MENSTRUAL CYCLE BASICS: The Life-Changing Info No One Tells You!

The menstrual cycle has two main phases: before-ovulation and after-ovulation.

Before-Ovulation (Approximately 14 Days). Also known as the “Follicular Phase.” 

• Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) prepares eggs in your ovary for ovulation. A “follicle” is formed around each of the eggs. Generally, only one follicle’s egg will be released for ovulation. 
• FSH increases estrogen levels. 
• Estrogen levels gradually rise during this phase.
• High estrogen boosts energy and mental clarity. Estrogen also reduces cortisol, the stress hormone.
• The first five days of the Follicular Phase are your “period.” Your period is the shedding of the previous cycle's unused uterine lining.
• Rising estrogen at the start of a period boosts energy and reduces stress for many women.
• At the end of the Follicular Phase, luteinizing hormone (LH) triggers ovulation, and the egg is released from the follicle.  

What No One Tells You:  This phase is ideal for energetic, extroverted activities, like exercise and socializing. Your mind will be quick-witted and detail-oriented.

After-Ovulation Phase (Approximately 14 Days): Also known as the “Luteal Phase.”

• The remaining follicle cells in the ovary become the “corpus luteum.”
• The corpus luteum releases progesterone.
• Progesterone thickens the uterine lining for a potential fertilized egg.
• Progesterone has a calming effect.
• Progesterone gradually increases over this phase but sharply declines if the egg isn't fertilized.
• The sharp decline in progesterone at the end of this phase triggers the shedding of the uterine lining.

What No One Tells You: This phase is ideal for strength training, introverted activities, and big-picture thinking. You may feel less energetic. You may feel hungrier as the body prepares a healthy uterus in hopes of a fertilized egg. (Remember, this is primal.)

The Most Important Thing No One Tells You: At the end of this phase, the decline in progesterone and estrogen will most likely lead to withdrawal symptoms. According to AmericanAddictionCenters.org, common symptoms of drug abuse withdrawal may include:

• Muscle pain or aches
• Hunger or loss of appetite
• Fatigue
• Sweating
• Irritability and agitation
• Depression
• Anxiety

The similarities to premenstrual syndrome are staggering. If you feel out of control and turn to food to self-soothe, you are not crazy. Be kind to yourself. Your body will recalibrate again, and you will return to your bad-ass self. Carry this knowledge with you and track your period so you can use this information to your advantage. 

Want more detail? Read the next section, Use Your Menstrual Cycle To Your Advantage.

Amelia Rogers Lindberg

It was only after I had given birth to my two daughters that I thought, “Huh, maybe there is something to this hormone thing.” And then, through my research as a Women’s Health Physical Therapist, I thought, “Huh! Why the F hasn’t this been explained to us women better?!!!!!” 

No one tells you that your entire body/mind balance fluctuates daily, depending on how your ovaries and brain communicate.  Knowing whether you are before or after ovulation will allow you to put your strengths to good use at the right time. It will also help you achieve greater physical and mental wellness. It will give you the self-knowledge to know that you are not crazy when you feel less energetic, introverted, or irritable. This goes way beyond PMS, ladies.  You, too, will be asking why the heck no one has explained this to you before. 

Disclaimer: For this article, I will simplify the menstrual cycle. This explanation is based on the 28-day cycle of a regularly menstruating woman who does not get pregnant and is not on birth control.  I know each of you has unique circumstances, but I promise, even if you are menopausal or on birth control, this knowledge is LIFE-CHANGING. You and every woman you love need to know this information. 

Let us start by emphasizing why we are here on this earth in the biological sense. If you have ovaries, your body is intended to have babies, and you are hard-wired to do so. To make a baby, your female egg must meet with a male sperm under the right conditions to conceive. Your body does not care whether you enjoy sex with a man, a woman, or yourself. It also does not care whether you want to have a baby.  Your ovaries/brain/body are constantly planning for conception or dealing with the fact that you did not conceive 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  

We have two main phases of our menstrual cycle: before-ovulation and after-ovulation. 

BEFORE-OVULATION (Approximately 14 Days)

The first five days of this phase are your period. Your period is the shedding of the previous cycle’s unused endometrial lining. During this phase, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is being sent from the brain to stimulate your ovaries to prepare an egg for this cycle’s chance at fertilization. A follicle is a protective casing that envelops an egg inside the ovary to prepare the egg for ovulation. FSH also increases estrogen levels, and estrogen levels gradually increase during this phase. Estrogen allows your mind and body to convert glucose into energy more efficiently. Also, estrogen works in opposition to cortisol, the stress hormone. When estrogen levels are high, cortisol levels are low. And vice versa. 

What This Means For Us:

Many women feel relieved when their period starts because it coincides with increasing estrogen levels and decreasing cortisol levels.  With the increased estrogen, your mind and body can use glucose more efficiently. You will feel more energetic and clear-headed. You will also have more energy for physical activities that require endurance. Remember, the body’s primary goal is to fertilize that egg. In this phase, the hormones and chemicals in your body ensure you have plenty of energy for lots of sex.  Yeah, insert eye roll, but what this means for us empowered women living in this century is that now is the time for energetic, extroverted activities. During this phase, log those jogging miles, do social activities, and pitch your business to investors. You will have the energy for these activities, and you will enjoy them more. 

Once the follicle is fully developed, luteinizing hormone (LH) is released from the brain and triggers the release of the egg from the ovary’s follicle (OVULATION). 

AFTER OVULATION PHASE (Approximately 14 Days)

The remaining follicle cells in the ovary will become an important progesterone-releasing structure called the corpus luteum. Progesterone tells the uterus to thicken its walls (endometrial lining) and prepare to nourish a potentially implanted fertilized egg.  Your estrogen levels will change during this time, but progesterone’s effects will dominate.  Progesterone gradually increases throughout this phase. Near the end of this phase, when the egg is not fertilized, there is a sharp decline in progesterone levels to stop the endometrium from building up.  Estrogen levels have also declined at the end of this phase. When the endometrial lining begins to shed (in other words, your period starts), that indicates the beginning of the cycle again.

What This Means For Us:

Progesterone dominates the after-ovulation phase. Progesterone is a calming hormone. The calming effect of this hormone will make you feel less energetic. This is a lovely phase where you will feel more introverted and will enjoy doing things independently.  Let your solo talents shine.

Regarding physical activity, now is the time to enjoy strengthening exercises and physical activities that are not as endurance-based.  You will also find your thinking to be more big-picture and less fine-detailed. Toward the end of this 14-day phase, though, the sharp decline of progesterone will create a withdrawal situation. Like any withdrawal, you will experience headaches, irritability, anger, and fatigue. Meanwhile, your estrogen levels have also declined at the end of this phase, so your energy level will be low, and your cortisol (stress hormone) level will be high. This is the time when many of us feel “crazy.” YOU ARE NOT CRAZY! You have done nothing to make this hormonal cycle happen. It just happens because you have ovaries. 

When we do not understand this 28-day hormonal cycle, we mistakenly think there are problems where there are none. Unfortunately, many women turn to diet and exercise as a solution to life’s problems.  It is pretty genius, actually: It is inexpensive, it is legal, it only involves you, and it distracts your mind from other worries/thoughts.  The problem is that most of our hunger and energy for activity is dictated to us by hormones. Pre-ovulation, estrogen is high. High estrogen allows glucose to be converted into energy more efficiently. Because your body/brain utilizes glucose more efficiently during this time, you will feel less hungry and up for more physical activity.  Post-ovulation, your body/brain works all-systems-go to prepare your body, especially your uterus, for a fertilized egg. You will be more hungry, lethargic, and introverted.  

It is the post-ovulation phase that is the most problematic. How many of us have beaten ourselves up for feeling introverted and “not in the mood” in this phase? How many of us have felt badly for being hungrier and less energetic? As a result of the guilt, many women develop a diet/exercise plan to get out of feeling “crazy.” And guess what? That plan will “work” because the post-ovulation cycle is ending, and we are again entering the psyched-up, estrogenized pre-ovulation phase. This is the phase where we will utilize glucose more efficiently and have lower stress levels. However, that “success” will be short-lived because guess what? Post-ovulation will come again, and progesterone will dominate and then be dramatically withdrawn again. And again, we will feel like we are crazy or have done something wrong for being hungrier, more introverted, and less energetic. We will blame ourselves for the symptoms of progesterone withdrawal. This will continue over and over every 28 days as long as we have eggs to ovulate. You can stop this cycle of beating yourself up by knowing where you are in your hormonal cycle and using that knowledge to your advantage. 

Want To Know Where You Are In This Cycle?

Check your undies. My intent here is not to be gross. Women overlook the importance of this because it is deemed “gross.” Please try to get past that and use this knowledge to your advantage. 

There are three types of discharge you will have BEFORE OVULATION. 

·  First, about five days of bleeding (your period), which is the shedding of last cycle’s endometrial lining.

·  Second, about five days of thick and sticky discharge while a new egg is being prepped for ovulation.

·  Third, about five days of lots of clear, elastic, egg-white-like discharge while the egg is almost ready to be released from the ovarian follicle.  

Around day 14, ovulation occurs. 

AFTER OVULATION and for about 14 more days, you will have progressively less and progressively thick and sticky discharge.

If You Are On Hormonal Birth Control: 

You need to know precisely what hormones are being added to your body.  For example, some use estrogens to prevent ovulation. Other methods use progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) to thicken the cervical mucous so that the egg is prevented from being fertilized by a sperm. This is an important conversation to have with your doctor. Regardless of the type of birth control you use, knowing where you are in your cycle and how to use it to your advantage will significantly improve your productivity and sense of fulfillment in life. 

I do not suggest you change your diet, add supplements, or write a new to-do list in an attempt to adjust your hormones. I do suggest figuring out where you are in your cycle so that you know what to expect. You do not need a period-tracking app. Save your money and write it down in your calendar. The apps are too complicated, and if you get one for free, you are bombarded by emotionally triggering ads. There is a multi-million-dollar industry that thrives on playing on women’s emotions and insecurities surrounding their hormonal cycle. You are no one’s cash cow. 

Life comes at us, and we cannot schedule everything according to our needs. When you can choose, I suggest planning your extroverted, energetic activities pre-ovulation. Save your homebody, introverted, nourishing projects and activities for post-ovulation. My purpose is not to tell you what you can and cannot do. I aim to fortify you with the self-knowledge to use your cycle to your advantage. 

Women would be unstoppable if we embraced the reality of our cycle and let it work for us. Can you imagine what we would be capable of if the thought and energy we put into trying to figure out why we feel hungrier/lethargic/introverted in our post-ovulation phase were put to constructive use?! What could we accomplish if we were not wasting brain power obsessing about a “just-right” diet or exercise plan in a vain attempt to solve the progesterone-induced effects on our mind/body?  The sky’s the limit, ladies!

Amelia Rogers Lindberg