In my cycle syncing journey I have made a number of mistakes - so have many other women. I’ll be the first to let you know that cycle syncing is difficult to get down and then once you do, moderately difficult to maintain. Only because we live in such a fast paced world the it is hard to plan ahead and get in that resting time. We are always compelled to push forward, plan ahead and ignore the fruits of our labor.
It is also a challenge to stay on top of planning in general. Because we move so fast in this world, we often have to take life as it comes and delegate tasks as they come. But many times we have more power than we think we do. Here are some common mistakes and how to remedy them
Treating every period the same
In all honestly, I was getting sick of being on this cycle. I felt like I was resting too much or resting too hard. I have a short cycle and planning to take 3 day off every 23-25 day was driving me mad - especially when I didn’t feel like I needed that much rest.
Now, I take every other period off. I definitely don’t work through every period at normal pace, but I also don't come to a complete stop for many of them. I just have many things t o do and working out and working often times feels more relaxing than doing nothing (classic Type A trait).
I will have a period where I shun everything for three days and just go over notes, dig deeper into spiritual practices, and walk or stretch. The next period I will get creative in the gym with weightlifting, dance and yoga, maybe go for some bike rides. I will also dig into any work that is not time sensitive but needs to be done and can be done quietly like, updating my website, building out weightlifting programs, or even just reviewing and fluffing up current projects.
I found this every-other method very useful in my life. It ensures I feel like I’m getting everything done and also that I am getting rest. I have to make sure I don’t over do it because if I over work for one period, I will be wiped out during the next.
Ignoring the food component
Salads are not a PMS food and stews will not help clear excess estrogen. Pay more attention to the food you eat always. Sugar will make PMS symptom worse literally every time. But also staying on some crazy rabbit food diet as your go though your period will make you miserable.
As you get closer to menstruating, switch to soft and warm foods. Comforting and hardy foods full of iron and protein. This is the time that I live making a mole steps stew - yes, a stew with black beans, warming spices and cacao. It is literally the most decadent thing I can eat when I am about to get my period.
Lean into the nutrition a little more and fell it click into place. If you are wondering what kind of foods you should be eating at what times, check out The Cycle Stack. It is written for just this topic.
Not checking in
It's easy to lose track of where you are in your cycle. We track the days of menses and then wont open the app until 2 weeks later and we are feeling “off” - even if we feel this same kind of “off” every month since we were young teens.
Make sure you know where you are in your cycle. You don't have to check it every day but once or twice a week is good. It happened to me too. Just recently I opened my all and found I was closer to my period than ovulation and wondered where the time went.
Making it too complex
I used to make all kind of workouts for myself and make plans ahead and put off doing important thing as long as I could because it would be better for my cycle at a different time. You don’t have to do this.
If you are following a training program, do it as prescribed and/or only slightly augment the single workout. Since I am following someone else's programming right now, I don’t get to change it all around based on my cycle - but I will change it if I am not feeling it. In my luteal phase, I will put rowing/assault bike sprints in between my weight lifting sets. In my premenstrual phase, I will change a 1RM to a 3 or 5RM - or sometimes just swap it out for 15 reps. When I get my period, it’s yoga time.
As far as work goes, I make my list of tasks, then label how important they are, and lastly, when they need to get done in my cycle. I found the only things I really need to watch out for is filming (ovulation) and reviewing (menses). Everything else will largely find its place.
Instead of creating all new programming for each phase, just augment the current programming to suit your state. If found this to me much more useful and sustainable.
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