Cycle Syncing 101: How to eat, work out & live in harmony with your monthly cycle

So, I read a book recently called “In the FLO: Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life” by Alisa Vitti, and my life is forever changed. I had heard of cycle syncing before and have been trying to learn more about it for a while, but I never fully understood it until I read this book. While I still feel like I have a lot to learn, this book made cycle syncing & biohacking for females seem simple, easy to implement, and like something every woman NEEDS to know about. I wanted to take a minute to break down the most life-changing lessons I learned from this book and share some ways I’ve been introducing cycle syncing into my life. A few benefits I’ve noticed have included drastically decreased bloating, cramping, and mood swings, but I’ll get into all of those in more detail throughout the blog!

What is Cycle Syncing?

Cycle syncing involves “making lifestyle choices according to your menstrual cycle ” (1). You are choosing to exercise, eat, and live differently depending on what stage of your menstrual cycle you’re in. For example, during the luteal phase (the week or so before your period), you’ll want to eat more, lighten up your workouts, and implement more relaxation and self-care into your routine.

I’ll get more into the specifics of each phase throughout the blog, but that’s cycle syncing in a nutshell.

Implementing cycle syncing has been one of the most freeing things I’ve ever done. Not because it magically cured all my moodiness and hormonal fluctuations, but because I know what to expect. I don’t feel crazy anymore because I’m moodier/hungrier for a week every month – I feel normal.

After learning and taking action on the lessons taught in Alisa’s book, I feel like I’m finally working with my body instead of against it.

What are the 4 stages of the menstrual cycle?

Growing up, the only phase of the menstrual cycle I knew about was the menstrual phase, AKA your period. Honestly, I didn’t even know there were multiple phases, I just knew I should expect my period to come roughly every 28 days, and expect it to suck. Yeah, the sex-ed at my school wasn’t great…

There are actually 4 phases of your monthly cycle:

1. Follicular: the week or so following your period where energy/creativity increases again
2. Ovulation: mid-cycle, when you are the most fertile & an egg is released
3. Luteal: the week & a half (ish) before your period (typically filled with cramps, PMS, bloating, etc., for many women)
4. Menstrual: your period

I’m not going to delve much into the science of what’s happening hormonally in each of the 4 cycles. I’ll leave that to the experts. If you want to learn more about that, I would highly suggest reading “In the Flo” by Alisa Vitti.

For now, I’m just going to talk about how you should eat, exercise, and live your day-to-day life to feel your best in all 4 phases.

Pro tip: I also downloaded Alisa’s MyFLO app to keep track of what phase of my cycle I’m in. (This review is not sponsored by Alisa Vitti. I’m just obsessed with everything she’s doing to empower women to take control of their monthly cycles.) It shows you what phase of your cycle you’re currently in + what phase you’ll be in at any point in the future. It also gives reminders of good foods to eat & exercises for the phase you’re in.

What should I eat to cycle sync & reduce period pain?

I’m going to share a few of the foods I try to add to my diet throughout the phases of my cycle. I learned about many of these in “In The Flo” and some of them from my own experimentation. By no means do you need to ONLY eat these foods or even eat them every day. Just try to fit them into your regular diet wherever you can.

If a certain food helps make you feel better – great! If you don’t like a certain type of food – skip it! The amazing thing about cycle syncing is that it’s easily tailored to YOU & your individual needs. What works for me may not work for somebody else. So give a few of these foods a shot (during their phase) and see what works well for you. 🙂

1. Follicular: fermented foods (yogurt, sourdough, tempeh, miso, kimchi, sauerkraut) | light foods/meals (salads, veggies, lean protein) | sprouted foods & whole grains (buckwheat)
2. Ovulation: raw produce (raw fruits & veggies) | light grains: quinoa and corn
3. Luteal: (B vitamins!) whole grains (brown rice) | proteins (meat, fish, eggs + legumes, beans, nuts/seeds) | produce (broccoli, leafy greens, baked root veggies, fruits: citrus, avocados, bananas)
4. Menstrual: (nutrient-dense foods + iron & zinc!) soups! proteins/fats (meat, legumes, nuts & seeds, eggs, fish (tuna), shellfish) | produce (low-sugar fruits/veggies spinach, broccoli) | grains (quinoa) | dark chocolate

How should I exercise with cycle syncing?

I spent years trying to push through low energy days in order to stick to my workout routine. I was under the impression that my body should be able to perform exactly the same every day and there were no hormonal/cyclical factors at play.

This, of course, caused a lot of burnout, exercise obsession, and frustration with not seeing results during certain parts of the month. I wondered why for a couple of weeks each month, I would feel great doing intense cardio/HIIT/strength training. But then when I tried to do the exact same thing a different week, I felt like absolute crap.

There’s a very valid reason for this and a lot of women are never given the education on how their cycle works. You can 100% learn how to work WITH your cycle, not against it, when it comes to exercise.

Your body has natural ebbs & flows and trying to do the same thing every single day is just not going to work.

Nowadays, I try to stick to this general schedule when it comes to working out:

1. Follicular: Mix up your routine! This is the best week for cardio.
2. Ovulation: High energy time! Try cycling, boot camps, HIIT, etc.
3. Luteal: First half: Slow strength training/yoga. Second half: Light activities (walking & easy yoga).
4. Menstrual: First half: Take time off if your energy is low. Second half: Light exercise like walking & yoga (do what feels good/ what you have energy for!)

^ Many of these are suggestions from “In The Flo” by Alisa Vitti

How to implement Cycle Syncing into your daily life

You can begin to implement cycle syncing techniques into your daily life at your own pace. I wouldn’t recommend trying out EVERY suggestion at once. That’s just setting yourself up for failure. Move at your own pace and start introducing things one by one.

For example, try out a new food one day, then try one of the exercise suggestions the next day. Just move step by step and see what foods/exercises have a positive impact on your life.

Everyone is different, so not every tip is going to be perfect for all women.

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I wanted to share this article because I was so inspired by “In the Flo”. After reading it, I truly believed that every woman should have access to this information. I’m by no means an expert on the topic, so if you want to learn more about this life-changing concept, definitely read Alisa’s book!

“In the Flo” by Alisa Vitti Review

As I said before, the majority of the information I learned and am sharing in this blog post came from Alisa Vitti’s book, “In the Flo”. If you’re reading this and still have questions about cycle syncing, I would highly recommend reading the book. It’s 100% worth the buy (and I’m very picky when it comes to books.)

Alisa Vitti, HHC, AADP, is a functional nutritionist and women’s hormone expert (2). She is truly an expert in the field, but somehow makes these challenging concepts simple for anyone to understand.

She breaks cycle syncing down into simple, easy-to-implement concepts, that make me feel like we should have been taught these things much earlier in life.

I strongly believe that learning to sync with your cycle is essential for all women and should be taught to young girls as well. It’s sad that we go through most of our younger/teenage years believing that we just have to deal with period pain, cramps, PMS, bloating, etc., and that there is nothing we can do about it. It feels like a curse, honestly, and we’re all taught to just suck it up and take some ibuprofen.

If you’re a girl mom, read this book and educate yourself about cycle syncing. That way you can teach your kid(s) and they won’t have to grow up dealing with terrible periods. Also, read it to educate yourself and make your life & cycle a hell of a lot easier & more enjoyable.

Alisa Vitti teaches you how to feel empowered by your monthly cycle instead of annoyed by it. She explains, in-depth, the amazing benefits of every phase (even your period & the week leading up to your period.)

This was HUGE to me because I have gone for years dreading my pre-period week (and the PMS, mood swings, and terrible cramps that come along with it.)

After reading this book, I feel like I have control over my own body again, and that’s an incredible feeling.

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P.S. If you’re an avid reader and want to read more books with us, check out our online book club! We just choose a few books to read together every season & would love for you to join in. See our most recent book selections here.

Favorite Products (For Each Cycle Phase)

Follicular

Ovulation

Luteal

Menstrual

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