Bedside

Balance Your Hormones through Seed Cycling & Nutrition with Kate Morton

• Season 1 • Episode 125

Share episode

Let's get in SYNC baby!! Today on Bedside I'm joined by registered dietician and founder of Funk It Wellness, Kate Morton, to chat all things hormonal health. Specifically, how seed cycling helped her balance her hormones after a decade on birth control. 

On this episode we cover: 

  • seed cycling
  • food as medicine
  • working with your menstrual cycle
  • hormone health
  • nutrition for healthy hormones
  • hormonal birth control
  • cycle vision boarding
  • routines and habits for cycle syncing

Enter our giveaway!!! Head over to @thebedside on Instagram to get a seed cycling kit!
Use code: BEDSIDE  for 15% off Funk It's product suite

📥 Download Monthly Archetype Template
🛍️ Shop our merch drop! 🐣🦋 Check out our Good Sex hoodie and Pleasure Practice crew
💌 Subscribe to the Sealed List Newsletter
💘 Let's be internet friends @thebedside and www.thebedside.co


Mentioned Resources:


Connect with Kate:

Text us! Questions & Confessions

Be sure to rate, review, and share this episode with a friend! LOVE YOU!


Music. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Bedside Podcast. I'm Tatiana. I am the host here. If you are new, welcome, welcome. I'm so happy to have you. You have landed in an amazing space. We have great chats, great conversations. If you are a longtime listener, also welcome. Hi. So excited to be back this week and chatting in your ear. I cannot believe you guys that we are almost in August. It is nearing the end of summer. I feel like this topic always comes up like mid toward end of summer and everyone's like, I don't want to admit that summertime is moving along, which is so crazy. I just came back from the Midwest a couple weeks ago, and it was such a blast. I was there just to see friends, to see my boyfriend's family, and it was incredible. I actually had this moment and I love this and I love doing the monthly archetype system that I've developed for this very reason. And if you're like, I don't know what you're talking about. I actually have an episode that explains more about creating monthly archetypes and how to really harness your manifestation and the energy that you are putting out into the top of the month to really craft your desires and follow through on many of your goals and use a lot of your own authenticity to help build that. So anyways, I've been using my monthly archetype and it was so crazy because I was in Chicago and I had this moment. We were jumping into Lake Michigan. It was so much fun. I was floating in the water with friends and I just turned to one of my girlfriends And I was like. This is really crazy because this exact moment that we're having is something that I put on my vision board for my archetype this month. And for those of you who already know my spiel about the monthly archetype, I make vision boards around my desires at the top of every month, and I kind of do this vision boarding process in a very loose way. It's not something that I stick to or I feel like I need to follow through on, it's very much like I use imagery as a visual inspiration to tap into an energy. But it was so crazy because I'm floating in the water with my friends and I was like, this is one of like the images that is on my inspiration board for July. And I didn't even think of it at the moment while I was creating the vision board. I was just like, oh, this feels like the energy I wanna encapsulate and how I wanna be experiencing this upcoming month. And it was so crazy because that was one of like the hero images on my mood board. And so that was such a fun little kismet moment that made me feel so much joy and just realize how much a lot of this archetypal and manifestation work really, really does come through. When you build and craft these things for yourself, Sometimes you don't even know really like why you're doing it or you're just following intuition. For me, I very much am like, again, like I said, I'm not a stickler for a lot of the things that I just intuitively follow. I just am like an active passenger, if you will. And so it was so cool to be like, wow, that came to life. But anyways, speaking of cycles and creating things on a monthly basis, I am so excited to introduce you to today's guest, Kate Morton. So I have been on a hormonal acne journey. I've got a couple episodes talking about this and I've been sharing a lot on my Instagram about just different processes and rituals that I've been doing as I've been kind of. Working through my hormonal acne over the past few months. And it's been so amazing. And one of the things that I unpacked in my own journey has been seed cycling, which is, well, I'll save the explanation for Kate, but basically it's all about using different nutritional modalities, at different parts of your cycle during the month to help with your hormonal health. Some of you might already be aware of what seed cycling is. It's something that I feel like media has been kind of touching on. I've seen different Instagram posts about this, and I've heard different podcasters talk about this lightly, but I swear this is. Really the forefront of where we are heading with our hormonal health, where we're heading with sexual health in many, many ways. And it's so cool to have had Kate on to really share all about seed cycling, how she started this business, what it means, how she uses food as medicine, and really how to work with your menstrual cycle for the benefit of your hormonal health. It is really, really exciting. I loved this conversation with Kate. I'm actually going to be joining her on her podcast. So I'm so excited. I will be sure to keep you guys tuned when that one comes out. But really, I cannot be more of an advocate for seed cycling and really this way of taking care of your hormonal health. So Kate founded the company called Funkit Wellness. And basically, they're these really adorable seed packets, ground-up seeds that she has for different parts of your cycle, different parts of the month, and how you should really be nourishing your body. She has a bunch of other different types of root powders and a lot of other different nutritional products on her site. That aid all around hormonal health, which is so, so exciting. And I'm so happy to see somebody out there really creating product for this reason. I'll spare you guys from sharing too much because I'm really, really excited to have Kate explain more. So with that said, let's welcome Kate Morton to the Bedside Podcast. And as a side note, Kate really generously offered Bedside listeners a code, so go check out the show notes and there will be a link so you can go shop some of her amazing products. All right, guys, with that said, let's welcome Kate to the Bedside Podcast. Music. Hi, Kate. Welcome to the Bedtime Podcast. I am so excited to have you here. We were just chatting a lot off air, and I was like, we have to hit record because I don't want to say anything that would be of immense value to the listeners. So I'm just so excited to have you here. Welcome, welcome. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Yay. Okay, so you are the founder of Funkit Wellness, which is a seed cycling company. Basically, you have these really cool like super seed food bites and pods. Please explain to us what exactly Funkit is and kind of like how you got there. Yeah. So it's funny like how we started and where we are now are very different, but I got off birth control. Man, it's been about seven years ago now. So it used to be like, oh, it's like three years ago, and now it's like seven years ago. You're like, oh yeah, time's passed. Oh yeah, I've aged and time's passing. But yeah, so I got off birth control and you know, I personally had a really bad experience on birth control. It was really bad for my mental health, physical health, emotional health, just really bad. But I was on it for 10 years. We moved to New Zealand and I got off of birth control and I was like, this is my time. By the way, they gave me a prescription for 5,000 condoms when I got my birth control implant taken out for free. They're like, you can go fill these anytime you need, which I just like find like one of the most hilarious parts of my story. Wait, was this when you were in New Zealand, they did this? Yeah, I got it out and the gynecologist was awesome and she was like, you know, you're young, here's this prescription, 5,000, it should last you like a year. I'm like, a year? Like, that's gonna last me a while. Yeah. So that was like a funny part of my story. I like didn't even end up ever like fulfilling the whole prescription, but that happened. Wait, have you ever broken down how much 5,000 would be in a year? Like how many times do you have to be having? It's like a lot. Like it's more than like, I think like 10 times. I don't know. I'm really bad at math. It's like a lot of sex. Much more than I was having. We wouldn't be here if you were using, if you were fucking that much, we would not be recording. I wouldn't have time to be here. Like period. So yeah, that's just like a hilarious little like tidbit that I like love to tell people of this story. But you know, I got off birth control and I thought it was gonna be this really easy, exciting experience. And really for me, it wasn't. It was a really bad experience. My period didn't come back for six months. I knew nothing about my menstrual cycle, like period. I thought menstrual cycle and period were the same thing. I had no idea about ovulation, all of these things. And so I got really bad acne when I came off the pill, period took six months to come back. Even after it came back, cycle was really irregular, bad cramps, bad, bad mood swings, all around bad experience. And so I started seeing a doctor in New Zealand and they were teaching me so much about my body and my cycle. And I'm a registered dietitian, which I forgot to mention. And so I was like, man, there's gotta be something with food. And so then a friend told me about seed cycling And I was like, oh, that sounds cool. And then that doctor mentioned it too. And so I was like, okay, I'm just gonna give it a try because I was about to go on Accutane for acne. Oh my gosh, yeah. Yeah. And did you skip Accutane? You didn't have to do it? Completely skipped it based on seed cycling. And I, as a dietitian, was just like so, there wasn't much research on it. I wasn't really sure, but I was like, I'm gonna commit to this for three months. That's what they told me. Like you can do this for three months. And I did. And within three months, I had no new acne. All the old acne was healing. It took me like six months to a year for it to fully go away because I had so much. And I was kind of hooked from there. And that's when I started doing a lot of research and learning more about our cycles. And then I started making seed cycling kits for my friends and we'll get into what seed cycling is in a minute, I'm sure. But I started doing all these things and it kind of just evolved into a business. And so we started out just doing seed cycling for hormonal health and education. And now we've got the very first 100% food-based vitamin specifically designed for the menstrual cycle because a lot of people were like, Look, I'm at the beginning of my journey. This is really cool. I'm super excited about it. But this is too much for me right now. Can you make me a product I can just take every day and know I'm doing a good job?" And I was like, yeah, I can totally do that. Yeah. You're like, okay, for someone who doesn't want to get into all of the psychoeducation and just put me on the protocol, it's perfect for someone who is like, okay, I know this is working for me. I might not know exactly why, but like, I'm good to go. Yeah, that's exactly why we made it. Yeah. Also, I just have to empathize with you with your hormonal birth control story, because I mean, the more and more I talk to people, and even my own experience was like literally hell over high water. I was on hormonal birth control for three months. In that three-month period, I literally saw the depths of hell. And I was like, okay. And I immediately went off of it cold turkey. Again, like I had no education around it. So it was crazy though because within those three months first off, they put me on the generic form of Yaz. Which fuck my fucking Yaz is the worst I got chills when you said that like you felt like you're in the depths of hell and I was on Yaz in high school And I literally had a mental breakdown and like my mom took me to the ER cuz she had no idea what was wrong with me like Yaz was. Horrible. Oh, I have chills like I I see you right now because that was so horrible and like there were lawsuits lawsuits over it. Like it was just so, so evil. And exactly when you went off of it, crazy mood swings, like my hormonal acne was fucking insane. It's so crazy. Like, I mean, this could be a whole other podcast episode, just like the disservice that our OBs are doing us with just putting us on hormones like that at such a young age. It's just, it's scary. It is scary. It's a blessing, but. I know. And I have a complicated relationship birth control because I still think it's everyone should have the choice to be on it. I think everyone should have a choice to like do whatever they want with their body because it's your freaking body but I do think we need some more education around like here are the side effects if you are experiencing extreme mental health like it could be this medication like I just wish someone would have told me that because I was on it from such young age and I didn't didn't even know like that I was yeah if anyone's ever experienced it it's very like you're disconnected it from your body and like your mental state just becomes so low that like you almost can't recognize it. Yeah, it's really strange. It's so hard to recognize that you're right on yourself. And I remember, I think it was my mom, and it was such a short period of time. She was just like, you seem a little different. You seem off. And then my boyfriend was like, why are you crying every five minutes on the subway? And I was like, I don't really know. He's just like. You're having a lot of men-T-Bs. My mom was like, we're going to the ER. Something is wrong with you. This is not okay. And I was like 16, 17. And I got there, and they knew exactly what it was. They looked at my medical record, and they're like, you're on Yaz. Stop that immediately. Oh, my God. Okay. So you had a whole 180, which is like I can understand for being literally on on that specific one too for that long, you're like, I'm so deeply passionate about this. This is like my life now. It's like become my personality. I'm like, who was I even before I was obsessed with hormones? Because like now I feel like it's just like all I want to talk about. Ah, I love it. Okay, so we've resurfaced from hell. We're here, we're living, we're breathing. Tell me about like what exactly is seed cycling and basically how does it work? Yeah, so seed cycling is very simple and I'm gonna break it down, but step one, I will say, you've got to track your menstrual cycle. That is step one, like, because we're about to sync your nutrition with your cycle. So you start tracking your cycle on day one of your period until you ovulate, one tablespoon of flax, one tablespoon of pumpkin seeds, organic ground. You put that on top of the food you're already eating and just consume those seeds. From the first day of your period until you ovulate. The day after you ovulate, if you're tracking your temperature for ovulation, the day after your temperature spikes, then you're gonna switch to one tablespoon of sesame and one tablespoon of sunflower seeds. And you're going to have those organic and ground on your food every day until your period starts again. And then you go back to pumpkin and flax and you just continue to cycle through matching your nutrition with your menstrual cycle. Oh, wow. Okay, so what does, like basically why seeds? Really interesting. And I did so much research on this as a dietician when I first started. I'm like, why seeds? Why this? Why? Like I was just asking all these same questions. It's because, okay, so the seed is thought of as the placenta of the plant. So if you think about a seed, it has everything it needs to grow an entire new plant inside of it. So as you can imagine, it is jam packed with nutrients. And so seeds are these very small, very easy to consume legumes, seeds, that have everything in there that you need to nourish your menstrual cycle. So for example, when we're talking about the first half or your menstrual phase and your follicular phase, because that's when you have pumpkin and flax, We've got omega-3 fatty acids, which are really important for inflammation in the membranes in our cells. Zinc, important for cell multiplication, which is ovulation. We've got magnesium, responsible for over 500 reactions in the body. Then we've also got, on top of the zinc, magnesium, and omega-3s, these amazing things called phytoestrogens, which can help to either get rid of excess estrogen or plug in and bring estrogen up. So all of that's in those two seeds. And then after you ovulate when you switch to your sesame and sunflower. We've got omega-3s still, phytoestrogens still, but now we've got vitamin B6 and vitamin E. Those two things have been studied together, have been PMS busters, helping with mood, cramps, the instability you can feel in the second half of your cycle, but then you've also got selenium to support your thyroid. So the reason is for seeds is they're jam-packed with all those nutrients in a relatively small amount. You don't have to eat an entire table of vegetables to get those new tricks. Yeah, I love it. And I love the ease of it, right? Like where you're like, okay, here it is. You can put it on a salad. You can put it on your oatmeal. Like it fits right in to whatever you're making. You can put it in a smoothie. Yeah. Blend it right up. So I think it's really interesting because since I also started doing this, since I started seed cycling and really taking like my own hormonal health into consideration, it's been so amazing. This like reclamation of actually understanding how we cycle. And again, I'm literally getting chills right now because I'm just so deeply passionate about this. I'm so happy I have you sitting in front of me to like really, really share like even more of the. Like nitty gritty behind it because I felt like for so long I was trying to fit so hard into this like masculine 24-hour system and I was like kind of always beating myself up. What's wrong with me that I can't figure this out, like between getting it all done and like trying to just like optimize my workouts and my fitness and still feeling so stressed and like I wasn't nailing it. And then I would be the one to be like, OK, well, I guess I'm the issue here. So like I'm going to tweak this, this and this. And it still was like I kept hitting a wall and a wall. And it wasn't until I started really operating with my cycle that I was like, oh, I'm no longer hitting this wall anymore. Like I'm starting to actually feel good. It's incredible. And I had the exact same experience. And I think so many other people are experiencing this exact same thing of. What's wrong. And of course, we always go, what's wrong with me? Like, what am I doing wrong? And I heard a really good analogy for this. I can't take credit for it, but I don't remember who said it. When your plant is dying, you don't ask the plant, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you thriving, you change its watering schedule, you change its feeding schedule, you change its environment. But we're so like so simple as humans to go, oh, it's me. And so I am convinced if everyone with a menstrual cycle. Knew what we're talking about, it'd be a different world. Like the patriarchy and trying to fit into the man's 24-hour cycle is just a trap and. It's ridiculous and we need to make, it's not even accommodations because I'm so much more productive when I flow with my cycle. I get, and not that it's about productivity, but that's always the argument I get from people when it's like, well, if we just let everyone work with their menstrual cycle, we'd never get anything done. And I'm like, that's really not true. It's really just not true and you don't understand. And then on top of it, like when it comes to fitness and nutrition, I have never loved my body more than I love it right now. Like I spent majority of my life fighting my body and hating it. And I look in the mirror now and I'm like, oh, hell yeah, let's go. And like, I get it. I wouldn't say I'm like in any better shape. It's just like, I just feel more in sync with my, it's the best feeling. So I'm just grateful that you've also experienced it. It's like amazing. It really is. And like, for those of you listening who might not be as familiar with kind of operating. As part of these systems, I did have an episode that I'll link in the show notes where we do talk a little bit more about like operating in these seasons. So go check it out because we kind of dive into like different workouts and really like how that benefits. But I won't go super deep into it right now but it's just been crazy to even change something like that and give myself permission to be like, okay, well, knowing that I'm in my luteal phase, I'm really gonna take it easy. Like I am gonna, and I lean into it, which is another thing that I saw that you guys do. I saw it on your page on Funk It. Like you guys had a manifesting and like menstrual mood board for the different seasons. Can you kind of like explain this a little bit? Yeah, so I do this every year and I'm actually gonna start doing it every quarter because I just think that like we change a lot quarter to quarter. So I make a mood board of like what relationship I wanna have with my cycle. And then on top of that, we have like a journal you can download for free on our website, which I can send a link in the show notes that teaches you how to journal with each phase of your cycle and gives you different affirmations because it's so different. Like I'm in my follicular phase right now, which is like after my period, before ovulation, my estrogen's rising, I'm feeling so good. It's the perfect time to record a podcast. And those affirmations look, are like more forward thinking, more planning, more creativity. In my luteal phase, which is after ovulation, this is when progesterone takes over, which is supposed to be a calming hormone, but I'm convinced, because we live in this world of constant hustle, we're not allowed to calm down and ground. So those are more grounding affirmations and more grounding journal prompts. So there's a lot you can do. When I make like on Canva, I actually like physically make. Like a mood board and set it as my screensaver. And it's all about the relationship I want with my cycle this year. I'm obsessed when I saw that I was like, yes, a girl after my own heart. Like I am such a visual person. We have a on bedside, we have a like monthly archetype sort of mood board and template concept too, because I am so of the belief that we are always constantly changing and always like tweaking and operating based off of course our cycles, but just like. Our moon phases, right? Like we're just like our goals and our agendas and how we want to express ourselves. So I love this. Like I totally am going to take this concept and start doing this myself because I love it. I love a good inspiration board to lean into a vibe and what better than your phases. I love it. And like, you know, the other thing We've got a free PDF on our website too, where if you're looking to sync your nutrition with your cycle and you wanna eat what's in season this summer, we've got a PDF for that. So I think it's just that constant evolution of syncing, changing, falling in line with your body. Because I just, I think we're not taught to listen to our bodies. I don't think I know. We're not taught to listen to our bodies. And when you start listening, you hear that it's actually been talking to you this whole time. It's so empowering. Okay, so really quickly, back to seed cycling for a second. I want to kind of get a better understanding of like, okay, these seeds, they're the placenta of the earth. I love that kind of analogy. It makes so much sense with the amount of nutrients that are in them, but where does it actually like... Help with the hormonal shifts? Like, do you mind kind of just explaining that on a little bit more of a granular level? Yeah, so first off, a lot of people, like at its very base level, are not consuming enough healthy fats and fiber. And so those two things, like just at its base level, are so beneficial for hormonal balance because blood sugar balance is really important. So one, just add additional nutrients right off the bat. A lot of us aren't eating enough, so this definitely helps more intentional eating. Number two, when we look at the two hormones, so estrogen and progesterone, that's kind of what those two seeds are focused on. Phytoestrogens are going to be a game changer in that first half of your cycle, and that's really gonna help with your estrogen balance, and there's a significant amount of research on flax and estrogen, which is interesting, and so that's gonna help with that. Two, fiber. How we actually get rid of these excess hormones. Hormones are processed through our liver for the most part. You know, there's exceptions to every rule, but for the most part. But fiber and our digestive system are an additional way we process hormones. So eating fiber, it binds to excess estrogen. When you go to the bathroom, you don't have that. A lot of people are suffering from estrogen dominance. So I always encourage if people have the capabilities to get Dutch testing done and understand where you are with your hormones, it's a game changer. Like testing and really figuring out, Like that's where you're gonna see the biggest results. So that's like one way it can help. Two, when we're going into that second half of our cycle, the vitamin E, vitamin B6, that's just really helpful for general PMS and mood, but the fiber is going to help in both sides of that. But additionally from there, nutrient deficiencies. If you look at how much there's research on how much of PMS is related back to nutrient deficiencies, and I'm pretty sure the last time I checked, the study said over 80% can be tied back to diet and lifestyle. So when we're making an intention around our cycle, feeding those good, healthy fats, fibers, and proteins, then another way on top of that, gut health. Prebiotic fiber in the seeds is great for feeding our gut bacteria. The gut and your hormones are so interconnected, you cannot separate out the two. Anything going on in your gut is gonna impact your hormones and the rest of your body. So what it really comes down to is these targeted nutrients, fiber, and gut health are how it actually works in your body to help and we need more research. There's one peer reviewed research article right now that looked at PCOS and seed cycling and found positive hormone balancing impacts. But we really need more research and we need more food as medicine research because I don't know if you guys have noticed, but there's not a ton of research on like using food to heal our bodies. So that's like a little bit of a tangent. There's a lot of ways it plugs in. Yeah, there's so much there. And I really believe in food as medicine, especially in the hormone category. It literally has transformed everything for me. And I, especially like I'm someone who's dealt with hormonal acne for a really long time and I finally decided to get behind it. And it has been so wild. I'm off all topicals. And I was just like, I'm healing this through food and through nutrition and through supplementing. And it's bananas how much, Like I have to actually do like a whole episode on this. It's a game changer. And like, as someone who like went through the similar boat too, it's like, I just wish someone would have told me earlier that like my hormones and what I was eating and how I was like drinking coffee and on an empty stomach, spiking my cortisol, going on a long run, not eating breakfast, that that was also all contributing to my hormonal acne. Like, why did no one tell me that? No one told us I'm dying. I literally did the same thing. And like my whole thing has also been cortisol management. And like, even like what supplements and what foods can I do that are like take that are going to like ground me and help me throughout the day. It's so transformative. I remember, too, like, by the way, I've had such a huge transformation and even how I experienced my cycle. There was a moment where I was like, oh, my gosh, I am experiencing a lot of cramping. This is painful. I know it shouldn't be this way because in the past it's been more normal. And I realized that I was like not eating the right foods. I was like cutting corners, right? I was just like, okay, I'm just going to eat this like, I don't know, granola bar. And like I wasn't nourishing my body how it wanted to be. I also like admittedly, I'm such a sweet tooth. Like I love sweets and it's hard. It's such a great, it's hard. There's always such a time and place for it. I'm not saying cut out sugar, but like there was a moment where I was like kind of emotionally eating on sugar. This was like pandemic times. I was just like, we got to do what we got to do to like keep the like energy up. And the second I started like even just monitoring my sugar intake, I was like, oh, this has helped so much with my menstrual cycle. It's crazy. Well, even going back to cramps, so like those omega-3 fatty acids are so important for inflammation and flaxseed is a huge piece of that and sesame as well. And so that's going to help with prostaglandin management, which like if you've ever had butthole cramps on your period, they're a real thing. And that's exactly where that comes from is excess inflammation, excess prostaglandins and omega-3 fatty acids from seed cycling can be very beneficial for that. Oh my God, that's so informative. That's crazy, right? And like that's just fixed through. Having a certain type of fat in your system, which many of us have feared having for so long, right? Like we're told like don't have fat, fat-free, like that's the dialogue that we grew up with. Yeah, I had someone ask me the other day, they're like, oh, how many, like, how many carbs and like calories are in the seed cycling kits? And I was like, honestly, like, I haven't even looked. Like, it's like, I just feel like I've had to do so much switching on that of like, This is what my body needs. Yeah, I literally feel like I've heard so many people talk about this, but like calories are so made up. It's a fake concept, right? Like the caloric intake that I'm going to get in a chocolate bar versus like having a handful of nuts. It's just like, it doesn't make sense. It's not. It's night and day. Like it's two different things. And like, and here's another thing about listening to your body. So if you've ever noticed you get really hungry in your luteal phase before your period, if after your temperature spikes, you're actually burning on average 300 extra calories a day and you need to make up those calories and feed your body and you have less insulin sensitivity so your blood sugar is more unstable. So you need more protein and fat to help balance that. So if you've ever noticed like you crave more protein and fat in your luteal phase and you're hungry, it's because that's what your body actually needs. and you can't just say, oh no, I'm not gonna give it to you because I wanna burn more. Your body, that's not how it works. Yeah, I feel like when you resist that, that's when your body stores on to so much more, right? Like it's not, like just giving it what it needs, I feel like helps the system move and flow and flush things out. And like when you're resisting and restricting, like your body's literally like, we need to hold on to every ounce we can. Yeah, and like then your body like goes into stress mode because it's like, why is she not giving me what I need? Like, I am telling her that I need these things and I'm getting ignored and I am stressed now and I need to conserve everything because clearly, because our bodies think we don't have access to it. Then they start to think we're in, you know, like feast or famine mode. Like, it's a lot, it's a lot to unpack, but you have to feed your body when you're hungry, like period, that's step one. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so I heard you talking about how your menstrual cycle is like your fifth vital sign. And I thought this was so smart. So can you kind of share a little bit more about this? Yeah, so this was like an eye-opening concept to me. We actually, with our menstrual cycles, this is something that comes out of our body, is an experience we have monthly that we can track, that we can take notes on, and that we can compare. And a lot of really great doctors use the, you know, your menstrual cycle as a vital sign. Are you ovulating every month? That's like a sign your body feels safe, happy, fed, you know, content. Are, do you have a large period blood clots? Like clotting and fibroids and cysts are all things we need to keep an eye on and check on. Period, doctors say clots shouldn't be larger than the size of a dime. That can be an indicator of estrogen dominance when we have big clots. How long is your cycle? Is it coming in a consistent basis? was it between 21 and 35 days. And then on top of that, the next step is, when you're getting your period, how long is it? Is it shorter than three days? Because if it's shorter than three days, that could lead, there could be some progesterone issues if it's like a light pinky color. Is it longer than seven days? You could have estrogen dominance again. Is it really heavy? Are you bleeding through tampons constantly? Like all of these things are our bodies telling us something is off. What color is the period blood? You know, is it a bright cherry color? Is it brown? I mean, some brown's normal at the beginning and the end, like old oxidized blood, but is it a really light color? Is it a really dark color? So, I mean, I could go on and on and on. And I think I actually have an episode on what's a normal period I can like send you to, but- Yeah, we'll link it. It's like something where this is coming out of our bodies and we can actually check in with ourselves on a monthly basis. And I have Hashimoto's and when I was getting diagnosed, something I noticed was my period was significantly heavier and I took note of that and I mentioned it to my doctor. And all my symptoms separately didn't make sense. But when you put them together, because I had been tracking them, they were like, I think you have Hashimoto's. And I was like, no way. And then I was like, oh yeah, I have a family history of it, duh, duh, duh. So if you track and can take that to your doctor, it can be a huge indicator of maybe even uncovering something different. So amazing. What do you use to track? So I use a bunch of different things. So I'm very in it. Yeah, wait, can you tell me your entire routine? I need to know all of it. I'm like keeping it pretty simple right now. I'm a big morning person. If we do want to go into our whole routines, I love a morning routine. My Oura Ring is my best friend. I have no affiliation with them. I just love them. I've had it for like two and a half years. As we like to say, not sponsored, open to it. Yes, not sponsored, very open to it. I want the new gold one, but I don't need it because mine is still functioning perfectly. So what I love for tracking is my Oura Ring snapshots, my temperature and it imports it to natural cycles and it completely charts out my entire menstrual cycle. Yes, while. Okay, so you're not here like with a thermometer like in the morning on your bedside table. No, I wish I was that girly, but I do not have the discipline to be that person. I want to be that person. I am not that person. So I spent the money on this because I was like, well, this is cheaper than a kid. So I'm gonna get this. because if not, I'm probably gonna end up, it's hard, it can be hard. And the other thing I like to tell people is like ovulation's not the same. I have one ovary that likes to ovulate around day 16. My other ovary likes to ovulate around day 13. So if I- Oh my gosh, how did you find that out? My Oura Ring and my Natural Cycles app. And it's crazy. I had a cyst on one of my ovaries in college that did some, a little bit of damage. And that's my ovary that struggles a little bit like wants to ovulate later in the month and. It's interesting, so I figured all this out through my Oura Ring and Natural Cycles integration, and then I can customize my seed cycling much more than just switching on a certain day, like arbitrary day. I can, oh, my temperature spiked, I'll switch the next day. So if you are off birth control and like, I would not suggest winging it. I would really suggest getting, and then like you can look at cervical mucus, you can track on an app. I also use the Orchid app, it's the OrchidMD app. That's just like a side app that I use, but natural cycles is my big one. I love that. Okay, wait. So if someone's listening and they're like, okay, I'm on hormonal birth control. I dig it. It's working for me. It's driving with my body. Should I still seed cycle? So that's a great question. And we get asked this all the time. You totally can. I'm going to be real with you. Like you're going to get the benefits from gut health and nice long hair and long nails and skin health and all of those things. And it will help when you decide to come off. But since you're not actually having a menstrual cycle, since the communication from the brain's ovary is shut off at that point, I'm gonna be real, I don't know how much it's gonna super help you, but you can definitely do it. Cycle Bites, one of the reasons we designed that product is it's got vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, a lot of the nutrients that the birth control can deplete you of, we have from food-based sources in our Cycle Bites. So that went into the formulation of that we had a lot of people on birth control who were like, I do like this, but I'm not at a place in my life where I want to be off of it. And it's really working for me. And so the cycle bites product that also went into developing that was like, we want to really give everyone something because even if you're on birth control, you can still be taking care of your body. You can still be thinking about your hormones. I wish I had been before I got off. Totally. Totally. Yeah, Exactly. And like you're saying, it's still going to be beneficial. It's still good for you. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So cool. Okay, what else? What else is in your routine? I like, okay, I'll tell you my whole routine. I'm like really obsessed with my routine right now. So I get on my early, not too early, I get up around six in the morning. And something I learned on another podcast, I don't know whose podcast it was, I feel bad. But I learned that looking at your phone, like first thing in the morning, like something about theta and beta waves, I'm not a doctor or a neuroscientist, I just heard this about your brain waves in the morning. If you're on your phone, like scrolling, being exposed to that right away, it makes you like crave that dopamine all day long. And then also like, it just like tells your brain like kind of fight or flight. So my biggest thing now is I wake up. I actually wake up now without an alarm. I've gotten like in a pretty good rhythm. I just like leave my window cracked, wake up. I do not look at my phone. I get up. Do you charge it in the same room or a different room? I do charge it in the same room. I put it on airplane mode and I put it like in a drawer and shut it. Okay. So smart. It is like far away. And I'm lucky that I can make my own schedule too. Like I don't ever have anything super early in the morning. And so I wake up, I'll take my thyroid medication because Hashimoto's got to do that. And you can't, you have to take an hour before you eat, which is so hard for me because I wake up so hungry. Oh my God. Me too. I love to eat. You wake up six in the morning on on the dot, no alarm. Do you go to bed at the same time every night? I love to go to bed really early. I get in bed at like 9.30 and I'll be asleep by 10. Oh my God, I need to adopt this. I think, so my partner is like a night owl. I think organically, naturally, I'm a morning person. I know this, I still am a morning person. I just don't nearly get enough sleep, full transparency because I'm like, I want to play with you. It's hard. I'm like, night owl, let's hang out. I am totally with you. I could be in bed by 9 o'clock. Happy as a clam. Yeah, so like I used to stay up really late and then I moved in with my husband and, he's like likes to go to bed early and like luckily I feel like it's one of the best habits I've gotten from him. And also the cool thing about the Oura Ring is you learn about your sleep efficiency. I have always been a good sleeper. I am an efficient sleeper. My efficiency is like 97% every night for my sleep. So I can get in bed at 930, be asleep by 935, like, if I wanted to be. And so yes, I go to bed early, wake up early. And that's the thing is like if I If I go to bed later, I have to have an alarm. But I don't know any research on this, but I feel like the alarm puts me into that high stress mode right away. Totally. Oh my God, I had to set my, I used to use my phone as an alarm. It was like that obnoxious sound. And I was like, this literally put me in fight or flight. It's my cortisol. Already, your cortisol spiking in the morning naturally, spiked it even more. And now I use a traditional old school button alarm clock. It's analog, it's not digital. But I'm like, I love it because it's like, brrring, and I'm like, okay. That's nicer. I also have this one that was like a sun rising alarm clock that I really like, but it has birds chirping. And then one time I was like, why are there birds? And I like hit it and broke it. So I don't have that anymore. I broke it. I was like, why the fuck are there birds in here? And I was like, so that one didn't work for me, but yes, I go to bed early, wake up early, take my dog on like a 20 minute walk. I live by a natural springs here in Austin. And so we'll go hang out over there, come back up. Then I make my matcha. So I actually also stopped drinking. I don't drink alcohol or coffee right now. I say right now because I don't know if that's forever. That's just for now. So I make my matcha and I put, I love my, I use like fresh almond milk that I either make or I get from this company called Franck's here in Austin. I put matcha in there and then I put collagen in there and then a little bit of like vanilla and cinnamon. And then I'll make my breakfast, which is usually high protein. I try to get 30 grams of protein in at breakfast. What are you eating? So I have been big on chia pudding lately, and I'll put like, cause I have my own digestion that I see in protein, something I've always struggled to get enough of, and I even like eat meat again and stuff. It's just hard for me. So like, she was like, you need to lean in just for now on collagen to get enough protein. So I'll do chia pudding with that almond milk again, chia seeds, my fungic seeds, collagen, And then I'll also usually make an egg to go with it. So I'll do those together and put fruit in it. That's what I'm having for breakfast. And then at about, like, I'll do my morning. I love to just sit and eat, sit and have my matcha, like don't be on the go. Then about eight o'clock is about the time I'm like, okay, time to get started. I like to get started on work early because I like to wrap up a little bit earlier because I'm definitely like, my type is like a late morning chronotype or that's like when I'm the most productive according to my ordering. Yeah, basically, see, I just need to work with them. But yeah, so that's like my morning routine. And I wish I could say I really want to get into journaling. I'm really inconsistent with it, to be completely honest. I listen to podcasts in the morning. I like to sit and have tea or coffee with my partner. It's important to me. I'm a quality time person, and I don't know. I just like to sit and have that in the morning, but I like to go on my walk alone. No one is allowed to go on my walk with me. Oh, okay. So that's your you time. Yeah. I know I resonate with you on, you're like, I'm not a journal girly. I actually don't want to say I'm not. I go like in and out and I feel like I'm good for it like to touch base every once in a while, but I appreciate you being like honest about like it's just like not every like wellness trend is going to work for you. So I dig it. And also I wanted to ask you because you made me think of when you said you walk by the Springs. Is it Borrego Springs? Barton Springs. Barton. Yeah. I was going to ask you what's your hot take on cold plunging and hormone health. Have you looked into that? I've looked into it a little like I need to do like more like peer-reviewed reading but like honestly it makes sense to me like I'm I love the sauna. I hate being cold but I do go to Barton Springs like a couple times a week and like. I'm the freak that like walks into it. So it's like 60 something degrees water. And it's like, you know, 105 here, everyone jumps in, I like slowly walk in, because I just like don't like the unknown. I need to be in control. Like I'm working on that in therapy enough, but it's like, I'm jumping in. I don't know what's down there. Like I'm gonna dip my toes in nice and slow. And I mean, I think cold bunching is great. Like I think that if you want to do that, and that works for you, like go for it. If you hate being cold, like it's also Okay, I hate being cold. Yeah. But I do it a few times a week and I like it. I feel like it's nice. Yeah, totally. I have been like, obviously, with summer being here, I like most recently have like gone to the beach lately and just like been around bodies of water and I forgot how much I just love to jump in cooler bodies of water. I'm with you. I don't like love like the entry point. It's more like once you've assimilated a bit, it feels so good and I literally feel like it resets everything. I come out and I'm like, ah, like that was so good. And this is why I feel like cold plunging is great. If I have a bad day and I will walk down there and I will force myself to dive, like go under in the water, walk in, go under, get out in nature. There's no way I can have a bad day after that. It's amazing. And I think that nature is really smart. I think that that's why food is medicine is great. And cold plunging is great. And saunas are great. It's because nature's really freaking smart. Yeah, it's so smart and it's like, I think we like being in such a hyper digital age like we forget that so much and it was so funny. Even my partner was like, he was like, have you seen online like the concept of grounding? It's like trending. And I was like, what do you mean it's trending? Like that is just like a human instinct. Like what? Like it was just funny and it made me laugh and I was like, oh yeah. Like so many of us are so connected to our phones and our digital spaces so much that It's easy to forget that we have these amazing tools and natural tools around us that are so supportive, but it totally made me laugh because I was like, I ground every day. Like, what do you mean it's trending? I know, we always laugh because my partner's always naturally been the person to kick their shoes off and put their feet on the earth. And when it was trending, I told him, you're so trendy, you're grounding. He's like, I'm what? And now every time he looks back at me and goes, grounding. Grounding. Grounding. I'm ahead of the trend. I'm grounding. Yeah. Yeah, it's so funny. There's so much here, but I'm just so happy we're really getting into all of the intricacies. I want to ask you, I know you shared your routine, but do you have a protocol for anybody who's newer to this? What's a really great and easy way to get started with seed cycling and just in general starting to operate more a little bit with our cycles? Yeah, I think this is such a great question because it's so overwhelming. Like when I first started learning about this, you know, it's like dipping your toes in then deciding to dive in. It's like it takes some time. So I think step one, if you're listening to this and you're like, wow, this sounds really cool, but I'm not sure where to start. Starting with tracking your cycle and writing. And so like I said, I'm not a journal person, but I did do this for the first couple months of learning my cycle. Write one word a day in your period tracking app, or if you're doing it on a calendar, a one word at the end of the day of how, either beginning or end, how you feel. And then track it, and then you're going to get to know your phases and your own personal pattern. So like step one, track, put one word in about how you're feeling. Give me an example. Like what would you, like give me a word. So like today, my word would be like excited. Cause like, and I feel like I'm having a great day. I'm meeting all these cool people. I'm excited. And excited is totally my follicular phase theme. And then like my luteal phase theme is usually like contemplative or sometimes I get frustrated and like when I don't listen to my body and I'm trying to live in that nine to five like man's world, frustrated is going to be my word for my luteal phase. Or like slow. You know, like a word, it could be any word. Totally. Do you know your human design? Yes. Manifesting generator. Oh, hell yeah. Is that right? That's human design, right? What are you? I am a generator and my partner is a manifesting generator. I don't know that much about it, but I know that's what I am. Well, I only asked cause you were like, one of my emotions is frustration and that is also one of mine for in human design. It's like, I'd be curious to see what your, if it syncs up with your human design chart, obviously like all of us feel the emotion of frustration. It's a thing. But I have found that sometimes some of my human design traits reveal themselves at different points of my cycle. So that's something that you can definitely explore. You can teach me about that. I wanna learn all about that. Yes. So yeah, step one, tracking your cycle, putting that one, because I think one word is easy. Like one word to sum up your day, and I guarantee if you do it for two or three months, you're gonna see some patterns. Okay, so that's step one. Step two. Figuring out if your cycle's regular, irregular, and if you're actually ovulating. Again, that comes back to the tracking. You can use an Oura Ring, you can use natural cycles, a thermometer. We really, ovulation is truly the main event of our cycle. And so we really wanna know if we're ovulating. So that's like, do that, do that. Seed cycling, once you've got those two things kind of like down pat, seed cycling is the perfect time to introduce it to your routine. I think it's easier personally to either start on the first day of your period or the day after you ovulate. Some people just jump in wherever they are. I think it's easier to start at a more distinct time, that way you're kind of cycling all the way through. So that, and then I still find those meals I love in each phase of my cycle, and I plan, that's what I'm gonna eat my seeds with, and I move them to the front. I keep them in my refrigerator to keep them fresh. I move them to the front, and I change them, and I put a note on my fridge, like don't forget your seeds. And then that is like the easiest way for me or like with that chia pudding, putting it in there, meal prepping on a Sunday. I don't do that every week. That is not something that happens every week. But when I do it, I don't miss a day and it's easy. Yeah, totally. What are your favorite meals or like ways to consume seeds? Yeah, so chia pudding, one. Two, on soups and salads, they make such a good addition to a soup or a salad and it's easy for your luteal phase with the sesame and sunflower stir fries. That sesame tastes so good in a stir fry or like a tahini salad dressing. You put them in there and blend them up. The biggest thing is you want to make sure you're not heating the seeds above 140 degrees. I was about to say, can you roast them? No. And so that's when the nutrients start to degrade. Okay. So interesting. I love that. Such great ideas. I also never thought of like a stir fry for putting in sesame seeds, but that sounds really delicious. I also love putting sesame seeds on my salmon. I'll do like a little curry, like I'll get the red curry paste, Thai red curry paste and like brush it on salmon and then I'll put sesame seeds on it and it's so delicious. That sounds amazing. I do have to say, I probably have to make sure to probably put the sesame seeds on maybe after I cook the salmon because I'm realizing I like, I really like a good crisp on my salmon so sometimes I crank that up and up really hot. I'm like, look, if you're like eating sesame seeds just for the fun of it, cause they taste good and they add that crispy thing, you don't have to worry about cooking them to 140 degrees. But if you're trying to get the seeds that clean benefits out, we don't want to be heating them over. And I had to learn that, like that's something I learned in my food science class. And now like I see it on the internet all the time and I have to stop myself from commenting on people's recipes, like don't bake your seeds. Yeah. But I don't do it cause I don't want to be that person. But I just, if you're listening to this podcast, Don't bake your seeds, please. You're like, I'm refraining from the comment section, but I'm telling you loud and clear right here. I will not comment on your post because I think your recipe is beautiful and I'm proud of you for posting it, but please don't bake your seeds. Yeah. So good. Okay, my last question for you. What is currently on your bedside table? Ooh, okay. So let me look, it's behind me. Yeah, go for it. I love a thorough analysis of a bedside, so go for it. Okay, so one thing I have, have you heard of Personal Fave? Yes, they're a lube company. So I have their oil-based, the one that has a CBD in it. So the oil-based lube is like right there front and center. Then I have a B12 spray because I was really low in B12. When I went for Hashimoto's. I do it when I wake up in the morning and I do the spray. And then this is like a funny one, it's not a product, but when my husband and I went on our honeymoon like forever ago, we took, we had like an outdoor shower and we took Polaroid pictures of each other, like a back shot. Cause I was like, when I'm old, I want to remember how good both of our butts look. And so on each of our bedside table, we have these photos framed of each other. And they're just like, they're like a Polaroid of like our asses basically. But like, it's just like us standing in the, it's just like a, it's cute. It's on each of our bedside table. I love it. And then I have my vision board that I made at the beginning of this year. I have it next to my bed, which is like, you can kind of see it. Big thing? That's actually it. I've got a book I just read. It's like a fun summer romance. It was, Because I think... Words other than love. It was good. It was like a Cape Cod summer romance. It was nice. I love a good like beachy read. It's so nice. So that's what's next to my bed. I love that. I love everything about that. And you're making me laugh because I also have like one or two different Polaroids specifically on my bedside. But that's so funny. You're like, we're going to be together for a long time and our butts will change, but we need to remember. I mean, that picture is seven years old. Both our butts have already changed. So, So, you know, it's like nice to like, look, I like look at that and it's like, yeah, I'm a big believer in like taking naked pictures and having them of yourself for you. Oh, yeah. For you. Oh my God. Do it for you. Take more nudes. Yes. Yes. If you hear nothing else, hear that. Screw this whole interview. Take more nudes. Take more nudes and Polaroid nudes and keep them next to your bed to remind you how hot you are all the time. Yes. Cause you are. I would love to give a discount code to listeners or like if we wanna like give product to a listener, I would love to. Let's do both. Let's pick a listener to do a giveaway with and give product they can pick. And then we have affiliate links so we can get you a great discount code for your whole audience. Yeah, let's do bedside. Perfect, bedside and you get 15% off. Yay, okay guys, amazing. Well, Kate, thank you so much for joining me. This was such a treat. And we'll have to have you back on because I am obsessed with you and what you're doing. And I feel like we have so many different ways we can spin off on this and get more granular on different isms of your cycle. So I'm so glad we met and thanks for joining. Thank you for having me. All right, bye everybody. Music. I hope you love this episode as much as we did making it. If you have any feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes, or if you just wanna chat, don't hesitate to reach out to us at thebedside on Instagram and thebedside.co online. You can also find us at bythebedside on TikTok. To stay updated on our latest episodes, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your preferred platform. And if you found this episode valuable, I would so greatly appreciate if you could leave us a rating, a review, text it to a friend, share it to your Instagram stories. Let's get this message out there loud and clear. Until next time, thank you so much for tuning in and I'll see you. Music.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Tatiana Fogt

Host