Skin

The signs you have this hormonal imbalance and how to fix it

There is one common hormonal imbalance I see again and again in my Flo Living practice. Women come in with the symptoms, signs, and health conditions that are rooted in a specific instability in their hormonal ecosystem. These signs include common symptoms like PMS, hormonal acne, ovarian cysts, fibroids as well as conditions like PCOS and Endometriosis. That hormonal imbalance is estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance is the root cause of so many hormonal health issues. If you’re a longtime reader of this blog you will have heard me use the term “estrogen dominance” many times. I want to dig a little deeper in this post into what estrogen dominance means, how you can know if you have estrogen dominance, and what you can do to address the imbalance and get your hormones working in harmony.

What is estrogen dominance?

Estrogen dominance happens in the body when there is estrogen overload or too much estrogen in relation to progesterone. This happens as the result of the foods we eat, the products we use, stress, poor sleep, and other environmental factors. It can be very hard to completely avoid estrogen excess, because we are surrounded by endocrine disruptors - in everything from our furniture to our nail polish.

When your body’s elimination system is working at a subpar level - the result of a lack of micronutrients, a disrupted microbiome, and inability to deal with an unnatural level of toxins - it cannot process and eliminate this excess estrogen efficiently. A body nourished with nutrient dense and hormonally-supportive foods has a better chance of coping with and managing the synthetic estrogens we’re surrounded by, but many of us are not eating in a way that supports and bolsters our elimination system. This leads to a toxic build up and hormonal soup swimming around your body - throwing your delicate hormonal balance out of whack and triggering symptoms.

The other side of this coin here is progesterone deficiency - if you have too much estrogen in your bloodstream, your progesterone levels will be low in comparison.

What are the signs of estrogen dominance?

Once you discover the symptoms of estrogen dominance it’s hard not to see the signs all around you - in your own cycle experience and the difficult, uncomfortable PMS and period symptoms of your friends. That’s because many, many women are experiencing estrogen dominance, because their bodies are not equipped to cope with the incoming estrogen overload. Here are some of the signs of estrogen dominance:

PMS - pre-menstrual symptoms from moodiness to bloating
Fibroids
Ovarian cysts
PCOS
Endometriosis
Weight gain
Infertility
Heavy periods
Irregular periods
Early onset puberty (before 12 years of age) in yourself and/or your daughter(s)

The long-term health impact of estrogen dominance

As well as the symptoms you will currently be experiencing if you have estrogen dominance, there are long-term health effects for those struggling with this hormonal imbalance. Over the years and decades, a persistent estrogen overload increases the risk of many diseases and health issues including:

Female cancers, particularly breast cancer
Hypertension
Diabetes
Dementia

Treatments for estrogen dominance

The reason you have not heard about this from your doctor and she has probably never diagnosed you with “estrogen dominance,” despite your symptoms, is that there’s really only one treatment provided by an OB/GYN for all of the health issues I mentioned above and that’s the birth control pill. When you visit an OB/GYN they tend to only be able to tell you what you already know - that you have certain symptoms and you don’t feel good as a result. They don’t often tell you exactly why you’re experiencing these symptoms. And the how to deal with the symptoms is always the birth control pill.

Of course, the path to you getting better begins with understanding why this is happening in your body. Even if you now know (or you’ve long known) that you have estrogen dominance, the most helpful part of naming the problem is knowing that you now need to take immediate action to address the root causes. Addressing the root causes is the key to moving past symptoms and feeling better. And the birth control pill does not address the root causes. It is only a band-aid for those symptoms - it may help to stop some symptoms or manage them some of the time, but when you eventually come off it will leave you even more sensitive to excess estrogen, setting you up to experience the same problems and potentially at worsened levels.

‍Estrogen dominance: Not just a women’s problem

‍These days we also see a lot of men dealing with the symptoms of estrogen dominance. They’re exposed to the same environmental factors as us and their bodies are often no better equipped to deal with the excess estrogen and eliminate it efficiently. For men, this brings about low testosterone levels (instead of low progesterone levels). You may have seen ads on TV for “Low-T” treatments for men. Men dealing with high estrogen and low testosterone will also gain weight, experience moodiness and irritability, get bloated...all of those issues we usually associated as only “female” in nature! Men also need to nourish their bodies so that their elimination system works at an optimum level and to increase their testosterone levels (especially as they age).

‍How to treat estrogen dominance naturally and effectively

‍The natural treatment for estrogen dominance is also the most effective and the longest lasting. This is because it gets down to the root cause, changes your hormonal ecosystem, and supports your elimination pathways. Following the Flo Living protocol sets your body up to combat all that incoming estrogen and helps it to deal with some of the unavoidable sources that inevitably come your way.

Eat more fiber - there are 3 foods that contain a good amount of fiber as well as the other vital vitamins and minerals – such as glutathione, B vitamins, and C vitamins – that you need to help your liver process the excess estrogen so that it can be transported to the large intestine and then eliminated quickly - broccoli, flax seeds and pears.
Support your microbiome - a set of good gut bacteria and certain bacterial genes, called the estrobolome, produce an essential enzyme that helps metabolize estrogen. Your microbiome is part of the elimination system that is vital in ushering hormones out of the body. Eat fermented foods daily like kimchi and sauerkraut and take a probiotic.
Love your liver - Eggs, Glutathione-heavy vegetables like carrots, spinach and asparagus, plus cilantro are all great liver detoxifiers and boost the whole elimination system’s function. Try my special cilantro-based juice once a week.

Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!

To your FLO,

Alisa

Foods to avoid if you get hormonal acne

Do you find you get a huge zit on your chin in the middle of your cycle? Or maybe it’s right before your period that you notice you really breakout? So many women suffer with hormonal adult acne well beyond their teenage years. I had terrible hormonal acne in my 20s, it was the painful cystic kind that spread all over my face, chest and back. I was desperate to improve the appearance of my skin and I tried everything - antibiotics, Retinol-A cream, Benzoyl Peroxide, Salicylic Acid - and not only did these common treatments do nothing to help my skin, they actually made the acne worse. As you’re here reading this post, I suspect you already know this and you’ve probably even tried a few of those hormonal acne treatments. You have the instinct that your hormonal acne needs to a more holistic approach that really gets down to the root cause of exactly why it's happening, and you’re absolutely right!

What is hormonal acne?

Hormonal acne is related to specific hormonal imbalances that are heightened at the time that you see those breakouts. Most women get their hormonal acne around the time that they ovulate (mid-cycle) and/or right before their period. These are the two points in the hormonal cycle when estrogen and testosterone are peaking. If your body is not processing your hormones correctly, eliminating the excess and detoxifying, then that extra estrogen and testosterone will cause acne. The excess estrogen will cause estrogen dominance and inflame your skin. The testosterone will play on your sebaceous glands to produce more oil. It’s interesting to note that right before your period your blood comes closer to the surface of the skin and this has many effects, including increased redness and acne. Dentists are well-aware of this phenomenon, because if you have a dental appointment when you’re premenstrual or menstruating your gums will be more likely to overly bleed! You may also notice that pre-menstrually you are more prone to unwanted hair growth or even hair loss due on the extra testosterone playing on your hair follicles.

The root cause of hormonal acne

Hormonal acne is caused by an imbalance in our hormones, but it goes deeper than that. Your skin is your biggest organ of elimination - but it works within a system that includes the liver, lymphatic system, and large intestine. These organs all act as one unit and they can’t be separated when it comes to treating the root cause of hormonal acne. What you put into your body - the food you eat, the products you use on your skin and hair, the cleaning substances you handle - must be eliminated properly, if not, then these chemicals that mimic estrogen will stay in your body circulating around. If all of your elimination organs are not working optimally, then your skin will suffer. The leftover, circulating toxins will show up on your face as acne. A buildup of toxins will cause hormonal imbalance. The excess hormones (estrogen and testosterone) will also be prevented from leaving the body properly and cause you to have all the hormonal symptoms - from acne to PMS.

How to prevent hormonal acne

The best way to prevent hormonal acne is to support the function of your elimination organs with the right foods. Your liver needs enough micronutrients to work to detoxify your body. Foods that are inflammatory cause leaky gut syndrome where microscopic holes develop in the wall of your intestine. These holes let food molecules through which then cause an inflammatory response in the body, which reads them as harmful. This is when the other elimination organ - your skin - tries to take on the workload. When your liver and large intestine are working at a subpar level, your skin steps up and tries to eliminate the toxins - resulting in skin inflammation and acne. The Flo Living protocol effectively supports your body’s elimination system, balances estrogen and testosterone, and will treat and prevent your hormonal acne. A combination of the right foods and the right supplements can help you move past hormonal acne, finally, and get the clear skin you want. It worked for me and it will work for you too. As part of the Flo Living protocol you do avoid certain types of foods that trigger hormonal imbalance issues, including hormonal acne. Although my protocol is much more about what you can eat and hormonally-supportive good foods, there are some foods that are particularly bad for women with problems like hormonal acne that I advise my clients to cleanse from their diet.

The foods to avoid if you have hormonal acne

Dairy - aside from the fact that a lot of our dairy options include synthetic hormones that add to your body’s hormone excess, dairy is also a primary cause of leaky gut syndrome as it is an inflammatory agent.
Peanuts - the allergens in peanuts that cause some people to react adversely in serious ways, can cause many more of us to see inflammation on our skin.
Soy - the phytoestrogens in soy can create estrogen overload in the already hormonally-sensitive individual and this can contribute to hormonal acne. Watch out for soy in many products where you wouldn’t expect to see it - including some supplements.
Canola, sunflower, safflower, vegetable oil - these kinds of cooking oils have more omega-6 than omega-3 and this produces inflammation on the skin during peak estrogen time.
Caffeine - coffee and black and green teas will strip your body of essential B vitamins, magnesium, and zinc, which disrupts the skin’s immune response.
Gluten - like dairy, gluten contributes to inflammation of the gut and leaky gut syndrome.

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First, do you have hormonal acne? Second, do you have any other hormonal symptoms? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Need more Hormone Help?

Vitex Supplements - The Right Way to Use Vitex for Your Hormones

What is Vitex?

The herb Vitex is also known as Chaste Tree or Chasteberry, and it originates from a small shrub that grows in the Mediterranean. The fruits of this shrub have been used for more than 2500 years as a natural treatment for female fertility and hormonal health. Vitex is a popular herbal supplement commonly used by women to regulate their menstrual cycle and alleviate symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

As a result of the many studies that have proven its effectiveness, Vitex has now become one of the most popular herbal remedies for hormonal imbalance. If you’re seeking natural treatment for PMS, infertility, PCOS, or Endometriosis - it’s likely that you’ve come across Vitex. It is most readily available to us in an herbal supplement tablet or tincture form.

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Does Vitex resolve hormonal imbalance or help infertility?

Vitex supports your pituitary gland to produce progesterone and luteinizing hormone - both of which are necessary for your body to ovulate, for regular menstrual cycles, and for you to avoid symptoms of hormonal imbalance like PMS.

When a woman is progesterone deficient (or estrogen dominant, to put it another way) and has what is known as a luteal phase defect, Vitex can support her endocrine system to create more progesterone, encourage regular ovulation, and help develop a healthy cycle. This will help balance out the estrogen dominance that is at the root of many of cycle issues.

The pituitary gland is also called the “master” gland and it talks to the ovaries, letting them know how much hormones to make. Vitex works on the pituitary gland's functioning, enhancing its ability to do this work. So, Vitex can be an effective and often successful natural treatment to have at your disposal when facing cycle problems. However, Vitex is a short-term solution to some hormonal imbalance issues. It can act like jumper cables to the pituitary gland and stimulate it to make the right level of hormones again.

However, Vitex alone will not fix a hormone imbalance or issues like infertility, PMS, PCOS, or Endometriosis long-term, if you do not also change your internal hormonal ecosystem with nutrition, which includes micro and macronutrient therapy. If you don’t address your hormonal ecosystem as a whole, you may see changes within the prescribed timeframe (although Vitex is less likely to be successful), but when you come off of it (which you will eventually want to), your symptoms and problems will return.

Supporting your whole system by eating the right foods at the right times (aka The Cycle Syncing® Method), and taking the right nutrients to address the root causes of your unique hormone imbalances in the first place, will provide your body with the building blocks it needs. Take our free hormone health assessment to get a report of your current hormonal health along with a personalize care plan.

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When should you use Vitex?

There are certain times in a woman’s life when Vitex can be very helpful as part of a hormonally-supportive diet and lifestyle.

‍1. After using the birth control pill, Vitex is effective at supporting the body’s return to natural hormone production and cycling. If you come off the birth control pill and find your periods do not return within a few months, Vitex is an effective natural treatment option.

‍2. When you are entering the second stage of perimenopause and find that your cycles are becoming more irregular, Vitex can help to regulate your cycles and decrease the symptoms associated with perimenopause in your 40s. When you have PMS symptoms like acne and breast tenderness as the result of a progesterone deficiency and estrogen dominance, Vitex can boost the body’s production of progesterone and ease these issues.

3. When you’re trying to get pregnant, Vitex supports regular ovulation. If you’re experiencing frequent annovulatory cycles, you can take this natural treatment to support the return of your fertility.

‍4. When you’re suffering with the symptoms of mild Endometriosis. In some European countries, Vitex is commonly prescribed for this hormonal health issue.

5. When you want to breastfeed. For many years, Vitex has been used to increase the production of breastmilk post-partum, although you would only use it short term.

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How should you use Vitex?

How long does it take for Vitex to start working? Vitex is a relatively slow-acting herb, therefore you need to commit to taking it for up to 6 months to see any change in your cycles or improvement of symptoms. This is also a reason why Vitex is not an easy treatment option compared to food therapy, as you have to take this herb every day for such a long time and that can be tough to remember to do. If you do want to try this route, we advise taking Vitex for up to 6 months and then see how you feel without the Vitex. FYI, It is normal to take Vitex even when on your period.

You should not use Vitex if you are currently on hormonal birth control (it won’t have any impact on your hormones, as the synthetic hormones from birth control replaces your body’s natural hormone production and suppresses the endocrine system).

You should also not take Vitex if you’re using IVF drugs already as this can cause over-stimulation to the ovaries. It is less commonly known and important to understand that using Vitex when you have a history of depression can cause your depression symptoms to worsen. So, be cautious if your PMS commonly includes feeling really low and depressed, rather than anxiety, irritation or fatigue.

Be sure to buy Vitex from a reputable, long-standing supplement company like Gaia so you know you are getting a potent formulation, without fillers. Vitex will not be a successful natural treatment for you if it is the only thing you change about your daily habits. If you do not feed your body with hormonally-supportive foods and avoid processed products, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, dairy and gluten, then Vitex cannot work miracles! As far as how much Vitex to take, follow the instructions and guidance on the bottle and from your healthcare provider.

We recommend that you have the Flo Living protocol already in play when you start using Vitex as an additional booster. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side.

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How to Know if Vitex is Working

If a woman is taking Vitex, she can tell if it is working by monitoring her menstrual cycle and PMS symptoms. Vitex typically takes a few menstrual cycles to start having an effect, so it is important to be patient and consistent with taking the supplement. If a woman notices a decrease in PMS symptoms such as bloating, breast tenderness, and mood swings, and an improvement in the regularity and length of her menstrual cycle, these may be signs that Vitex is working for her. It is always recommended to consult with a healthcare provider before starting any new supplement regimen.

The Best Natural Supplements to Prevent PMS

PMS is not normal. I can’t say it enough. PMS is not normal. PMS is not something you have to just live with, put up with, or get through on a monthly basis. You can live a PMS-free life! All that crabbiness, agitation, anxiety, irritability, and moodiness can be put in the past. Women have come to accept PMS as part of our lot, but that’s just not true. PMS is a symptom. It’s a symptom of a hormonal imbalance that is perfectly treatable. Better yet, it’s perfectly treatable with the right kinds of food at the right times, and the right supplements.If you’re here I’m guessing you already know that the most common “treatments” for PMS either don’t work or make the root causes so much worse and come with lots of unwanted side effects. You’re looking for natural treatments that really work.Now, I’m not a big fan of supplements in themselves, just because I think you need a foundation of micronutrient dense and hormonally supportive foods first. Food is always first. No one supplement is going to solve your PMS alone. That’s just not the way our bodies work. But, there are some supplements that will, when used in conjunction with the FLO protocol, particularly the specific foods that support your body during the luteal phase, that can speed up the process of alleviating PMS symptoms and preventing future PMS.So, once you have your PMS-fighting foods sorted out, as well as your PMS-preventing nighttime routine and PMS-banishing morning routine, you can start with the natural supplements.

The Best Natural Supplements to Prevent PMS

Dong Quai - this adaptogen is known as a general tonic for all women and called the female ginseng. Dong quai has muscle relaxing effects and is pain relieving for all those pre-period cramps and aches. Please note though that this powerful supplement should not be used during pregnancy, breastfeeding or if you have a family history of female cancers.
Calcium - this nutrient will help with the mood swings, fatigue, headaches and acne that can come pre-menstrually.
Magnesium - many women are deficient in magnesium because of our on-the-go busy and stressful lifestyles. Magnesium balances the cycle, eases bloating, encourages good sleep, and alleviates anxiety.
B6 - B6 helps your body produce more progesterone. Progesterone deficiency can cause a lot of PMS-related symptoms. A low level of B6 can make estrogen dominance more pronounced, when you have too much estrogen in your blood stream and not enough progesterone.
Evening Primrose Oil - this supplement has been extensively researched as an aid for hormone balance. Evening primrose oil can help with cramps, aches and pains, and headaches in the luteal phase.
Vitamin E - this vitamin specifically helps with premenstrual breast soreness. As an antioxidant it protects breast tissue from inflammation.
Vitex - this powerful supplement has been in use by women for a long time. Vitex increases production of hormones in the luteal phase and offsets estrogen dominance. Vitex helps your pituitary gland make more progesterone on its own.

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First, do you suffer with PMS?Second, have you tried Vitex? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

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Birth Control

The easiest way to track your ovulation signs

How do you know when you’re ovulating? You were probably taught that ovulation occurs on the 14th day of your cycle - at the presumed mid-point - but for many women it’s not as simple or straight-forward as that. Although commonly we start tracking ovulation signs when we’re hoping to get pregnant, knowing if and when you’re ovulating is also useful for understanding the source of any cycle issues or symptoms you might be experiencing like missing periods, irregular cycles, or pre-menstrual problems like mood swings and depression. A lack of ovulation is a cause of infertility, of course, but it’s also a cause of many common period problems and hormonal imbalance issues. With no ovulation signs, with no ovulation, your body won’t be producing enough progesterone. Low progesterone (and the resulting estrogen dominance) is a root cause of many hormone-based health issues, from PCOS to fibroids to ovarian cysts.

The benefits of ovulation

Ovulation is essential if you want to conceive, but you also want to be ovulating regularly even if you don’t want to get pregnant anytime soon. Consistent ovulation has many benefits including:

Regular cycles
Lighter periods
Less PMS symptoms like mood swings, acne, bloating
Boosted libido
Less anxiety or depression
Long term good health and longevity - avoidance of cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis

The signs your body gives you when you’re ovulating should be obvious and clear. You should know and feel your ovulation signs with every cycle. If you’re currently struggling to figure out when to time sex to conceive or whether you’re ovulating at all, then getting your cycle back on track might be the first step to understanding and getting in touch with your ovulation signs.If you’re trying to get pregnant tracking your ovulation signs should not be stressful or difficult. It shouldn’t require ovulation predictor kits, tester strips, frantic sex scheduling or months of missed opportunities due to lack of ovulation from that same stress and anxiety. Ovulation ought to be something you can really feel as a change in your body, a change in your sex drive, and a change in your energy. Once you learn to listen and observe your Flo and how your hormones move melodiously from phase to phase then trusting in this process will become much easier. If you have menstrual irregularities however, it can be difficult to figure out when you’re ovulating. Until you get back in your FLO, checking your basal body temperature is an excellent way to know when you’re ovulating - whether you want to know so you can get pregnant or so you can ensure you don’t get pregnant - while you’re building an improved relationship to your cycle.If you’re finding it really hard to know if you’re ovulating and discern your ovulation signs, then you might have trouble getting pregnant. If you are not experiencing the signs outlined below, then you’re not at your most vibrant, fertile self - primed for pregnancy.

What are the signs of ovulation?

Cervical fluid - your cervical mucus or cervical fluid changes throughout your cycle. Look in your panties or after you wipe! When you’re fertile cervical fluid is referred to as “egg white” in consistency - stretchy and clear. You need this for fertility - it helps the sperm to travel to meet your egg. You can see and feel cervical fluid around ovulation time. It’s a very clear indicator to me that I am fertile and that my hormones are in balance and working in harmony.
Basal body temperature - your resting temperature or the temperature you have when you wake up first thing in the morning can be tracked and charted so you know when you have ovulated. You can use a regular thermometer and paper charts or an app. Note - if you use anti-histamines or don’t produce much cervical fluid this is a good option.
Sex drive - your testosterone levels peak around ovulation, boosting your sex drive. When you’re fertile you should feel an increased interest in sex and possibly enjoy sex more than other times of the month. You may feel more attracted to your partner or generally more amourous. Your body knows this is the best time to make a baby and it just giving you a gentle reminder of your fertility.
Energy - when I enter my ovulation phase my energy shifts - I feel buoyant, energetic, sociable, communicative, and I have increased stamina for exercise. It’s a really fun week of my cycle for me! I look forward to my ovulation phase and see this energy shift as a sign of my vibrant fertility. I live in my Flo, so I shift how I approach my work, my social life, my workouts, my relationship, and of course my diet with my hormonal changes.
Symptoms - some women experience symptoms around their ovulation which are a lot like period problems, including spotting, bloating, acne, and pain (known as mittelschmerz). These are the kind of ovulation signs you really don’t want! There are ways to fix this naturally though and it’s all to do with making sure you’re producing enough progesterone and estrogen in balance.

When you don’t have the signs of ovulation

It’s possible to experience an anovulatory cycle (a cycle with no ovulation) on occasion as the result of short term illness, chronic stress, medications, traveling - your body can “read” when you probably shouldn’t be getting pregnant, or potentially getting pregnant, and it will delay or prevent ovulation accordingly. It’s pretty cool like that! Although a one-off anovulatory cycle is not ideal as you’ll likely experience the resulting symptoms from low progesterone of PMS, heavier bleeding, and cramps, it does occasionally occur.However, if you’re experiencing multiple cycles without ovulation signs you need to take a really good look at your diet and lifestyle and consider making some changes to support your body. Your body wants to ovulate, it needs to ovulate, and consistent ovulation every cycle is going to ensure you feel at your best and avoid hormonal symptoms.

Why you’re not ovulating

A lack of ovulation signs can indicate a number of root causes that can be addressed naturally and effectively with the Flo Living protocol:

Blood sugar irregularity - your endocrine system relies on your blood sugar staying in stable stasis without any crashes or too many peaks. Your body will read mismanaged blood sugar as an internal stressor and the first thing to go when your body is under perceived pressure is ovulation.
Sleep deprivation - sleep deprivation over even just a few days blocks the hormone melatonin and increases the production of the stress hormone, cortisol. Of course, a lack of sleep can be linked to stress or anxiety and become something of a loop of ovulation-suppressing issues.
Adrenal fatigue - overexerted adrenal glands create cortisol and this can disrupt progesterone (your body starts to use progesterone up as a cortisol substitute when stressed). Low progesterone levels prevents ovulation and makes miscarriage more likely.
Thyroid problems - a sluggish thyroid is a root cause of anovulatory cycles.
PCOS - the central symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome is lack of ovulation, irregular cycles and missing periods.
Low BMI - Having low enough body fat can not only suppress ovulation, but can also stop your period. Maintaining a healthy weight, and eating the right quantity of calories and fats is key to a healthy cycle.

If you’re not experiencing the signs of ovulation, I advise you not to wait until you want to get pregnant to figure out how to get your body to ovulate. I would recommend you start to support your body in ovulating regularly and consistently - every single cycle - from TODAY. You will see and feel immediate benefits if you do this. Ovulation is about so much more than making babies. I want you to FEEL how you shift into your verbal, social, and sexual self during your ovulation phase! Not only that, but consistent ovulation ensures a symptom-free, healthy, happy whole menstrual cycle and a perfect period. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, do you track your ovulation?Second, are you trying to get pregnant? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Are you trying to conceive?

If you want to do everything in your power to improve your chances of becoming a mom, I want to help you optimize your fertility. Whether you are just starting to think about having a baby, or have already tried naturally or have been trying with IVF, my Fertile FLO Program will help improve your chances of conception. Click here to download my FREE guide, The 5 Health Foods to Avoid to Get and Stay Pregnant.

How to use progesterone cream for PCOS

If you have PCOS and have looked around for natural treatments to take care of your symptoms, like the acne, hair overgrowth, hair loss, weight gain, and mood swings, then you’ve probably come across natural progesterone cream. The idea behind using natural progesterone cream to treat your PCOS is that you will increase your progesterone levels and rebalance your estrogen levels. You make progesterone after you ovulate, if you ovulate, in the second half of your cycle. If you don’t ovulate regularly, as is common with PCOS, progesterone deficiency can cause many unwanted symptoms. Progesterone cream is one of the ways to help your body deal with this lack of progesterone, but it’s not an ideal treatment and I have some caveats about progesterone cream that I’d like to share to help you choose when and how and if to use it as a natural treatment for your PCOS.

What is progesterone cream?

There are two kinds of progesterone cream - the kind you can purchase at Whole Foods (the most popular and respected brand is Emerita Pro-Gest) that is naturally derived from plant sources, and the pharmaceutical-grade progesterone cream (there are several brands including Progestelle and ProFeme). I never recommend using the pharmaceutical-grade progesterone cream, which is synthetic hormone-based and therefore has the ability to disrupt your body’s own hormone cycles in a way that will cause many adverse effects. Plant-source natural progesterone cream is the better option, or the only option I would recommend. Phyto (plant-based) progesterone is more easily processed and assimilated by the body, and as such it has less adverse effects. However, even natural, plant-sourced progesterone cream is a powerful supplement and should be used with an educated caution.

Can natural progesterone cream “cure” PCOS?

If you’re in a place currently where all of your symptoms of PCOS are so acute that you feel you need immediate relief, then natural progesterone cream can be a short term solution. If I meet a woman in a critical state with her PCOS-related health issues who just feels really, really bad right now, then I believe that natural progesterone cream can be a good choice for her, for one to three cycles.However, using natural progesterone cream is just a way of adding plant-based phyto progesterone into your body to replace the progesterone your body is lacking. This can bring short term relief and give you some respite from difficult symptoms, but it’s not a real treatment that gets to the root cause of PCOS. Not to mention that there’s a vicious cycle here when you are estrogen dominant, as that itself over time can suppress progesterone production. So merely increasing progesterone alone will not address why your body isn’t making the right amount in the first place. This is why Cycle-Syncing™ is so effective because it balances out estrogen and boosts progesterone throughout your cycle. Adding in too much hormone of any kind to your body will have a cumulative effect and cause side effects - in the case of progesterone - it can accumulate in your fat tissue and increase your tendency toward depression. Also, over the long term, the effectiveness of the natural progesterone cream will decrease. Natural progesterone cream overrides the body’s hormone production, rather than supporting the body to produce its own progesterone. Supporting the body to balance its own hormone production with the right food choices and lifestyle choices is the best way forward for all women with PCOS.

How to use natural progesterone cream

You use natural progesterone cream only in the second half of your cycle, which is when your body would normally be producing its own progesterone. Start placing progesterone cream on the back of your elbow or knee on day 16 of your cycle (16 days after your period). Do this every day for 10 to 12 days and then stop. If you have acute symptoms of PCOS currently you can start as soon as you need to. You likely will not know where you are in your cycle and may have not seen your period for some time, so counting the days will be difficult. Follow my guide to understanding your cycle to get back on track and then use progesterone cream for half your cycle for just one to three cycles maximum.If you are in the second stage of perimenopause, this is another time when I do recommend progesterone cream as a natural supplement. If you’re already taking good care of yourself (ideally following the Flo Living protocol), but have found your period is more irregular post-45 as you head toward your very last period ever, then natural progesterone cream can act as a boost to your body, which is naturally and normally experiencing a decline in hormone production. Again, only use progesterone cream for one to three cycles to alleviate the symptoms of lowering hormones and irregular cycles. Even when you’re in perimenopause, this is not a long term solution and will not prevent perimenopause or prolong fertility.

How to increase progesterone naturally with food

As I’ve said here, progesterone cream does not support your body to make its own hormones and it’s not a long term solution for PCOS, perimenopause symptoms, irregular cycles or progesterone deficiency. The best way to support your body to produce its own progesterone (and therefore alleviate symptoms of low progesterone from mood swings to acne to weight gain) is through your diet and eating the right kinds of progesterone-boosting foods. The Flo Living protocol is designed to assist your body to produce healthy levels of progesterone and estrogen and to treat the root cause of hormonal health issues like PCOS. Giving your body the micronutrients it needs to produce its own hormones is the best choice. There are also some foods that women with PCOS should completely avoid.

The best progesterone-boosting food sources

B6-rich foods - including walnuts, poultry and chickpeas. A low level of B6 can make estrogen dominance more pronounced, when you have too much estrogen in your blood stream and not enough progesterone.
Vitamin E-rich foods - including almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Several studies have shown that women who take vitamin E see a significant increase in overall progesterone levels.
Vitamin C-rich foods - including bell peppers, leafy greens, berries and citrus fruits. Vitamin C boosts both progesterone and estrogen production in the body and helps with hormone processing and elimination of excess.
L-arginine-rich foods - found in high protein food sources like pork, beef, poultry, as well as salmon, halibut and trout.

I want to hear from you!

First, do you have PCOS? Second, have you tried progesterone cream? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Need more Hormone Help?

Effective Natural Solutions for Ovarian Cysts

We take a look at the types of ovarian cysts, their cause, and effective natural treatments.

In this post we'll be discussing functional ovarian cysts, as opposed to the ovarian cysts associated with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or the ovarian cysts associated with endometriosis. Functional ovarian cysts are fluid filled sacs the size of almonds that grow and develop on the ovaries, often cyclically as related to your monthly hormonal shifts. Ovarian cysts like this can come and go, get larger and smaller, and are very responsive to natural treatments.

Your body is designed to deal with ovarian cysts, if it is working at an optimal level of health. However, if you are experiencing hormonal imbalance, this can prevent ovarian cysts from shrinking, cause them to grow larger, and then potentially rupture with a lot of pain and complication involved. ‍

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The symptoms of functional ovarian cysts

Many women don’t realize they have ovarian cysts until they start experiencing symptoms. Once you have symptoms like those detailed below, you may want to ask your OB/GYN for an ultrasound exam to confirm that ovarian cysts are the cause. The common signs of ovarian cysts are:

Lower abdominal pain
Pain during sex
Pressure on the bladder/need to urinate more frequently
Bloating
Indigestion
Irregular cycles and anovulatory cycles (when ovulation does not occur)

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A ruptured ovarian cyst will cause you high fever and pain. Often women who experience this will go to the ER and will often be checked for appendicitis first. It’s best to be aware that a ruptured ovarian cyst could also be the cause of such pain, if you have experienced the above symptoms prior to this happening.

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Types of ovarian cysts

There are several kinds of ovarian cysts, but functional cysts, as described above, are the most common. There are just two kinds of functional ovarian cysts - follicle cysts and corpus luteum cysts. Follicle cysts happen when the ovary follicle does not open to release an egg and instead stays closed, filled with liquid. Corpus luteum cysts are when the follicle does release an egg, but then does not seal and close off afterwards.

Other kinds of ovarian cysts include:

Endometriomas - tissue that normally would grow and develop inside the uterus can migrate outside the uterus and attach to the ovaries. These cysts are associated with an Endometriosis diagnosis. They can grow large and rupture just like functional cysts.
PCOS - with a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome a woman has multiple cysts on her ovary or ovaries (sometimes said to look like “a string of pearls”). PCOS can cause infertility by producing extremely long, irregular cycles without ovulation. This lack of ovulation, the hormonal imbalance, and the enlarged cyst-covered ovary has its own set of symptoms that vary from woman to woman, but can include weight gain, acne, hair overgrowth and hair loss, anxiety, and depression.
Dermoid cysts - these cysts grow on the ovaries and contain hair, teeth and other substances.

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Treatment for ovarian cysts

Most commonly women are offered the birth control pill to “treat” ovarian cysts. The Pill replaces your natural hormonal changes and cycle with a synthetic hormone stasis. Considering the side effects while using the Pill, and the fact that once you come off the ovarian cysts will probably return and may be worse as a result, we never recommend this as a method for combatting cysts. The birth control pill can make the root causes of ovarian cysts much, much worse.

The Pill is a band-aid for all women’s health issues and in the case of ovarian cysts when natural treatment can be very effective it is completely unnecessary. Natural treatment alone can shrink and resolve cysts, as well as prevent their return relatively quickly.

If you find you have a proclivity for cysts we recommend following our natural treatment protocol and then returning to your doctor every 6 months to monitor them.

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The cause of ovarian cysts

The central cause of ovarian cysts is estrogen dominance. This means your body holds too much estrogen and not enough progesterone to create balance. The estrogen your body is creating is not being processed and eliminated correctly. Plus, you are taking in excess estrogens from outside of your body via synthetic estrogen-filled shampoos, cosmetics, nail polishes, household cleaners, femcare products, plastics and pesticides. This creates an estrogen overload situation. If your body is not functioning optimally then it won’t be able to get rid of the excess estrogen as it needs to, efficiently and quickly. The Flo Living protocol is designed to reverse and prevent estrogen dominance and all of the symptoms that come with this hormonal imbalance.

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The best natural treatment for ovarian cysts

Cycle Syncing® your diet is the best way to manage ovarian cysts. Eating the right foods for the right phase of your hormonal cycle will keep your hormones in check and prevent excess estrogen or low progesterone. There are also certain foods you can frontload in your daily diet to make this protocol even more effective for shrinking, managing, and preventing ovarian cysts long-term. We at Flo Living firmly believe that fibroids and ovarian cysts are best treated naturally.

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These three types of foods can help shrink and even get rid of ovarian cysts:

Cruciferous vegetables and DIM - Vegetables like Brussels sprouts, kale, collards, broccoli, and cabbage contain DIM (Di-Indolyl Methane) which is very effective at helping the body process and eliminate excess estrogen. Increase your intake of these veggies and supplement with DIM itself in pill form daily.
Fermented foods - Sauerkraut, kimchi and pickles will help your body deal with and manage estrogen. A certain set of gut bacteria, and more specifically certain bacterial genes called the estrobolome, produce an essential enzyme that helps metabolize estrogen. Your gut is part of the elimination system that is vital in ushering hormones out of the body. Fermented foods are wonderful for gut health.
Fiber-filled foods - Fiber helps your liver and digestive system move and eliminate excess estrogen from your body. The best fiber-filled foods for preventing estrogen dominance are pears and flax seeds. Flax seeds contain lignan which prevents the body from absorbing excess estrogen.

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A Flo Living Success Story: Ovarian Cysts

Flo Living graduate Heidi Braun came to us with functional ovarian cysts. Within two months of following the Flo Living protocol, she saw her cysts disappear from her ovaries.

“Mid-April and time to go back for another sonogram. Alisa and I spoke prior to my visit and she told me not to expect any changes…that it was too soon. I was fine with that. I knew I was doing all I could and they were great things for my health nonetheless. So as I lay on the table, with no expectations, the technician tells me, “The cyst on the left ovary is gone” and then “Oh! The one on the right is gone, too!” I’m in shock. I’m elated. And as a tear rolls down my cheek, I’m in awe of the power…the power this body has to heal itself. How amazing is that! If I treat it right (if I treat ME right), then amazing things will happen.”

Vitamins, herbal supplements, & nutrition for shrinking ovarian cysts - naturally!

Get your Sex Drive Back After Stopping the Pill

The Birth Control & Libido Connection

An important scientific study published in 2006 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine revealed that:

Women who have taken the birth control pill may find that, as well as having had low sex drive when on the pill, that this side effect persists even when they stop taking it.

The researchers discovered that the impact the birth control pill has on women’s testosterone levels can cause them to have a permanently suppressed sex drive when compared to women who have never used the birth control pill.

While many of us are well-aware of the fact that the Pill can have the highly ironic side effect of making you less interested in sex, it’s not as widely known that, despite stopping the Pill, some women will not see their sex drive bounce back to what it was prior to the Pill, or to levels comparative to other women.

Now, this might sound pretty scary at first if you are on the Pill or have decided to come off the Pill, but this study is showing what some women will experience if they just go off the birth control pill (as many do in the hope of losing the side effects) and do nothing aside from this to support and boost their sex drive. Although that situation is completely understandable - we assume the impact of any medication will stop once we no longer take it - there are definitely things you can do to make sure you are not one of these women who never see a return of their pre-Pill sex drive. Perhaps you’ve been off the Pill a while even, and you feel like your sex drive isn’t what it was, or what you know it could be. It’s absolutely not too late to turn that situation around and get back the sex drive you want.

We’ve previously looked at the different ways the Pill can impact you sex life (including decreased orgasms and increased UTIs) and your relationships (including the type of men you’re attracted to), as well as the best way to approach transitioning off the Pill, but here let's look at how to tackle this common Pill-related problem of low sexual desire.

First, let’s look at why it happens so we can understand fully how to fix it.

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How birth control stops your sex drive

The birth control pill suppresses ovulation and replaces your body’s own natural hormone production with a consistent stream of synthetic hormones. As a part of this function, the Pill suppresses your testosterone production. It also increases the production of SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin).

When you go off the Pill, your body can start producing its own (and more) testosterone again, however the research study mentioned above found that women are left with 4 times the amount of SHBG they would normally have. SHBG binds with your “free testosterone” in your bloodstream and lowers the levels of available, free, accessible testosterone overall. Free, unbound testosterone is essential for a healthy sex drive, as well as sexual enjoyment. When you experience your natural cycle, your sex drive will peak around ovulation (and sometimes also pre-menstrually). On the Pill you experience none of these natural hormonal shifts.

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How to bring your sex drive back post-Pill

We recommend a three-part approach to regain your sex drive after the Pill, whether you’ve only recently come off, plan to soon, or have been off the Pill for a a few months already.

This strategy has been effective with many women we have supported in coming off the Pill through the Flo Living protocol.

The first part of this strategy focuses on sex drive-boosting foods, the second part centers around sex drive-supportive supplements, and the third looks at adjusting exactly how you approach sex.

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3 things you can do to revive your sex drive after stopping the pill:‍‍

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1. Let food be your foreplay

‍You can support your endocrine system with the right foods that will help your body produce enough testosterone to give your sex drive the boost it needs. After coming off the Pill, you will be depleted of some key nutrients that will also contribute to connecting issues like low moods and poor sleep. Eating a diet rich in hormonally supportive foods will be key in avoiding all the withdrawal effects of the Pill - including rebound hormonal acne, weight issues, and infertility issues.

‍Focus on well-researched aphrodisiacs like avocados (full of bio-identical testosterone), honey (packed with hormone regulating boron), strawberries (an ancient remedy), and dark chocolate (for feeling energized and content).

You’ll also need to nourish your tired post-Pill adrenals & stabilize your mood - you can do this by avoiding caffeine, eating regularly, and upping essential fatty acids in your diet. Try mixing up Alisa Vitti's signature sex drive-boosting smoothie a couple of times per week - the Passion Pour.

‍2. Get sexy with supplements

‍No supplement will change your sex drive on its own, but as part of a wider hormonally supportive diet, they can work wonders.

‍Try maca powder in your smoothies - a well-researched root extract that will help increase testosterone levels.

Try adding Zinc, Magnesium, Evening Primrose and Rhodiola to your daily routine to improve your energy and mood, as well as increase your desire for and enjoyment of sex. These supplements will support your adrenals, up testosterone levels, and give you bigger and better orgasms. Zinc and Magnesium are especially important for preventing the binding of free testosterone and keeping free testosterone available - the importance of which is shown in the aforementioned research.

‍3. Take it slow

The third part of this strategy is to shift your approach to sex. Taking the birth control pill, especially long-term, can change how we think and feel about sex. When you come off the Pill, you will need to work with your new desire level in ways that will let you have the time you need to feel turned on and ready. The effects of the sex drive-boosting foods and supplements won’t be immediate, and while you’re waiting for your testosterone levels to bounce back, you can start with this. It’s all about building a new pathway towards becoming aroused.

Focusing more on actual foreplay (not just food as foreplay!) including long make-out sessions or indulging in some literotica to get in the mood can help. If you’ve gotten used to not having a lot of sex because you just didn’t feel like it, start practicing being sexual regularly in different ways - partnered or solo. Our sex drive is something that can disappear purely through lack of practice!

You might need to start out small and slow with sexual explorations - the more you do, the more you’ll want! Just start exploring! Self-pleasure can certainly be a part of this. Know that as your natural cycle phases return you may also want to practice Cycle Syncing® your sex life to make the most of your shifting sexuality.

Once you are fully living in your FLO, you will notice that how you feel about your partner (if in a relationship) and your interest in sex changes depending what phase you are in at that time.

How-to get your sex drive back after stopping the pill 🔥

The Benefits of Maca Powder for your Hormones

What is Maca?

‍Maca root powder might seem like just another "trending" superfood, but the benefits of maca root have been long known. This ancient natural remedy happens to be very well researched, and that research has revealed its hormone-balancing, hormonal symptom-soothing properties.

Maca root (most usually found as maca powder) is an adaptogen, which means it supports your whole endocrine system to produce the right amounts of hormones you need. Maca can help your body “adapt” to stressful life situations that might otherwise deplete your body’s hormone production and cause symptoms.

Maca root powder is a wonderful resource to have at hand, especially at certain critical times in your life when its properties can be the most beneficial. That said, maca is not for everyone and anyone, all of the time. Digging deeper and knowing more about this powerful supplement will help you to get the most out of it.‍

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Does Maca “cure” hormone imbalance?

While Maca can certainly be beneficial, we don't recommend seeing it as a miracle cure for all hormonal ills. There is no one product that can or will resolve a woman’s PMS, PCOS, cramps, acne, irrregular cycles or infertility issues on its own. Just adding in a supplement or one food, however “super,” unfortunately rarely works to help a woman overcome hormonal symptoms alone. Resolving hormonal imbalances requires a whole-systems approach - macro and micronutrient support, along with lifestyle changes.

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‍When To Take Maca

There are 3 times in a woman’s life when she could really benefit from using maca root powder on a regular basis as part of a wider hormonally-supportive diet. Those times are:

After you hit 35, enter perimenopause and then post-menopause
After you come off the birth control pill
After you have a baby (and have stopped breastfeeding)

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During these windows, maca root powder could help your body produce more hormones, at a time when your own endocrine system may be flagging due to the effects of perimenopause, hormone suppression from the Pill, or lack of sleep after baby. As an adaptogen, maca root powder helps your endocrine system do its job in sub-optimal conditions. These three life stages can be a stress on your endocrine system.

Remember: maca has some wonderful benefits, but it is not a cure-all. However, using it alongside food can make maca a very effective supplement. After you reach 35, after using the Pill, after baby, you may be experiencing several hormone-based issues that maca can treat, including:

Low energy levels
Low sex drive
Brain fog and poor focus or concentration
Mood swings and depression
PMS symptoms

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Who shouldn’t take Maca?

‍Maca root powder is a great tool for these critical moments when our bodies need the additional support to get back on track. However, when you’re between 15 and 35, eating a hormonally-supportive diet should be enough to balance your hormones, resolve your period problems and regulate your cycles. You should NOT take maca if you have an allergy to iodine, Hashimoto’s, or experience any kind of thyroid nodules or growths, as it contains significant amounts of iodine. Lastly, any time you are trying out new changes to your wellness regimen, remember to note any side effects you experience and keep in touch with your providers about what you experience.

‍What’s the best kind of Maca root to take?

‍The most important thing to know about maca root powder is that there are different kinds you can buy. Keep in mind that it’s the glucosinolate component that you need, to experience maca’s hormone-balancing properties.

Look for brands containing over 1% of glucosinolate as a standardized extract. Our favorite way to take maca is in a smoothie. Just a spoonful is enough at first, but you can build up to more if you feel it’s working well for you.

There are red, black and yellow maca powders - yellow is the most commonly available and usually the least expensive - it packs a similar nutritional punch of minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and micronutrients as the other two kinds. However, red and black maca powders have some specific researched properties that make them stand out - red has shown to be most helpful for treating acne, infertility and low energy, for example.

Raw maca powder is better than gelatinized or cooked because the enzymes and nutrients remain at their peak levels in the raw state (although if you have a sensitive digestive system, cooked may be easier on your stomach). You may also find maca powders that blend of all 3 kinds of maca, which allow you to get their individual and combined benefits.

The best natural supplements for preventing hormonal acne

Having hormonal acne as an adult can be miserable. We all expect hormonal acne to stop happening once we reach our 20s, but this isn’t always the case. Believe me, I know. Before I created, and then lived, the Flo Living protocol it took me 1.5 hours just to leave the house - my face and back were covered in cystic hormonal acne that I would have to cover with heavy makeup just to feel confident enough to carry on with my life. Hormonal acne can come with a shift in our cycle - like going from our ovulation phase to pre-menstruation phase, or it can come with a shift in our age as our hormonal patterns change from our 20s to our 30s. If you’re suffering with hormonal acne right now - I sympathize - and I have some great news. Hormonal acne is very responsive to treatment, healing (and then prevention) using natural supplements. The right choice and the right use of natural supplements can see your acne gone in just a couple of months.

My own experience with hormonal acne

Now, when I had acne I tried everything my doctor would give me. I was desperate to improve the way my skin looked, and the way I felt about myself. I imagine you’ve also gone through a list of potions and pills, hoping each would work for you. I personally tried a long course of antibiotics to stop the acne, which permanently stained my teeth slightly yellow (to this day!) and destroyed my gut microbiome so badly that I spent my entire freshman year of college with viruses, yeast infections and flu-like symptoms. I tried Retinol-A cream and Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide thinking I could heal my skin from the outside and just fix the surface of the issue. Needless to say, they didn’t work.The problem with all of the treatments for acne that you’ve probably been offered, or tried already, is that they don’t solve the most common cause of an adult woman’s acne issues - her hormones. In fact, antibiotics and the birth control pill only worsen the hormonal imbalance that is triggering the hormonal acne. A combination of two health problems underpins the development of hormonal acne - a damaged and depleted gut microbiome and a deficiency in key miconutrients for skin health. These lead to hormonal imbalance and the development of acne as a result. Once I figured out how to eat and live to support my hormones with the Flo Living protocol my skin cleared up, and it’s been beautifully clear ever since.

How to use natural supplements to stop hormonal acne

It’s important to remember with natural supplements that they are great if you want to speed up the process of healing and recovery because you’re at a critical point with your acne. With hormonal acne, using natural supplements every day can get you to where you want to be much more quickly than food alone. However, your body holds a delicate balance of nutrients and minerals. Taking in too much of one via supplements can cause an imbalance in another. Food is a gentler, more natural, and more sensitive way of giving your body what it needs. But, if you’re reading this right now with raging hormonal acne and you want it gone ASAP, supplements are here to help that happen more quickly. Once you get back your clear skin, you can lower the amount of supplements you take, and allow your diet - food - to support your skin health. Hormonally-supportive foods and fewer supplements can then help you maintain the skin you love.

My top 5 natural supplements for preventing hormonal acne

Magnesium. A lack of magnesium causes skin inflammation. Taking magnesium with calcium combined in supplement form can lower the amount of C-reactive proteins in your body which cause this inflammation. Calcium is part of our tissue matrix - bones, cells, and skin - and very important for skin cell renewal.
Omega-3s. Getting your omega-3 fatty acids in fish or flax oil will give you almost instant results. Clearer, softer, smoother skin as well as stronger hair and nails - you can see it happen in days. They have a big picture, whole body affect, as well as results in the short term. Take a good fish oil or flaxseed oil brand.
Zinc. Zinc deficiency is a very common issue for many women. When we are deficient in zinc our pores become easily irritated by bacteria and show redness. A large-scale scientific study actually concluded that zinc supplementation is very effective even when compared to commonly prescribed antibiotics. Try Thorne’s high potency zinc capsules. I also recommend having a little bit of grass-fed liver every week as part of a meal or as a snack. It’s full of copper and vitamin A. The copper will balance out the zinc in your body and the vitamin A is what your liver needs to detoxify from excess hormones. A well-functioning liver boosts your absorption of all vitamins and minerals and prevent deficiencies developing in the first place.
Probiotics. We need probiotics for a healthy gut. A common symptom of a damaged and depleted microbiome is acne and other skin issues like rosacea. It’s particularly important with hormonal acne as your microbiome assists your body in processing and eliminating excess estrogen. If you’ve been on the Pill or antibiotics for any length of time, probiotics could be key to getting your skin back on track. I like Jarrow’s Stable-Dophilus formula.
B Vitamins. Your skin needs B-vitamins to regenerate and renew as they provide the energy all of your cells need for fuel. Taking a good B-complex every day that includes a high level of B6 will target hormonal or pre-menstrual acne. B6 prevents skin inflammation and over-production of sebum (the oil your skin produces at can create acne issues).

I want to hear from you!

First, do you have hormonal acne? Second, have you used the Pill or antibiotics to treat hormonal acne? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Need more Hormone Help?

The 3 best weight-loss supplements that really work

There are ads everywhere online showcasing miracle weight loss supplements sourced from natural ingredients like green coffee and raspberry ketone. Companies make claims that sound fantastic, inspiring, and oh so tempting to believe. But, of course, if any of these supplements they’re selling actually worked in the way they say then it would be front page news, not back page advertorial, and we would all be taking them!Sure, most of these naturally derived supplements won’t do you any harm. But if you’re diet is endocrine disruptive - if the foods you choose to eat work against rather than with your hormonal patterns - then your body is going to gain and retain fat out of sheer confusion and biological panic. Your body will start acting in opposition to how you’re feeding yourself in order to retain what it needs to keep your brain, heart and muscles functioning. We need fat to function, but excess fat is a sign that your body is in this panic mode and hedging its bets that you will not be making the best decisions for your health.Adding one supplement into that mix isn’t going to make any difference, I’m afraid.I remember what it was like to be obese and, believe me, losing that weight wasn’t as simple and easy as taking one miracle supplement from a magazine. You know that, I know that. However, within the Flo Living protocol, which I developed as a result of my own personal struggles with PCOS, weight gain, acne, and other hormonal imbalance symptoms, there are certainly supplements you can take to speed up and support sustained, healthy weight loss.I have lost 60 lbs twice in my life - the first time in my early ‘20s when I got to grips with my hormonal health problems and then after I had my daughter. I did it without the use of any alleged miracle supplements, but also without starving myself, over-exercising or feeling miserable and deprived.So, which supplements do work? Which products should you be spending your money on?Here is what I used as a part of the Flo Living protocol when I was trying to drop the pounds both those times. These work because they support your endocrine system and the needs of your adrenals, liver and thyroid. Of course, supplements without making the food based dietary changes that are the bedrock of the FLO protocol, will not be as effective as they could be when you use them with the powerful endocrine supportive diet I recommend.

The 3 best weight loss supplements that actually work

Cinnamon helps balance blood sugar to keep weight off long term: I like Cinnamon Force from New Chapter - I’m a huge fan of cinnamon for blood sugar stabilization. I put it in smoothies, on eggs, in my oatmeal. But this super strength supplement makes it very easy to get the daily dose you need. You want stable blood sugar so you can avoid the crashes that can cause binge eating or cause your body to feel panicked and retain excess fat. A significant study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics revealed the potential of cinnamon supplementation to help those who are overweight and obese.
Adaptogens make your adrenals happy so they program your fat cells to release fat: Ashwangandha or Oatstraw (I like the HerbPharm liquid tinctures) - these are adrenal-supportive supplements. If you have anxiety take Oatstraw tincture, otherwise use a good Ashwagandha supplement daily. These will decrease your levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which will help you to lose weight. In a study from Ohio State University, the researchers actually found that women who experienced high levels of stress burned more than 100 fewer calories than women who had not experienced stress, during the period directly after they had eaten a high-fat meal. This disruption to the metabolic process, caused by stress, builds up to the equivalent of 11 pounds potentially gained every year!
Feed your thyroid the micronutrients it needs to do its job of revving your metabolic fire: I like Gaia Thyroid Support - this seaweed-based iodine source supports thyroid function. Of course you can’t use this if you have an iodine allergy or have Hashimoto’s. Your thyroid regulates your metabolism, so in order to create a humming metabolism you need to support your thyroid. Thyroid problems are very common in women and often go undiagnosed for years. These problems can be the root cause of weight gain and your inability to shed pounds.

I want to hear from you!

First, do you struggle with your weight?Second, have you tried weight loss supplements and they’ve not worked for you? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Need more Hormone Help?

3 tricks to stop your bad food binges

It was a beautiful, sunny weekend in New York City and that tells me Spring is around the corner! But what often comes along with the Spring blooms, blue skies and fresh farmer’s market? Dieting! We come out of our winter hibernation, look in the mirror, and decide we must lose 15 lbs by the time our summer beach vacation rolls around. The Earth’s Spring time is, for us ladies, the follicular phase. In our follicular phase we can find it easier to eat light and avoid junk food - we might actually crave green salads, fruit bowls and simple, light dishes. However, when we come into our luteal or premenstrual phase (which we do once a month in comparison to Earth’s only yearly Fall season), we find our resolve to eat this way is broken and we have cravings for unhealthy foods that we have a hard time keeping under control. We binge and we regret it, and we hope we can get back on the wagon on Monday. I must admit, when I was younger I struggled terribly with my cravings - my family loved breads, pastas, cheeses and cookies my mother would serve up daily. When I got older, I looked to mindful eating as a way to control my bingeing on these kinds of foods. I would sit down to eat, bless my food, chew slowly, and take time with each meal. But it just didn’t have a strong enough effect to counteract what was going on hormonally inside my system.

What your cravings mean

You’re missing a micronutrient. Craving a specific type of food means that your body is deficient in a particular micronutrient. Your cravings also have a cyclical nature because your micronutrient needs change throughout your cycle. A deficiency in a vitamin or mineral will trigger a craving as your body’s way of warning you what’s happening.
You’re hormones are off balance. Hand in hand with this is the craving as an indicator of hormonal imbalance. If your cravings are multiple, stronger, and more difficult to ignore during your luteal phase then they are trying to alert you to a hormonal imbalance - your levels of estrogen and progesterone are not in harmony. What you might see as “emotional” eating during your pre-menstrual week is actually “hormonal” eating. That overwhelming desire to eat the whole bag of chips? That’s your body saying loud and clear - “Your hormones are out of whack!”

How the meaning of your cravings can help you

When I was struggling with cravings it was because I was dealing with a hormonal imbalance - I was not getting the nutrients, vitamins and minerals I need for my body to produce, use, and process the hormones needed to keep me happy and healthy. If you take the time to listen and understand your cravings then you will see they can actually save you from your diet mistakes. Mindful eating coupled with craving understanding can help you reach your health goals. It definitely helped me achieve mine!The secret is to understand what your body needs and instead of reacting to cravings with an impulsive, knee jerk grab for the chips or a chocolate binge, you give it what it actually wants - the foods that will help you build, use, and process hormones and regain your hormonal balance. Switch out the junk for pro-hormonal foods. Instead of eating junk food, eat another pro-hormonal food that will fend off the craving without making you put on the pounds, feel lethargic, and develop symptoms like acne, bloating, and mood swings. Eat well - eat a lot of the good foods your body needs and don’t leave yourself starving. If you’re plain hungry because you’re depriving yourself of nutrition than you won’t be able to hear your cravings talk over the sound of your hunger! You won’t be “giving in” to your cravings, you’ll be taking action to give your body what it needs for you to feel good.

The 3 steps to stop the binges!

Eat “Defensively”. Don’t wait for the craving to hit during your PMS week. If you know you feel more “hormonal” in your luteal phase, you’re dealing with an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone in your body. Then eat a generous serving size of at least one PMS food each day. You can treat the premenstrual symptoms, including cravings, with pro-hormonal foods. Make sure you’re getting all of my top 5 foods for preventing PMS every cycle. Make them a big part of your meals during your luteal phase.
Know which craving means what. Sometimes you might crave sugar, other times steak. What does this mean? What is your body trying to say. Every food you can crave - from chocolate to pasta to soda - is telling you something about your hormones and what your body needs you to be eating right now. Discover what your personal cravings mean and switch out your knee-jerk choice with a pro-hormonal choice.
Ditch the depriving diets. Stop punishing your body in the first half of the month and then feeling bad, guilty, and bloated when you “give in” to your cravings the second half of the month. Don’t leave yourself so hungry you can’t not eat that cookie and then the whole box. Don’t start everyday on an empty stomach and a cup of coffee and then end it with spaghetti carbonara. Instead, Cycle Sync™ your eating habits to align with your hormonal patterns. Harness your body’s programming and use it for your own good.

I want to hear from you!

First, do you have cravings? Second, do you always try dieting in the Spring? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social (buttons)

Need more Hormone Help?

Exercise & Fitness

The Meaning Behind Bleeding on the Full Moon or New Moon

Period Cycles & Lunar Cycles

Have you ever been around female friends and had the topic of menstrual cycles and the moon come up? This happens more than you might think!

As women, we’re curious about our bodies, the origins of our cycles, and how they might be connected to the phases of the moon. We may notice that many, though not all of us experience cycles (all four phases of one's cycle) that last approximately a lunar month - 28-30 days. It can feel exciting to sync up with the phases of the moon!

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Why we connect the menstrual cycle with the moon phases

First, let’s consider the traditions and history behind this phenomenon. Which cycles of the moon are related to menstrual cycles?

The new moon is traditionally associated with menstruation, and if you find you get your period with the new moon this is known as a White Moon Cycle.
The full moon is traditionally associated with ovulation, but some women do get their period on the full moon and this is called a Red Moon Cycle.
The White Moon Cycle is the kind that is more commonly experienced. Historically this is down to the impact of light on the Earth and our bodies - the full moon is the Earth’s most fertile time because of the additional light received by plants when there is bright moonlight as well as sunlight, and this is why it is traditionally associated with the ovulation phase.
Although the White Moon cycle is more common - that’s getting your period on the new moon and ovulating on the full moon - a Red Moon cycle has interesting traditional connotations. Women who experience a Red Moon cycle have historically been thought to be healers, wise women, or medicine women. These women could take care of the other women who were on their period at the time that they themselves were ovulating. It’s also associated with creation in realms other than getting pregnant and having children - when the woman’s focus is on creating art, a business, or a new way of life for herself and others.

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‍Does it matter if my period does not sync with the moon?

‍Although there are these historical and traditional links, it’s not important that you get your period on the full moon or the new moon - although it can be pretty cool when it does happen! As long as you’re having a healthy cycle that is consistent for YOU - this is what matters. That means that your cycles are regular and last a similar amount of days each time.

If your cycles are wildly fluctuating, then it is an indicator of health issues like PCOS, fibroids, or endometriosis. A consistent, regular cycle is much more likely to be symptom-free, although it is still possible to experience PMS, cramps, or bloating with a regular cycle. Ideally, your period’s arrival is predictable, but not necessarily predicated on what the moon is doing!

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How to Sync Your Cycle to the Moon

1. Spend time in Nature

‍If your cycle is fluctuating in length hugely from period to period, then it may also be the result of your environment - it could be because you’re not getting enough good sleep due to a bright or noisy setting and it could be down to your disconnect from stress-relieving, calming Nature as a whole.

More and more research is revealing that we need to be in Nature frequently - in the way of a park, a hike, the beach - for the good of our health, our mental health, especially. And stress can really screw up your cycles and cause them to become irregular. So, rather than focusing on the moon alone, look at your relationship to Nature in general and make a point of re-connecting with Mother Earth by getting into green spaces as much as you can.

You can do this in your backyard, your local playground, or on a walk through your neighborhood - the key is to direct your attention to those natural elements, breathe them in, and feel the well-being that comes from spending time outside. ‍

2. Improve your relationship to light and dark

‍Part of how our cycles can sync to the moon is through our exposure to light and dark as it changes throughout the lunar month - at the New Moon we’re meant to be sleeping in darkness, and at the Full Moon, the night sky should be lit up with moonlight. However, many of us live in towns and cities now that give out light pollution. It can be hard to see the moon clearly and the moonlight is competing with office lighting, street lamps, house lights, illuminated signs and more.

We are not as exposed to the direct light and darkness of the moon phases as we once were. Of course light (and noise) pollution can also be disruptive to our sleep patterns and make for a fitful sleep and frequent waking up during the night. This throws off the hormone melatonin, which happens to be linked directly to ovulation regulation and therefore cycle regulation.

If you want to sync with the moon, but you struggle to connect with the moonlight in a busy, 24-hour town or city, then take steps to ensure you experience good sleep by using black out blinds and a white noise machine, and employing a sleep-supportive bedtime routine. To become more aware of the moon’s phases and have the best chance of reconnecting and syncing your cycle to its changes, download a lunar phase calendar or use an app like MyMoontime - take a look every evening to see where the moon is that night in its cycle and then try to spend some time in view of the moon either meditating, reading, or just resting. More and more places now also have Full Moon hikes where women can connect with the moon and each other. If you can’t find a group, practice a ritual at home in view of the moon or start your own group!

‍3. Fix your period problems

‍To repeat - as long as you’re having a healthy cycle that is consistent for YOU - this is what matters. Monitoring your period and cycle for length with a period tracker app, looking at the color and consistency of your bleeding, and logging any symptoms you experience - from PMS to bloating to acne - is more important to your health than syncing with the moon. It’s from this place that you can start to solve and move past your period problems.

Your period should and can be regular and predictable - if it’s not, there’s a way to change that. Once you’ve got a healthy cycle that feels good for you, then you’re in a better place to start working on syncing with the moon and you’ll be better positioned to reap the benefits of this experience. Your body is a mirror, whether or not your period comes with the full moon or the new moon. You don’t need to be bleeding with the new moon to reconnect with Nature, but connecting with the natural environment will have a positive impact on your health - including getting your cycle to be more regular, predictable and symptom-free.

Your cycle is magical, regardless of any cool moon connection you might experience. Your cycle can work magic for you, if you support it with hormone-friendly foods and a hormonally-supportive way of living. Get in touch with your own, personal, unique cycle and that’s the first step to living in your Flo with all of its benefits. ‍

My Top 5 Foods To Prevent PMS

I know what you’re thinking - “prevent PMS? There’s no way to do that!” We grow into womanhood believing that PMS is an inevitable part of being female. Then so many of us experience it, we believe that must be true. We just accept that once a month for a few days, a week, longer maybe, we feel crabby, angry, low, anxious, lacking in confidence, frustrated, as well as bloated, ravenously hungry, craving sugar, and covered in acne! Pah! How is that okay? Well, actually, it’s not okay. No woman should suffer with PMS. No woman has to suffer with PMS. If I have one message I want to communicate full blast - it’s this: PMS is not normal. You can prevent PMS completely naturally. PMS is a symptom of a hormonal imbalance and that imbalance can be fixed. Usually this imbalance is a case of too much estrogen, or estrogen dominance, coupled with low progesterone levels. You can combat your PMS with the right morning routine, by getting good sleep, by increasing the pleasure in your life, and by changing your diet to support your hormonal shifts and help your body to create, process and eliminate hormones in the way that’s best and most healthy for you. I make choices about what I eat based on where I am in my cycle. I have managed to get to a point that is long passed PMS by doing this. The FLO Living protocol didn’t just heal my PCOS, help me to lose weight, and banish my acne, it also got rid of my PMS for me. I’m not kidding, in fact when my husband goes out for a guy’s night with his friends, they will sometimes end up talking about their relationships, their girlfriends and wives, and often his friends will share that their partners suffer with PMS and during “that time of the month” they get into fights and feel like they have to stay out of the way. My husband loves being able to say that his wife doesn’t experience PMS. These men, they cannot believe that is possible - but it is.

The best foods you can eat to prevent PMS

Chickpeas - these are a great source of B6 which helps with progesterone production. If your progesterone levels are low in the second half of your cycle you will experience both stress and period issues. A low level of B6 can make estrogen dominance more pronounced, when you have too much estrogen in your blood stream and not enough progesterone.
Kale and leafy greens - all of the brassica family greens, but especially kale, contain indole-3 carbinol, which is a powerful hormone balancer. This compound promotes estrogen metabolism, which allows us to eliminate excess estrogen and prevent estrogen dominance.
Coconut yogurt - my favorite kind of coconut yogurt is Anita’s Creamline Coconut Yogurt, it is utterly delicious. This yogurt contains probiotics in the form of live cultures and lots of good fats, which are both mood stabilizing and prevent PMS food cravings.
Sweet potatoes - not only should they satisfy your sweet cravings - consider drizzling roasted sweet potatoes with some honey and top with pecans - but because they are rich in vitamin A, they will also help your liver break down excess estrogen, balance out your blood sugar levels, and balance your mood.
Bone broth - a fantastic source of the electrolytes magnesium and calcium which will prevent the headaches, migraines and fuzzy headedness that can come with PMS. Have a cup before bed to also benefit from its sleep enhancing properties!

I want to hear from you!

First, do you suffer with PMS?Second, which PMS symptoms do you get each month? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Need more Hormone Help?

My post-pregnancy, anti-aging skin care secrets

Although I do have my favorite skincare products - more about those later - I know that the condition of my skin is a reflection of what I put in my body through my diet, and not just what I put on my skin morning and night. The key to glowing, soft, clear, youthful skin is in your diet and your lifestyle, and not only in a jar, tube or bottle.

There’s no denying it, pregnancy, breast-feeding, taking care of your child changes your skin. It’s a combination of three elements that cause this change - the hormonal shifts, your sleep schedule, and your nutrition as someone supporting another human being! If you don’t focus on taking care of yourself, it will show up on your skin. Lack of sleep, micronutrient depletion, collagen loss, hormonal imbalance - all of this will make your skin appear older. Pregnancy and post-pregnancy can bring about acne, dryness, wrinkles and sagging, eczema, rosacea, and under eye circles if you are not consciously choosing a diet and lifestyle that supports what your body is going through at this time.

I’m always looking at my skin’s signals to me to tell me what I need to add more of into my diet or lifestyle. For example, if I don’t get enough sleep, my pores get bigger! They literally grow in size with every hour of sleep that I miss!

So, how do I ensure I look fresh as a new mom? Let me break it down for you.

My skin care secrets - beauty from the inside out

What to do for beautiful skin:

Sleep! Sleep, sleep, sleep - whenever, however you can. For me, that might be an extra 90 minutes when my husband can take care of our daughter’s morning routine before he goes to work. It can also mean a nap in the afternoon or extra sleep at the weekends. Recent research showed that you can payback your “sleep debt” from the previous week by adding hours in bed at the weekend.
Outsmart Stress - To get better quality sleep and avoid insomnia or waking up frequently you need to cut back on the caffeine and supplement with the adaptogens ashwangda, rhodiola, and maca which will ease the pressure put on your adrenals from sleep deprivation. Use the blood sugar stabilizer cinnamon on your morning eggs, in smoothies, or in tea to prevent surges and crashes in your blood sugar which can lead to fatigue and poor sleep.
Beautify with superfoods - Let’s start with what not to do, namely crash dieting. Don’t try to cut out all fat or cut back on what you’re eating in the day - in fact, do the opposite! Eat a lot and fill up on fats. For me that means 2 eggs every morning with coconut oil, avocado on gluten free toast, sunflower seed butter on apple slices, three full meals every day. Know that if you want to lose weight - women need to eat fat to lose fat. If you’re breast feeding this is so important! I am breast feeding and I still take my pre-natal vitamins to keep my milk supply high and restore the nutrients that go to my daughter. Add in some essential fatty acid omega 3 supplements to that mix. Plus lots of bone broth for the gelatin that makes your skin bouncy and dewy! You can even add gelatin squares to your smoothies if this is easier.

My skin care secrets - beauty that’s more than skin-deep

I am a huge fan of Naturopathica skincare products. While I’m not paid for these recommendations, I feel passionately about sharing them because it is nearly impossible to find skin care product that has ingredients I personally feel comfortable with using while pregnant or breastfeeding. These pass my personal test. Just before the holidays I visited their new NYC spa and had the most dreamy, gorgeous facial and massage. Here are the products I use at home:

In the shower every day I use the Naturopathica oat polish facial cleanser to help with skin cell renewal.
Each night I use the Naturopathica calendula based super-hydrating thick moisturizer to heal my dry skin.
Once or twice per month I spend some time hanging out in the Naturopathica pumpkin enzyme mask for maximum exfoliation.

Special Flo-tip

If you are coping with acne you may have been interested in all the recent news about probiotic skincare. Some of these products are amazing, if you’re curious if it might work for you, experiment by just taking the juice from a finished jar of sauerkraut and dabbing it on your skin after your cleanser to help rebalance the skin microbiome.

To your FLO,

Alisa

Exercise & Fitness

Click here to learn more about the life-changing Monthly FLO Program

What you need to know about PCOS and Your Sex Drive

When it comes to libido, women with PCOS have one of two experiences - there are those who have a relatively high sex drive and those who experience a very low sex drive. If you want to enjoy a healthy, pleasurable sex life you need to work with the PCOS libido you have to make sure you’re getting what you need. As a result of working with so many PCOS sufferers, and being a former PCOS sufferer myself, I have developed strategies that allow women with high or low libido to reinvigorate and reinvent their sex life and relationship from a basis of cycle awareness and hormonal understanding. Here at Flo Living I often hear women with PCOS say that they just “don’t feel like a woman” - is this a feeling you connect with too? The source of this unease is your testosterone levels and how high testosterone can push you to stay in your masculine energy all of the time. Or, alternatively, it can be sourced in how low testosterone can make you feel disinterested in sex and the person you love, in either case making you feel unfeminine. As a former PCOS sufferer myself, I personally had the high testosterone/high libido experience. In this post I’ll talk you through how this made me develop a unique approach to my relationship. Those two types of PCOS in regards to sex drive look like this:

Low libido - due to low testosterone levels and high sex hormone binding globulin levels (SHBG). Women experiencing this do not usually have other symptoms like acne and hair loss/unwanted hair growth.
High libido - due to high testosterone levels and low sex hormone binding globulin levels (SHBG). Women with this kind of PCOS will normally have issues with acne and hair loss/unwanted hair growth.

My own high testosterone levels had an impact on every area of my life - energetically it led me towards living predominantly in my masculine energy. I began to consciously balance this out by practicing ways of connecting to and nurturing my feminine energy. I found this much more satisfying in my romantic relationships, so I could feel like I was receiving more from my partner in and out of the bedroom. So, how do you know if you’re experiencing a masculine/feminine energy imbalance personally and in your relationship due to high testosterone levels?

You feel disconnected from your emotions.
You find it difficult to receive focused touch from your partner.
You find it hard to verbalize your feelings to your partner.
You feel like you have to take the lead in your relationship in general

If you have low sex drive as a result of low testosterone levels then you may also be experiencing these symptoms:

fatigue
vaginal dryness
insomnia
gaining weight around your middle
problems retaining muscle mass

For more on low testosterone or “low T” visit my previous post.Now, to stay balanced in my relationship, I just let my cycle take the lead so I’m always dancing in a balanced way between my masculine and feminine energies. I find I like to take charge in the bedroom when I’m in my ovulation phase and my testosterone levels are at their peak. During this time I get the most pleasure out of being in charge and being proactive about my desires. During the rest of the month, however, I prefer to be the one who is pursued! Here are the strategies I use in my own life and those I recommend to my Flo Living clients:

Low libido with PCOS

Leverage your Peak Testosterone TimeUse what’s happening with your body to your advantage. If you have low testosterone levels, your testosterone production will still find its peak when you’re in the ovulation phase. So start by tracking your cycle so that you know when you’re ovulating and can plan ahead! Make the most of that time. Clear your calendar! Plan a few date nights with your partner and let him in on the secret! Then make sure you focus on the foreplay, because it might take you a little longer to feel ready, especially when you are not in your ovulation phase. Spend some time getting to know what feels good for you and then teach your partner what you need. Make more testosterone naturallyTo increase your testosterone levels and lower SHBG maximize zinc and saturated fats in your diet. Avocados are a wonderful source of bioidentical testosterone and beans and seeds are packed full of Zinc (although you could also supplement with 50mg daily).

High libido with PCOS

Practice Receiving PleasureConnect with your feminine energy. It’s not fun or pleasurable to always be the one who is leading, initiating, and dominating in a relationship. It can bring about resentment if you’re never in “receiving” mode in your relationship - being pursued, wooed and adored by your partner! Getting into the mode of receiving pleasure from your partner can boost your mood and health. There are many ways you can practice connecting with your feminine energy.Lower Your Sensitivity to TestosteroneTo lower testosterone levels and increase SHBG try saw palmetto extract daily which is anti-androgen (androgens are “male” hormones) and also anti-inflammatory. A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that women who ate walnuts increased their levels of SHBG and those who ate almonds decreased their free androgen levels. In study published in the Iran Journal of Reproductive Medicine, women who were given omega-3 supplements saw their testosterone levels decrease. Instead of supplements you can increase salmon in your diet. Women with both types of PCOS libido will certainly benefit from cycle-syncing their relationship, alongside their diet and wider lifestyle choices. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, has PCOS affected your sex life? Second, which do you experience - a high or low libido? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Feeling Frazzled, Bloated, and Unsexy?

If you’ve noticed more distance between cycles…or some periods are light and some are super heavy…your sex drive is flat…and you’re more moody in general (anxious, depressed, or both)…and especially if you’re in your mid 30’s and up…Your hormones may be aging faster than they should. But you can start reversing this process by adding one key micronutrient that you’re likely missing.Get your free report: The Magic Missing Micronutrient to Get Your Sexy Back

The 5 foods to avoid if you have PCOS

If you’re dealing with a hormonal condition like PCOS, you’ve probably tried every health trend on the planet. Juicing, fasting, low-carb, , vegan diets — sound familiar?

Your instincts are spot on. When it comes to restoring hormonal balance, food IS medicine. But the truth is that many of today’s health food fads only make hormonal symptoms worse. If you’re “eating healthy” but still experiencing symptoms of endocrine chaos, one of the culprits might be on your plate.

In the past few years, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) has been in the public eye like never before. Thanks to celebrities like Victoria Beckham and Daisy Ridley, women around the world who are coping with the condition finally feel less alone.

As a former PCOS sufferer, I couldn’t be happier to see PCOS making headlines. I experienced everything from agonizing acne and weight gain to sleeplessness, depression, and more. It was only after years of trial, error, and frustration that I was able to successfully reverse my hormonal imbalance with one powerful tool that’s too often overlooked in conventional medicine: Food.

Why Cutting Out Dairy and Sugar May Not Be Enough to Heal Your PCOS

If you’ve been diagnosed with PCOS, you’ve probably heard over and over about the dangers of sugar and dairy. And, it’s true: these two foods are unparalleled in their ability to wreak hormonal havoc (caffeine is another nutritional villain when it comes to hormones, so it’s best avoided, too).

To get your period back, clear your acne, stop hair loss, and lose weight you’re wise to keep sugar, dairy, and caffeine out of your diet. But you’ll also want to take a close look at the other foods and beverages that might be sabotaging your success.

When you’re willing to dig deeper and root out the hidden “healthy” foods that undermine hormone balance, you’ll make leaps and bounds in easing symptoms.

Some “Healthy” Foods May Make Your PCOS worse

Before I made it my mission to fix my hormones and help other women do the same, I had no idea that some of the foods I believed to be "healthy" were actually making my problems worse. Now, I see how shocked my clients are when I tell them that some of the hyped-up health foods in their grocery carts might be hindering their progress in reversing symptoms.

For women with PCOS, it’s important to know which “healthy” foods to avoid. If you’re hormonally-sensitive like I am, these foods—foods that can be healthy for others—have a stronger effect on you can make the symptoms you desperately want to be rid of even worse.

The 5 “Healthy” Foods You Have to Quit ASAP To Beat PCOS

So what are the 5 foods to avoid if you have PCOS? Allow me to play mythbuster and highlight the foods you probably never thought could have an impact on your ovaries:

Artificial sweeteners. The quest to give up sugar—and get off the blood-sugar roller coaster— is so important. In all the years I’ve worked with clients, I’ve rarely met a woman who is struggling with hormone issues who isn’t also struggling with blood sugar issues. But in the quest to ditch the sweet stuff, we often turn to sugar substitutes, which come with their own problems.

One cause for concern is the intensely sweet flavor of these synthetic substitutes. When we rely on them heavily, they can hijack of our taste buds and make more complex flavors, like those found in vegetables and low-glycemic fruits like berries, less appealing—and the fewer whole, real vegetables and low-glycemic fruits we eat, the more we deprive the liver of the phytonutrients it needs to function optimally. The liver processes and eliminates used hormones from the body; when it doesn’t get the phytonutrient support it needs, it struggles to eliminate estrogen and other hormones from the body, contributing to hormonal imbalance.

For some women, I include stevia in this category. It’s not artificial, but, in some traditional societies, folk wisdom holds that regular intake of stevia is a form of birth control. For women who aren’t hormonally-sensitive, small amounts of stevia probably won’t have a profound effect on their fertility or cycles. But for those of us who are hormonally-sensitive PCOS sufferers, it’s best to err on the side of caution and choose a different sweetener, especially if you’re currently heaping spoonfuls into your herbal teas throughout the day.

Red meat. Paleo diets have become as trendy as intense boot camp classes (exercise is a whole other important part of the equation...) in recent years. And all too often, women with PCOS are advised to eat like cavemen, subsisting mostly on lots and lots of protein-packed meat to lose weight and counteract the damaging effects of sugar. But here’s the deal: In my experience, if you have PCOS, following a Paleo diet will not bring about weight loss and it certainly won’t bring back your period. A high protein diet causes a decrease in the production of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), which is vital to reducing testosterone levels — something that’s critical in PCOS recovery.

Plus, many women with PCOS have a specific genetic problem known as the methyl-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutation. Eating Paleo when you have the MTHFR gene mutation can create too much of an amino acid called homocysteine, which can cause an increase in PCOS symptoms.

Upping meat intake is also often coupled with decreasing carbohydrates and this is a real issue for PCOS sufferers. Recent research suggests that PCOS may be connected to autoimmune thyroid disease (poor thyroid function) and your thyroid needs the glucose from good carbohydrates (like quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat rather than glutento function optimally.

Raw kale. When eaten raw, all cruciferous vegetables contain substances called goitrogens that suppress thyroid function (or cause hypothyroidism) which contributes to PCOS. As a rule of thumb, it’s always a good idea to cook kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, bok choy and cabbage before eating. One easy way technique is to saute them in a pan with a little coconut oil.Don’t worry about celery, romaine lettuce, beet leaves, and chard — you can eat those in their raw form to your heart’s content;they don’t contain this goitrogen chemical.

Soy. It’s pretty common for women to swap in soy for dairy when they ditch milk, but this exchange isn’t a good one. Soy isn’t your ally if you have PCOS because it contains "phyto" or plant estrogen that acts like estrogen in the body—and eating too much of it confuses your body into thinking it has enough of the real deal in supply. This sends a signal your endocrine system to slow down estrogen production, subsequently slowing the production of luteinizing hormone (LH), and effectively shutting down ovulation.

Cooking oils like canola, sunflower, and vegetable oils (and synthetic spreads, like margarine). Unhealthy fats are bad news for hormonal harmony. For one, eating too many unhealthy fats crowds out our consumption of healthy fats, which are important for maintaining healthy levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Cholesterol is a precursor to all the body’s steroid hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, and FSH. Simply put, and contrary to media reports about cholesterol in recent decades, we need cholesterol to make some of our most important hormones.

Vegetable oils and other cooking oils, like sunflower oil, are high in omega-6 fatty acids and low in omega-3 fatty acids. We need to consume both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids through diet (the body can’t produce them and we need them to live), but the problem is that the Western diet is flooded with omega-6 fatty acids—and tragically short on omega-3 fatty acids. When omega-6s are disproportionately high in the body relative to omega-3s, its a recipe for inflammation, which is the archenemy of hormonal health and overall health.

Canola oil presents its own set of problems. It’s higher in omega-6s than omega-3s, like other vegetable oils (though not by as high a margin), but the real causes for concern with canola are GMOs and toxic processing. The vast majority of the plants from which canola oil is harvested are genetically modified—and the oil is extracted by heating and crushing the plant seeds and then mixing them with hexane. In addition to being classified as a neurotoxin by the CDC , hexane and other organic solvents like it, drive up inflammation and interfere with endocrine health. .

Non-food bonus tip for hormonal balance!

BONUS: Ditch staying up late to binge your favorite TV show or finish a work project. Food isn’t the only thing that affects hormones. Regularly skimping on sleep is a sure-fire way to throw blood sugar off balance, put your adrenal system into overdrive, and send a whole bunch of suboptimal signals to your endocrine system. Prioritize good sleep the way you do healthy eating, and your hormones will thank you.

to your FLO,

Alisa

Good things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, do you have PCOS?

Second, have you tried giving up sugar and dairy?

Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Monthly FLO: The Cycle Syncing System™

Put your period symptoms into remission. Discover how to live in your FLO and get it all done with embodied time management.

MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime.

Using the principles of functional nutrition, MonthlyFLO is a specially-sequenced food therapy program that recalibrates your endocrine function. Over three months, you will be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally.

5 Ways Hormonal Birth Control Disrupts Dating

You may be familiar with some of the side effects of hormonal birth control, like depression, blood clots, and weight gain. You might also know that birth control pills, which are often prescribed for things other than contraception—like irregular periods or acne—aren’t the best solution for managing symptoms. In fact, the pill ultimately makes symptoms like acne worse.But hormonal birth control has other, more far-reaching consequences. Specifically, taking the pill can wreak havoc on your love life. I know that probably sounds far out or completely made up, but the idea that hormonal birth control has real consequences for your love life comes directly from the scientific research, which I outline in detail below.

And when you think about it closely, it makes a lot of sense. The pill messes with hormone production and balance by introducing a stream of synthetic hormones to our systems—and because hormones impact how we perceive other people and how they perceive us, it stands to reason that our interactions with everyone—and specifically romantic partners— would be tipped sideways by a steady stream of synthetic hormones. In other words, hormones help us interact with the world. When we introduce a whole new set of hormones to our delicate bodies, it can shift our desires and perceptions on a fundamental biochemical level and have far-reaching romantic consequences.

How the Pill Ruins Love

Here are 5 of the ways that the pill might be messing with your love life:You like the smell of guys or girls who are wrong for you romantically. When our hormones are balanced and healthy and when (biochemically speaking) we’re on the hunt for a baby daddy (which means you! It doesn’t matter if you never want kids or if you aren’t attracted to men. If you’re ovulating, your body goes through the biochemical hunt for a good reproductive partner every month), we are primed to be attracted to men to whom we are genetically dissimilar, which lowers the chance of miscarriage and increases the likelihood of having a healthy baby. It also tends to make for more satisfying sex and happier relationships.

Studies show that if you are on the pill, you are more likely to gravitate toward men who smell like you (possibly because the pill simulates pregnancy and pregnant women are drawn toward nurturing and supportive biological relatives, or folks who smell like them). In this way, the pill acts like an anti-cupid, steering you away from your ideal romantic match. You become less attractive to the opposite or same sex. Pheromones are chemical messengers released by the body—and research shows that women’s pheromones can, quite literally, cast a spell over men and women when it comes to romance. Pheromones act as a sort of ‘love potion’ when they are released, increasing a person’s attraction to a women. But studies show that the pill stops production of these attraction-enhancing pheromones, and that might have negative consequences for your romantic and sexual life. It might make your attraction to your current partner disappear (gasp!). If you start a relationship when you’re on the pill then you may find, if and when you come off, that you’re no longer attracted to your partner. One study found that unless your mate is considered conventionally good-looking by evolutionary standards, you may then find them unattractive after you quit taking hormonal birth control. Here is what study author Michelle Russell told Time magazine in 2014:“Women who choose a partner when they’re on hormonal contraceptives and then stop taking them will prioritize their husband’s attractiveness more than they would if they were still on it. The effect that it would have on her marital satisfaction would carry more weight.”

It can suppress your sex drive. A woman’s sex drive should peak around ovulation, but the pill prevents this from happening. Not only that, but the synthetic hormones in hormonal birth control deplete your testosterone reserves, which, along with balanced hormones, is a key to your sexual desire and enjoyment. Research has linked oral contraceptives with female sexual dysfunction, including less frequent sexual activity, arousal, pleasure, and orgasm, and difficulty with lubrication. Oral contraceptives have also been linked with recurrent yeast infections—and there’s nothing like a yeast infection to sink one’s sex drive. It can lower your mood (which decreases your chances of getting in the mood).The pill has been linked to depression and anxiety, particularly in those women who may have a history of mental health issues. And many women are put on the pill for what’s actually a bad case of PMS—which can be addressed naturally—only to find that it makes their mood swings worse. For some, these mood changes manifest themselves as a bad case of the “blahs,” or just kinda feeling “meh” about everything (otherwise known as anhedonia). Women are supposed to feel a range of emotions throughout their natural cycle, and being in touch with the ebbs and flows of your feelings can actually enhance your relationship. Feeling so-so about everything all the time doesn’t lend itself to romance. When you’re feeling blah, you’d just as rather watch TV than make-out with your sweetheart. If the pill’s deleterious effects on dating are making you question the use of oral contraceptives for contraception or as a medical treatment, follow my protocol to transition off the pill. If you’re going to stay on the pill a little while longer, you can start this protocol now to ensure the switch is smooth and that you avoid seeing the return of any prior symptoms.

If you are on the pill for contraception, don’t forget about non-hormonal contraception choices. And if you want to learn more about potential side effects of hormonal birth control, including cancer risk, check out my special FREE Birth Control Rehab report.Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this – the science of your body is on your side!

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to your FLO,Alisa

If you have a daughter or will someday - read this!

Last month ACOG (the American Committee of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) published a report recommending that teenage girls, their parents, and their clinicians consider the menstrual cycle as the “fifth vital sign” of health. In this landmark announcement, this group of women’s health experts suggested that teens keep track of their periods and develop cycle awareness to help clinicians with early diagnosis of reproductive health issues like PCOS, thyroid disease, and endometriosis, which can be indicated by abnormally long cycles, excessive bleeding, or lack of periods entirely. The report includes guidelines on what should be considered outside the normal range when it comes to a teen’s cycle experience - from the onset of periods, to cycle length, to duration of the flow.The ACOG report states: “By including an evaluation of the menstrual cycle as an additional vital sign, clinicians reinforce its importance in assessing overall health status for patients and caretakers. Just as abnormal blood pressure, heart rate, or respiratory rate may be key to diagnosing potentially serious health conditions, identification of abnormal menstrual patterns in adolescence may improve early identification of potential health concerns for adulthood.”HALLELUIAH!! I would have loved THAT to have been part of my conversation as a teenager with all my period issues! I’ve long known the menstrual cycle to be a signifier of our health (you can read my own guidelines on what it means to have a “normal” period here), but I also know the menstrual cycle is the key to developing and nurturing our health.

How to help the teen in your life

If you are the mother, aunt, sister, or godmother of a teenage girl, this report contains crucial information that I believe ought to be conveyed with the same importance as instructions on how to use a tampon or pad. Most of us are comfortable now with sharing the latter with teens - gone are the days when teens would be shocked and horrified by the arrival of their first period, I hope - but all of us adult women, we need to support the younger generation now beyond the practicalities. A great book to help start a teen on this journey is “Cycle Savvy” by Toni Weschler (who wrote the comprehensive cycle knowledge bible “Taking Charge of Your Fertility”). Of course, it’s a little like what they tell you in the airplane safety schpeel - “help yourself before you help others.” Or - lead by example! If you’re living in your Flo and reaping the benefits then you are better equipped to support young women in learning, appreciating, and understanding their menstrual cycles. From this position you can give the gift of hormonal imbalance to others. As the mother of a daughter, I am thrilled that this report was created by ACOG. Although I know that, when the time comes, I will teach my daughter the art of cycle tracking, cycle awareness, and cycle syncing, I am happy that now a certain standard of care when it comes to young women’s reproductive health will become the expected practice. I am glad that we are finally seeing the period as indicator of our overall health and well-being, rather than just something to be suffered through, ignored, or hidden away. That said, there’s one thing missing from this otherwise encouraging report that concerns me, and that’s how these reproductive health issues will be treated, once they are diagnosed.

When the Pill is the problem

Early diagnosis is an important step forward in how we care for women’s health. However, if the primary or only treatment offered to teen girls is the birth control pill or hormone-based IUD, then we are missing out on a huge opportunity to truly help our young women. If the teen in your life is dealing with reproductive health issues like those mentioned in the report, then consulting a doctor is an important part of getting her back on track. However, we must always question the prescription of hormonal birth control as it never treats the health issue, but only masks the symptoms. Once your teen decides to come off, and this might be years down the line, she will discover the health issue will return and possibly be worse than before. If the teen in your life is dealing with very common problems like acne or PMS then the Pill is not the answer there either. Again, it will only mask these issues, not solve them. Although it can be very tempting to reach for these drugs to put a stop to the problem, it’s important to know that doing so can set a young women up for a lifetime of side effects (such as depression, low libido, anxiety, hair loss, cancer risk, and even life-threatening blood clots) and suppressed functioning of her endocrine, metabolic, and immune systems. It really can have a serious domino effect for her health.

Finding your Flo as a young woman

The source of hormonal imbalance issues in teen girls is mainly diet, exposure to synthetic estrogens in everything from cosmetics to shampoos, and stress. While some cycle irregularity is normal during teenage years (your reproductive system does take a few years to mature) we should not be seeing the symptoms to the extent that we are in new generations. Teaching teens to be conscious of their cycles AND teaching them to live in harmony with their hormones will go a long way to saving them much suffering. Although this is not an area I detail extensively in my book “WomanCode,” teen girls can absolutely follow the exact same Flo Living diet and lifestyle plan outlined there from the time they begin cycling. As I recommend for all women, start simply by layering foods in a cycle-synced pattern and build from there. What if a girl’s first period were not only met with a care package of tampons and pads, but also a copy of “Cycle Savvy” and “WomanCode”? If you’re reading this thinking of the teen daughter who is possibly in your future, it’s good to know that the gift of hormonal balance can be given when she’s still in the womb. Prepping yourself for a healthy pregnancy will be one of the best things you can do for your daughter. But, if you’ve come to Flo Living already with a pre-teen or teen in the family, then know that it’s never too late to start living in and loving your Flo. Share your journey with her, she’ll surely thank you for it. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, have you shared Flo Living with your family? Second, what do you wish you knew as a teenager? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Need more Hormone Help?

Make more of this new hormone to stop your sugar cravings

Scientists have discovered a hormone, residing in the liver, that is responsible for controlling your sugar cravings. Go science! The hormone has the delightful name of FGF21 or fibroblast growth factor 21 and sends signals to the brain to suppress hankerings for the sweet stuff. Research has shown that administering this hormone (to monkeys and mice) has the effect of stopping a desire for anything sugary. In fact, the animals responded by reducing their intake of sugar by an impressive 7 fold. Essentially this hormone tells your body when you’ve had enough sugar and don’t need any more. We’ve known for a while that hormones have control over appetite but ‍

FGF21 is specifically safeguarding our appetite for sugar.The new findings have caused scientists to consider the possibility of creating a drug that mimics the hormone’s effect on the body - thereby assisting the diabetic and obese in regaining their health. But what should you take away from this latest research? Well, it’s going to be a long time before that drug is created and comes to market. Not only that, but it’s my belief that for most women there is an easier, simpler and more healthful way of curing your sugar cravings and it’s something you can start on today.

Curbing your sweet tooth with food

If you want this liver-based hormone FGF21 to work for you and suppress those sugar cravings then you need to develop excellent liver function. A humming liver is going to support the work of FGF21 and naturally increase your ability to satisfy your sugar gremlins with just a healthy couple of dates or some honey in your tea. No more being overwhelmed to binge on cookies! To get to this place you need to be using food on the daily to control your blood sugar levels so that your liver can function at its best. You know, it’s actually totally normal to have some sugar cravings. Glucose is your brain’s only source of fuel so you actually need a form of the sweet stuff to keep the cogs turning. However, at the root of all hormonal imbalance issues you will find poorly regulated blood sugar. Most women I meet through Flo Living are experiencing the dramatic peaks and troughs of blood sugar mismanagement. Solving this issue is the starting point for living in your Flo. Blood sugar mismanagement means the sugar gremlins become sugar bullies and push you to seek out too much sweet stuff to keep your energy levels high and prevent crashing out. The liver and pancreas function to regulate our blood sugar levels and eliminate excess hormones and toxins. I’ve been preaching this for years. Therefore - smooth, controlled blood sugar stasis allows your liver to complete its other necessary duties, including processing excess estrogen so that you can avoid one of the main causes of many hormonal balance issues and other female diseases - estrogen dominance. If your liver and pancreas are too busy figuring out your blood sugar issues, then they won’t ever be able to concentrate their efforts on getting rid of all of the synthetic estrogens we absorb every day in the form of plastics, cleaners, beauty products and more, which lead to health problems like endometriosis, PCOS, acne, cramps, infertility, and PMS. Improving your blood sugar stasis and liver function will support the amazing FGF21 hormone in doing its important work.

My 5 step plan to make more FGF21 and beat your sugar cravings

The key to curing your sugar cravings is food. Let food be thy medicine here. You don’t need to wait for the FGF21-inspired drug (with who-knows-what side effects…) You can use food to make more of this hormone today and fix your burning desire for the sweet stuff.

Eat the Right Sugar on Purpose. Even if you have stabilized blood sugar, you’re going to crave sweetness at some time or another. Not all sugars are created equal, but in the end anything that tastes sweet will have an impact on your blood sugar. You need to get smart about how you satisfy your sugar gremlins and not let them become bad-for-you sugar bullies. I have several go-to recipes for sweet treats that I turn to when I’m feeling the need. As a rule, honey and coconut nectar are my two favorite sweeteners, as, for me, they have the lowest impact on my blood sugar levels.
Time Your Breakfast Right. You need to eat breakfast within 90 minutes of waking up. Choose a good-size, protein rich breakfast with eggs and smoked salmon. Research has shown a big breakfast prevents hormonal imbalance issues like PCOS and infertility, as well as protecting you from developing type-2 diabetes.
Supersize your lunch. Your biggest meal of the day should be lunch. Incorporate a complex carb like black beans, a source of good fat like avocado and sunflower seeds and a generous helping of glutathione-heavy vegetables like carrots, broccoli, spinach or asparagus, drizzled with olive oil. Glutathione is an antioxidant that detoxifies the liver.
Make a Liver Lover Smoothie. Detoxing your liver doesn’t involve deprivation, in fact I want you to add a delicious smoothie to your weekly meal plan. Cilantro contains a property called linalool that helps to cleanse the liver. I have perfected a smoothie recipe that brings in cilantro plus glutathione heavy mango and apple. Blend: ½ cup mango, ½ a green apple, 1/2 cup frozen pineapple, 1/2 cup coconut water and 1 cup of cilantro.
Avoid Hidden Sugar. There are many hidden sugars that you might be missing, especially when it comes to picking out any packaged or supposed “health foods.” New dietary guidelines encourage limiting sugar intake of any kind to just 10% of your daily calories. Although I don’t agree with all of the new recommendations, I believe they’re spot-on with this one, but we need to be even more careful than that. 200 calories from sugar per day is a lot - more than one 12 ounce can of soda. We really should be avoiding white sugar completely. Be aware of where sugars hide - it can be in unexpected places, like fruit-based smoothies that don’t incorporate the fruits’ fibre, which are often as bad for you sugar-wise as eating a brownie! The sugar industry has given the white stuff a lot of new names to try and baffle us into consuming more than we should. Check out the documentary Fed Up, it’s a real eye-opener.

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To your FLO,Alisa

My Morning Routine to Prevent PMS, Mood Swings, and Low Energy

How do you start your day? Do you hit the snooze button until you have to dash out the door, breakfast-less and barely awake? Or do you lay in bed scrolling through emails on your phone and getting stressed about what’s ahead? Your morning routine, or lack thereof, can have an impact on the rest of your day. If you start the day anxious, hungry, and over-caffeinated, you probably know all to well that you won’t be able to perform to the best of your abilities at work or when it comes to any of your plans. But not only that, you’re also setting yourself up for the kind of jagged blood sugar and cortisol overdrive that will inevitably trigger hormone imbalance, leaving you open to symptoms such as PMS, missed periods, cramps, bloating, acne and more. How you choose to start your day impacts your whole month in this way - one too many bad mornings can spell disaster for your period.

How to become a morning person

It doesn’t have to be this way! Mornings can be a moment of peace and sanctuary when you ready yourself for the busy day. We always hear that there are “morning people” and those who hate mornings. I think some of what goes into this is how well you sleep. Feeling energized and positive at the day’s start, of course, has a lot to do with whether you got enough rest. But, that’s not the whole picture. You can also put to waste a good night’s rest rapidly with a rushed and hectic morning. You know those women you see serenely sweeping through the office, getting it all done, then gliding home in the evening to a fulfilled, satisfied, relaxed evening? They’ve probably got their mornings handled. Changing your morning routine can be the first key step to happiness, to healing your hormonal health issues, and to getting you on the path to perfect periods. Mastering the morning is kind of a major life skill. I’d even go as far as to say that a good morning routine is life-changing!

Why I have more than one morning routine

Now, here’s where I differ. I don’t have the same morning routine for every single day. No, of course not. You are not in the same physical, mental, or emotional space every single day. You are a woman and, so, you are cyclical. To get the most out of your mornings you need to go with your Flo and not try to enforce a strict pattern that just won’t feel good all of the time. Changing your morning routine to fit your hormone cycle is like taking a regular morning routine and super charging it for the demands of modern womanhood! It also makes sticking to a routine so much easier, because the routine for that day should fit how you’ll be feeling when you wake up. Plus, being cycle-aware in regards to your morning routine provides an immediate blueprint for you to follow through. So, this means that I actually have one morning routine for the first half of my cycle and one morning routine for the second half of my cycle. It’s that simple, but it’s so effective.

My morning routine for the first half of my cycle (from post-period to ovulation)

I wake up and drink a tall glass of lemon water
I stretch out my body with some light yoga practice before I start putting together my breakfast
I make a smoothie with a blend of avocado, blueberries, spinach, flax, almond milk, and cinnamon
I then sit down at my desk and assess the to-do list I have put together the night before. In the evenings I always feel super ambitious about what I can achieve in one day, but when the morning comes I do allow myself to reality-check that list. I immediately take one or two items off the list. Doing this really feels like a relief in a way and that boosts my confidence and energy for the day ahead.
I take a moment to connect to my heart in some way before I start my work - this might mean a call to a friend, a cuddle with my daughter, or some meditation.

My morning routine for the second half of my cycle (from post-ovulation to the end of my period)

I wake up and drink a raspberry leaf hot tea
I stretch out my body with some light yoga before I make breakfast
I choose a more carb-heavy breakfast for this time of my cycle, with a grain-base like buckwheat or quinoa plus eggs and sauteed greens
I take some time to do a little introspective self-evaluation. I might call a friend to work through something that’s been bothering me or sit down to journal for a while. I want to get out what I’m feeling right now and address it in a way that works and feels best.
If I wake up feeling a little cranky and off-balance, I will write a quick 5 item gratitude list to shift my energy and feel revitalized. If this crankiness is overwhelming and hard to move past, then you should think about reassessing your diet and lifestyle and try a new way of living in your body for your next cycle.

Creating your morning routine around your cycle is a great way to start the process of cycle-syncing your life. Here at Flo Living I teach women to layer in cycle-syncing habits - from eating the right foods for your hormones, to switching your work outs, to embracing a cycle-aware outlook on your relationship - rather than trying to transform everything all at once. And, once you see the benefits to your mood, your energy, and your period health from making this change to your mornings, I know you’ll want to shape the rest of your day in the same way. Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, do you struggle to feel awake in the mornings? Second, what’s your current morning routine? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ;)

Need more Hormone Help?

Yes, you CAN become a morning person! Try these ideas to sync your morning routine to different parts of your hormonal cycle 🔃