It is Worldwide FertilityCare Week, and one of the things that I have the privilege of doing is being a FerrtilityCare Practitioner for the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. Often, my clients will ask me if there is anything that they can do at home to improve the health of their cycles, and the answer is a resounding yes! So I want to share six hacks for a healthy cycle because I love helping women to feel empowered with their own health. I even included a free printable for you below. These apply to pretty much every woman, but of course, check with your own healthcare provider.
*Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. As a FertilityCare Practitioner, I am an allied health professional. Reading the content on this blog does not form a practitioner/client relationship. The purpose of this blog post is to share general information and it is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider with information and any questions for your individual situation.*
As I mentioned, I truly want to help others to feel empowered in making a difference in their own health and life. I know what it’s like to feel like you are helpless and can’t do anything to change the situation with your own cycles (or health). I believe that health begins in the home, and I hope that these healthy cycle hacks offer you some hope and resources as a starting point for improving not just your cycles, but your overall health. After all, the health of your cycle points to the health of your whole body.
Number one. Reduce Stress.
Stress can have a major impact on your whole body, including your cycle. Stress can affect your hormones, ovulation, and the overall health of your cycle (not to mention the impact on the rest of your body). Most people have heard some version of this tip, but let’s explore it a little more because every once in a while I see a post declaring this to be a myth and I think that is gravely misleading.
Everyone experiences some level of stress in our daily lives, but our bodies may be interpreting stress differently than we think. Once you reach a certain level of stress, or your body experiences an acutely stressful situation, it can affect your cycle. And it can affect your cycle differently depending on where in your cycle you experience this stress and for how long.
We have different stressors now than our ancestors did hundreds or thousands of years ago. Once upon a time, stressors included such things as famine or a predator. Today, our stressors may include things like a big work project, traffic, rushing the kids from school to soccer practice, or travel, just to name a few. Our bodies were designed to react to acutely stressful situations from long ago to preserve our life.
We are prepared to handle a certain level of stress, and then our bodies reach a tipping point. If this point is reached early during a woman’s cycle, before ovulation, her body may put ovulation on hold until the stress is relieved. This is a protective mechanism at work to prioritize your life. Your body doesn’t know that your stress is coming from a micromanaging boss instead of a grizzly bear, an actual threat to your life.
The problem is that too many of us are experiencing too much stress on the regular. So our systems are getting bombarded with the stress hormone, cortisol. If this occurs, then stress can end up affecting other aspects of your cycle, like your hormones. This can result in unbalanced hormones during your luteal phase and you may either notice symptoms or see biomarkers show up on your chart. The amount of stress to reach the tipping point will vary from woman to woman.
This is not an exhaustive list of how stress can affect your cycles, but it provides a couple of examples to illustrate the point. For more on stress cycles, view this post. In review, significant stress can delay ovulation and affect hormone production, resulting in changes to your cycle and the symptoms you experience. So what can we do? As best as humanly possible, strive to eliminate the stressors you can in your daily life. The old Serenity Prayer is a good place to start:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Practically speaking, to promote a healthy cycle I suggest cultivating a daily self-care practice. Set aside time each day to prioritize your wellbeing. It is often hard to unwind at the end of each day with the constant stimulation from technology and bright lights, but make an effort to turn off all distractions. Much like any new habit, this will take some time and practice. Start with ten minutes and grow your self-care practice from there. Some ideas include prayer, meditation, an Epsom salt bath, diffusing calming essential oils, reading a book, going for a walk, a cup of tea, or journaling. This may look different for each individual and I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on which practices will serve your mind and body best. Please share with us below what you enjoy doing to relax.
Number two: Clean up your diet
My next healthy cycle hack is often met with heavy sighs, but it’s one that most of us know we need to focus on: cleaning up our diet! The standard American diet (SAD) is inflammatory and if you are struggling with any gynecological issues or infertility, there is research out there that supports changing your diet can be beneficial. Keeping it simple, fertility can take a hit when we experience inflammation. Fertility is a secondary concern for our bodies. Therefore, it would make sense that if our bodies are experiencing some form of inflammation, that will become the primary focus and less energy and resources will be spent on fertility.
To support your body and your cycles, eat as many whole foods, vegetables, and fruits as possible and as few processed foods as possible. Do your best to buy organic produce since pesticides are full of toxins and endocrine disruptors. If you’re on a tight budget, look up the dirty dozen and clean fifteen as a starting point. Try to buy grass-fed meat when it’s available as conventional meat is often treated with antibiotics and has a poor balance of essential fatty acids. Avoid gluten, dairy, soy, and sugar.
From my experience, I have seen positive changes in most women’s cycles if they make a consistent effort for at least one month. For that reason, a good place to start would be trying something like a Whole30 and see for yourself how you feel or if you notice any changes in the biomarkers on your chart. I think a few aspects of the Whole30 make this approach doable: it’s only for 30 days, there are tons of resources, it will quickly help you see improvement and discover foods that may be causing inflammation in your body, and it’s often done in community. For example, our wellness community participates in a Whole30 and body detox at least twice a year and a great support system can make all the difference. Again, talk with your own healthcare provider before making any drastic lifestyle changes. If the meal planning aspect of cleaning up your diet feels overwhelming to you, check out this post for my best meal planning hacks!
Number three: Prioritize Sleep
If there is one healthy cycle hack I suggest my clients prioritize, it is getting adequate sleep! Prioritizing sleep is also a great place to start while you are working on those other areas that may take a little more practice and time to adjust to your lifestyle. Researches are reporting that sleep is possibly the most important factor in overall health, but most of us are not getting enough, myself included.
I have always been more of a night owl, but especially now as a work from home mom, evening hours are often one of the pockets of time that I can squeeze in work. It is still a huge challenge for me to unplug and unwind so I can get adequate sleep. Cultivating good sleep habits is something that I have been working on for the last year or so, and it is definitely still a work in progress, but I have learned some helpful tips along the way.
Prioritizing good sleep hygiene can make a difference in helping your body get ready for bed. Avoid bright lights for several hours before bed, especially blue light from bright screens. If you must be on your device in the evening, like I often am, wear blue light blocking glasses. I have been pleased with an inexpensive pair and have personally noticed a difference with my ability to fall asleep when I use them or forget to use them.
Other ways to promote good sleep hygiene include doing one of your self-care practices before bed, like prayer, journaling, or gentle stretching. Diffuse calming essential oils to support your body and mind in relaxing. Keep your bedroom dim in the evening and as dark as possible for sleep. Blackout curtains can be used to block out additional light pollution from streetlights. Also, avoid stressful conversations and topics in the evening, including the news.
Make a point to be in bed for at least eight hours per night, but also, keep in mind that hours in bed does not equal hours of sleep. We often take some time to fall asleep, toss and turn, and naturally have brief waking cycles during the night.
Number four: Green your home
Going green isn’t just a fun trend, it’s essential for our optimal health, especially as we are exposed to more and more toxins in our modern environment. Conventional household cleaners and products are full of toxins and endocrine disruptors, affecting our health and hormones. Let me share a couple of examples with you. BPA, which can mimic estrogen, is found in many plastics, on receipts, and the coating of cans of food. Phthalates, found in plastic food containers, plastic toys, and often hidden under the term “fragrance,” can cause hormone imbalance, too. Harmful ingredients can even be found in personal care products and feminine products. This is just the tip of the iceberg, so I encourage you to do more research!
We can’t live in a bubble and entirely avoid exposure to toxins in our environment, but there are things we can do in our own homes to diminish our exposure. Say “no thank you” to receipts, swap out your plastic food containers for glass and get rid of artificial fragrances in your home, whether it is found in toxic cleaners, air fresheners, detergents, or personal care products.
With growing awareness of this health concern, it’s growing much easier to find healthy alternatives, or you can make your own household cleaners from a few simple ingredients and pure essential oils. There are many recipes for homemade, green cleaners, but most messes can be cleaned up with some combination of water, baking soda, white vinegar, castile soap, and essential oils. By choosing the right essential oils, not only will they provide antibacterial and antiviral properties, but you can enjoy a safe and pure aroma without worrying about the toxic effect of artificial fragrance. Isn’t it ironic that at the same time we have been cleaning our homes for years with these conventional cleaners, we have also been polluting our own air! If you haven’t already heard, fragrance is the new second-hand smoke!
Number five: Move your body
A healthy weight supports all women to have a healthy cycle. If a woman’s BMI is too high or low, she may experience infertility or irregular cycles. Moderate exercise is beneficial for our bodies, fertility, and helps reduce stress. However, extraneous exercise can harm the health of our cycles. The best approach is to aim to exercise moderately at least a few times per week.
Reflect on the type of exercise that you find most enjoyable, it doesn’t have to be cross-fit or running a marathon. In fact, for some women, running a marathon would fall into the strenuous exercise category and might cause hormonal imbalance in her body. That being said, as a former runner myself, light to moderate running is still a great option for most women.
Exercise ideas include yoga, pilates, swimming, gardening, weights, dance, golf, or your favorite gym class…your options are really limitless. Aim to exercise at least a few times per week and simply get your body moving.
Number six: Drink water
Last but not least, aim for drinking at least half your body weight in ounces each day. Being dehydrated can impact our overall health, but in regards to our fertility, it can affect cervical mucus. Specifically, if you are trying to get pregnant, good cervical mucus is essential to sperm survival and achieving a pregnancy. However, even if you are not trying to get pregnant, it’s always a good idea to make sure your body is well hydrated, and as I mentioned, it will still affect your charting in terms of how much or the quality of cervical mucus you observe.
I have found the easiest way to stay on top of hydration is to keep a water bottle with me at all times. That being said, choose your favorite non-toxic glass or stainless steel water bottle and avoid plastic. One way I enjoy a little flavor boost in my water is to add a couple of drops of pure essential oils. Citrus essential oils like lemon, grapefruit, and wild orange are my favorites! So if you find water too boring, you can have the benefit of adding flavor without sacrificing your health. Plus, you can select the essential oil that will best support the current needs of your body. Again, you want to be sure and use a glass or stainless steel container, and I only recommend using pure essential oils for internal use.
Summary
I hope you find these healthy cycle hacks empowering, in that you can have a positive impact on your own cycles from simple lifestyle changes in your home. Many of these may not seem like they are related to fertility on the surface, but taking care of our fertility means taking care of our overall health and vice versa.
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