Your Menstrual Cycle & Fat Loss Tips!

So as a women you may already know that your menstrual cycle changes how you eat. You may always want chocolate when you’re on your period or your cravings go through the roof at certain stages of your cycle.

For me the day before I am due on I literally do not feel satisfied with anything I eat, it’s like my stomach is a bottomless pit! However as soon as I do come on my period, I feel absolutely fine. I am the same EVERY SINGLE MONTH.

I know many females are hard on themselves and put it down to lack of willpower when they eat lots of treats during this time, when the reality is that hormones have a very real impact on your body, how you crave stuff and how many calories you take in during different parts of your cycle!

You will know if you track your cycle already where you feel you have an increased appetite. From working with so many women now - this is normally the week leading up to your period where progesterone has peaked and is starting to drop (unless you have fallen pregnant!), our appetite increases and you may also notice a significant increase in fatigue and food cravings as your energy expenditure start to increase.

Just remember these are all such natural processes that are happening in our body - in fact our bodies are so amazing. Trying to fight it, restrict and punishing yourself just will result in a binge on those chocolates that you said you wasn’t going to have!

So here I discuss a few simple ways to help with your hormone changes during your cycle that will enable you to continue with your fat loss journey and not hinder your progress…

1. Plan for it…I would highly recommend you tracking your cycle on an app such as Flo or Natural Cycles. When your appetite starts to increase you can start to tweak your diet to enable you to have a select amount of your chosen craving foods over the period where you feel you need it and that way you don’t enter into a huge binge episode.

2. Portion it out… whatever you choose to have over this time, portion it out. Rather than sit there and eat the whole bar of Cabdurys. Half a section already for you, that way you know you are having it, you are allowing yourself too have it and then feel NO guilt and just enjoy it!

3. Eat slowly… Rather than eat mindlessly (which I know I can easily do on the days leading up to my period) - set a timer and take a lot longer to eat your meals - it helps increase the feeling of fullness and can help prevent overeating. I always encourage this anyway with normal eating - but during your menstrual cycle when you have those feelings of wanting to eat all the time - this will help!

4. Change up your workout schedule… many women report feelings of fatigue and lethargy (including me), so if you are due to do a resistance training session and really aren’t feeling it, swap it for some light cardio or even a power walk! The thing here is to still keep moving, if possible, this will help with energy expenditure if you have overeaten a little with the increased in appetite and of course fresh air if fantastic for you! If you were feeling up for resistance training session, why not decrease the weight and increase the reps a little. All my clients who have workouts allocated on specific days with me are able to move their workouts across the week to where fits them best - a workout is merely a guideline too! However, if you really feel you need rest and cannot face even cardio - REST! Your body knows best and will talk to you so listen and do not feel guilty!

5. Try eating a good balance of proteins, fats ands carbs with your main meals. Yes I mentioned above about allowing yourself some treats, but do be sensible here and trust yourself. The body relies on certain macro and micro nutrients to work optimally and this will always be our first aim. Always try to eat minimally processed foods with a good balance of macros to help keep your energy levels up throughout the day also along with lots of water. Trying to surf snack your way through your period with highly processed foods will only continue to make you feel sh*t and lethargic. I know I do!

Since having Maddie my cycle has actually changed. I used to have a 36-39 day cycle, however now it is 28 days! I love keep tracking of my symptoms as it really helps me ride the hormone cycle and give myself a break!

I would love to know if this helps you!

Drop me a message below...:)

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