Women cycle every month and this affects how they should exercise and eat. Women have times in the month where their energy and hormones are high, and others where they need to treat themselves more gently.

Working out and eating WITH your cycle helps to keep your metabolic rate stable and makes your workouts more effective for fat burning and strength building.

In this video, Dr. Danielle Litoff, DPT and Functional Medicine Health Coach walks you through the typical 28-day cycle and explains what you should be eating, when you should push yourself, and when you should incorporate rest and recovery.

She will cover how exercise and your food can help you achieve the metabolism you want. What happens on the first week of your cycle is very different then what happens on the third week of your cycle, and you need to understand those differences so you can give your body what it needs every week to gain that metabolic flexibility. This will help you gain energy, build muscle, make your skin glow, and help you sleep really well.

Week 1

What is Happening

  • Low hormones
  • May have cramping
  • May be fatigued

What To Do

  • Be gentle with yourself, Zone 2 training and rest and recovery
  • Do a Keto diet so you don’t have insulin spikes when hormones are low

Week 2

What is Happening

  • Hormones like estrogen and FSH are elevating
  • More energy and more power
  • Motivation comes to you
  • Endometrial lining is rebuilding

What To Do

  • Change your macros to 40% fat and 40% protein
  • Increase carbs as your estrogen increases – GOOD carbs like beets, tubers, parsnips, sweet potatoes, etc.
  • Push your exercise – lift heavy, but controlled
  • Be careful of your ligaments because they are more relaxed and looser this week

Week 3

What is Happening

  • Progesterone goes up
  • Estrogen goes down
  • Ligaments are getting tighter again

What To Do

  • Start training heavy and work toward decreasing weight an intensity as the week goes on
  • Do steady-state cardio
  • Back to Keto diet

Week 4

What is Happening

  • This is when everything is low
  • Energy is down
  • Cravings are up

What To Do

  • Not the time to push – do light weights or do gentle yoga
  • Time for your body to recover
  • Up good carbs