What Is Cycle Syncing And How Do I Do It?
Cycle Syncing is a term introduced by Hormone Guru Alissa Vitti, and it helps you understand how to align your life with your hormone cycle so that you can feel have more energy, feel calmer and happier, reduce PMS, and optimize your fertility - the gateway to your optimal health (even if you don’t want children!)
So if you’re interested in learning what nutrition, exercise and self-care habits will best serve you throughout your cycle, then keep reading.
Throughout a natural menstrual cycle, a woman's brain chemistry shifts as her hormones fluctuate in and out of the different phases.
This is why some weeks you might feel super energised, ready to smash the gym, boss the emails and still have plenty of energy to socialise and even clean your house. Then another day your mood and energy is lower and you want to netflix and chill on your own.
These patterns and shifts are what cycle syncing helps you embrace, in a healthy, positive way.
Cycle syncing helps you recognise whether the symptoms you experience each month are part of a healthy menstrual cycle, or whether they are a sign of some underlying hormonal imbalance that need to be addressed.
Either way, cycle syncing teaches you how to nurture your unique hormonal rhythms so that you can thrive throughout your cycle!
Before we get into the details of cycle syncing, make sure you watch my Signature Female Hormone Masterclass here.
Menstrual Phase
Day 1 of your bleed is the day 1 of a new cycle, and it is when you enter your menstrual phase. All hormones are at their lowest and the analytical and feeling hemispheres of your brain are communicating.
This is a great time to sit with your feelings and spend some time reflecting on different areas of your life. It’s a time to be honest with yourself and make decisions on how you want to move forward.
You may notice your mood and energy levels are lower than usual due to the drop in hormones.
Nutrition
Your body is in a state of depletion, it is in the process of detoxing your body of old blood, minerals, and other toxins that can store in your pelvic cavity. It takes a lot of energy to bleed, so I encourage you to replenish using simple, warming, easy to digest recipes like bone broths, stews, soups, and curries.
Drink plenty of ginger tea and hot chocolate, and enjoy stewed fruit with yogurt or porridge.
Movement
It is believed that all energy should be reserved during your bleed, so prioritizing gentle walks in nature over high intensity workouts. For some, skipping workouts altogether and resting during this phase is important to replenish your energy ready for the rest of your cycle.
If you do enjoy working out during your bleed, just be aware of how you feel during and afterwards, you may find your usual workouts leave you feeling more exhausted!
Self Care
My biggest self care tip during your bleed is to priortise more sleep. This is the time to go to bed earlier and set your alarm later, if you’re adapting your workout routine to sync with your bleed it may give you more time to prioritise this.
Introduce a warm epsom salt bath before bed, journal your thoughts, and spend some time by yourself.
Follicular Phase
The rise in oestrogen as you transition out of your bleed can be responsible for seeing that rise in mood and energy.
This is a time of new beginnings, and those intentions you set out during your menstrual phase need clarifying. How do you intend to accomplish them? Tap into your creative energy and start planning!
Nutrition
Compliment that rise in energy with plenty of high quality protein from eggs, dairy, meat, and fish alongside some seasonal carbohydrates such as ripe fruit and vegetables. Shellfish such as oysters, crab, and prawns are superfoods during this phase as the vitamins and minerals they offer help your ovaries nourish the follicles that are ripening towards ovulation.
As oestrogen is building during this phase the liver and digestive system need some extra support to ensure the hormone is efficiently metabolised. Eat the raw carrot salad daily and add plenty of cooked mushrooms to your meals.
Movement
The rise in oestrogen can help you effectively build muscle during this phase. Strong yoga flows, weight training and hiking are all great ways to build muscle and burn some energy.
You could also embrace your creative space and try something new! Belly dancing, rock climbing, hoola hooping, salsa dancing … if there’s something you want to try - now is the time to embrace this!
Self Care
Long nature walks with friends and loved ones can truly replenish your energy during this phase. Sunlight exposure is important every day, and specifically in this phase to support your thyroid function which can be affected if there is a sudden rise in oestrogen.
Dry Skin Brushing helps support lymph flow and detoxification, all important for oestrogen metabolism.
Ovulation Phase
Get ready to embrace your inner confidence. The verbal and social areas of your brain are activated and you find yourself articulate and charismatic.
Connect with your partner, have the important conversations with loved ones, or negotiate a pay rise with your boss. Whatever area of your life requires a deeper conversation, this is the time to approach it.
All of that reflecting and planning you have done so far, now is the time to put it into action!
There’s a spike in testosterone to ‘get you in the mood’ which leaves you feeling empowered, sexy, and confident. Use this energy to your advantage in all areas of your life.
Nutrition
Continue flooding your body with plenty of protein and carbs, ensuring you’re having some healthy fats from grass fed animals, dairy, and olive oil to support the fluctuating hormones and energy during this phase.
Oestrogen is at its height, testosterone has spiked and an egg has (or is about to) drop. This is a good time to introduce the liver tonic alongside plenty of vitamin C rich foods such as ripe tropical fruit and stone fruit.
Fresh cod, baked white potato, red bell pepper, and acerola cherry juice are all great sources of vitamin C for this phase.
Movement
Move with your energy and embrace hot yoga flows, HIIT workouts, and prioritise strength training. Daily walks outside will help nurture the strong energy during this phase.
Self Care
Ovulation is all about pleasure and enjoyment. Socialise with friends and explore pleasure with your partner, or yourself.
Luteal Phase
Hormone levels during this phase prime your brain to be good at prioritising and ticking off your to do list. This is a good time to finalise the tasks you started to action during ovulation, and get more detailed about longer term goals.
Progesterone should be your most dominant hormone during this phase, keeping your oestrogen in check, supporting blood sugar and optimising sleep. For many of us, this is not the case - enter PMS!
Blood sugar fluctuations, sleep disturbances, tender breasts, bloating, mood swings, acne, and migraines are all symptoms of PMS that are common but NOT normal. If you experience PMS then I highly recommend the Foundations of Nutrition mini course as a foundational approach to addressing PMS through nutrition.
Nutrition
Continue to support your fluctuating oestrogen levels with the raw carrot salad, cooked mushrooms and liver tonic recipes.
Progesterone increases your metabolic rate and therefore increases your energy requirements. Introduce an extra snack or make your meals slightly more nutrient dense with extra fats or more root vegetables.
Cooked root vegetables such as beetroot, onions, parsnips, carrots and celery support the liver and bowels in removing excess oestrogen. Vitamin C rich food outlined above supports the production of progesterone if a healthy ovulation has occurred.
At the same time, you need to be preparing your body for menstruation so that you can enter your bleed in a nourished state. Borscht soup, beef cheeks, liver pate, and plenty of grass fed dairy produce offer a host of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants that can build resiliency ahead of your bled.
Movement
Hiking, yoga flows, and strength training can support your blood sugar and sleep during this phase whilst respecting the declining energy. As you get closer to your period, being gentle with your movement will help reserve precious energy for your bleed.
Self Care
Habits to support your detoxification pathways whilst nurturing your womb can help ease the transition into your bleed. Dry skin brushing, nature walks, epsom salt baths, legs up the wall pose and abdominal massages are all favorites of mine. I always recommend a daily walk outside, and then try and choose 1 other thing to do each day to support your luteal phase and aim to be consistent.
My tips to start cycle syncing
If you’re loving this information but feeling overwhelmed about starting - follow the below tips to help ease you into cycle syncing.
Split each phase into weeks to make it easier.
The week that you’re due to bleed or start bleeding, treat that as your menstrual week, then the next week shift into the follicular habits and so on. Your hormones eb and flow in and out of these phases, so if you start to introduce follicular phase habits during the end of your period that is fine, you’re helping your body transition.
Track your symptoms week by week
During each week/phase, track your symptoms using the symptom overview tracker on page 4 of the workbook. It will take a few months to recognise any patterns, so be patient.
Keep it simple
The key to successfully achieving hormone health is simplicity. Remember, a balanced diet of protein, carbs, and fat at each meal is the foundational rule - read this blog for more detail on this. Once you are confident with this approach to eating, choose 2-3 things each week/phase to introduce. For example, during your follicular phase you might introduce the raw carrot salad and a daily walk outside, in your ovulation you could continue these practices and maybe add the liver tonic which will then support your throughout your luteal phase, where you might add a handful of roasted root vegetables into your diet each day.
It can take 3-4 cycles to recognise any patterns in your hormone fluctuations, and to get to grips with the details of cycle syncing. The most important thing is to listen to your body and track your symptoms, and if you notice that you feel worse during a particular phase it could help you and your doctor identify potential causes.
I offer 1-1 nutrition packages to support women who experience debilitating PMS and period pain. If this is you and you would like to learn more, book your free discovery call here.