[Mini] FAM As a Non-Hormonal Birth Control Option | Ep. 113

Earlier this week, Bridget interviewed Nat (@fertilityawarenessproject) about all things fertility awareness. This episode recaps Bridget's main takeaways from the conversation.

• Fertility awareness works even for those with irregular cycles like PCOS
• The method tracks three key indicators: cervical mucus, LH levels, and basal body temperature
• Rising estrogen before ovulation changes cervical mucus quality and quantity
• LH strips help predict when ovulation is about to occur
• Basal body temperature rises after ovulation due to progesterone production
• FAM differs from the rhythm method by using your body's specific signals, not calendar predictions
• Temperature can be tracked with devices like TempDrop or traditional oral thermometers
• Fertility awareness and cycle awareness complement each other

Connect with Nat on Instagram @FertilityAwarenessProject or visit fertilityawarenessproject.ca. Grab her freebies:

FAM Fundametals Freebie - https://fertilityawarenessproject.ca/fam-fundamentals
Mindful Mucus Method Waitlist - https://fertilityawarenessproject.ca/mindful-waitlist
Mucus Made Easy Freebie - https://fertilityawarenessproject.ca/mucus-made-easy

TempDrop Discount Code: 10% off

Transcript

Welcome to I'm Hormonal Episode 113

Speaker 1 0:01

Hello and welcome to this episode of I'm Hormonal . I'm your host , bridget Walton . I'm so glad that you're joining me today for this episode , number 113 . This is a mini episode , which normally comes out on Thursdays each week , where I just real quick cut to the chase . We talk about the longer form episode that you listened to on Tuesday this week , but we just recap it , make it more actionable , practical , whatever it is that makes it just bite-sized and digestible for you .

Speaker 1 0:32

Now , earlier this week , I had Nat on the podcast . She is the cervical mucus queen and what she does is she educates her clients about the fertility awareness method . So that's what we talked about the fertility awareness method , and that's what I'm going to be recapping today and just sharing

Key Takeaways from Nat's Interview

Speaker 1 0:52

with you . What were some of the main takeaways that I got out of our conversation that I would love to reiterate here with you . I think the biggest takeaway for me from our conversation was the fact that fertility awareness can be a good fit for everybody , regardless of what's going on with your hormones right now , regardless of if you want to conceive , if you want to avoid conceiving . It's just a great tool to help you get to know your cycle more , to understand your hormones more , and you know , one of the questions that I had for her going into it was is there any decrease in efficacy of using this method for somebody who has irregular cycles ? And Nat shared with us about how she has PCOS , so her cycles are quite irregular or sometimes can be more irregular , but despite that , it still is a reliable method to understand . Okay , when am I in my fertile window , when am I outside of my fertile window ? Or the terminology that she used was closing the fertile window and I think that is again my biggest finding and what I want to convey to you , because if you're somebody who you don't want to use hormonal birth control , maybe you're not feeling an IUD , maybe you're just not sure if fertility awareness is right for you . Well , I think it could be , and that could start off with even just going in and finding an app that best suits you . Nat mentioned that Read your Body is one that she uses and so you can start off by becoming more familiar with the method . I'll talk in a little bit more detail in just a moment here , but , of course , if you want to have that extra vote of confidence , if you want to have a container , have a guide to walk you through how to implement this method . Then Nat is your girl and , again , you can connect with her on Instagram at Fertility Awareness Project , or you can check out her website , which is fertilityawarenessprojectca . She has a couple of freebies there that you can check out on the fertility awareness method and on cervical mucus . So if you are just trying to dip your toes in , then she's got you covered .

Speaker 1 3:17

Now , what is fertility

What is Fertility Awareness?

Speaker 1 3:19

awareness ? I want to cover that really quick because essentially , what you would be doing when you're practicing this method is charting certain information , like collecting certain data about your cycle , about your cervical mucus , about your basal body temperature and potentially using LH or luteinizing hormone strips . All of these things the temperature , the strips and the cervical mucus help to inform you about if you are in your fertile window or Are you outside of it . Right , and I want to take a step back from that to explain a little bit more from the perspective of hormones . What does that actually mean ? So what we are thinking of here when we say okay , let's talk about cervical mucus first , in the lead up to ovulation , so during that five , six days ahead of ovulation , which is your fertile window , that's when you will oftentimes notice a change in your cervical mucus , and that mentions that . It can , yes , be what you see when you go to the bathroom , but it also can be the sensation that you feel when you're just going about your day , walking , like doing nothing specific in particular . So that's all to say that , as your estrogen levels are rising just before ovulation , that is , for most gals , going to result in a larger amount or a different consistency of cervical mucus . Now , next , coming back to the LH strips luteinizing hormone strips that she mentioned what those do is help to inform you of when your luteinizing hormone is spiking . This is important because just before you ovulate , your luteinizing hormone spikes . So this is another predictive aspect that you can collect to say , oh okay , looks like I'm about to ovulate .

Speaker 1 5:29

And then you're bringing in the third piece of this equation , basal body temperature , which can confirm

Different Methods and Temperature Tracking

Speaker 1 5:37

if you did ovulate . And that's because , after you ovulate , so the egg is released from the follicle on your ovary . That follicle turns into the corpus luteum , and it's that corpus luteum which is the brand new little endocrine gland you just made , that corpus luteum that produces most of the progesterone that your body produces . And when you have more progesterone floating around in your system , for lack of a more technical term . That's going to result in a higher body temperature Not drastically so , maybe a third of a degree Fahrenheit higher but you will notice that your basal body temperature , so your lowest body temperature at rest , is higher .

Speaker 1 6:27

Personally , I use temp drop to track my basal body temperature , so I use it's an armband that has a thermometer in it . Before Maybe you've heard me talk about it , because for me it's the most convenient . I put it on before I go to sleep , I wake up in the morning , I sync it with my phone and it tells me what my temperature was . Of course , you could also use an oral thermometer and just first thing , right when you wake up , you take your temperature and then you would , you know , log that wherever , you log it in your chart , in your app . But that's all to say . There are a couple of different methods . And coming back to why , what are we taking our temperature for ? Because that's what would confirm that ovulation occurred and that's what kind of closes that fertile window .

Speaker 1 7:17

One thing that Nat reiterated or explained for us in the conversation was that FAM is not the same as the rhythm method . It's not the same as natural cycles . Those aren't super specific to your own cycle , right . It's more detailed , it's more in-depth , it's a science-backed method , and so I just think that's important . It's not like , oh , let me just count a certain number of days on the calendar and

FAM vs. Rhythm Method

Speaker 1 7:43

that's when I'm going to ovulate , right , because that's not necessarily the case for everybody or for every body . So it's using the signs and the changes in your own body , your own temperature , your own hormone levels , to make those conclusions .

Speaker 1 8:01

I asked Nat a little bit about the similarity and difference between fertility awareness and cycle awareness and how she looks at those two different things . I've talked about cycle awareness on the podcast before , which is yet slightly different or , depending on how you look at it , from cycle syncing , where cycle awareness is just being cognizant , being familiar with how do you change throughout the cycle , what are the differences in your energy levels , in how you're feeling emotionally and what you need as far as nourishment goes , etc . She explained that fertility awareness and cycle awareness really go hand in hand and are kind of reinforcing , whereas then we have cycle syncing , on the other hand and maybe you've heard me express the same thought here too that cycle syncing can be another great way to , you know , help you get into this rhythm of identifying what your body wants , what it needs , how it feels when you make certain changes . And I'm actually being slightly generous when I say that , because I do think it is so important to understand that cycle syncing is not actually helping to balance your hormones . If you already have nice balanced hormones with a little bow tied on top , psychosync your heart out . If you are at a point in your learning , if you're at a point in your journey where you are trying to bring your hormones back into balance , then psychosyncing might not be what's up for you , but this practice of fertility awareness , that could be a better fit for you at this point .

Final Thoughts and Contact Info

Speaker 1 9:43

All right , my friend , that's all I've got for you today . As I said at the start , thursday episodes are just quick and to the point . Definitely go back and listen to the longer episode that I had with Nat , because she was really fun to talk to . I think you're going to love it . You're going to get a lot more detail from that episode , of course , than what I went through today , so you can take a quick peek at the show notes to get links to connect with Nat Again . She's at Fertility Awareness Project on Instagram . And thanks for listening . We'll see you on the next one , as always .

Speaker 1 10:16

If you have questions , if you have requests , I would love to hear them from you . So send me a DM at . I'm underscore hormonal . All right , we'll see you on the next one . If you loved today's episode and got something good out of it , make sure you subscribe so that these episodes show up automatically

Subscribe and Disclaimer

Speaker 1 10:34

in your feed . No work needed on your side . Let's put it on autopilot . As always , I need to give you my reminder that the information I share with you here is for educational purposes only , and it should not be used as a replacement for medical advice or diagnosis . Now , if you are , on the other hand , in the market for some one-on-one support , then I would love for you to take me up on my offer for a free strategy call . You can find these links and more in the show notes .