Working with your Cycle

Tuesday 13 August 2024

By Katherine Kelly (AfN, mBANT), Founder & Nutritionist at Renua Nutrition.

As women, we are taught very little about our menstrual cycles, and as a result, we have little understanding of how they impact our mood, productivity, and overall well-being. For years, very little research was conducted on women’s health. However, more recently, research has started to take a deeper dive into women’s hormonal health, and this has been endorsed by public figures and social media to spread the word. Women work on a very different hormonal cycle to men, and we can use this to our advantage, rather than always seeing it as a negative.

I'm Registered Nutritionist and Nutritional Therapist and have been working in clinical practice for over six years. In that time, I have seen many women struggle with different aspects of hormonal health, from Endometriosis and PCOS to perimenopause and varying degrees of PMS.

On top of trying to navigate these conditions, every woman will experience fluctuating hormone levels across the 28-day cycle (or your own cycle length). Different types of hormones in varying amounts will simply make us feel different depending on what stage of our cycle we are in. So, for all women, it’s important to know how to work with your cycle.

In this blog, I will explain the different stages of your cycle and how they affect your working life and productivity.

Different Cycle Phases

1. Follicular Phase (Days 1-13)
A lot of women don’t know this, but day 1 of your cycle is the first day of your period (menstruation phase). So, this is your starting point. On this day, your oestrogen and progesterone drop, causing the lining of your uterus to shed, which results in your period. As we know, everyone’s period has a different duration; therefore, the menstruation phase is completely personal.

During this time, your body releases follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which activates the growth of follicles in your ovaries to get an egg ready for ovulation. After approximately day 8, your oestrogen starts to rise again—interestingly, this can cause your body to plump up, making you more curvaceous and even plumping your lips!

After day 9 or 10, your testosterone starts to rise, and this is when you might notice an increase in your sex drive. This happens roughly five days before ovulation, as sperm can survive up to five days, giving you a little bit of time to find a partner and have sex.

2. Ovulatory Phase (Days 13-15)
At this point, your oestrogen has spiked, and you’ve started to release luteinising hormone. This stimulates the release of an egg (ovulation). Throughout this phase, oestrogen is still the predominant hormone as it’s needed to thicken the uterine lining.

3. Luteal Phase (Days 15-28)
Progesterone is the most predominant hormone during this phase and peaks around day 21. This rise in progesterone keeps your uterine lining thick and ready for a fertilised egg to implant. If the egg doesn’t meet the sperm, then your hormones begin to drop again, and the cycle starts all over again. This is when you might notice PMS symptoms starting to creep in.

Please note that the days stated are based on a typical 28-day cycle; however, we know this is not the norm for everyone.

How Our Cycle Stages Affect Our Productivity

With the science out of the way, I’ll discuss how we can utilise these different hormonal phases to our advantage. This is a bio-hack called cycle syncing, and it empowers us to eat, move, and behave differently according to our predominant hormones.

1. Menstruation Phase (Reflection Phase)
When your period starts, you are starting a new monthly cycle. This is a great time to reflect and evaluate how the previous month went. Your right and left brain hemispheres are communicating much more powerfully across the corpus callosum. Therefore, you are able to be analytical and intuitive. It is a great time for setting goals for the month ahead.

2. Follicular Phase (The Creative Phase)
This is your most powerful phase as your oestrogen starts to increase again after your period. You’ve also left those PMS symptoms in the past. You may start to feel like you are coming into your power again or just feeling more yourself. This is a great time to lead meetings, start new projects, come up with new ideas, and push your business forward.

During this time, you might feel like dreaming big and making connections that will drive your work or business. Book coffee meetings and network during this time. This is when you will feel most motivated in work and also a great time for exercising a bit more, as testosterone will start to increase after the first week.

3. Ovulatory Phase (The Communication Phase)
This is the shortest phase, and your hormones are starting to shift. It is a great time to have important conversations. Your oestrogen levels are starting to dip, and progesterone is rising. This can have a calming effect. Have those tougher conversations at this time, e.g., ask for that raise or negotiate a deal.

4. Luteal Phase (The Task Phase)
Progesterone is on the rise, taking over from oestrogen as the more dominant hormone. This can be called the ‘rest and nest’ phase, and you may not feel as confident as during your follicular phase. However, we can also feel very calm and content during this phase. This is a great time for completing tasks and being more detail-oriented. You may feel less inclined to be in the spotlight. Schedule meetings you are leading for the follicular phase, and use this time to do the prep work. Towards the end of the luteal phase is often when PMS symptoms can start to kick in, and rest becomes more important. Take advantage of working from home to complete tasks if you can.

Work With Your Cycle

To take control of our menstrual cycle, we can track it using digital health apps such as the Flo or Clue app. These apps allow you to work out which phase you are in, estimate when your period will arrive, and track symptoms from mood to digestive health. You can then use this information to decide on what you will tackle at that stage of the month. When we really think about it, our female hormones are allowing us to excel at a multitude of tasks; we just have to get the timing right!

Tuesday 13 August 2024