicular phase. This, of course, is the phase that's after your bleed ends. So maybe for you that's day seven of your cycle, maybe it's day five or four, and it will extend through a day or two before you ovulate. If you're not sure when each phase starts or ends, check out last week's episode where I walk you through in more detail how to like math that out. It's not super complex, but it would be good to understand where does each phase fall for you.

Speaker 1: 13:31

Anyway, during the springtime, your hormone levels are growing, namely estrogen, and so you're feeling like getting out and about a bit more. You're feeling like starting new projects. You're interested in trying new things. So let's start off with exercise. When it comes to moving your body, this is a really good time to check out some new group fitness classes to start doing cardio, like running or hiking or cycling. If you are somebody who lifts which I would encourage all of you to lift, it's really good for you and for your hormones then you know, as you're going through your follicular phase, you're going to notice that you feel stronger and have more, you know, more power, essentially, and that's because, as estrogen goes up, you're going to feel more of those signals of strength and confidence and capability.

Speaker 1: 14:35

Now I mentioned a couple of topics for work and home related tasks, right? So this is a good time to start projects. This is a really good time to say, okay, what do I want to accomplish over the next couple of weeks? How can I try something new? Can I learn something new? What can I go out and explore when it comes to food and nutrition during your follicular phase, focusing on getting a proper amount of zinc is really important, so we can do that through our foods.

Speaker 1: 15:07

Of course, I'll touch again on what are some of those key food items in just a moment here, but this is a really good phase to be incorporating light, fresh, raw vegetables, bringing in those cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, spinach that are rich in phytoestrogens and overall. You know this is a like season to eat lighter Again. Think about what are you eating in the springtime? What produce is really like, what produces in season? That's what I was looking for in the springtime. So I'll mention a few things here, like think about berries, think about more sweet fruits like rhubarb or pineapple, kiwi.

Speaker 1: 15:56

Legumes that you might want to consider could be cannellini beans, berloti beans, lima beans, berlodi beans, lima beans, mung beans, also lentils. I mentioned cruciferous veggies, so eggplant, spinach, lettuce, check out some green peas, green beans, eggplant. When it comes to some grains, amaranth, oats, rice again, quinoa can be good. Nuts check out some Brazil nuts you really only need one or two Brazil nuts a day Pine nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts and what's another honorable mention here? Alfalfa sprouts, coconut and wheatgrass could be good staples for the follicular phase as well. I'll mention this with the next phase too. But remember you don't need to limit yourself to just these foods. It's great to incorporate these where you can, but the most important thing is that you're nourishing your body, and so it shouldn't be. Don't look at this like you need to limit yourself to only these foods, or don't look at it like you can't eat these foods at other times of the cycle. So, all right, glad we got that out of the way.

Speaker 1: 17:08

A last note here to wrap up the follicular phase. You might not need as much rest as you do at times later in your cycle or during your menstrual phase. So certainly get the rest that you need, but this could be a time when maybe you want to wake up early for a group fitness class, wake up early to go on a hike, wake up early to do whatever it is that you want to do. This could be a good time in your cycle to do so, and that will also apply to the next phase, summer, which is the ovulatory phase. Ovulatory phase is when your hormone levels, namely estrogen and testosterone, are at their highest. You guessed it? It's because you're ovulating. So this is the shortest phase of the cycle, just three or four days, but generally you're feeling maximally communicative, social, social, outgoing, confident, and so when you're thinking of what work tasks or home tasks might best suit that also just being social, having connections with your friends keep that in mind for this time of the cycle. So if you're looking for a new job and you just happen to be able to schedule your interview for one of the days during this phase, that could be really excellent. Your communication skills might be a little bit smoother than later times in your cycle, like in the late luteal phase. Other work tasks if you are doing presentations, if you're in sales and you're out and about meeting people, making new connections this would be a good time to do those high energy things.

Speaker 1: 18:54

Now be careful not to burn yourself out or overcommit yourself. It can be easy to say yes to a lot of things during the ovulatory phase, when we're feeling good of things during the ovulatory phase, when we're feeling good but ideally not ideally oftentimes a lot of menstruators look forward to this phase. When it comes to exercise, this is a time when you can probably do your higher intensity workouts. So whether you are a runner, whether you're doing HIIT workouts, spin workouts, you are doing more strength training and lifting. This could be a good time when you see personal bests come through Not probably. I should say that studies show you're at a higher risk of injuring ligaments or tendons, like your ACL, during this phase, and that's because the hormone that helps us to actually get that egg out and released it well can also make our tendons a little bit more flexible, and so this is a good time to say, okay, am I using great form? Am I using great form? Am I using great form? And we should probably be asking ourselves that all the time Definitely should, but especially during the ovulatory phase.

Speaker 1: 20:20

Now, when it comes to food during the summer ovulatory phase, focusing on light food, similar to during the follicular phase a good time to consume raw foods. There is a slow increase in appetite that's normally noticed around ovulation and that'll continue to rise through the rest of your cycle. So just be aware that you might start feeling that way. That's totally natural. In the second half of the menstrual cycle, it's common to need like two to 300 more calories per day than at earlier times in the cycle. So heads up on that. Be gentle with yourself. If you feel hungry, know that your body is just signaling to you what it needs. There can be a good focus on zinc, again during this phase, also vitamin C. So a couple of nutrients to consider there, and I'll just go ahead and run through some of the foods that you may want to consider during this phase as well.

Speaker 1: 21:25

So, starting with fruits, looking at fig, pomegranate, papaya, nectarines and passion fruit. When it comes to legumes, a lot of the same beans actually that we mentioned before, but black-eyed beans, edamame, lemony beans, lentils and more. For nuts, consider almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews, brazil nuts and vegetables are some good light ones too Tomatoes, cucumber, red peppers, whatever bell pepper color that you like the best Spinach, broccoli, cabbage Seeds. This can be a good time to focus on sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. So if you were seed cycling, that's what you would do during the ovulatory phase and luteal phase. Again that's sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. You could also do tahini right, which is ground sesame seeds, or sunflower butter.

Speaker 1: 22:23

Moving on to this last section, here for grains, looking at corn, oats, rice, quinoa, spelt You've got a couple options there to incorporate. Overall, when it comes to the ovulatory phase, this could be a really good time to take advantage of your high energy levels, your willingness to be outgoing be out there, so that's something that I would try to take advantage of. That I do try to take advantage of this is also something where I like to put a visual reminder on my calendar of my expected date of ovulation, just so that I can again plan different meetings or talks or whatever it is, social plans, whatever makes sense for your calendar for a compatible time during my cycle. Now, just like with the food, though, if a great opportunity comes up or if my friend's I don't know birthday is coming up, I certainly don't say, oh, my bad, can't go because I'm not in the right phase of my cycle. I think that the important thing to, or the best way to look at cycle syncing is saying, okay, let me build this awareness of my body, of my cycle, let me try to dial in with these different areas, these different strengths, as I move through each phase of my cycle. And once you've really got that down, you can kind of pull back from it and say, okay, I don't need to do this in a prescriptive manner anymore, I'm going to take what works for me, I'm going to keep on keeping on with the aspects of this that I like, and the rest of it can just kind of fall to the side With that.

Speaker 1: 24:09

Let's go ahead and move on to our last and fourth phase, the luteal phase. So a day or two after ovulation, through the last day of your cycle is the luteal phase, and this is autumn. Close your eyes, Think for a second about what autumn is like for you. That time of year, that season. If you're like me, autumn is my favorite. I cannot wait for it to be autumn. As I'm recording this, we are most of the way through August now. So we're almost there.

Speaker 1: 24:40

But what is important to know about the luteal phase? During this phase, hormonally, our progesterone, or your progesterone, is going to grow, is going to grow peak in the middle of the phase and then taper off. Estrogen will also grow kind of in well, in concert with it. It won't grow quite as high by any means, but progesterone is the main hormone for this phase, and progesterone is going to calm you down, it's going to help you or make you feel like you want to stay home and chill, and so that's why, especially in the second half of this phase, this nurturing, reflective, kind of more quiet vibe might be something that best suits you If you're somebody who likes to be at home, or maybe if you're somebody who doesn't like to be at home but you want to kind of ground yourself, then being at home during this time can be really good.

Speaker 1: 25:48

This is a good phase to have a girl's night, girls night, get the gals together and relax, just have a night in. When it comes to work, this can be a good phase to do revisions, to do edits, to organize things, where you're wrapping up and closing out a lot of the projects that maybe you started earlier in the cycle or at whatever time. But this is a good time when you can be much more closely attuned what's the word I'm looking for? When you're just more in tune with making edits, seeing things that you didn't see before. So administrative tasks, editing and the like.

Speaker 1: 26:37

Now, I mentioned earlier that progesterone can stimulate your appetite. It also can well. Really, the lack of estrogen during this phase can have an impact on your sensitivity to insulin and that means that you might be less sensitive to it, so your blood sugar might be a little bit more wonky and for those reasons, during the luteal phase, going for more of those really hearty, rich foods again, like soups or stews or roasts, that can be really nourishing and feel really good for your body at this time. So focusing on nutrient dense foods is going to be where it's at for the luteal phase. Depending on your experience with different cycle symptoms, you might want to focus on different nutrients. For example, if you have a lot of PMS, then going for foods that are really comforting and rich in magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin E and B6 could be a good fit for you.

Speaker 1: 27:47

Oftentimes, to you or friends of yours, or just anecdotally, you probably hear oh, I'm about to start my cycle, I'm really craving chocolate, and sometimes that's just a habit that we form, which is okay, but also sometimes that's because during that part of our cycle we have less magnesium than our bodies want, and dark chocolate is a good source of magnesium. So go easy on yourself and go ahead and have a little bit of chocolate. If you needed some permission to have a chocolate latte, then here it is for you. Let's take a closer look at what are some of the specific foods to incorporate during the luteal phase Apples, bananas, oranges, lemons, dates, pears.

Speaker 1: 28:39

For legumes, looking at adzuki beans, chickpeas, pinto beans, tempeh, tofu, the nuts are similar, but considering almonds, hazelnuts, now peanuts, pecans and walnuts, on the vegetable note, a lot of you guessed it fall squashes like pumpkins, other squashes, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes. And then let's look at some of the herbs and spices, like red raspberry leaf or nettle leaf, chamomile, lavender, raw cacao, cinnamon. A lot of these herbs and spices. Oh, one last thing too. I should mention dandelion. So, like dandelion root tea, these can be really good because they are supportive of your liver function. Our liver processes out a lot of our hormones, so by incorporating some of these foods you're able to support your liver, which can reduce adverse late cycle side effects. So something good to consider there.

Speaker 1: 29:50

When it comes to exercise during this phase, or during the start of this phase, you might still have a lot of energy. You want to go out, keep doing whatever workouts you've been doing. You feel like you still have that strength. Odds are, as you go later into the luteal phase, you're going to have less energy, and that's fine. This is your body signaling to you hey, girl, let's chill, let's do some Pilates, some barre, let's go for a walk, let's do some swimming, right, so, not so high intensity, getting back into a more restorative movement, really listening to your body and understanding what it's asking you for, what it can handle. And an equally good question, I think, at the end of your workout is to say, okay, do I feel better, you know, am I glad that I did this workout, or am I just smoked and I feel awful? And maybe I could have listened to myself on this one a little bit more.

Speaker 1: 30:58

To wrap up the conversation about the luteal phase, this is a really good phase to focus on self-care too. So kind of cliche I feel like to say focus on self-care. But this is a time in your cycle when sometimes you're more prone to overextending yourself, to stretching yourself too thin. So, putting on your calendar a time or two times, whatever fits into your life, what are some things you can do to really recharge your batteries and plan to take it easy. Don't overdo it. Okay, gang, I think that we did it. We made it through. Thanks so much for sticking with me. And you know what's funny. I should have mentioned this at the top.

Speaker 1: 31:47

I originally was planning to post my second podcast episode. If you scroll all the way back in the feed, we talked about these. The same subject of cycle syncing. But, guys, I went back, I listened to it for five seconds and I was like there is no way that I am going to be posting that. So I by no means do. I think I'm a perfect podcaster by this point, but I guess I should say I'm grateful for the improvements that I have made over the last year, and I was like, ooh, I'm not going to do this to them, I'm going to just record a new one. So I hope that you liked this episode. I hope you found this helpful.

Speaker 1: 32:29

Again, send this to your sister or your friend, somebody who you've been talking to about psychosyncing, who might be wanting to get into it. It's a really great way to get to know your own body, get to know your energy levels, understand how you change throughout your cycle. Some of the books that I think are really great if you want to learn more about this one is Period Power by Maisie Hill. That's actually the first, like one of the first books that I read about cycle syncing, about anything period related, really, as I was trying to figure out my own hormonal situation and um. So I think that book period power is a great resource. Also, in the flow by Elisa Vidi, is a good one, and she breaks everything down category by category, cycle by cycle. So it's really beautiful, nice and clear, or review. You can also subscribe if you're feeling up for it, so that you never miss an episode and these new episodes show up right in your feed. So I will catch you here next week. Until then, be well.