HOW TO READ YOUR CYCLE LIKE A MONTHLY REPORT CARD

Your period is more than just a date on the calendar—it’s your monthly report card on hormones, fertility, and overall wellness. In this episode, I’ll break down what your cycle length, flow, color, and symptoms are really telling you. You’ll learn how to track key signs, understand your body’s natural rhythms, and spot red flags early. Whether you’re trying to conceive, balancing hormones, or simply want to feel more in sync with your body, this episode will show you how to make sense of your “monthly grade".

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Transcript

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Welcome to Restore Fertility, the podcast where women's health meets holistic healing. Hosted by Stephanie MacKay, fertility and hormone expert. With 20 plus years in alternative medicine, we dive into the root causes behind period problems, hormonal imbalances, and fertility struggles. Combining Eastern wisdom with modern functional medicine, whether you're trying to conceive. Navigating PCOS or simply Craving Hormone Harmony. This podcast is your space for support, education, and empowerment. Join us weekly for expert tips, fertility success, stories, and guidance from someone who truly gets it. Hey friends. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad you're here today because we're diving into something that I think is really empowering. Once you understand it, your menstrual cycle, that's the thing so many of us were taught to dread. It's actually your monthly report card. It's your body's way of giving you feedback every single month on how things are running under the surface, and when you start paying attention to it, you can use it as one of the most powerful tools for your health, hormones and fertility. Okay, so let's talk about what I mean when I say report card. Think back to when you were in school and at the end of the term, you'd get your report card and it showed you how you did in each subject. Well, your period does the same thing. If you've been sleeping well, eating in a way that supports your hormones, managing stress, and your body is ovulating the way it's supposed to. Then your cycle is usually pretty predictable. It comes on time, A plus, it flows smoothly, a plus, and it doesn't totally knock you out a plus. Well, looks like you're getting straight A's, but if your period is late, super painful or really heavy or even missing altogether, that's your body telling you something is off. In fact, Western Medicine is now calling the menstrual cycle the fifth vital sign. Just like your blood pressure or your heart rate, your period gives us real time insight into your health. And in Chinese medicine, we've always viewed the cycle as a monthly snapshot on how your Qi blood and organ systems are functioning. So instead of seeing it as this dreaded monthly nuisance, start looking at it as valuable feedback. It's your progress report on how your body is doing. So how do you read this report card? There are a few key signs to pay attention to, and you don't need a fancy app or anything like that. To get started, just jot down these little tidbits on a piece of paper or on your phone. The first thing is your cycle length. Day one is your first full day of bleeding, not spotting actual bleeding. A healthy cycle usually falls between 26 and 35 days. If your cycles are shorter than that, like 24 days or less, it might mean your body isn't making enough progesterone or stress is shortening your luteal phase. If your cycles are longer, let's say 35 to 40 days or more, that's often a sign that ovulation isn't happening regularly. That's something we see in women that have PCOS thyroid issues, or if your body's under a lot of stress. So the length of your cycle is a first subject on your report card. Next. Is the quality of your blood. This is where most women are shocked when they realize how much information is hiding here. Bright red blood with a steady flow that lasts four to six days is ideal. Dark purple blood with lots of clots that usually points to stagnation. That means things aren't flowing very smoothly. A very light, watery, pale or pink blood that often means low estrogen or blood deficiency, heavy flooding periods with big clots that can point to estrogen dominance. Too much heat in your body, or even thyroid imbalances in Chinese medicine. This is literally one of the main ways we figure out what's going on within a woman's body. Color, consistency, and flow all. Tell us about your balance, circulation, and energy. Okay. Subject number three. Let's talk about the symptoms around your period. PM, S, cramps, mood swings, headaches, bloating. These aren't random annoyances. They're signs. If your breast gets sore every month, that often ties to estrogen and liver chi congestion. If you get cramps that feel better with the heating pad, that usually points to cold or stagnation. If you're totally wiped out and you need to nap for a whole day, that can be a sign of adrenal fatigue or blood deficiency. Even your energy levels throughout the cycle are part of the picture. Do you feel more tired before your period? Do you get anxious mid-cycle? These patterns are like teacher comments written in the margins of your pork card. Number four, cervical mucus and basil body temperature, also called BBT. This one is like extra credit. If you're really diving in. Cervical mucus is one of the best signs of fertility. It happens around ovulation and it should become stretchy, slippery, and egg white. That's your fertile window, and most of my patients know my passion for the ability to boost your cervical mucus to me. Cervical mucus is amazing. It has so many functions. Most people know the cervical mucus changes with your cycle to indicate your fertile days, but did you know the cervical mucus actually supercharges your sperm? It feeds them and gives them a roadmap to meet the egg, and it helps'em to last longer due to its ability to decrease the pH of a woman's vaginal area. Then there's the basal body temperature or BBT. If you take your temperature, do it first thing in the morning before you speak to your spouse or get up to use the restroom, you'll see a dip in your temperature at ovulation, and then a rise after ovulation. That rise means progesterone is doing its job. If you never see that rise, it usually means ovulation didn't happen. So if you're trying to conceive or you just really wanna understand your body, these are incredible tools. And inexpensive. So here's the big takeaway. Your cycle is not just something to suffer through, it's communication. It's your body's built in progress report. And once you know how to read it, you can make better choices, catch and balances early, and feel more in control of your fertility and health. Start simple, track your start dates, bleed, quality, and any symptoms. After a few months, you'll see patterns and from there you can start making tweaks and supporting your body in the ways it needs. This is exactly what I teach in my practice and in my Flourish Fertility program, helping you learn the language of your cycle, and then using it as a guide for restoring balance, boosting fertility and filling better overall. And as a super nerd, I hope you get straight A's. All right, friends, thank you for turning in. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. And if you found this helpful, share it with a friend who needs to hear that. Her period is more than just a nuisance. It's her monthly report card.