understanding your cycle, phases, and hormonal activity | how to support your body the feminine way

 Welcome to the Stellar Cycles Podcast! In this episode, I'm reintroducing myself and what this show is all about for our new listeners. We'll take a deep dive into the female cycle and its 4 phases, exploring our main doctrine, THE CYCLE. Learn how our reproductive health sets us apart from men in every aspect of life. I'll also share practical tips and tricks you can start implementing today to better understand and sync with your unique body rhythms. Tune in and get acquainted with your body's natural cycles! 

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Transcript

Alina: Hello everyone and welcome back to the Stellar Cycles podcast, your hot girl database for everything pertaining to your femininity, your cycle and wellness, and your walk in life as a woman. I'm your host, Alina. And today we're going to be talking about a snapshot of the female cycle and its four phases. the show is welcoming a lot of new a lot of new listeners. So I would really like to reintroduce myself to you guys and what I'm about. And to give you an overlook of our main doctrine, which is the cycle, and also help you girls understand what it is about our reproductive health that sets us apart from men in everything we do in life. I will also be giving you guys some tips and tricks that you can start implementing to day in order to acquaint yourself with your unique body rhythms. my background is in diagnostic medical ultrasound. And what that means is I don't only do ultrasounds for pregnant women, I also did hospital ultrasounds where people were coming in for all sorts of problems, from blood vessel disease to liver disease to kidney disease. I even worked in pediatrics, so I've really seen a huge scope of sickness and illness. But the one that really caught my attention the most and really sort of grabbed my heart was women's reproductive health. because we do over the tummy ultrasounds and also vaginal ultrasounds to look at the uterus, the cervix ovaries. That was a very big part of my career that I had not anticipated. When I was going into ultrasound school, I thought I was just going to be looking at babies all day. But much to my surprise, there was a complete untapped world of just reproductive issues and disorders that so many women were suffering from painfully. Pam suffering in silence, thinking that. You know, my doctor doesn't understand me. My male doctor keeps pushing birth control on me. No one wants to get down to the root of my issue. And so I had taken a very keen interest in this topic. And for myself, too, I really wanted to fix some things about my period and my struggles. Now, this interest didn't just start in ultrasound school for me. It goes all the way back to when I was, I don't know, maybe nine years old. And my parents actually gave me a book about puberty where I learned both about what boys go through, what girls go through. There was a whole section on pregnancy and how a baby is made and develops inside the mother. So for a nine year old, I had my hands on a lot of information that so many other kids were not getting at home. And of course, this really sparked my interest because I would then go around and ask the older girls about their periods. And, boy, did I get. Like Scurry. Don't ask me that. You know, like, that is so inappropriate. How dare you? So at a very young age, the shame settled in that, like, okay, this is not something we talk about. This isn't something that we mention to our brothers or our guy, friends or men in our lives in general. You keep it hidden from the uncles and the dads and the grandpas, right? Like this is only a female thing. But if I've learned anything is that silence perpetuates problems. So my hope in starting this podcast a year and a half ago was to normalize the conversation and let women, which women are already talking about it much more than they were even a few years ago. I think everyone even has a different stance on birth control. Hormonal birth control, of course, than they did even five years ago. So my ultrasound career path really led me to being like, okay, I have period problems. Most of the women that I am seeing in the clinic have period problems. Where are our resources? How come, we're sometimes 20, 30 years into having a cycle and we still can't figure it out. So I dove into research and I was able to find really interesting literature and really interesting books that opened my eyes to this. And I just soaked it up because this is literally what I had been looking for. in short, my name is Alina. I'm an ultrasound tech who has dealt with a lot of women and their reproductive health issues. So I would really like to bring to you this information that I have been learning and implementing for myself over the past two ish years. that's what our episode will be about. For those who are new here, I will give you guys an overview of the cycle. What is a cycle versus a period, what the phases are, and just little bits and pieces. I'm not going to go too much in-depth because I'm going to have an episode per each phase of your monthly cycle. There's four. But today is just an overview. So you can kind of start thinking about it in a phase like way, in a seasonal way, that we all go through different seasons in our cycle and also kind of start implementing some tips and tricks that you can apply to your life, hopefully starting today. I've been doing a lot of thinking and. I think I'll be leaving social media. I think that if social media would have really worked for me like it did for other people, Something would have come of it. I wouldn't feel this existential dread every time that I get on Instagram or Tik Tok, but like, I can't stop consuming it. But that being said, I will be more active on YouTube. I think YouTube is a great way to keep getting useful content. But at the same time, you can heal your attention span. You can be more intentional. I think the difference between YouTube and Instagram slash TikTok is that Instagram and TikTok was like the for you page and the reels page is just constantly feeding you content and you're not necessarily unless you're super vigilant, which most people aren't. You're not curating or tailoring what you see, and sometimes what you see can really throw off your entire day. Whereas on YouTube, you can be like, okay, today I want to learn how to make a cake. Or Today I want to learn how to make a floral arrangement or today I want to see what the new iOS update is about. So it's more of like you're choosing what you watch, you're choosing what you want to spend time on. And secondly, it's not like. Seconds of video. Right. It's usually you have to sit down for like 15 minutes or 30 minutes and really focus on the content. So that's what I will be focusing on. These episodes are going on YouTube as well, so there will be a playlist on my YouTube for the Stellar Cycles episodes, and then of course I'll be putting up vlogs and other interesting videos about my life for you guys to stay up to date and if I need a scrolling fix, I think I'm going to go back to Pinterest. Ponchos, too. So inspiring. And you can find so much beauty on there and kind of actually build up what your own taste is rather than just copying everything that you see online, you know? So I'm going have some time to fill once I leave social media, which will be soon. And that means I really want to get more into crafts and doing more technical things with my hands. I find that when I'm working with my hands, it takes my mind off of things. It makes me lose track of time. And yeah, I just find myself becoming allergic to screens, if that makes sense. Like, you're addicted to them, you can't get enough. But then you always feel ick after being done with it. me and Sam had a day of traveling a couple weeks ago and I was just on my phone the whole entire day. And then when we got home, I was like, Look, I think I have phone fatigue. Like, all I've done is just, you know, watch stuff or scroll because, you know, in trying to kill time when you're traveling at the airport and stuff. But there's there's just such better ways to do it. some of the things that I want to get into are things like scrapbooking, floral arranging. Maybe baking. Baking seems a little hard for me, but I'm willing to do it, try it out, get better at something. Oh, and also bedazzling stuff looks really fun. you could get a little kit on Amazon of all these, little nail charms or whatever that people put on their nails in others like crazy 3D nails that people yet. I saw this idea on TikTok, but if you have any sort of gel nail supplies, which I do. So I used to do my own nails is you get all those charms and you can paint your charger block with a clear polish the clear gel and stick in all of your little charms and bedazzled and crystals. And then you literally put the charger block into the U.V. lamp and you let it cure all this. And this is a hack. If I ever heard one, my brothers will never touch one of my chargers again. I will always keep it. No one's stealing my bedazzled girly looking charger. So apart from that, we are going to Sacramento this weekend. And just an update on my dog. She's almost a year old Nova. She is doing very well and is the sweetest dog ever. She has been such a great addition to our life and she just makes me laugh and she's so cute and funny and so obedient. And she's just a thrill to have her around. So. So little nova pup date. So. Yeah, with all of that in mind, I'm just excited to discover my actual style, my tastes, and my identity without the pressure of social media or seeing everybody doing the same thing and thinking that like, in order to be cool, you have to do that. I think social media has ruined individuality so much because when I log on, especially the Slavic girls, no hate, but like they are all carbon copies of each other. They're all wearing the same exact outfits, the same exact shoes, posting, the same exact pictures on their Instagram feeds, and all the same captions, too. So it's kind of like, let's all become our own people again. All right. Well. Let's get into our conversation for today, which is an overview of the cycle and its phases and how you can begin to understand them and utilize this information in your own life and make your cycle better. First, I really want to make the clarification between the word cycle and the word period. a lot of the times people will say, Oh, I'm on my cycle, and what they really mean is I'm currently bleeding, I'm on my period. I just want to remind you guys that a cycle is an ongoing process throughout your months, throughout month to month, throughout years and years and years. And a cycle has four phases. So, for example, the Earth never stops cycling around the sun. However, the earth goes through four different phases in that one trip around the sun. Okay, so I really want you to think about it that way, where the earth makes one trip around the sun in one year, and there's four phases in that year. We make that cycle in roughly about a month. Obviously, for every women it differs, but it can range anywhere. They say normal cycle length is about 27 days to 33. 34 days. Right. But mostly our cycle will follow the moon, which the moon usually orbits for about 2029 and a half days. Okay. So I think that's a pretty good balance. And when your cycle as a woman, your cycle takes place over one month, it's going to be broken down into four different phases. Okay. Menstrual phase, follicular phase, OVULATORY phase and the luteal phase. And I want you guys to think about these as seasons, too, because that's the easiest way to remember it. So your menstrual phase is wintertime, follicular phase is springtime, ovulatory phase, summertime, luteal phase, fall or autumn time So that's the definition of cycle, It's always going, but it can have different parts to it. Whereas a period is just one part of that cycle, it's one of those four phases, the menstrual phase. And that's usually your bleeding time, active bleeding time. Okay. And again, why is it important for us to know of and align with our four phases? Because it's a blueprint for organizing your life. Listen, girls, this has been a hack that has been kept from us. I don't know what to blame. Modern medicine or just the fact that, women are not included or thought of in, how to make us fit into society. Everything is centered around men. But this is really important for us to know. And I'm really hoping that the more that women who have already had cycles for many, many years and have been on birth control and up and off of birth control, that we get really good at this information, that it becomes second nature to us, to the point where we can teach the younger girls who are coming into puberty and are starting their periods instead of teaching them, Hey, listen, you're kind of in for a shit show and you're going to hate this and this is going to take a week out of your life for the rest, you know what I mean? That's kind of what we have all been inundated with. So we really went into periods like, yes, being excited to become a woman, but also inundated with fear. this is really important because it's a blueprint for organizing your life when you know what phases you're in, you know what things to do, what foods to eat, what exercises to do, that support your body and don't make you feel like you're sinking in quicksand. Another reason why it's really important to know of your four phases and align with them is this can really help you when you're feeling lost, disorganized, directionless. Okay. So again, it is very important for us to realize that we are not built like men. We can't just go, go, go like they can. We have ebbs and flows and we have different parts of our cycles. So those different four phases that are best kept for different activities, different foods, different ways of socializing, different ways of sleeping, right? So yeah, I'm really excited to get into this information with you guys. Question is, can this work for everyone? I would say if you're a woman, you have essentially the same functioning endocrine meaning hormone system as the next woman. So we all have the same blueprint, The same parts, the same hormonal processes. So while your results might vary depending on your symptoms, your history, what exactly you're going through your genetics as well, your environment. Any woman is able to harness this predictable cyclical nature of her hormones so that she can begin working to repair them So the short answer is yes. This can work for any woman who's willing to notice and tune into her body and recognize these patterns that are happening in all of us. Because as women, we are so unique and so different. But the one thing that makes us unique and different is the cycle. re-emphasizing patterns really are everything. If you can notice patterns, you can find a solution. let's launch right into it. Girls, which phase begins our cycle? the menstrual phase is really what's going to kick off the cycle. And in the medical world, that's where they'll start measuring pregnancy from. Is the first day of your last period or. Ask you when your last cycle was or how many days your cycle is? Well, that's always measured from the first day of your period. the menstrual phase, it can be anywhere from 3 to 7 days duration. I hear that four days of bleeding is optimal. But we do know that a lot of women either struggle with that, struggle with. I've had friends who are excited that they only blood for one day, but I don't know if that's a good thing either. However, anything longer than seven or eight days is typically concerning because you are bleeding technically a lot and for longer than you should be. But we've all been there. I've had an eight day period before and it wasn't fun. So reminder, the very first day that you bleed is going to be cycle day one because everything starts over. Everything falls to the ground. Your hormones are all plummeting and everything starts over once you start bleeding. Now, which hormones are in play during this phase? Honestly, not many of them, because, like I said, they usually drop. So your progesterone drops. Progesterone is the hormone that was building up the lining inside of your uterus after you ovulate and your body is hoping that you're pregnant. It starts building up the housing and the lining inside your uterus, hoping that a baby will implant. Now, if there's no implantation and your body sends a message to your brain, Hey, not pregnant. Let's start this over. That's when those hormones drop. And because they drop, that triggers your body to bleed and get rid of that lining. And let's start all over again. this could be a reason why a lot of girls feel relief when their period does start, because your hormones were going crazy the whole month and then they're all done. You finally feel like what it feels like to be a man with just, like, relatively low level of, hormones, or at least not that many hormones, playing among each other. in your body during this time, I'm sure you all know symptoms of the menstrual phase include dark red spotting or red blood. If it's a darker red, I have been researching it and it says that usually if you start bleeding and darker rather than like a bright blood red, it actually means that's that leftover blood from your uterus from months ago or a month ago. It didn't fully come out and it stuck around in there and air got to it, which oxidized it, which made it dark. So that's really interesting thing to track. If you guys want to get to know more about your period and see, okay, like am I getting everything out to have a healthy period? So yes, you can have dark red spotting or red blood. Of course, what we all know and are sadly all too familiar with is the pelvic cramping can also radiate into lower back pain, and cramping can range anywhere from like yeah. I'm a little bit inconvenienced from my cramps to. I'm rolling on the floor. I'm screaming bloody murder. I'm throwing up. Nothing helps. No ibuprofen, Tylenol, nothing. And I have been there. That used to happen to me quite a bit. Where? My period cramps, which is take me out the very first day of my period. It was not fun. Another thing, too, is because your body is burning 30 to 40% of its daily energy on your menstruation is fatigue. So you're going to feel more tired. You're not going to have as much energy to do things because your body, is working on restarting the cycle and kind of flushing everything out and getting everything ready for the hope of you being pregnant again next month. And of course, cravings, a lot of the time when we're on our period, on our menstrual phase, we get these cravings right. We really want to make our body feel safe and secure and nourished. So we will get into cravings a little bit later. what should your plans ideally look like during the menstrual phase? Well, ideally, and this is not not an option for many of us, but ideally, if you can take time off of work or if you can schedule your work around your period, that would be amazing because this is the best time for you to be alone It's a great time for self-analysis and course correction. And what that means is taking a look inside, being introspective and being like, okay, what's going on with me? How do I feel about my previous cycle? What was I killing it? What was I not killing it? what could I do better? And this is because when you're on your period, there is the strongest connection possible between your left brain and your right brain. So it really puts you into logical man mode, right? Because your hormones aren't really affecting you as much. Not to say that women who have hormones active can't be logical, but I'm just saying for a little bit we get to kind of feel how men feel. So it allows for you to have a fair evaluation of how you are doing in life. Where do you need to make changes? Where are you progressing? Where are you regressing? during this time, I think it's a very spiritual time. When we're in our menstrual phase, we're very clear on our intuition, our gut connection. So you really want to pay attention, which areas of your life need more oomph? So you will get really clear messages and downloads around this time. And then you don't have to apply those solutions right away. That's the great idea. So let those solutions come to you and apply them later, during the later phases of your cycle when you have more energy, when you have more stamina, more motivation to do that. Now, what is a great diet look like during the menstrual phase when we're on our periods? Well, when we're on our periods, we might want to cave in to every craving we have. Just anything to make ourselves feel better. But. That's not always the best way to support your body. when it comes to your diet, during your menstrual phase your body, eliminating that uterine lining is a very intense process. Like I said, it takes 30 to 40% of your daily energy. Okay? Up to half of your energy goes on your period. So you really want to focus on eating foods that replenish nutrients. this doesn't mean you have to eat growth, food that you don't like. There's so many ways to make healthy food appealing and tasty. And yeah, you guys know what to do. I'll give you the ideas and you can go ham. You can look. Okay. I like that kind of food. Let me see on, you know, TikTok or Instagram or YouTube, how to create this type of food. seafood and sea based bags that have a lot of minerals are really going to help you mineralized your body with both iron and zinc, which we lose a lot of when we bleed. when it comes to menstrual phase foods, we're going to choose foods that are deeply restorative for your blood and your kidneys again, because you're losing a lot of vitamins and minerals as you're bleeding. You're also going to focus on comforting foods like soups, stews. Again, that's going to have a lot of nutrients for you and it's going to be very much like a hug. And for those of you who are more curious, again, I was just only going to touch on these, give you a few examples. But if you are curious about what are some other menstrual phase foods, you can get the grocery guide that I have free for you. In the bio of my Instagram, you can start dipping your toes into this and I'm going to have an entire food episode too, coming up later for each phase. So we're going to go much deeper into the food and the nutrition. Moving on to activity. Girl, you do not have to be in the gym lifting heavy on your period if that works for you and if it makes you feel better and healthier all for it. But some girls physically can't do that. So. What we want to remember when it comes to your physical activity during your menstrual phase is that rest and recovery are so vital for your body to repair itself. Again, very intense process that you're going through for quite possibly a week during the early part of your period when you might be in more pain, more discomfort more cramping. I want you to focus on rest doing any yoga, which yoga is a slower form of yoga, where it's it's not as active, but you hold the poses for a lot longer and it forces you to relax and surrender instead of being like, okay, okay, what's next? Right. So it's really good for slowing down. And also walks are going to be your friend. It always helps to get out of the house, always helps to get some fresh air and sunlight on your skin. So Definitely resist the urge to just stay couch locked, even if it doesn't feel super good. You really want to focus on your hips and keeping stuff moving and not letting it get stagnant. So that's in the early part of your period and in the later part you can get more active if your energy is coming back. This is going to be situational based on the girl you do what feels good for you during this time. All right. So right after our period, right after our menstrual phase, we have the follicular phase and it's called the follicular phase, because at this time your body's done with the period. It knows that it needs to grow more eggs for ovulation because it's going to try to get you pregnant again. And so the follicles, which are little sacs that contain your eggs in the ovaries, will begin to swell. It just means that they're getting ready to mature and pop out and be ready for ovulation. But this is the little stage between your period and between ovulation. And just a reminder, women are born with all of the eggs that we're ever going to have in our life, thousands and thousands. And we lose quite a lot of them. Some of them don't even mature and our body gets rid of them. when we start going through puberty and start having our periods, it's our bodies job to grow those eggs into a mature egg that can pop out of the ovary and get fertilized by sperm and hopefully implant and turn into a baby. That's just literally how we're wired. your brain sends follicular stimulating hormone to your ovaries. MSH Follicular stimulating hormone is the food for the excite. Get some big and ready and juicy. So around this time the follicles are starting to swell FC Each is made by your brain, estrogen is made by your ovaries. So when those eggs are growing, your estrogen begins to rise and really starts to build up your uterine lining. Things you might be feeling after your period. We all know this. You might have an energy increase. You might feel restless, and you might be seeing a more yellowish or whitish discharge coming out of you. because you're having a lot more energy, your body's rebooting and calibrating. You now have the energy for creative and stimulating projects. This is a great time to brainstorm. This is also a really good time to save the most challenging assignments for this week because it's a lot easier for your brain. I don't know why, but it is easier for your brain to problem solve during this time. when it comes to your physical energy, it's one of its highest points here. Okay, you're outgoing, you're upbeat, you're revitalized. You're saying yes to plans. You want to do stuff with your friends. You're open to trying new things and new experiences. this is the week after your period. Your follicular phase is a really, really good time to implement something new into your life. If you're wanting to quit a bad habit, this is a good time to kind of switch gears from that and focus on to something new. if you want to get better at something or try a new skill or a new sport or a new exercise or a new food, this is your time in the follicular phase Everything is new. Remember, follicular phase is spring. So everything that spring has to do with that revitalization, rebirth, energy, more sunlight. Think about the follicular phase for that. When it comes to diets, you're not really meaning to eat as heavy or as comforting or as deeply mineral foods as you were when you were bleeding. this time around, think spring foods. fresh, vibrant, lively foods, they'll give you the energy while your hormones are still not all the way at the top. They're still lower, but they're rising. So we want to think about pressed salads, lean protein like chicken, sprouted beans and seeds and energy sustaining grains. during your follicular phase, carbs are not your enemy. Pasta will keep you sustained. And of course, what have I know glyphosate is a thing in the USA and that a lot of people whereas in other countries might not have any problems eating wheat or pasta or any sort of wheat products, whereas here it'll rock them completely. So use at your discretion. Right. But I just want you to know that we and grains aren't your enemy during this time. You're using a lot of energy and you do need the carbs in order to keep that going. When it comes to cooking your food, you're going to want to cook it lightly. So steaming or sorting it, we're not really deep frying or, you know, baking or for doing anything too crazy with our food. We want to retain as much nutrients as possible. what's so intelligent about this is that foods in the follicular phase will help prepare you for the next phase. So avocados are really great for the transition, which they also help in making cervical mucus, which makes your cervix sticky and easier to trap sperm. how about your activities? What is your lifestyle looking like during your follicular phase? Well, you're probably down to be out and about again. this is a really great time to try new exercises or workout routines. You can try out a new class at your gym or go to a new gym all together. You're feeling confident, you're feeling great. And it's very easy at this time to put the brain and body in a new or a stimulating place. You're also going to form new neural connections in the brain. Going out of your comfort zone is easier, and it's actually going to serve you. It's going to give you more confidence. new activities done in the follicular phase right after your period are actually more likely to stick. how do we get to ovulation and at which part of our cycle does this happen? Well, it all depends on every woman's cycle because we all have a different duration of our cycle. But normally it happens right in the middle ish, plus or minus a few days. But there's so many tools nowadays, body temperature, ovulation sticks cervical mucus are telltale signs that your body is ovulating and it's ready to get pregnant. a reminder that the ovulatory phase is right before, during and shortly. So like 24 hours after you oblate and ovulation means you release an egg from your ovary remembering the follicular phase they were growing and getting ready and juicy while the ovulatory phase comes and one of them is ready to go. So how does this happen again? Hormones are responsible for this. The brain will send a luteinizing hormone which makes the egg pop out of its follicle. If the egg gets fertilized, if there's sperm in the picture, it should technically travel through the fallopian tubes and into the uterus where it will likely implant. Now there are instances Where these eggs will implant somewhere that they're not supposed to be okay. And that's called an ectopic pregnancy. And maybe I will talk about that in my pregnancy series. But I just wanted to let you guys know that this is such a intelligent process and everything has to happen so perfectly that it really is a miracle when people get properly pregnant, especially being in the ultrasound field, seeing it. at this point, when you're in your ovulatory phase, the estrogen is still rising and it's preparing the uterine lining. another thing that estrogen is really important for is kind of keeping the shape of your vagina walls and keeping you lubricated. And, you know, just it's a girl hormone, so it makes you girl. And the other thing that estrogen does, it supports the growth of immune system cells in the uterus, which this is a new fact for me, but really, really cool. And even though we don't get as much testosterone as guys do, we do have it coursing through us, too. And during your ovulation, the testosterone will do a quick surge. So it will make sure that you actually want to have sex during your body's prime time to get pregnant and then it drops off after ovulation. It's kind of like, okay, let's get it. Let's go. Your body at this time. This is really interesting, but nature actually makes you hotter during your ovulation to really make sure that you get male attention. I'm not even kidding. Things in your body will shift to make you prettier, make your hips look wider, make your boobs look perkier. So it's really interesting that nature can do that. But the other part that's interesting, too, is that the vaginal discharge changes from that white and creamy consistency to more of a clear and slippery egg white consistency. And that doesn't just mean the stuff that you see on your underwear. It means, if you reach inside and you feel around for your cervix. And you pull it out. It should be really, clear and stringy. That's a good way to tell that you're affiliating. after your peak day of ovulation and again you can measure this using PE strips, the vaginal discharge, kind of stores drying out. I'm not saying you're like completely dry, but you're just not as what anymore. what's really interesting and this is what I learned in ultrasound school is there's a name for that tinge of pain that you feel in your pelvis when you're it gets released. You guys know what I'm talking about. It happens sometimes right in the middle of your cycle, and it just feels like a pinch on either, like the the right side or the left side of your uterus, because that's where our ovaries are. And that is called middle shirts. it has a really funny name and. It's a German word, I believe, German or Austrian, and it means like middle of the month. very fitting name for ovulation and was funny too is that your ovaries will usually alternate releasing an egg. One month will be right side, the next month will be left side and so on and so forth. A lot of women during this time will either feel a surge of energy or a sense of depletion, either are normal. And I've heard girls talking about how they get so tired around their ovulation stage and whether that's normal, and it looks like it is. when it comes to your plans, this is the best time, the middle of the month, the middle of your cycle. This is the best time to be connecting with your community because you are better at speaking your better at conveying yourself, conveying ideas. And it's just a really great time to have important conversations because your communication is more on point during this time of the cycle than at any other stage. You are also more receptive to others, which means you're more of a host, more of a caretaker. So for the girls who are working and on their boss stuff, this is a really good time for you to ask for a raise because number one, you're confident, you look great, and you can articulate yourself in a way that will probably get you what you want. It's also a good time to go on a first day, of course. Be careful if there's going to be any sort of funny business because your body wants to get pregnant and it might be making you feel things that you normally wouldn't. But it is a fun time for you to go out and get to know someone. And we're more prone to more risky behaviors during this time. That's why I say that because of the testosterone surge, we don't really have that brain defense mechanism that we usually do as women during other times of the month, where we're more careful when we are in our ovulation stage, we are just open to more risky business. So just something to keep in mind. Now, what are the girlies eating during the ovulation stage? Well, you have lots of natural energy and a stable mood thanks to estrogen. So limit your intake of carbs and stick to lighter grains like corn, quinoa, amaranth. You'll also want to load up on veggies and fruits to help metabolize and eliminate the surplus of estrogen. although estrogen is really, really, really good for us as women, the problem is that our body never stops making it and too much estrogen leads to disease discomfort. It'll feed cancers. It'll feed really nasty conditions in the pelvis, in the uterus, in the ovaries. So that's why it's really important for women to kind of keep their estrogen in check. And while our body needs it for some of the processes, we also need to help our body eliminate it so it doesn't stick around too long and cause problems. So eating veggies and fruits which are high in fiber are going to allow for that estrogen to attached to it inside your body and be taken out in the form of going to the bathroom. You can also get more ovulatory food ideas on the grocery guide that I mentioned, but these are all about promoting blood flow and antioxidant of well-being for the ovaries so that you can make the healthiest egg possible during that time. Ovulatory foods are going to be keeping estrogen related symptoms at bay like acne and bloating. And still you're doing lighter food preparation. You're not necessarily deep frying or baking or doing any sort of heavy cooking. This is still a time to eat. Pretty light, I'm thinking quinoa salad. Corn, corn salad. Be really good. I made such a good southwestern snap pea corn salad with jalapenos and peaches and feta cheezels and meant oh my goodness was so good. You guys have to try it. So something like that. again, you want to think about seasons because the ovulatory phase, it's summer. So think about summer foods, right? That's going to be a really good for, you your activity This is a really great time for high impact on group setting stuff. Your energy levels are maxed out here, so weightlifting plyometrics are running. This is the best times for you to hit your best stats, hit your best numbers, your highest reps because your body feels really good and capable at this time. And it's also a good time for group classes because your connective, you are wanting to talk to others, get to know them. So yeah, and of course what is the final part of our cycle, that's all. And it's called the luteal phase. If you've been on the Internet for the past year or two years, you might have seen the luteal phase get a bit more attention because the girls are starting to realize that that's usually the phase, of course, right before our period that we get PMS or PMDD as you like. But the luteal phase is definitely the most sensitive phase, but it can also be a very important phase because your attention shifts from externally and from socializing and stuff, and now you're only prioritizing what's important. So do you guys see why? It's so cool that we have all of these different phases that we're able to do different things at different times of the month and really split up and optimize our activity as best as we can. Yeah, it's pretty cool. So let's get into luteal phase. When it comes to Luteal face the hormone progesterone is the main star and it usually takes you about 10 to 14 days to get through the luteal phase. So this is between you ovulating and getting your period your hormones. When your egg has left the station, a little cyst forms in its place, and it's a cyst that gives off the hormone progesterone. what progesterone helps with is it helps stabilize your mood. It helps you with your bones, helps with hair, skin, nails, health. also it will just keep that uterine lining intact until it knows that. Okay, no baby has implanted. Let's start all over again. At this point, the earlier hormones that were at play like follicular stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, they're done at they've stopped. They only want to release one egg per cycle. However, like I said earlier, our body still continuously makes estrogen as long as our ovaries are working. So your estrogen is still rising. Now, if you're not pregnant, that little cyst on your ovary that's creating the progesterone, it just gets reabsorbed into the body. But if you are pregnant, it does help to maintain that implanted embryo until it develops its own placenta and blood supply, which is more like 8 to 12 weeks into into your pregnancy. So the corpus lithium, that little says stays around for a long time and it can really do a great job. otherwise, if you're not pregnant, your progesterone is kind of going to start dropping off towards the end of the luteal phase. And those dropping hormones as we started off this episode with are going to lead to your menstrual cycle your period. testosterone might increase in this phase. This is probably something that happens to me because when this occurs, it leads to an increase in premenstrual acne. Right. So hormonal acne. Yeah. If you've dealt with that, you know how amazing it is. But. In your body. You're going to notice first off, we all know this one is that your energy is decreasing. You can't go, go, go like you could the previous three weeks. And some of us, most of us have experienced those lovely PMS symptoms such as bloating, irritability, headache, mood swings, cravings, all of those just preparing your body to shed that lining and spend 30 to 40% of its daily energy on your period. when it comes to your plans during your luteal phase, I really want to remind you guys to take time for what's important. Don't try to spread yourself too thin during this time because you will be more irritable. You're not going to care about stuff that doesn't matter. For you in the luteal phase in the fall of your cycle, awareness, attention and comfort are going to be key. This is because your energy softens and it turns inward. You're going to see a desire to nest. So this is an ideal time for domestic chores. Like, do you really want to organize your closet? Do it at this time. Do you want to redo your kitchen? Do it at that time. Really take pride in how you take care of your environment and how you're setting up for your menstrual cycle to come. You're also far more just kind of like paying attention to completing your tasks and your to do list. And that's because the ratio of estrogen to progesterone or to lady hormones, the specific ratio that they're at in this point of your cycle in the luteal phase, is going to make you notice the things you've done it before. So make it an ideal time to do those admin tasks you're going to remember, oh my goodness, I forgot to book this and do that So this is a prime time of your cycle to really just be the admin, be the secretary of your life, get everything done. another way you're going to see yourself wanting to nest is on an internal level by as self-care and kind of slowing down social engagements. Because you don't need to feel needlessly exhausted. And like I said, you don't spread yourself too thin on things that don't matter or things that you don't want to be doing because you're only going to be Oscar the Grouch when you're out, when you are preparing for your period to come and you're in this luteal phase, you're going to be eating foods rich in B vitamins, calcium, magnesium and fiber. That is because B vitamins are going to help stave off those sugar cravings and also help you with your progesterone production. a lot of girls feel bloated during the PMS stage, so if that's you, you're going to be wanting to eat some leafy greens because they really help deal with water retention along with fiber. So going back to that elimination, elimination of that extra estrogen, you really want to flush out anything excess that your body is not going to be using because otherwise it's going to go to other cells and other organs and start growing stuff that you do not need. Again, our bodies make estrogen during our entire cycle, and it can be the culprit for a lot of problems that we deal with as women. So just something to keep in mind. Keep up with your fiber, eat those crunchy things that are going to happen, are going to be able to gather up that estrogen, take it out of your body. if you're someone who craves sugar during this time, which I know I can be, what you're going to be wanting to do is roast and bake some veggies. You know, it's my favorite roasted sweet potatoes with some olive oil and balsamic and cinnamon. Yeah, that's it for me. I'm done. I'm. I'm so good with that. So you guys can get really creative with the baked veggies that you're making the roasts and. When it comes to carbs, you're going to want to pick complex carbohydrates because they're going to give you some dopamine and serotonin, which will help prevent those mood swings which we can all get during our PMS stage. when it comes to your exercise, you're not going to be going as hard as you were going in the gym. Like when I said your ovulatory phase, you're able to do your best. But understand that that week before your period, you can try as hard as you want, but you're not going to be able to do things the same physically. because the luteal phase can last up to 14 to 16 days, the very first part of the little phase, right after you ovulate, you might still have enough energy to continue your regular workouts, but you're going to want to scale down the intensity of those workouts the last five days before your period and kind of turn your attention to walking. Pilot is Vinyasa yoga and I know a lot of girls when they're in this luteal phase, they actually don't want to move and they think that it'll be better for them if they don't move. But get out. Move. It's going to be so much better for your body one year period. It does come if you feel sluggish, you can do lower resistance exercises like the elliptical to just kind of get you up and running. So that is the luteal phase. And before you know it, the cycle starts again with the menstrual phase and day one when all of your hormones drop and it's time to do the whole thing all over again. So my dear girls, I hope this introductory episode was helpful in that you learned some things about why you feel different and need different things at various parts of the month. We're going to get much deeper into this. This is quite literally my favorite topic, and I can't wait to give you more ideas to help you start sinking your cycle. thanks for coming along for this episode. Be sure to follow me on Instagram at Stellar Cycles pod. You can download that free grocery guide right directly from our bio. I would love to see any ratings or abuse if you'd like to leave them for this podcast. It's always a joy for me to read it and just see what you guys are taking from this show, what you need more of, and until the next episode spread the good word about stellar cycles to your fellow women and let's all elevate our lives, cycles and dreams together till next time, stellar cycles out.