I was prescribed hormonal birth control pills for almost 15 years and consider myself lucky to have never had a bad experience taking them. However, in my late twenties and early thirties, I became increasingly curious about what my life (and body) would be like without the prescription. Last year I finally scratched that itch and stopped taking the pill for the first time since I was a teenager.
My experience with CycleSync
At first, my experience was relatively uneventful. I noticed my brain was less foggy a few weeks after I stopped taking the pill. But other than that, my cycles were within the normal range of 28 to 30 days, my periods were similar to what I had experienced while on birth control, and I honestly felt better mentally than I had on my last pill. years.
Then, about six months after I stopped taking birth control, I noticed my cycles slowly moving away from that normal range and into the 40, 45, and even 60-day range. I didn’t think much of it at first. I knew it was weird, but everything else was the same, so I just let it go. Being the squeamish person I am, I was also pretty excited to not bleed as often, since I only got my period once every month and a half to two months. That all changed when I started using oral contraceptives. At FLO: Unlock your hormonal advantage and revolutionize your life by Alisa Vitti.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has impacted and empowered me more than… At the FLO. The book is a compendium of invaluable knowledge on important women’s health issues that society often ignores. From learning about what in fact continues through the four phases of a woman’s cycle until discovering that you can influence your hormones through everyday habits, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor at least once per chapter.
Balancing hormones through lifestyle changes is a method known as cycle synchronization. According to Angie Marie, a fertility awareness educator, doula, and author of Cycle synchronization manualThis method is a tool that allows you to collect data about your menstrual cycle and how it affects the way you feel, think, act, and perform. “People who menstruate and practice cycle synchronization know what part of their cycle they are experiencing each day, what is happening hormonally, and how they can best set themselves up for comfort and success, based on their current needs,” she explains. “They can change the way they move, eat, work, and handle stress differently, depending on where they are in their cycle.”
This got me thinking: Maybe synchronizing my menstrual cycle will get my hormones back to a 28- to 30-day range. I immediately bought a new notebook (something I do when I’m really serious about something) and took detailed notes on Vitti’s advice for balancing hormones through diet, exercise, and lifestyle.
What it’s like to use Cycle Sync to balance hormones
Vitti’s book isn’t about following a specific diet or short-term program to optimize hormonal health. It’s a holistic approach to making impactful habit changes that, over time, feel as natural as the ebb and flow of hormones. She teaches you the eating, exercise, and lifestyle habits that best correspond with each phase of the cycle and offers an accessible approach to implementing them into your life. Rather than syncing every aspect of your life with the cycle from day one, you start small with just one category: I chose exercise.
Exercise: This wasn’t the first time I’d synchronized my workouts with my cycle. In the past, I followed a program designed to utilize the different phases of your cycle to power through your workouts without tiring you out. Since I already had some experience, this seemed like the best starting point to “get into the swing of things.” While you can introduce the method at any time during your cycle, I happened to get my period on the first day of my new regimen. So for the first few days, I followed gentle workouts that I found nourishing and restorative during my menstrual phase.
Lifestyle: After the first week of syncing my workouts with my cycle, it was time to introduce another component: lifestyle. Since this is a broader category that encompasses work, family, and social environments, I started small and focused on fine-tuning my work habits to better fit my cycle phase. Then, over the next two weeks, I began implementing other lifestyle components as well, such as household chores, family responsibilities, and social activities.
Food: The first two weeks of my experiment focused on implementing the exercise and lifestyle components. So, in the third week, it was time to start testing out some of the dietary recommendations. There is no specific diet. Instead, you are supposed to add and remove certain types of foods to best support certain hormonal fluctuations at different points in your cycle. For example, eating more leafy greens and sweet potatoes can help the luteal phase, while iron-rich foods like beans and quinoa are great for the menstrual phase.
Does cycle timing work?
I’m only a couple of months into this process and I’ve already experienced some of the benefits of cycle timing. While my cycles aren’t quite in that normal range yet, they have started to shorten again, and my most recent cycle was around 45 days long, which is an improvement from my previous cycle length of 60 days. However, it’s important to note that while cycle timing can work, there are some key ways to improve the overall experience. Additionally, cycle timing is just one way to balance hormones, and in some cases, it may not be as effective if there’s an underlying reason for the abnormal cycle length.
“The practice of cycle synchronization is most powerful when you are tracking your fertility signs, which include basal body temperature [aka, your temperature while you sleep] “Basal body temperature and cervical mucus are important,” says Marie. “These signs give you valuable insight into whether you are ovulating regularly, which is a sign of a healthy hormonal cycle,” she explains. After I stopped using birth control, I started tracking my basal body temperature and logging those details in the Natural Cycles app. Through this data and monthly ovulation tests, I saw that while the phases of my menstrual cycle were longer than normal, I have confirmed ovulation.
An abnormal menstrual cycle length can also provide insight into other underlying conditions. So while you can sync your life with your menstrual cycle, you can’t completely isolate it when it comes to hormonal issues. “Your body functions as a set of systems — it’s connected to your brain, metabolism, sleep, digestion, and more,” Marie says. “If one system is out of whack, there’s a good chance it will affect another system downstream — one of which is your menstrual cycle.”
So I’m also working with my doctor to determine what, if anything, might be causing my hormonal imbalances while I continue to implement treatment. In the FLO Method. I think that, although I haven’t gotten to the bottom of it yet, looking at my habits through the lens of menstrual cycle phases is a great way to find balance in my life and avoid burnout by utilizing the different energy levels I already experience naturally throughout my cycle.
The moral of the experience
Throughout this experience, I have gained a new appreciation for fluctuating hormones and how, as women, we have this extra biological clock that we can use to our advantage. While I am not exactly where I want to be in my hormonal journey, delving into the world of cycle timing has made me feel empowered to listen to my body and support the four phases of the menstrual cycle through what I eat, how I exercise, and my overall lifestyle habits.
I’ve also gained a new perspective on taking care of my hormones from within. This means being mindful of my vaginal pH levels and how probiotics, like those found in HUM Nutrition’s Private Party, can support my health. I’ve also recently started working with a Chinese medicine doctor. She prescribed me a Dong Quai supplement (also found in HUM Nutrition’s Hormone Balance) to balance out estrogen levels.
