18. Cycle Syncing: How to Feel Your Best During Menstruation, Follicular, Ovulation, and Luteal Phases

Sam starts this episode by talking about her experience with hormonal birth control, which has resulted in her fully feeling each phase of her cycle for the first time in her life. On a mission to manage her hormones and mitigate her PMS symptoms through dietary and lifestyle changes, she explores the best (doctor and dietician-approved) ways to eat, exercise, sleep, socialize, and take care of yourself during the four phases: menstrual, follicular, ovulation, and luteal. Listen to this episode if you're considering going off of hormonal birth control for the first time in a long time, if you're interested in supporting your reproductive health in line with your body's natural rhythms, or if you think cycle-syncing is BS and want to hear about Sam's journey getting started. Key moments: 00:36 Sam’s personal journey (prob TMI lol) 04:48 Major upcoming episode about going off birth control 07:32 The surprising thing Sam started experiencing in her cycle 07:49 How we arrived at this episode 08:35 The tiny change in Sam’s routine that changed everything 09:36 Results Sam saw in just 6 weeks of cycle syncing 12:25 Who should try cycle syncing? 13:11 A refresher on the menstrual cycle 15:17 The length of your menstrual cycle and the four different phases 15:59 Menstrual cycle vs. 24-hour cycle (both hormonal) 17:00 Different ways to track your cycle 17:55 This is a good time to start taking notes (plus a simple layout/format) 19:09 Phase 1 - menstruation 19:12 How to eat during menstruation 23:46 Sam’s take on cravings during your period 24:40 How to exercise during menstruation 26:09 Other tips and tricks for managing the menstrual phase (socializing, sleep, sex, etc.) 27:52 Phase 2 - follicular 28:48 How to eat during your follicular phase 30:15 How to exercise during follicular 31:19 Other tips and tricks for managing the follicular phase (mood, making plans with your friends, hormones, etc.) 32:08 Phase 3 - ovulation 33:10 Hormonal changes during your ovulatory phase 33:42 How to eat during ovulation 34:17 Eating to support your reproductive health if you’re trying to get pregnant 34:51 How to exercise during ovulation 35:53 Other tips and tricks for your ovulatory phase (trying to conceive, social battery levels, etc.) 36:42 Phase 4 - luteal (most closely associated with PMS) 37:15 How to eat during your luteal phase (anti-inflammatory diet, healthy fats, etc.) 38:31 How to exercise during luteal 39:22 We should be doing this more during luteal 40:00 Mini feminist rant lol 41:01 Other tips and tricks for luteal (listen to your body!) Thanks for listening! New episodes are released every Sunday at 8 AM ET, so if you liked this episode, subscribe or follow to get notified about the next one. And please leave me a rating or review, so I can continue to improve the show. Talk soon! Follow along: Instagram: www.instagram.com/lifeincapslock  TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@lifeincapslock  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@lifeincapslock  Threads: www.threads.net/@lifeincapslock  Resources for this episode can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices