[Mini] The Magic of Cycle Tracking | Ep. 76

Understanding your menstrual cycle is key to enhancing your mental and physical well-being, and tracking it can reveal powerful insights about your body. This episode explores the benefits of cycle tracking, the importance of manual documentation, and the personal empowerment gained from observing your unique patterns.

• Introduction to the cycle book and its authors
• Importance of cycle tracking beyond just menstrual dates
• Exploring mood changes and pleasure during different phases
• Transitioning from app-based tracking to manual methods
• Making daily tracking part of a self-care routine
• Impacts of the luteal phase on mood and mindset
• Using cycle tracking effectively for health discussions

BUY THE CYCLE BOOK & CONNECT WITH THE AUTHORS
www.thecyclebook.com
Instagram - @thecyclebook
Laura Federico's website - laurafedericotherapy.com
Morgan's website - morganmillermidwifery.com

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Register here (by Feb 2nd)
Code "2025" for $20.25 off registration
Start date: Feb 3rd

CONNECT WITH BRIDGET
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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Hey guys, welcome to this 76th episode of I'm Hormonal. I'm your host, Bridget Walton, and in this mini episode I'm going to be talking about the cycle book. If you check out this week's earlier episode episode 75, you'll hear my longer form conversation with Laura Federico and Morgan Miller, who are the authors of the cycle book, which is an amazing resource for you. If you are maybe just getting off of hormonal birth control, so you're starting to cycle again, you're starting to actually menstruate again and you want to get really in tune with what's going on in your body, how your hormones are changing. Tracking your cycle I mean honestly tracking your cycle is an incredible resource and skill for all menstruators. But yes, if you're getting off hormonal birth control, maybe you are somebody who has irregular cycles you can't predict when your period is coming and so you want to learn more about what's going on hormonally. You want to be able to track some changes and see what the patterns are in your body. If you have PMDD and you'll hear Laura talk about her experience with PMDD and how tracking her cycle helped her to really get a better understanding of what was going on with her but I'm kind of jumping ahead of myself. Let me come back to that in a second. I just want to say welcome. First. If this is your first time listening to I'm Hormonal, then this is a mini episode. It's just kind of bite-sized format where I touch on what I covered in the earlier longer form conversation earlier this week. So I just want to take a second to say thank you for joining, and I always like to give my disclaimer need to, that the information I share with you is for educational purposes only. It shouldn't be used as a replacement for any sort of medical advice, diagnosis or other one-on-one guidance from the right certified practitioner for you.

Speaker 1: 2:04

So, all of that aside, what are we talking about today? Cycle tracking. So let me zoom out, because if you maybe this is your first time really learning about hearing about cycle tracking, what does this mean? What comes to mind first for me, perhaps for you too, is just tracking. What are the dates that I bleed each month? And that is a really important component of cycle tracking. You will definitely track that, but beyond, just when are you bleeding? You can track other fluids, right? Do you have changes in your cervical fluid in maybe the middle of your menstrual cycle which could indicate that you are in your fertile window. That's a good marker to be aware of if you yes, if you want to conceive, but also probably good to be aware of if you don't want to conceive. Now, in addition to those, if you're looking at what's your temperature, maybe you're tracking your basal body temperature to help you understand if and when you ovulate. Then that would go into the tracking, into your journal, into the whatever resource you're using, maybe from the cycle book to track it.

Speaker 1: 3:19

But beyond that and Laura and Morgan did a really amazing job of breaking it all down there's so much more to tracking the changes in your cycle, especially as it relates to your mood, your mental health, to all of these factors related to pleasure and comfort, which I thought was so interesting, because I don't oftentimes associate pleasure and comfort with my cycle, and not just pleasure in like the sexual sense, but pleasure like anything that brings me joy, Anything you know. And how can that thing that brings me joy? Maybe it's having a morning drinking coffee on the beach for me, Maybe something else for you, but how does that in turn impact the rest of what's going on with my mood and also with my hormones? So their book is a great resource if you want to get into tracking your cycle without using an app. Now, if you've been here before, you've heard me talk about apps. That's personally what I use, because, well, because I'm a creature of habit, that's what I've been using for a long time. But in this age, now, in 2025, where our data, is it really secure? Is it not super secure? Laura and Morgan mentioned that there have been different cases or class action lawsuits against different apps.

Speaker 1: 4:49

We didn't get into the super fine details of it, but basically, if you're somebody who lives in a state here in the US well, or a state anywhere where your reproductive rights are limited, then maybe that's a realistic change that you want to make to go from using your app to charting by hand in order to keep the information about your cycle private and just for you. Now, I, of course, don't mean to say that in a way to scare anybody, right? If it's a motivator for you, then that's obviously fair and valid. But even beyond just that one note, I just want to come back to the other benefits of charting by hand, because making part of your daily self-care routine, or making just part of maybe it's at night, before you go to bed, you have your routine that you love and you spend a couple minutes journaling or charting. It doesn't have to be a really long, in-depth process to chart your cycle. It can be one and a half minutes at the end of the day, or it can be more. It's really what you make of it.

Speaker 1: 6:12

But all of this is to say that by learning and understanding and recording information about your body, about how you and your experience shift throughout the month, it's a really powerful way to get to know yourself. You get to know yourself and really feel like, oh okay, this makes total sense. You know. It's, I think, even a good reminder, right, and for me in my life, you know how should I say so? During the luteal phase, which is that seven to 10 days before your period begins. So it's right at the end, which are oftentimes when, if you have PMS, that's when you'll experience PMS and other mood swings, etc. If you have PMS, that's when you'll experience PMS and other mood swings, et cetera.

Speaker 1: 7:07

And even if you don't maybe identify like I wouldn't personally identify with having PMS, but I do notice that my mindset and my perspective shifts at the end of my cycle and so, like while I was working with a business coach, she would notice right, and it's so funny her asking these questions back to me. She'd be like Bridget, I hear what you're saying, but let me ask you, what phase of your cycle are you in right now? And I'm like, oh my gosh, I know this, Like this is my jam, and yet I still need sometimes this reminder that, oh yeah, okay, this is sometimes how my perspective shifts. When I'm in my luteal phase, Maybe I'm not quite as optimistic as I am in other parts of my cycle.

Speaker 1: 7:57

Now, that's just one of many, many benefits that you can get out of tracking your cycle, and the cycle book will walk you through so much good information about how to track your cycle, how to make it work for you. Maybe you are somebody who needs to really take one. What's the metaphor I'm looking for? Anyway, just get into tracking a little bit more slowly versus somebody else who's ready to just jump right in with both feet and get going. So they really will lay it out for you in a way that works for you and, honestly, best serves you, so that you can get the most information, regardless of what your cycle tracking goal is. Because, again, cycle tracking is really good to understand yourself and learn about yourself. If you are looking to work through some sort of hormonal imbalance or other condition, it's a great way to compile data that you can then bring to your physician or your coach or your nutritionist or chiropractor.

Speaker 1: 9:11

And I think that if anything I mentioned today really resonated with you, then go ahead and check out thecyclebookcom where you can pre-order their book. So it's on pre-order right now until January 28th. Then it will be like alive in real life. Once the book is finally out, you can still order it all the same at thecyclebookcom and you can also connect with them on Instagram at thecyclebook. So check out the longer form episode if you want to hear more directly from Laura and Morgan about our conversation. That is it for today, for this mini episode. Let me know what you think by rating and reviewing or sending me a DM on Instagram. Thanks again, and I will look forward to seeing you on next week's episode.