How to Balance Hormones Naturally With Food and Exercise

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Jess: I know it is stressful to think about making all these changes, but it's one little action step at a time. And a lot of these things that we can shift and change are going to drastically improve the way you feel and actually make your life easier and not harder.

Nikkiey: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show. In today's episode, I am thrilled to welcome Jess Suchan, a board-certified holistic health coach and a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Jess, who overcame her own hormonal imbalances, now focuses on guiding others towards holistic wellness and balance.

We were going to have her mom on today too, because they're like a dynamic duo, but that unfortunately didn't work out. We'll definitely have Candice back on. But together, if you guys look into who they are and what they're all about, they bring a powerful combination of expertise and personal experience in hormone health and holistic living. So I'm excited to have Jess on here and dive in and explore her journey and her insights. Jess, welcome to the show.

Jess: Thank you so much for having me, Nikkiey. I love your podcast. I'm excited to be here.

Nikkiey: Cool. All right, let's dive right into it. We're going to get to your story in a little bit, but first I want to know, because this is something that so many of our listeners struggle with: stress, dealing with stress, dealing with lifestyle. How do stress and lifestyle choices influence hormonal imbalances? And what are common symptoms that women of all ages might experience, such as weight loss resistance, low libido, mood swings? Can you elaborate a little bit on that?

Jess: Totally. So stress is obviously running rampant in our modern-day world. And I often hear from clients, and I felt this way too, that it's almost stressful when the recommendation is to reduce stress. It adds another layer of stress. How am I supposed to reduce stress? I've got kids, I've got a job, I've got all of these things that I have to do. And then on top of it, I'm told that in order to balance my hormones and improve my symptoms, I have to reduce stress. So then there becomes this anxiety around that.

So first and foremost, I like to start by saying that stress is not just emotional stress. It's not just, okay, I got fired from my job, or I'm on a deadline, or this rush hour traffic sucks, or I'm going through a breakup. Of course, that is stress. But stress comes in forms that are physical, emotional, and nutritional as well. So other forms of stress might come from your diet, and we don't think about that. Are you skipping meals, going way too long between breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cutting calories too drastically, going into a calorie deficit that's too drastic for your body? Are you eating a lot of processed foods and sugar and alcohol? These are all stressors on the body.

In addition, what's your caffeine intake like? Are you waking up in the morning exhausted, which we'll talk about the hormonal connection to, hitting the snooze alarm five times, and then rushing to the coffee pot because you need it to power you through the day? If that's you, that's a sign that your body is under a lot of stress, and potentially that your adrenal glands, which produce cortisol, this master stress hormone, are flatlining in the morning and they need some support.

Our cortisol levels should be at their highest point in the morning to help us get out of bed with energy. Then they should gradually taper off throughout the day, but not to low levels, just gradually, because you still want that energy. And then they should hit their lowest point at night to help you sleep. Oftentimes, we see the opposite, where women are flatlining in the morning, so their cortisol levels are very low in the morning, and then at night they sort of come alive. So they might be extremely tired physically and ready for bed, but as soon as their head hits the pillow, their brain is racing. It's that tired but wired feeling, and they struggle to actually fall asleep and stay asleep, which is a sign that cortisol levels are probably very high instead of low at night. We also often see cortisol levels that are flatlined throughout the day. They should be gradually tapering off, but sometimes we see them low all day, which can translate to really low energy throughout the entire day.

So when we get up and we start our day from a place of stress, meaning we hit the snooze alarm five times, we're racing out of bed, we don't have any morning rituals, we're checking our phone right away, we're looking at Instagram, maybe we're not getting enough likes on our posts and that evokes another stress response. Our kids need something from us, we're trying to frantically make them breakfast, so as a result we skip our own breakfast. Then we have black coffee on an empty stomach, and we're not eating again until noon. And the only reason we're eating is because we're crashing and all of a sudden we're hangry. Then we're grabbing whatever's close and convenient, and oftentimes that's not a balanced meal. So then your blood sugar levels are imbalanced, and that's another hit to your cortisol and your adrenals.

So when we talk about stress, it's not just these emotional stressors. It's all of what I'm describing. I truly believe that the way you start your day sets in motion a ripple effect for the rest of how your day goes and the rest of how your choices go as well. We can get into tips later, but one quick tip I always give is: I'm not going to take away your coffee, but please try to drink eight ounces of water, wait 30 minutes, and then pair your coffee with a full meal, or ideally have it after. And I can also get into what I would consider to be a full balanced meal and how to build that. That way you can better balance your blood sugar levels, because blood sugar impacts cortisol and vice versa. And that's going to set you up to not go through those severe crashes, to be in a more calm, present state, so that you're able to start your morning with the energy you need to actually make breakfast for your kids, not feel extremely stressed when you open your laptop once you get to work, and have the cognition to come up with ideas in a brainstorm session.

If we go through the rest of the day, there are other stressors that can pile on. Maybe you hit that 3 p.m. slump, which can be because your cortisol levels are dropping along with your blood sugar levels. And that 3 p.m. slump leads you to the coffee machine or to get a soda or an energy drink, and that's another stressor on the body. Then maybe you're also grabbing a pastry to go along with it. We see this all the time. The Starbucks line is out the door at 3 p.m. because people's blood sugar levels are crashing. Those sweets are another hit to your stress levels, and if you're not pairing that pastry with protein, it's going to spike your blood sugar levels. Then maybe we get off work and we're like, I've got to fit in a workout. So we go and do a HIIT workout, and that's adding more stress. And then all of a sudden we're wired and we're anxious and we can't sleep at night. So it is this cycle. I could give even more examples, but these are some of the common ones that I see.

Often I also hear, I eat so healthy throughout the whole day, but I've got to have my wine at night to wind down. So then you're adding alcohol right before bed, and alcohol impacts your sleep and impacts your hormone levels, your estrogen and progesterone balance, and your cortisol. So when we talk about reducing stress, it's nutrition, it's lifestyle, it's exercise. And Nikkiey, I know you're passionate about this too. We've got to get women off of doing so much high-intensity cardio and doing more strength training. We can talk about the benefits of strength training from a hormonal perspective. But these little tweaks and changes that we can make add up.

Other stressors can also be endocrine disruptors. What we call xenoestrogens, or fake estrogens, are chemicals found in beauty supplies, household products, plastics. Even hormonal birth control can be an endocrine disruptor. It basically disrupts your natural hormone production. If we're lathering on lotion in the morning that has these chemicals in it, then putting makeup on our face that has the chemicals in it, then drinking our water, trying to be healthy, drinking all our water at the gym from a plastic bottle that's maybe been sitting out in the sun and leaching more chemicals in there, what happens is these endocrine-disrupting chemicals, like you've probably heard of parabens and phthalates and fragrance, kind of act like estrogen in the body, which is the female hormone. They try to go into the receptor sites of the cells and open up the cell door, pretending to be estrogen. But because the key doesn't fit into the door lock the same way our natural estrogen would, it goes in and wreaks havoc, and it starts to increase our natural levels of estrogen. When that happens, we can have an estrogen and progesterone imbalance where estrogen is dominant to progesterone, and that can cause a whole host of symptoms as well. So reducing these endocrine-disrupting chemicals and switching to cleaner products can help reduce stress as well.

There are so many places we can go with this. I know it is stressful to think about making all these changes, but it's one little action step at a time. And a lot of these things that we can shift and change are going to drastically improve the way you feel and actually make your life easier and not harder.

Nikkiey: Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results, and results that last. Don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com/apply. All right, let's get back to the show.

Damn, mic drop. That was a lot, Jess. I appreciate you explaining and elaborating and really talking to it at an understandable level, and then also backing it with the science. It was really good to unpack a few of those things. I'm taking down notes too. When I first get up in the morning, I'm one of those people that typically will have my coffee, but I'm always like, I've got to drink water with it. So I'm reminding myself to drink that eight ounces of water out of the gate.

You mentioned there at the end that there are a couple of things. It sounds like there's a lot that people would start to consider, and the wheels are turning and light bulbs are going off. We're definitely hearing more of these things you're mentioning, especially when it comes to the chemicals, the deodorants, the lotions, the things we're using on our body. People could be like, okay, I need to start thinking about what I'm going to change. We'll circle back to that.

But one thing you did mention when we were talking about the coffee and the stress, and how when you're immediately waking up you're flatlining with cortisol and this goes on throughout the day, was the meal. How to start your day off with a balanced meal. For the viewers, what would you recommend for someone who wakes up in this almost fight-or-flight mode, where it's go, go, go? What would you recommend for them to take five, 10, 15 minutes? Because it may be hard for somebody to focus on half an hour to an hour of their time when they're go, go, go. And what I want a lot of people to do is eat in the morning. I'm big on, eat, please. It's really important. So with that being said, what is a meal that you would recommend?

Jess: That's a great question. I work with a lot of clients who are primarily moms. It's not my specialty, it just happened that way. I work with about 80 to 90% moms, and these moms are very busy. It's exactly what you're describing. An hour-long routine sounds luxurious, but not possible. So it's figuring out how to meet yourself where you're at.

I usually recommend something quick and simple, having maybe two to three rotating breakfasts per week. I think when we try to overcomplicate it and try a new breakfast every day, not only does that add up and get expensive, but it can become overwhelming and you can fall off of it. Honestly, I could eat the same breakfast every day. I love my breakfast. But I'll switch it up maybe every other day, maybe by adding a different nut butter or a different protein, but it's essentially the same base. So I would recommend having one to two rotating breakfasts that you really love that you could make little swaps to, but keep it super simple, because you're going to be more consistent.

What I usually recommend at every meal is starting your meal with protein, which I know you would agree with, making protein the focal point and building everything else around it. I do a lot of food tracking with clients, and I'll review their macro tracking, their food tracking. When they first start working with me, I have them track for seven days and I review it. I say, don't change anything. I just want to see what you're doing before we build anything out. Most of them tell me they eat a good amount of protein. Most of them are eating about half to 75%, and that's on the better end, of the protein they really need to fuel their energy levels, their workouts, weight loss, hormones, liver function. And a lot of people are really hungry throughout the day and snacking a lot, and protein is the most satiating macro as well.

So we start by immediately increasing their protein to at least 30 grams per meal, and then complementing that. It's going to be different depending on the person and their physique goals, but at least one serving of anti-inflammatory healthy fats, so something like avocado, nuts and seeds, nut butter. And then one to two servings of carbohydrates, making sure you're getting a fiber source and some type of fruit or vegetable.

What that could translate to is one thing I do every single morning: I make a protein latte. This would be a great hack for those of you who are drinking coffee and are like, I still want my coffee, but I know I need to pair it with breakfast. I take a cup and a half of almond milk and put it in a blender. I add a scoop of protein powder, and then, since I don't drink coffee, I'll add a chai mix, but you could add an espresso shot, and maybe some cinnamon. I blend that up and then heat it up on the stove, and I have this frothy, delicious protein latte that has about 25 grams of protein in it. You can sip on that while you're driving to work and maybe pack some toast and avocado with you. So when you get to work, still within that same hour, you're having the toast and avocado. You're balancing your blood sugar levels because you started with protein, and then you're making up the rest with toast and avocado or toast and nut butter. Whole grain toast would give you some fiber. The avocado is going to give you a lot of fiber too. The nut butter will give you a little more protein and some healthy fats. So that's one of my go-tos, and I have a lot of clients who have started doing that and they absolutely love it and look forward to it.

And then of course, I know a lot of people who work out in the morning like to do a smoothie. Smoothies are easy because you can throw in a scoop of protein powder, frozen berries, and actually frozen avocado makes your smoothie really creamy. Or you could throw in frozen cauliflower. It sounds weird, but it gives it a creamy texture without changing the flavor. Maybe put some nuts in there, and just make yourself a good-size smoothie.

I think women are afraid to eat too much in the morning. So what they do is eat 100 or 200 calories, grabbing a protein bar or a couple of eggs, and they think that'll save them calories. But what ends up happening is they crash later on. And then they end up either binge eating at night or eating snacks throughout the day that add up to so much more than they would have eaten if they had just had a big breakfast that was balanced with protein, fat, and fiber.

So smoothies are great, but what I will say, and I've noticed this with a lot of clients, including myself, is that for some reason, no matter how much you pack a smoothie, it doesn't necessarily keep you as full for as long as sitting down to a breakfast where you're actually chewing your food. I think a lot of that has to do with the digestive enzymes you're producing when you're chewing that you're not when you're drinking a smoothie. So with your smoothie, just make sure it's substantial. Maybe you could even add some cacao nibs on top, something you have to chew on to stimulate those digestive enzymes as well.

Nikkiey: Those are great recommendations. Thanks so much for sharing. I wanted to pinpoint when you mentioned how women just grab protein bars and go, and then they end up crashing later in the day because they don't have the full nutrients. I'm sure you would agree with this, but tons and tons of protein bars are just processed.

Jess: Yeah.

Nikkiey: Processed crap, essentially. And you're not getting full nutrient sources. Even the protein isn't a true protein source the majority of the time.

Jess: It sucks. I wish there were better protein bars. How have more brands not come out with whole food protein bars that actually have protein in them? Because the ones that are whole food have about seven grams of protein and they're not even a protein bar. And the protein bars that have 20 grams of protein are, unfortunately, more processed. I like them. I have them myself, but I use them more as, okay, I'm really on the go today, or I want a treat. If I feel like a chocolate bar, I'm going to have this protein bar instead, which would be a better option. But I think not relying so heavily on them, where your snack every single day or your breakfast is a protein bar, because that can mess up your gut, especially if it's got all these preservatives and additives in it, and that can stimulate other issues.

Obviously, a completely whole foods diet would be amazing, but totally impossible for most of us. We need packaged foods. We need things that are quick and easy on the go. But as much as you can make quick, simple meals that literally take five minutes to put together, it's really not that much extra time than just grabbing a protein bar, and you're going to be so much more satiated.

Nikkiey: 100%. Cool. Let's switch gears a little bit here, because I know this is your area of expertise. You mentioned cycle syncing. I can't even say it. Can you break down the four phases of our menstrual cycle? This is such a common question. I've seen it so many times throughout our community and been DM'd on social media: would you ever change up your nutrition and your workouts around your cycle? So how would you, during the four phases of the menstrual cycle, sync your nutrition, your workouts, your habits, to optimize for results and hormonal health?

Hey, hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show. It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it, and there's so much more to come. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons, and it would also help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too.

Jess: Totally. This is something I've become super passionate about over the last two years of my coaching. I've been coaching for seven years now, and I wish I had known about this earlier, but it wasn't even a thing earlier. It was coined and created by Alisa Vitti, who is also an Institute for Integrative Nutrition graduate, which I am too. She is this amazing health practitioner who specializes in hormones. She wrote the book In the Flo, which dives into the cycle syncing method, which she created. I love her book. I recommend it to people all the time.

But one thing I noticed when I read it myself was that I felt a little overwhelmed afterwards, because it gives you a list of foods to eat during each phase of your cycle and ways to exercise that weren't necessarily in alignment with how I like to exercise. It also felt like, how am I supposed to keep it in order? I eat this food during this part of my cycle, this food during that part. It just seemed like a lot. I was still fascinated by it. But I come from a background of yo-yo dieting for over 12 years, gaining and losing 45 pounds multiple times, trying every crash diet under the sun, and having really low body image. I was a perfectionist. I was the all-or-nothing person to a T. So I started noticing myself getting all-or-nothing with cycle syncing, like, no, I have to do this perfectly.

The whole idea of cycle syncing is not to do it perfectly. The whole idea is for us as women to get more in line with our menstrual cycles and understand that there are four unique phases of our menstrual cycle. Most women have a menstrual cycle that's between, we'll call it, 26 and 35 days in length. How you figure that out is the first day you start bleeding is day one of your cycle, and the last day before your next period is the final day of your cycle. So a normal cycle usually falls within about 26 to 35 days. Anything outside of that, especially when it's paired with symptoms like fatigue, cyclical acne, weight gain that's really hard to lose no matter what you do, mood swings, premenstrual rage, all of these hormonal symptoms, is a sign. If you're having symptoms, plus your cycle length is short or long, we need to do some digging. Something's a little bit off.

However long your cycle is, let's say it's a 28-day cycle, there are four phases within every cycle. The first phase is the menstrual phase. That's the phase most women know of, because that's the bleed week. That's when we're shedding the uterine lining from the previous cycle, and all hormone levels are at their lowest at the beginning of that week. Depending on the person, you can feel pretty crappy that week. You might have bad cramps, you might have heavy, painful periods. But what I want you to know is that's common, it's not normal. If you're experiencing a period week where you can't get off the couch, the last thing you want to do is even go for a walk, you just feel really bad, we need to do some digging.

During that menstrual week, because it is a state of inflammation, a healthy state of inflammation, but inflammation nonetheless, we want to support the body by reducing inflammation. We can do that by reducing sugar and reducing alcohol. This is a great time to dial back on the caffeine and switch to herbal teas. A turmeric latte is really good because turmeric is really anti-inflammatory.

When we bleed, we also lose iron through our period blood, which is why women who have really heavy bleeds sometimes have to take more iron supplements than others. This is a really great opportunity to enjoy a burger, because one of the best sources of iron is an animal-based source like a burger, grass-fed if possible. You're going to get that iron, and that's going to help replenish what you're losing through your period blood, and that's going to give you more energy. That's a ritual I've created in my own life. I'm actually not much of a burger person, but I started noticing I was craving a little more red meat during that week. So I started taking myself out to a burger place during my period week and just having a burger. Maybe I'll do it lettuce-wrapped and have some fries on the side, or I'll get it with the bun and not have the fries. I'm always trying to balance things out. But it's fun to create these rituals around these things, so it's not something I have to do. It's like, oh, I get to have a burger during my period week. That's super cool. And why am I doing it? Because I'm replenishing my iron.

We also want to replenish our zinc. Zinc can help with healthy ovulation, and it can help with increasing healthy levels of testosterone, which we know is important for being able to put on muscle. You can get zinc through foods like beets, nuts and seeds, and dark chocolate is a really great place to get it. So just increase your food-based sources of zinc and iron. Taking a high-quality prenatal or multivitamin will also give you zinc and iron, but I like to get as much as I can from food. And then just increase the anti-inflammatory foods, like lean proteins, avocado, nuts, seeds, cruciferous vegetables, stuff like that.

As we move into the next phase, the follicular phase, this is the phase where our estrogen and our testosterone start to rise. Estrogen really dominates the first half of the cycle, and it's a growth hormone, so it helps things grow. It helps the eggs in the follicle grow so they can be released at ovulation. It helps grow the endometrial lining. It helps grow our breasts. It's a growth hormone and it's really, really important, but we want it balanced out with progesterone. If it's not balanced with its counterpart, progesterone, which is the calming hormone, that's where we can see a lot of hormonal symptoms. So the first half of the cycle is estrogen dominant, and that's normal. We just want it to be at a healthy level.

In the follicular phase, estrogen starts to rise along with testosterone, and this can lend itself to more energy. We can start to feel more energized and have more stamina. We also release follicle-stimulating hormone, or FSH, which helps the eggs mature in the ovaries. So as we get these rising estrogen and testosterone levels, this is a good time to again support testosterone with zinc-rich foods.

Our metabolism starts to slow down a little bit during the follicular phase. That's where it's actually a good time if you are doing a calorie deficit. You're probably going to notice that you're not as hungry and that you do well in that calorie deficit. You have energy, you feel great. If you're doing a cleanse or something like that, the follicular phase would be a good time to do it. I'm not a fan of intermittent fasting, so I never recommend it at any point in the month. But if you are doing some type of detoxification or whole food cleanse, the follicular phase would be better for that.

In terms of exercise, I'll go back to the menstrual phase. We often hear, even in Alisa Vitti's book, to just focus on yoga and walking and meditation because your energy levels are low. But you know what? A lot of women feel awesome during their period week. In fact, I usually say that after day two you can feel amazing if your hormones are in the right place. It can be a really good time to do some sprints. I'm not saying long runs, but sprints. I like to go on a treadmill and run for 30 seconds, then walk for 30 seconds, run for 30 seconds, and just do that for 10 minutes. That can help release some of that inflammation and release endorphins, which can actually help offset some of the discomfort and cramping.

You can also strength train. If you're listening to your body and you're feeling a little more fatigued, just go a little lighter on the weights or don't do progressive overload that week. You can meet yourself where you're at. You don't have to just stop strength training. I think it's important to strength train all month long, and I am a huge fan of it. In the first few days, you might want to listen to your body. I have a great cycle, and I still don't feel like working out on the first day when I'm bleeding. So I like to go for a nice long walk.

Nikkiey: Yeah. Same for me.

Jess: And then I usually feel like, oh my God, I'm ready to go by day two. I feel totally ready to rip. Give me all the weight.

Nikkiey: Yeah.

Jess: And that can also be due to something Dr. Stacy Sims talks about. She's written a book called Roar, and she's an athlete. She says that during the menstrual week, because our hormones are at their lowest, it's the time our hormones are most similar to a man's of any time of the month, and we're actually a little more resilient to stress. That's why sometimes we can hit those PRs and feel really strong during our period. The reason we wouldn't is if we're dealing with a hormonal imbalance that needs further investigation and support. So you may be dealing with a hormone imbalance where you can't hit those PRs and you really do need to dial back on the intensity of your workouts.

I wouldn't recommend HIIT training during the menstrual phase, other than those quick sprints. I would recommend intentional strength training and lots of restorative movement like yoga, because yoga, especially spinal twists, can help stimulate the parasympathetic, or rest-and-digest, part of your nervous system and can help reduce cramping and stress.

Then with the follicular phase, as estrogen and testosterone are on the rise, this is actually a really good time to start increasing cardio, and that'll also help offset a slower metabolism. Rather than going balls to the wall, I would say gradually increase the cardio. Maybe you go for a jog, take a dance class with a friend, or go for a hike. Your body's going to respond pretty well to cardio during this time. Also progressive overload, because your testosterone is rising. So try to lift heavier in the gym, try to do more reps and more weight.

Then we get to the ovulatory phase, which is the third phase. This is the only phase in which we can actually get pregnant. It's the fertile phase. Contrary to what we were taught in school, we can't get pregnant just by looking at a dude. You have to be in the ovulation phase, and it's up to six days long. There's one day of ovulation, and then there are up to five days where sperm can survive inside of us via peak cervical fluid.

If you've ever noticed as a woman, the closer you get to ovulation, you have cervical fluid that you'll find in your underwear, and it changes throughout the month. It's technically dry when you're on your period. Then it gets a little more lotion-like as you get into the follicular phase. And as you approach ovulation, it becomes abundant and sticky, and you can even stretch it between your fingers. That's a sign of peak fertility. That's like, oh, ovulation is on the way. If I'm not trying to get pregnant, I'd better use some protection. That cervical fluid helps keep sperm alive inside of us. So there's only one day of ovulation where we release an egg to potentially be fertilized, but sperm can live inside of us for five days, so the ovulation phase is up to six days. That's where, if we're not on birth control, we want to be using a barrier method, or something like the fertility awareness method, which is a whole other podcast.

Ovulation is also when we produce progesterone. It's upon ovulation that we produce progesterone, and progesterone is the great balancer to estrogen. It runs the second half of the menstrual cycle, it's dominant in the second half and runs that show, and progesterone is really important. It is a thermogenic hormone, so it actually speeds up our metabolism. So during the follicular phase and the ovulatory phase, our metabolism is slightly slower. During both of those phases is where we can really benefit from a calorie deficit if that's a goal and we're trying to lose fat. That's also where we can ramp up the cardio and, like I said, go for more PRs in the gym with weightlifting.

Ovulation in particular is when estrogen peaks and testosterone peaks as well. So that is a great time to incorporate some HIIT training, but I usually recommend no more than two sessions a week, under 20 to 30 minutes in length, because the more we do, even during these phases, it's a stress on the body, and that can manifest in symptoms. So always balance out those high-intensity workouts with strength training and restorative movement like walking and yoga.

One more quick thing about the ovulation phase: because estrogen has increased, we want to excrete that excess estrogen out through the liver. Otherwise it'll recirculate and wreak havoc. We can do that by supporting the liver with foods like beets and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, and cauliflower, which help sweep excess estrogen out of the body, plus adequate levels of protein, lots of leafy greens, vitamin C, stuff like that.

Once we produce progesterone and ovulate, our temperature rises. If we take our basal body temperature and see it rise by about 0.5 to 1 degree for three to four days consistently in a row, using an app like Natural Cycles, or the Oura ring can do this now too, we know we have ovulated and we've moved into the luteal phase. The luteal phase is the fourth and final phase, and it's the longest. I call it the early and late luteal phase because it's about 10 to 14 days long, and it encompasses the premenstrual week, or the PMS week.

But again, PMS is common, it's not normal. Having fuller boobs, being more tired, wanting to go more inward, that's totally normal. But having really painful boobs where you can't be hugged, cystic acne, premenstrual rage, extreme fatigue, extreme cravings, these are all signs of an imbalance of progesterone and estrogen, as well as cortisol. So we need to do some more digging.

For example, I used to have all these symptoms, but now that my hormones are balanced, I have an idea of when my period is coming because I track my cycle, but I get my period and I'm like, oh, because I don't have cramps, I don't have terrible bloating, I don't get these symptoms. It just comes. I feel a little more tired. I definitely notice I'm not crushing it as much with my lifts in the gym, and I'm definitely not feeling like doing any type of intense cardio. And that is very normal.

This is the phase, especially the week before your period, where you really want to dial back on any type of intense cardio, remove the HIIT training entirely, and really focus on walking and calming forms of movement, as well as strength training. Your energy levels are going to be lower, and your body is less resilient to stress because your cortisol levels are naturally higher during this phase. You don't want to pile on more stressors, and like we talked about before, stressors can be too much cardio, too much caffeine, alcohol, sugar. So again, this is a phase where we want to reduce all of that.

With strength training, maybe that's a great time to just say, I don't need to progress this week. I can lift what I have been lifting. If I need to do two sets of every exercise instead of three, I'm going to do that. If I need to take more rest time between sets, I'm going to do that. You don't have to just not do it. Meet yourself where you're at, listen to your body, and modify it, because I think consistency is still key and strength training is still supportive. I think as women we hold ourselves to the same standard all month long: I have to eat the same food, I have to crush it with the same amount of workouts, I have to be consistent with everything. And yes, consistency is key, but you can tweak things to better support your hormone levels and your unique body.

Nikkiey: Wow. That's very informative. Thank you. I'm playing it out in my head, like, okay, I'm at this stage of my period right now. First of all, I want to pinpoint the fact that you said strength training is very important throughout the whole month, because I have seen people talk about lowering it or not doing it and incorporating what you were mentioning, like yoga. So I love that you pinpointed it: do it, meet yourself where you're at, and do it throughout the entire month, but know where your limits are, know when you shouldn't push and know when you can push. So thank you.

Jess: Yeah. I actually did a reel on this. If you start to tune in with your body and track your cycle, you'll start to notice, oh, I don't feel as strong today, I'm not feeling it as much. I work out at a gym that has a lot of trainers, and I saw a male trainer with his client. She's like, I don't know what it is. I'm not sick, but for some reason I don't feel as strong today. It's hard today. And he's like, well, you've just got to push through. You've got to push through. In my mind, I wanted to turn to them and say, what phase of your cycle are you in? You might just need to give yourself a little grace.

The other quick thing I wanted to say is that progesterone is a thermogenic hormone. When it's produced upon ovulation, it actually increases our metabolism. So with a lot of clients, I'll actually have them eat at maintenance at least the week before their period. If you take note, you might notice that you're just naturally hungrier before your period, which I hear time and time again from clients. Just adding at least an extra snack, a protein-rich snack of about 200 calories, is going to support you so much more. You might be afraid to increase your calories a little bit, but I promise you, if you don't, you're probably going to end up overeating or binging at some point later on, because you're trying to fight against your hormones and your biology. If you just give yourself the extra snack, you're going to feel so much better, and in the long run you're going to get better results.

Nikkiey: Love that. I use Flo for my period.

Jess: Oh yeah, that's a good one.

Nikkiey: I'm about seven days out from my period, and I'm naturally hungrier. I bought extra yogurt the other day so I could just keep eating more protein. So I'm checking these off in my brain: what Jess is saying, I'm doing. And then there's my Oura ring. You mentioned the rise in body temperature, which I definitely experience. So everything you're saying, I'm like, yeah, this is spot on. This is really good stuff. I appreciate your knowledge.

Jess: Awesome. Totally.

Nikkiey: I want the listeners to know a little more about you. You mentioned a few points of your journey, what you've overcome and the things you struggled with. Can you share a little about your personal journey and overcoming the hormonal imbalances you experienced? You mentioned you lost 45 pounds and broke free of overexercising and fad diets. What steps did you take to regain balance for yourself?

Jess: Yeah. So I yo-yo dieted for 12 years. I'm sure a lot of your listeners can relate, maybe you can relate too. In high school, I was super active. I was on swim team, I played volleyball. Then at the end of high school, I stopped sports, and I kept eating out off campus with friends, getting grande Frappuccinos at Starbucks and going to Taco Bell. And all of a sudden I put on about 35 pounds, which felt like overnight.

My mom was the one who brought it to my attention, because I was kind of trying to hide it. I saw my pant sizes getting bigger, but I've always been kind of private about that stuff. I'm not somebody who's like, oh my God, I'm gaining weight, do I look fat? I'd go inward and become very ashamed. Not anymore, but I did. So I would start layering on the jacket and just kind of hiding. When my mom brought it to my attention, she basically said, I'm a little worried about you. You've put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time. We've talked about it since, and if she were on the podcast we'd talk about it, because the way she approached me wasn't necessarily the most helpful at the time, but she was just trying to be a mom. I had already considered things I could do to get the weight off, so it kind of propelled me. I was about to go into college, and I thought, I need to get this weight off, otherwise I'm going to be hazed, I'm not going to meet any boys, no one's going to be interested in me.

So I started taking diet pills. I didn't like that, so then I started counting calories and restricting my calories to really low points. And I will say calorie counting is way different than macro counting. I was literally just focused on a number. It had nothing to do with nutrition. 100-calorie packs of processed foods, all that kind of stuff. That propelled me into the next 12 years of trying every diet under the sun, to the point where I was afraid to eat Tic Tacs because they had five calories.

When I met my husband, we were just dating at the time, I went through a phase of using MyFitnessPal just to track calories. I would try to add up every piece of lettuce, tomato, whatever, anywhere we went at a restaurant. One night I was freaking out because I couldn't find the ingredients, and I wasn't paying attention to him. I was in the corner of our apartment frantically trying to type in all the food. He's like, Jess, stop. It doesn't matter. It's okay. And I was like, no, it's not okay, give me back my phone. I grabbed it from him and started crying. I had a full-on meltdown. He was like, Jess, take a breath. You're beautiful. It's okay. You don't have to be this worried all the time. Enjoy your life.

It's funny, because looking back, he wasn't in the healthiest place either. He was trying to put on weight, so he was trying to eat 4,000 calories a day and was doing it the dirty-gains way, just going to fast food and trying to hit numbers. But for him it was more like, oh, I have so much more food I have to eat. Whereas for me, it was, okay, how can I restrict enough that I can eat a normal dinner with him, and maybe he won't notice?

So I would take three hard-boiled eggs, carve out the yolks because I didn't want the calories, and refill them with salsa. I would eat those three egg whites before going to the gym and working out for an hour and a half, lifting weights and doing cardio, killing myself. Then I wouldn't eat again until about 1 p.m. Then I would eat a huge lunch and a huge dinner to try to hit 1200 calories. I didn't want to eat a snack or basically any breakfast, because I wanted to be able to eat big meals for the other two meals so people wouldn't notice what I was doing. I was a teacher at the time, and I didn't want the other teachers to say anything about what I was eating at lunch. And I didn't want my husband to make comments about what I was eating at dinner.

Then on the weekends, I would binge. I would eat 1200 calories during the week, and on the weekends, when he and I were actually teaching abroad, we would go out and stay out until four in the morning. We would drink endless amounts of alcohol. I would eat whatever the heck I wanted all day long. We'd order a huge pizza on Sunday and split it, and then get popsicles and eat those. And then Monday would start again, and I was back to 1200 calories and hour-and-a-half workouts. That's just one snippet of the 12 years, but that's the kind of stuff I was doing in different ways for 12 years.

I lost and gained 45 pounds multiple times. The issue was that when I would lose a lot of weight, I would get so much praise. Oh my God, you look amazing, what did you do? And the truth was, there was one point where I was injecting myself with HCG shots, which is a pregnancy hormone that zaps your appetite, and the diet is that you eat 500 calories a day. So I was eating 500 calories and injecting myself in the stomach with HCG, hiding the needles. At the time I lived with a guy, a roommate, and I was hiding them so he wouldn't say anything. I was basically declining all social events with my friends because I didn't want them to see what I was doing. If I did go out, I would drink hot tea while everyone else was having alcohol. And honestly, I was not that great to be around, because I was strung so tightly. I was neurotic. I could not relax. I was constantly comparing my plate to other people's, comparing my workouts to other people's workouts. I hated my body. I just wasn't kind to myself.

Eventually I hit a breaking point where I started struggling with hormonal imbalances. I was about 29. I had moved to LA and was working in a high-pressure job in marketing. I started developing severe migraines and hormonal imbalances. I completely lost my menstrual cycle. I was flatlining on energy throughout the day. The 3 p.m. Starbucks, that was me. I would drink four cups of coffee in the morning on an empty stomach, then at 3 p.m. I would get more coffee. I'd try to eat a rice cake for breakfast. It was just crazy.

Eventually I said, enough is enough. My mom has always been a health educator, my entire upbringing, and I knew she wouldn't want me to do things the way I was doing them, so I kept a lot of it from her. I finally went to her and said, you know what, Mom, I need help. I need your help. At the time I was on hormonal birth control, and she helped me safely transition off of it. We tested my hormone levels in saliva, which is what we now offer through the family business I have with my mom and sister. It's called Your Hormone Balance, and we've tested thousands of men's and women's hormone levels over the last seven years in saliva, which detects estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and cortisol levels four times throughout the day.

My mom was doing this hormone testing at the time. I wasn't working with her yet, but she gave me the test, we did it, and we saw that I was estrogen dominant and my cortisol levels were all over the place throughout the day. I had this come-to-Jesus moment where I said, I've got to get off this roller coaster. I started gradually adding in carbs, which I was really afraid of. I started dialing way back on the high-intensity exercise. I was doing boot camps five to six times a week, and bottomless mimosas every weekend. I dialed back on that. I started adding in more walking. I learned about strength training. I started taking supplements and bioidentical progesterone cream, which is natural and identical in structure and function to the progesterone our bodies make, not to be confused with the synthetic progestin found in birth control. I started using that based on my test results, and we never recommend it unless you've actually tested your hormone levels.

All of these things combined over time. After eight months, I got a natural cycle back. I got my energy levels back. My sex drive, which was also really low, started to improve. Honestly, I didn't gain much weight at all. I don't even really remember gaining weight, even though I was adding in more food. I was almost doing a reverse diet, which I didn't realize at the time. I was gradually adding in a carb with breakfast just because I wanted to see how my body would respond, and I didn't want to overwhelm myself by adding in so much food all at once. I was eating carbs again, I had better energy, and I just felt so much better.

So I decided I wanted to help other women do the same. I quit my job and became a health coach. Don't get me wrong, I didn't just become a health coach overnight. I worked about four jobs on the side, serving at a restaurant, doing social media, blog writing, all this stuff. Eventually my mom left her job as director of education at ZRT Laboratory, which is the lab we use to test hormone levels, and started her own consulting practice. I graduated from IIN, and my sister was working in new business development for a catering company. So we all joined forces and created this family business, helping women and men, although now we really specialize in women, all around the world, to get to the root of hormonal imbalances through testing and natural rebalancing practices, including nutrition, lifestyle, movement, and smart supplementation. So that's our family business. And I also have Body Bliss by Jess, which is my one-on-one online coaching. So it's come full circle. That's why I'm so passionate about this, not just the cycle syncing and the hormone stuff, but helping women lose weight in a way that's actually sustainable and keep it off without always being on the hamster wheel.

Nikkiey: I love that. That's super powerful. Thanks for sharing that and the vulnerable moments of your story. I know that will definitely resonate with a lot of listeners, and it definitely resonates with me. It's pretty cool to see you on the other end, with the things you figured out for yourself, and now the message you're putting out into the world and wanting to help so many women uncover these things for themselves and take a sustainable approach to their whole journey. It's awesome.

Jess: Thank you. I really resonate with your story too. I listened to your episode on mindful eating, and we literally could do a whole podcast together on that. That's another way you can practice reducing stress and form a better relationship with food, getting in tune with your hunger cues and being more mindful about what you put in your body, and also how what you put in your body makes you feel, and taking away the morality around food. Food isn't good or bad. It's just a choice.

Nikkiey: Yes, I love that. Like you said, food isn't good or bad. It's more the behavior and thought process around it, how people act, and the hormonal things that may be off. This is all so good, Jess. I appreciate your time and you being here with us. As we come to the end of this very insightful, knowledgeable conversation, can you let our listeners know where they can find more about you, Your Hormone Balance, and the resources you offer, your websites, social media channels, anything you'd like to mention?

Jess: Definitely. You can find me at Body Bliss by Jess on Instagram, and bodyblissbyjess.net is where you can go if you're interested in one-on-one coaching. You can apply for a free discovery call. I work with all women, and my focus is really hormone rebalancing and sustainable weight loss or maintenance. I love working with women who want to just maintain, focus on building muscle, and improve their relationship with food. So bodyblissbyjess.net for that.

For the family business, we're at Your Hormone Balance and yourhormonebalance.com. If your listeners are interested in actually testing their hormones in saliva, just a quick note: we find it much more accurate than standard blood tests. The majority of clients who come to us have been tested by their doctors in blood, and everything comes back, quote unquote, normal, but that's not how they feel. That's not their experience. When they test their hormone levels in saliva, we're able to pick up these hidden hormonal imbalances. We're also able to get accurate cortisol levels, which need to be tested four times throughout the day, because, as I mentioned earlier, they should be fluctuating, versus the one draw you get through blood. Obviously, if you want to test your thyroid levels, we can do that too, and that has to be in blood. If you're interested in that, you can use the code... what would be a good code?

Nikkiey: The WarriorBabe Show.

Jess: Totally, The WarriorBabe Show. Cool. So you can use the code MACROHOUR for $50 off our Rebalance Rescue test kit, which comes with the saliva test plus a recap of your hormone test results with relevant education to help you understand your results, the root causes, the symptoms, and then natural rebalancing next steps. If you want to dive even deeper, you can add on a customized guide, or you can add on a one-on-one call with my mom, who will dive into your results and explain what everything means. You think I'm passionate? My mom is next-level passionate about this. We've had to set boundaries around talking about hormones as a family, because we could all just talk about it nonstop, and my poor dad is like, oh my God, get me out of here.

Nikkiey: Especially because, it sounds like you mentioned, you have a sister in the mix there too.

Jess: Yes. My sister is our CEO. So my sister and my mom are the ones who go on, and I'm the one who's like, guys, Dad's here, let's talk about something else, let's shift gears a little bit. But we really do love it so much, and we've worked with thousands of women at this point. We had a course at one point, and we want to develop a mother-daughter course in the future to help moms and daughters understand each other and where they're at throughout their journeys. We work with women of all ages, so if you're interested, reach out. Honestly, we would love to support you. And I have a podcast too, the Solo 2.0 podcast. We talk a lot about hormones on there too.

Nikkiey: Amazing. Cool, Jess. You guys can find all of the links she mentioned and the code in the description below, her Instagram and all the websites as well. Jess, thank you so much for being on this podcast and for sharing your insight, your knowledge, your story, and tons of information that the listeners can think on, with light bulbs going off. Let it stir in your brain and start seeing how you can take some action on understanding the way your body works a little bit more, and if you want to take next steps, work with Jess and her family. So I appreciate you being here.

Jess: Thank you so much, Nikkiey. It's been so much fun.

Nikkiey: Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.