Embracing Your Body's Rhythm: Why Cycle Syncing is Great for Your Hormonal Health

heydigitaleliza
Apr 12, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Feb 27

As a nutritionist who supports women's health and wellness, this topic is close to my heart. Our bodies are amazing, especially regarding changes within our menstrual cycles.

Let's dive into why syncing your lifestyle and nutrition with your cycle can be a long-term game-changer for your health.

1. Feeling in Sync

Women's bodies have hormonal changes throughout the month, affecting everything from our mood to energy levels.

Starting with hormonal and mood changes and ending with workouts, and nutrition preferences, everything in our bodies changes and therefore needs different support to feel well whenever we are in our cycle.

By syncing up our habits with these changes, we help our body balance our hormones and support our energy.

2. Eating with Purpose

Nutrition is key to hormonal balance and just as different hormones hormones have rice during different phases, our nutritional needs also change. In the Ovulatory phase, support hormonal production with healthy fats like nuts, seeds, avocados, and salmon.

Load up on iron-rich foods to replenish what's lost in the Menstrual Phase. During the Luteal Phase support your gut health with fiber and your energy with complex carbs, eating this way can ease symptoms like bloating before your period. Your Follicular Phase is the perfect time to support your digestion with fresh rainbow bowls filled with a variety of vegetables and protein sources, like chicken, eggs, or tuna.

3. Tailored Fitness

Aligning exercise with your cycle can boost your fitness routine. Take advantage of your energy surge in the follicular phase with more challenging workouts.

When estrogen levels rise after your period (in the follicular phase), you can feel more energetic — perfect for more intense workouts like HIIT, cardio, and jogging.

And during the pre-period luteal phase, higher progesterone levels are used more for calming activities like yoga, stretching, or gentle walks.

This personalized approach can support your performance goals, reduce burnout, and add variety.

4. Mind-Body Connection

Understanding your body's rhythms can be empowering. Instead of dreading PMS, tune in to what your body needs and respond kindly.

It's about honoring your body's natural cycles and using them to thrive throughout the month. Support your body during the Luteal Phase with a gentle routine, increasing time for good sleep, and nourishing with bigger meals, due to increased hunger and also calories burn.

5. Long-Term Benefits

Consistently cycle syncing can have good benefits for your health. By supporting hormonal balance naturally, you may reduce menstrual issues, PMS symptoms, and hormonal imbalances that affect fertility, and overall good feeling in your body.