Pairing Your Nutrition and Workouts for Optimal Hormonal Health & Fat Loss

Todays episode is all about how to structure your training and your nutrition with your female physiology and monthly hormones accordingly so that you get the maximum results for the effort that you're putting in.

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 It's always been interesting to me that the standards that are taught and given when it comes to your nutrition, exercise, and supplement regimen are kind of a one-size-fits all approach. The workouts and nutrition that work for men supposedly also work for women we just reduce the portion size for the nutrition and the weight, right? 

Here's the problem with that is as females, every month (every 28-40 days...yes 40 is also normal despite what we are taught), we go through a lot of hormonal changes. The only time during the month we are physiologically like men are the first 7-10 days or so (you know the time of the month when you feel the most normal lol). This means that the other 3-4 weeks we have something entirely different going on with our bodies that will affect our moods, sleep, performance, and the nutrition that we need. 

For example, ever wonder why that week or so before your period you get ravenous hungry and feel like no matter how much you eat you are starving craving chocolate and carbohydrates? You're not crazy-there's actually a reason for this. It's because that week before your monthly cycle (aka PMS-ish time) your hormones estrogen and progesterone are at their highest. Well estrogen can actually limit your body's ability to easily access glucose (aka sugar) and carbohydrate sources as your body's natural way of preparing you in case you were pregnant. That means while your normal carbohydrate intake would suffice, that week before your body essentially takes everything you normally eat and says "We need more! In case a baby is on its way!" and on top of that your progesterone also rises that week before which is responsible for a series of events like your hydration/water retention levels that affect your body's ability to put out the same amount of cardio or endurance type performance because your blood is thicker which means your body will feel heavy. 

You know how this feels, it's the days you go to the gym where 2 weeks prior you were crushing PR's on all your lifts then you come back a week later and you can barely lift 50% of that same weight without it feeling like 300lbs. No, you are not getting weaker or losing your muscle...your hormones are just higher and therefore limiting your ability to perform at the same level.

Don't worry though, there are ways to structure your nutrition and your workouts so that you work WITH your monthly hormone structure instead of against it so that you can feel more in control, continue to improve in your workouts, balance out mood swings, PMS, and all the "crazy" feelings that happen before, and maximize the timing of your "PR Workouts" and your recovery weeks with the way your hormones are changing.

So join me in this podcast episode where we do a deep dive into pairing your nutrition and your workouts to match your hormones and monthly cycle!

After you listen, to work directly with me on dialing in your nutrition, hydration, workouts, and supplementation to fit your female hormone needs then head on over here and let's chat to come up with a plan to help you feel strong, in control, empowered and your best self!

Here's to Creating a Body & Life You Love,

Ashley Drummonds