Beauty...
Be your own
kind of beautiful
Be your own
kind of beautiful
By Mollysims.com
Ever wonder why we become such moody b*tches when “Aunt Flo” visits? Meet Dr. Stephanie Estima. With the mission to teach women to understand the science of the female metabolism and body composition, Dr. Estima is a body transformational coach who helps women balance their hormones and sync their diet to their periods. Today, Dr. Estima breaks down what we should eat week by week during your cycle to have the best and easiest period possible. She’s also sharing why we crave certain foods around our period and the best workouts for your body and regulating your hormones. This episode is for you if you want to improve your period cycle.
Listen here for the full episode:
We’ve all been taught to be afraid or ashamed of our periods but our menstrual cycle is a vital sign. Women have a distinct psychology, cadence, and rhythm to their hormonal composition. That week before our period, so many of us struggle emotionally and physically. Hormonally speaking, our bodies are working overtime that week to produce a new organ. Your body, whether or not you want to have babies, will always be working towards optimizing for fertility. Problem solving always happens in the bleed week.
“Men like to say, ‘I’ll think on it.’ I always tell women to say, ‘I need to bleed on it.’ It’s a release.”
Women tend to be much more sensitive to changes in diet. When it comes to aggressive caloric restriction, overly aggressive fasting, or sticking to a certain diet for too long (whether it’s keto, vegan, paleo etc.) there’s a time our bodies will reap the most benefits but the longer we stay there, without honoring the different hormonal cadence, the worse we’ll end up feeling on that diet.
70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbohydrates.
This is a great week to try a Ketogenic diet: high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate. Think: blood building foods. We want to be replacing some of the blood that’s lost. This can be found in iron rich foods such as red meat.
Why: Day 1 of your cycle is the first day you start bleeding. In that week, this is when you have that release, you’re shedding the endometrial lining. At the beginning of the week, sex hormones are quite low. Most women are undereating. Towards the end of the week we start to see a shift–estrogen starts low at the beginning of the week and then starts to climb as we enter week 2.
40% fat, 40% protein, 20% carbohydrates.
Double the protein and the carbohydrates. Think about eating the rainbow: sweet potatoes, yams, rice, cauliflowers, broccoli, and green leafy vegetables that have compounds which help metabolize our estrogen. There should be nothing that’s off limits as long as it’s done in moderation.
Why: Estrogen is the hormone that is responsible for our skin, hair, and nails–and it reaches the highest point this week all month long. We also see a rise in testosterone, which is the most abundant sex hormone in women, involving your cognition, muscle mass, and libido. Right ahead of ovulation is when we see these surges in both testosterone and estrogen. The reason for this is because of the surge in testosterone. No matter your age, putting on more muscle should always be a goal.
70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbohydrates.
Return to a ketogenic diet but with resistant starches such as green bananas (the fruit before it’s ripe). Cooked and cooled foods such as rice and potatoes have a high resistant starch content.
Why: What I love so much about our cycle is that there are two distinct phases. Ovulation is the point of your cycle, it’s the star of the show. Progesterone makes an appearance which is what slows down your appetite, your bowel movements, and increases your cravings (but will help you sleep!).
40% fat, 40% protein, 20% carbohydrates.
All calories should go up. Increase your total caloric intake by 10-15%.
Why: Your body is naturally hungrier this week.
Moderate weights: 8-12 repetitions.
In your bleed week, most of us feel achy and lethargic but once you find a rhythm, I like to advocate for moderate weights.
Heavy weights: 5-8 repetitions.
Our tendons tend to be really stiff this week–try to stay away from cardio but for a light jog or the elliptical.
Moderate weights: 8-12 repetitions.
Think: strength and sculpting.
Light weights: 15-20 repetitions.
You might be feeling bloated and irritable so the weight gets lighter but the repetitions are increased even more. This works because we tend to be inflamed and every time a muscle contracts it releases an anti-inflammatory compound. By doing this, you’ll reduce some of the inflammation and actually feel better without pushing yourself.
If it fits your macros, you can have a drink. Wine is essentially liquid sugar and we want to be mindful of our liver, especially for women in their 40s and 50s as we become more insulin resistant. By consuming more sugar, you’re creating a high insulin state. If you’re going to have a drink, try moving your legs and dancing afterwards to help move some of that sugar through your muscles so the liver isn’t overloaded.
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