Courtney shares about her journey with hormonal birth control in her 20s and how it caused anger, mood swings, cravings and a complete disconnection from self. She also struggled with non-stop cystic acne for years and explains the holistic journey she went on utilizing food, supplementation and a whole-systems approach that helped her finally achieve balance within her body, restoring her cycle and overall health.

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Watch here:

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Meet Courtney Swan:

Courtney is an Integrative Nutritionist and a real food activist on a mission to change America's broken food system. She is also the host of the Real Foodology Podcast.

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What you'll learn:

• Courtney's hormonal journey with birth control, cystic acne, and PMS symptoms
• The holistic approach she took to start to heal her hormones
• The work she is currently doing to be a force in the fight against our broken food system.

Alisa and Whitney discuss Whitney's decade long struggle with cystic acne. She went to countless doctors who were dismissing her and over-prescribing her. Whitney eventually learned that her diet and her gut were a major underlying cause of her acne and how to address these issues from within.

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Watch here:

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Meet Whitney Tingle:

Whitney is the Founder and Co-CEO of Sakara Life, which is a plant-based meal delivery service. The Sakara Life meals are nutritionally designed, plant-rich organic meals delivered to your door, ready-to-eat. Whitney is also the co-host of "The Sakara Life Podcast".

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What you will learn:

• Whitney's decade long struggle with cystic acne
• The role that the gut microbiome plays in balancing our hormones
• When you nourish the body and take care of the inside, it reflects on the outside
• The importance of getting to the root cause of symptoms and healing them

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As an adult, you assumed breakouts were a thing of the past once. But, no. Your skin is smooth until the week before your period and then, boom, it’s like you’re 16 all over again, with acne appearing most prominently on your chin, jawline, neck, shoulders, and back.

Cyclical breakouts are caused by hormones. A woman’s hormone levels rise and fall over the course of 28 days, in a cycle known as the infradian rhythm, and these hormone shifts are normal and natural. They are an innate part of female physiology when we are in our reproductive years.

When our hormones are balanced, we don’t experience unpleasant symptoms like acne throughout our monthly cycle. When our hormones are imbalanced, we experience a host of unpleasant symptoms, including acne. Here’s another way to look at it: Hormone shifts throughout the month are normal (and can be leveraged to our advantage).

Acne isn’t. The good news? You can use food, lifestyle, and supplement strategies to balance your hormones and erase cyclical acne. When it comes to adult acne, knowledge is power. Here’s everything you need to know to say goodbye to cyclical acne forever.

Meet your 28-Day Cycle, aka Your Infradian Rhythm

The first step toward clear skin all month long is to understand what’s happening in your body over the course of your infradian rhythm. During your 28-day hormone cycle, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels naturally rise and fall. When your system is healthy and you’re cycling normally, these fluctuations occur in familiar patterns. Specifically:

• During the follicular phase (which is the first days of your cycle up until ovulation): estrogen levels begin to rise
• During the ovulation phase (mid-cycle): estrogen and testosterone rise until they peak
• During the luteal phase (which occurs right after ovulation and up until you start bleeding): estrogen, testosterone and progesterone rises in the first half and then falls
• During the menstrual phase (bleeding): all hormone levels fall to their lowest levels

The hormone changes that happen during each phase mean different things for all aspects of your life, affecting your energy levels, concentration, communication skills, and strengths and weaknesses. It also affects your skin.

How Fluctuating Hormones Affect Skin

Estrogen and progesterone levels affect the thickness of the skin differently each phase of your cycle.  During the follicular phase and especially during ovulation, high levels of estrogen boost collagen, make the skin thicker, and improve elasticity. You can thank the estrogen during this phase for that famed ‘ovulation glow’.  Testosterone levels also rise during the luteal phase and that helps keep skin thick. But testosterone is a double-edged sword when it comes to skin. Studies show a link between spikes in testosterone and acne.So this is the crucial point in your cycle when you either become vulnerable to breakouts or go through the second half of your cycle with clear skin. What causes some women to break out and others to barely notice a blemish? The difference is in the body’s ability to efficiently process and eliminate the excess estrogen and testosterone in the system as levels rise.If your body isn’t processing hormones properly during your luteal phase and eliminating them efficiently, excess estrogen and excess testosterone accumulate and fuel acne.This happens in two ways: the excess estrogen causes estrogen dominance and skin inflammation, and the extra testosterone triggers the sebaceous glands to produce more oil.For women with optimally functioning endocrine systems, these hormonal peaks don’t cause a lot of problems. But for women who can’t process hormones correctly, acne is often the unwanted result.Premenstrually and during your period, estrogen drops and your skin gets thinner, retains less moisture, and produces less collagen.  Progesterone rising and falling in the luteal phase can worsen skin conditions if present.

This is why The Cycle Syncing Method® is so effective in addressing these fluctuations, as you’ll be eating in ways that improve estrogen and progesterone imbalances.

Signs that Acne is Caused by Imbalanced Hormones

So timing — that is, when you breakout — is a major sign that acne is hormonal. Breakouts during the luteal (premenstrual) phase are a sure sign that your hormones are out of balance and could use some TLC. Another sign of hormonal acne is where you breakout. Breakouts along the chin and jaw line are a sign of hormonal acne. Pimples on the temple are another common sign of a hormonal imbalance that stems from liver congestion due to excess estrogen. If you’ve got pimples on your forehead, it’s usually a sign of a gut imbalance.Here are more telltale signs of specific hormone imbalances and root causes of acne:

• If you break out during ovulation, the cause is high estrogen and you will need to support your body’s ability to break it down more quickly during this phase with cruciferous vegetables.
• If you break out before your period, the cause is low progesterone and you can use food and lifestyle to support boosting progesterone. The supplement Vitex can also help support progesterone.
• If you break out all the time, the cause is inflammation, so incorporate inflammation-fighting foods into your diet like cruciferous vegetables and foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon and egg yolks.
• If you break out during stressful situations, the cause is high cortisol and dysregulated insulin. Focus on balancing blood sugar and limiting high-sugar foods.
• If you break out after 35, the cause is the erratic hormonal shifts related to perimenopause. Make it a priority to engage in The Cycle Syncing Method® to bring balance back to your monthly hormone shifts.
• If you break out during postpartum/miscarriage, the cause is plunging levels of estrogen and progesterone and the return of menstruation. If your period has returned, your priority here should be engaging in phase-based self care by practicing The Cycle Syncing Method®. If your cycle has not returned, seek out support from acupuncture.

None of the root causes of acne can be spot treated. Hormone-driven and inflammation-driven acne are caused by imbalances inside your body that need to be addressed at the core. I offer phase-specific skin care advice below, but any long-term fix for easing acne must go beyond skin care strategies. A holistic, sustained and sustainable fix for adult acne must include food, supplement, and lifestyle strategies.

Your Skin Care Schedule During Your 28-Day Cycle

Here’s how to time your skin care routine to match your hormonal needs throughout the month:

• Day 7-12 (follicular phase). If you get a facial with extractions, schedule it during your follicular phase. This is also the time to do any hair removal.
• Day 13-24 (ovulation/first half of luteal). Facials are still okay during this time, but it’s best to go for masks, not extractions. Dry brushing is a great way to help the lymph offload the estrogen. You don’t need much in the way of products during this phase.
• Day 25-Day 28 (the second half of luteal). This is a perfect time for home care with your favorite products and using oil-based serum to reduce sebum production. Clay masks are also great during this time, and you can use products with lactic acid to shrink pores.
• Day 1 – Day 6 (Bleeding). During menstruation, focus on restorative, soothing skin care. Think hydrating and calming masks, and collagen masks.  

NOTE: Don’t have any extractions or hair removal during the second half of the month when skin is thinner and increased blood flow to your capillaries means more post-extraction swelling. Save facial appointments until right after your bleed is over.

Every day of your cycle. I take Balance Supplements every day of my cycle to make sure my hormones and skin can be at their best throughout the month. Whatever you do to optimize your micronutrients, don’t skip this step! Clear skin starts on the inside and with what we eat and how we supplement.…. And if you don’t have any idea where you are in your cycle, start tracking it now with the MyFLO app. You can only practice cyclical self-care when you know which phase you’re in!

4 Factors That Contribute to Hormone Imbalances and Cyclical Acne

Hormone imbalances are the root cause of adult acne, and there are several key ways our hormones get out of balance. Here are five main factors that affect hormonal harmony:

1. Micronutrient deficiencies: In order for the body to make enough hormones — and to eliminate excess hormones efficiently and effectively via the liver  — we need optimal levels of key micronutrients. When our bodies are deficient in specific micronutrients, we will be more prone to breakouts.
2. Your detoxification system is sluggish. If you experience acne as part of your 28-day hormone cycle—for example, if you notice breakouts around ovulation (mid-cycle) and/or right before your period—it’s a sign that your body isn’t processing and eliminating excess hormones. Here’s what happens: during the second half of your cycle, estrogen and testosterone peak. If your detox system (lymphatic system, liver, and large intestine)  iscongested and can’t get rid of these excess hormones quickly enough, estrogen builds up in your body (estrogen dominance) and causes problems (like skin inflammation). The extra testosterone sends signals to your sebaceous glands to produce more oil. Acne is the result.
3. Inflammation: Chronic inflammation, which is fueled by a variety of common factors — from eating pro-inflammatory foods to being too sedentary to exposure to toxic chemicals — is a root cause of acne.
4. You’re not getting enough exercise (or sex!) Both exercise and sex help flush the stress hormone cortisol from the body — and keeping cortisol moving out of the body is essential for glowing, gorgeous skin. If you’re not moving enough or clocking enough amazing orgasms, the evidence could show on your face.

Why the Conventional Acne Treatments You’re Using Aren’t Working

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 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, none of those things worked.There’s a reason these commonly prescribed medications don’t work — and most even come with dangerous side effects:

• The birth control pill: The pill disrupts your microbiome, endocrine system, and micronutrient levels – all systems essential for keeping your skin clear. You may have clear skin while you’re taking it, but not without added side effects that can worsen issues like PCOS, plus increase your risk of some reproductive cancers. Once you decide to stop using hormonal birth control, a common symptom of the withdrawal period is acne, often worse than you’ve had before because of the internal disruption that has occurred as a result of the medication.
• Antibiotics: Antibiotics do incredible damage to the microbiome because they don’t distinguish between good bacteria and bad bacteria—they just kill all of them—and robust gut health is important for clear skin. As with hormonal birth control, when you come off the antibiotics, the acne may not only return, it can be much worse than it was before because of the microbiome damage.
• Spironolactone/Aldactone: Just as I don’t recommend synthetic hormonal birth control or meat and dairy that contain synthetic hormones, I don’t recommend the steroid medication spironolactone. This steroid is nothing like the hormones your body produces on its own. It disrupts your body’s production of testosterone by confusing your body with a synthetically similar steroid. Plus, spironolactone use can trigger one of the most common hormone imbalance issues (and a cause of acne)—estrogen dominance—as well as depression, blood clots, and increased risk of some cancers. Spironolactone is not safe to take long term and is not going to prevent acne beyond the point that you are using it.
• Isotretinoin (originally Accutane): If you’re prescribed Isotretinoin, then you are also prescribed hormonal birth control, because Isotretinoin causes birth defects. There are other side effects—including an initial worsening of acne—and severe depression. The original patented drug, Accutane, was discontinued after many users developed inflammatory bowel disease and use of the drug was associated with increased risk of suicide. Usually this medication is offered as a last resort, but rarely have diet and lifestyle changes been part of prior acne-treatment protocols.

Once I figured out how to eat and live to support my hormones, my skin cleared up (and a lot of other great stuff happened too). My skin’s been clear ever since and I’ve helped many other women achieve the same lasting success.

Worst Foods for Your Skin

One of the most powerful ways to balance your hormones and support clear skin is by what you eat — and what you don’t eat. Your liver needs enough key micronutrients from food to help your body detoxify excess hormones and other skin damaging waste products, so it's important to prioritize foods that contain those micronutrients and liver support compounds — foods like cruciferous vegetables, dark leafy greens, and small, oily fish like sardines (rich in skin-friendly omega 3 fats). Because inflammation drives acne, it’s important to avoid eating inflammatory foods, like sugar and dairy.Here are some of the specific foods I recommend saying goodbye to entirely if you experience cyclical breakouts:

• Dairy – In addition to the fact that a lot of US dairy products contain synthetic hormones that contribute to hormone imbalances, dairy is inflammatory — and inflammation is a root cause of acne.
• Peanuts – The same allergens in peanuts that cause certain people to have serious adverse reactions can cause many other folks to experience skin inflammation.
• Soy Isolate– This form of highly processed soy can create estrogen overload in those who are already hormonally sensitive.
• Canola, sunflower, safflower, vegetable oil – These cooking oils have more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. A high ratio of omega-6 fats to omega-3 fats is inflammatory — and hard on the skin.
• Caffeine – Coffee and black and green teas strip your body of essential B vitamins, magnesium, and zinc, all of which are important for healthy, glowing, and clear skin.
• Gluten – Like dairy, gluten is inflammatory and can increase the likelihood of breakouts

What foods are best for clear skin? I give you my top recommendations below, in my step-by-step guide to clear skin.

How to Solve Cyclical Acne for Good — Your Step-By-Step Guide

The skin is the largest organ of detoxification and one of your top goals for easing cyclical acne is detoxing the excess hormones and other toxins in your body. Here are my top strategies for saying goodbye to cyclical acne for good, and I save the most important — supplementing for detoxification and glowing skin — for last. Pay special attention to the supplements section. Targeted micronutrients in the form of high-quality supplements are what really move the needle on your skin health.

Step One: Understand that hormonal acne is an “inside job”

The root causes of acne start deep within your body. They don’t start at the level of the skin. That means that any changes you make to your skin care routine will only help so much… and, if you do nothing else, the root causes of your acne will smolder on. So your first step in easing hormonal acne is shifting your mindset. You can only truly address hormonal acne by understanding it for what it is — a condition with internal root causes — and then using food, supplement, and lifestyle strategies to address those root causes.

Step Two: Practice The Cycle Syncing Method™

The Cycle Syncing Method™ is the practice of living in a way that gets your hormones working for you rather than against you. It involves tailoring your self-care and hormone-support routines to your unique needs during each phase of your 28-day hormone cycle. It is also what differentiates the Flo Protocol from other hormone support programs, and it is what will ultimately make the biggest difference when it comes to clear skin. The first step in practicing The Cycle Syncing Method™ is to track your cycle. Once you know what’s happening in your body each week of the month, it’s time to match what you eat, how you move, and even how you plan your schedule and how you interact with others with your hormones.

Step Three: Eat your way to clear skin

Food is one of the most powerful levers you can pull when it comes to easing hormonal acne. That’s because the right foods address not just one but several root causes of acne. Specifically, you can use food to (1) reduce system-wide inflammation, which fuels acne; (2) address hormone imbalances, like estrogen dominance, which exacerbate skin issues; (3) support your body’s natural ability to detoxify, (4) balance your blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity, which calms your oil glands and decreases the bioavailability of androgens (high levels of androgens can trigger breakouts); and (5) patch up micronutrient deficiencies that can contribute to breakouts. Wanna do a deep dive on eating for acne, including which foods to prioritize? Here’s where to turn:

• To learn which foods to eat to support detoxification, go here.
• To build an anti-inflammatory, micronutrient-rich eating plan, go here.
• To find out the worst foods for acne, go here.

What’s on your plate is one of your best defenses against breakouts. Make food a top priority in healing the root causes of acne.

Step Four: Find good skin care

There are a plethora of organic skin care lines to address acne-prone skin, from Marie Veronique to Renee Rouleau Anti Bump Solution. Check out Credo Beauty and Cap Beauty for more excellent options. This is an important step because if you’re giving up the medicated topicals, you will need something to help with skin turnover, pore decongestion, excess oil, and cysts.

Step Five: Use targeted supplementation to clear your skin

As I said, I saved one of the most critical steps for last. The right supplementation can make all the difference between slightly improving your acne and clearing it for good. You will read a lot on the Internet about micronutrients that are best for skin, but after nearly 20 years of research — and of using these same supplements to clear my own hormonal acne — this is what I recommend:

• 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. I also advise supplementation. It is hard to overstate the importance of omega-3 fatty acids when it comes to skin health.
• 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 concluded that zinc supplementation is very effective even when compared to commonly prescribed antibiotics. 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.
• 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 and premenstrual acne. B6 prevents skin inflammation and overproduction of sebum (the oil your skin produces at can create acne issues).

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.

Here is A Great Video Resource For You - 5 Ways to Stop Hormonal Acne

Balance Supplements

I designed my Balance Supplements specifically to help women address these key deficiencies, balance their hormones, and reclaim their energy.You don’t need to feel listless and exhausted for 1-2 weeks every month. You can reclaim your energy in as little as one 28-day hormone cycle. BALANCE by FLO Living is the FIRST supplement kit for happier periods that supports balancing your hormones. Balance Supplements include five formulations that provide essential micronutrients to balance your hormones. Think of them as your personal “insurance policy” against environmental factors that are (knowingly or unknowingly) zapping your energy every month. Balance Supplements can help you have more energy within a few weeks!

If you have acne, you don’t need me to tell you that breakouts affect more than your skin. Acne can bring emotional consequences, like low self-esteem, social anxiety, and depression.Now, a new study has confirmed what you already know: Researchers looked at close to 2 million people over the course of 15 years and found that having acne increases the risk of depression by 63 percent. The study also found that individuals with acne are more likely to be younger and female.It’s easy to understand the emotional fallout of acne. When you don’t feel confident in your skin—literally—you can experience a cascade of unwelcome symptoms and emotions, from anxiety and loneliness to diminished quality of life. But acne and depression are connected in more ways than one: they share many of the same root causes. Yes, the appearance of acne can have an emotional impact. But acne, like depression, can be a sign of underlying imbalances, including impaired gut health, inflammation, and hormone imbalances. Another connection? Both acne and depression are associated with taking the pill...which is often prescribed to “treat” acne. But there’s good news: You can help heal the underlying imbalances that fuel both acne and depression with lifestyle strategies and natural remedies. Here’s how.

Why Conventional Acne Treatments Make Acne Worse

Acne has multiple root causes. So does depression. Intriguingly, several of those root causes are the same. In some sense, this is old news. Over 70 years ago, two pioneering dermatologists proposed an overlap between anxiety, depression, and skin conditions like acne. They believed impaired gut health was a key factor in these conditions, and they dubbed the connection the gut-brain-skin axis. Contemporary research has proven these early experts right. Poor gut health is a factor in the development of both acne and depression. Other root factors, like inflammation and hormone imbalances, contribute to both conditions, too… And that is why topical acne creams don’t work. They don’t address the root causes. Same with going on the pill and taking antibiotics, These treatments only address the symptom (acne) and ignore the root causes. And, ultimately, these treatments make both conditions worse. Taking hormonal birth control (the pill) is a risk factor for developing depression. And while the pill may stop breakouts while you’re on it, your acne is likely to flare up with even more intensity when you stop taking it. That’s because the pill paves over symptoms, all while the root causes simmer under the surface. Many antibiotics are hard on the gut microbiome (because they wipe out the good and bad bugs in the gut)—and a less diverse microbiome is a risk factor for skin conditions and mental health conditions. To help ease acne, and to help support good mental health, it’s important to heal the root causes that fuel them both.

Root Causes of Acne

To heal the root causes of acne, it’s important first to understand them. It’s also helpful to know which root causes overlap with depression.

1. Your detoxification system is sluggish. If you experience acne as part of your 28-day hormone cycle—for example, if you notice breakouts around ovulation (mid-cycle) and/or right before your period—it’s a sign that your body isn’t processing and eliminating excess hormones. Here’s what happens: during the second half of your cycle, estrogen and testosterone peak. If your detox system is congested and can’t get rid of these excess hormones quickly enough, estrogen builds up in your body (estrogen dominance) and causes problems (like skin inflammation). The extra testosterone sends signals to your sebaceous glands to produce more oil. Acne is the result.

Women are at greater risk for depression throughout their lifetimes than men, and research suggests that this may have to do with hormones. Neurotransmitters and hormones share several common pathways in areas of the brain associated with mood, and when hormones are imbalanced—or when women go through natural, hormone-shifting events (like giving birth or going through menopause)—it may affect these pathways and increase the risk of depression.

1. Your microbiome is imbalanced. The gut microbiome influences the skin microbiome through the gut-skin axis, so if your gut flora is off balance, your skin can be thrown off balance, too. Gut flora also plays a role in inflammation and oxidative stress, factors that fuel both acne and depression. So addressing gut health is a top priority when you’re working to heal both the dermatological and emotional consequences of acne.
2. You have a micronutrient deficiency. If you’re deficient in key micronutrients—like vitamin B, magnesium, and zinc—your skin health will suffer. Studies suggest that zinc is a promising alternative to conventional acne treatments. Other nutrients, like magnesium and vitamins B and C, promote optimal hormone balance. And omega-3 fatty acids help decrease inflammation, which fuels both acne and depression. If you’re deficient in any of these nutrients, that deficiency will be reflected in your skin. (Even if you’re getting enough essential micronutrients, if your gut microbiome is imbalanced, your body may not be able to absorb them. This makes addressing gut health even more important when it comes to easing acne.)
3. You’re (unintentionally) eating pro-inflammatory foods. Inflammation is a root cause of acne and depression...and some foods promote inflammation. These foods include dairy, sugar, refined flour (baked goods), soy, gluten, caffeine, non-pastured and non-organic animal protein, and unhealthy fats (like the fats found in canola, sunflower, safflower, and vegetable oils). Foods that have been grown conventionally (non-organic foods) also contribute to inflammation.
4. You live in an (unintentionally) inflammatory environment. Exposure to everyday toxins fuels inflammation...and you can be exposed to harmful, acne-promoting toxins almost everywhere you turn in your daily life. Hormone-disrupting and skin-damaging hormones hide in health and body care products, home cleaning products, lawn and garden chemicals, and furniture upholstery.
5. You have a heavy, irregular, or otherwise problematic period. If you suffer period problems like bloating, PMS, severe cramps, heavy periods, irregular periods, or moodiness and irritability, it’s a sign that your reproductive hormones are imbalanced...and that those imbalances are playing a part in your skin issues.
6. You’re sedentary. Sweating helps the body eliminate toxins and clear the skin. Not getting enough exercise can be one factor in persistent acne.

Natural Remedies for Curing Acne

Here’s how to address the root causes of acne and, in some cases, depression:Support your detoxification system. Your liver is one of the body’s main organs of detoxification (so is the skin, of course, which is one reason that sweating is so good for skin health!). The liver can’t do its job properly without support—and the best way to nourish your liver is by eating organic leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables, and by taking a high-quality liver-support supplement. I like supplements like turmeric and green tea extract for liver support. Nurture the good bugs in your gut. Ditch sugar, caffeine, dairy, and other inflammatory foods, which are hard on the microbiome. Take a high-quality probiotic and incorporate foods rich in good bacteria, like coconut yogurt and sauerkraut. Patch up micronutrient gaps. Your first goal here is to stop micronutrients from leaching out of your body. Coffee is one thing that speeds up the loss of micronutrients. So is over-excercise. I recommend giving up caffeine and bringing exercise back into balance. But stopping the leaks is only the first step. I recommend targeted supplements to replace lost nutrients and help balance your hormones. Supplements are absolutely essential if you have a history of taking the pill or drinking caffeine. Reduce inflammation. Give up or greatly cut down on pro-inflammatory foods. Focus on eating foods that reduce inflammation, including spices, cruciferous vegetables, and foods full of healthy fats, like avocados and pumpkin seeds. Try to eat organic (especially vegetables, fruit, and animal protein) whenever possible. Take a high-quality omega-3 supplement. Omega-3 fatty acids are powerful inflammation fighters. And make it a priority to avoid everyday chemicals that harm the body’s delicate hormone system. Practice The Cycle Syncing Method™. This might sound complicated, but it’s easy and intuitive. Practicing The Cycle Syncing Method™ simply means tuning into the rhythms of your 28-day hormone cycle and then eating, moving, and engaging in self-care that is the hormone-supportive during each phase of your cycle. The first step in the process is to track your cycle, which you can do with the MyFLO app. Get moving. Move your body in healthy, hormone-supportive ways...which can include getting your heart rate up by having sex!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!

Did you know your brain changes by 25% over the course of your cycle?Do you know when your metabolism naturally speeds up and slows down in your cycle?Do you know how to leverage your hormonal advantages to get more done with less stress?Did you know that all of the research done on fitness and nutrition is done on men?Did you know doing self care out of sync with your cycle gives your more period problems?Knowing all that… why would you eat, exercise, or create in the same way day after day, when you change week over week?Your body needs a health and lifestyle program that is tailored to your unique biological rhythms. That’s why I created The Cycle Syncing Method™ over a decade ago. I used it to put my period problems into remission. Today, it is the cornerstone of the Flo Protocol.The Cycle Syncing Method™ is all about living in line with your natural rhythms. The protocol is designed to leverage your strengths during each phase of your 28-day hormone cycle—and, when you put it into practice, it changes everything.

How I Created The Cycle Syncing Method™

I created The Cycle Syncing Method™ to solve my own hormonal issues. I was suffering from a hormonal imbalance called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS. At my worst, I weighed 200 pounds, had severe cystic acne on my face, chest, and back, and I was deeply depressed. I had my period about three times a year. My health suffered profoundly. So did my quality of life.I visited many different experts (who ultimately put me on birth control pills and caused me even greater harm). On my own, I tried every lifestyle, eating, and exercise program you can imagine. Nothing worked. In many cases, I felt worse.If you’ve tried different eating protocols and lifestyle programs and you still have symptoms, maybe you can relate. You know how expensive and time consuming these programs are, and how much more discouraged you are when they fail.When I began to understand women’s unique hormone cycle and the power of hormonal timing, everything changed.I started eating, moving, and living in sync with my 28-day hormone cycle—giving my hormones what they needed when they needed it, instead of forcing my body to do the same thing day in and day out. My decision to engage in this type of phase-based self care transformed my life. Doctors had told me that my symptoms were irreversible, but now my skin cleared, my periods became regular, and I lost 60 pounds.Here’s what else I discovered: phase-based self care didn’t just change my body. It changed my life. I had better communication in my relationships. I was more productive (and happier) at work. My creativity went up and so did my sex drive. I was as busy as always, but suddenly it felt like I had more time for self care and relaxation.Once I understood the science of the female hormone cycle, I put my knowledge into practice—and it changed my life. I want the same thing for you.

What is The Cycle Syncing Method™?

Eating the same things, doing the same exercise, and planning the same activities day after day is a pattern that works for well for men, who have a different hormonal pattern than women. But adopting the same routine everyday pits women against the natural ebb and flow of their hormones. It works against our bodies—and it fuels symptoms.The Cycle Syncing Method™ is the practice of tailoring your food, movement, relationship, work, and lifestyle choices to your unique strengths, weaknesses, and needs during each phase of your 28-day hormone cycle.That might sound like a lot of adapting and changing, week after week. But once you start tracking your cycle and getting an embodied sense of what each phase looks and feels like in your body, the tweaks you’ll make will become intuitive.In fact, once you get the hang of The Cycle Syncing Method™, the practice feels so natural that you won’t believe there was a time when you didn’t engage in it.But I know getting started can feel daunting. I also know that ANY change we make in life is easier with support, guidance, and community.That’s why, this week, I’m opening the doors to Flo28, a monthly membership that gives you a tailored diet program for each phase of your cycle, weekly workouts for each phase of your cycle, and time management planners so you can schedule activities each week that play to your natural strengths. Flo28 takes you step-by-step through the small but powerful changes you can make to your nutrition, fitness, and time management that will revolutionize your life.If you’ve gone through the MonthlyFlo program, you’ve built a strong foundation for healing your hormones and improving your life—and Flo28 is the next step. If you haven’t done MonthlyFlo, you will still benefit significantly from Flo28.As part of Flo28, you’ll discover:

• How to become stronger, fitter, and leaner by shifting to phase-based workouts
• What to eat to support your brain and body during each phase
• When you’re at your best for socializing and when to schedule your “me-time”
• How to shift your work schedule to maximize your time and get more done
• How to turn up the heat in your relationship and have better sex
• How to be in your creative zone

...and as a member of Flo28, you’ll get:

• Phase Specific Recipes: Know what to eat during each phase of your cycle with weekly recipes delivered each month
• Workout of the Week: Stay energized and strong with exercise videos tailored to each phase of your cycle
• Cycle Syncing® Scheduling Guide: A guide to plan your day, week, and month our according to your biological clock
• Monthly Master Chats: Get advice directly from Alisa in exclusive monthly Q+A sessions and learn how to apply this to business, relationships, motherhood, and more
• Supportive Community & Events: A Facebook group dedicated to learning how to Cycle Sync,™ daily posting guide, first access to in-person events, and opportunities to connect with other amazing women

If you suffer from any type of period problem—from bloating and acne to heavy or irregular periods and severe PMS—or you want to improve your fitness, relationships, work performance, or overall health, Flo28 is the program for you. I hope you will join me (and an amazing community of women!) to discover how much better your life can be when you understand the science of your hormones.And if you don’t want to wait to get started, go here to get a sneak peek of what it looks like to engage in phase-based self care in all aspects of your life—and what you can expect when you do.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!

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.

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

Warmer weather is finally here and that means a couple things: longer days, more socializing, more sunshine (...and natural vitamin D (!), which is a great thing for hormones though you should still take a supplement), and more travel. It’s all exciting and energizing stuff. But the more you get out—and especially the more you travel—the harder it can be on your hormones. Why? When you travel, your sleep schedule tends to go sideways. Healthy eating can feel difficult, if not impossible, in airports and train stations. You might skip the key supplements you usually take and crossing time zones can mess up your internal clock. Exercise becomes an afterthought and hydration often goes out the window… at which point constipation can become the norm. And when your GI tract is backed up, excess estrogen gets stuck in our system and wreaks a bunch of havoc. All these shifts are hard on hormones. Actually, that’s an understatement. Sleep, food, supplements, hydration, exercise… these are THE things that keep your hormones working for you and not against you. When you have these lifestyle strategies locked down, you put an end to period problems like acne, bloating, PMS, severe cramps, heavy or irregular periods, hormonal migraines, and irritability and moodiness. But when you travel and your hormone-supportive strategies get thrown off track, you can feel rotten quickly...and who wants to be bloated, moody, and covered in zits on summer vacation?!For this week’s post, I’ve gathered my best strategies for staying in the FLO when you’re traveling. A few small tweaks can keep you feeling great when you’re on the move.Your Summer Travel Hormone Survival GuideFollow these steps and your hormone health doesn’t have to go out the window when you go on vacation. Step 1: Drink water. Travel is dehydrating, especially plane travel. No matter how you get around this summer, make sure you are drinking enough water or herbal tea. (Skip caffeinated tea, though. Say no to coffee, too. Caffeine is devastating for hormone health.)One of the best ways to stay hydrated is to bring a stainless steel water bottle with you on the road. Empty bottles will get through security at the airport and once you’re at your gate you can fill your bottle from a water fountain or with bottled water. A good guide for how much water to drink in any given day is half your bodyweight in ounces. So if you are 120 pounds, you’d want to drink 60 oz of water that day. You’ll want to aim for a bit more when you’re traveling.Step 2. Proactively protect your digestive system. One of the biggest things I hear women complain about when they travel is how their normally regular GI system comes to a screeching halt. Take action before you hit the road! I suggest starting a fiber supplement a few days before you leave and continuing it while you travel. You can find many healthy fiber supplements in single-serving packs that are easy to take on the go.The other must-have supplement when you travel is a probiotic. This will help with constipation and it will also keep your gut healthy as you encounter new foods. Even if your packing space is at a premium and you opt to leave some of your normal supplements at home, don’t skip these two. They are a travelers best friend when it comes to preventing symptoms and it is worth making room for them in your bags.Step 3: If you plan to engage in “vacation eating,” bring along digestive enzymes. Sometimes when you go to a new place, you want to engage in the local customs and eat foods you normally wouldn’t. Let’s say you avoid dairy religiously back home because of its negative effects on hormone health, but you are headed to Italy and want to try some of the country’s famed pizza. These one-time splurges are a treat emotionally and socially… but not so much physically. Your body is likely to have a negative reaction to foods you typically avoid. Digestive enzymes can help temper those negative effects. Step 4: Pack smart snacks. Airport and train station food is notoriously unhealthy. (So is most of the food available to you on road trips.) Avoid getting hungry on the move by packing snacks that keep blood sugar balanced. I like to pack hard-boiled eggs, dark chocolate (70-percent or higher), almonds (or other healthy nuts) and pumpkin seeds. Step 5: Safeguard your sleep. Travel messes with your internal clock. Even going short distances can leave you feeling wide awake at 11:00pm and dead tired at 11:00am. Bring magnesium with you to relax before night; an eye mask and ear plugs to block out distractions on planes and trains; and if you’re really worried about a disrupted internal clock (international travel), bring valerian root or melatonin to help with sleep in your new time zone. Step 6: Pack a “Just in Case” Case. It stinks to get sick on vacation. So it is worth making room in your luggage for some rescue remedies if you start feeling crummy. First, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say, which is why I always bring along all-natural hand sanitizing wipes. They are good for hands and for wiping down oft-touched surfaces (like the touch screen TVs on planes). If you do start to feel a little off, make sure you have vitamin C and zinc. I recommend being liberal with the Vitamin C: 2,000 mg per day is ideal. Take 50 mgs of zinc each day to keep your immune system strong. Now, here’s to a healthy, happy summer filled with amazing adventures!Always remember: 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.

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

Attention, Coffee Drinkers! Did you know that caffeine disrupts your hormones for a full 24 hours?

That’s not all. Caffeine stays in women’s bodies longer than men’s and it robs them of essential hormone-balancing nutrients and minerals. Studies link coffee consumption with infertility and poor gut health, which interferes with your body’s ability to detox excess (toxic) hormones.

Then there’s the link between caffeine consumption and cysts in your breasts and ovaries.

In other words, coffee is dangerous stuff if you suffer from hormone imbalances… and it can be dangerous stuff in general. That’s because many people can’t tolerate caffeine and don’t know it.

So that brings up two key questions: how can you tell if you have a hormone imbalance? And how can you tell if you have a caffeine intolerance?
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Let’s start with signs of a hormone imbalance...

How to Tell if You Have a Hormone Imbalance

How do you know if your hormones could use a little TLC...and that caffeine might be something you should eliminate from your daily routine?

Here are some signs and symptoms of a hormone imbalance:

‍PMS

‍Severe period cramps

‍Bloating

‍Acne

‍Moodiness/depression

Anxiety

You have been steadily gaining weight for a few months or years

You can’t seem to lose weight even with a healthy diet and increased exercise

Chronic exhaustion/fatigue

Cyclical migraines

‍Sugar cravings

‍Breast or ovarian cysts

Low sex drive

Low energy

Endometriosis

PCOS

I encourage any woman who is experiencing one or more of these symptoms to ditch caffeine for good, especially if you don’t tolerate caffeine well…and research shows that only 10 percent of the population produces enough of the specific enzyme that helps breakdown and eliminate caffeine. That means 9 out of 10 of you reading this right now are caffeine intolerant, whether you suffer from hormone imbalances of not!

How to Tell If You Have a Caffeine Intolerance

As I just mentioned, caffeine intolerance is surprisingly common, but most of us think of ourselves as immune. Three cups of coffee each morning might affect my coworkers or my sister, but not me! I explain the genetics of caffeine intolerance—and why hormone imbalances and caffeine intolerance often go hand in hand—below, but first let’s take a look at the signs and symptoms of caffeine intolerance.

Almost everyone who drinks coffee or other caffeinated beverages will recognize that familiar pick-me-up feeling that caffeine brings. But if you experience any of the symptoms on the following list—symptoms that are often attributed to other conditions or physiological responses—you might be caffeine intolerant. Symptoms like:

Anxiety

Insomnia

Restlessness

Fatigue (yes, fatigue!)

High blood pressure

Poorly balanced blood sugar

Digestive distress

Feeling wired but tired

Racing heartbeat

In many cases, these symptoms are chalked up to other diagnoses, like adrenal fatigue or anxiety disorders, but the real culprit might be coffee OR the causes of your symptoms are multifactorial and coffee consumption is one of the factors.

Why Caffeine is SO BAD for Hormones

Here’s why caffeine is so problematic for women with hormone imbalances:

‍Caffeine Problem #1:

Caffeine may increase the risk of benign breast disease (BBD), and specifically a form of BBD called atypical hyperplasia, which is a marker of increased breast cancer risk. This is scary stuff! One in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in her lifetime, so it is wise to take every step you can to protect yourself. Giving up caffeine is easy (and free!), and comes with a host of other benefits, like reducing anxiety and supporting better blood sugar balance.The good news? The same study suggests that taking multivitamin supplements can have a protective effect against developing BBD.

‍Caffeine Problem #2:

Caffeine consumption is linked to infertility. A woman is more likely to miscarry if she and/or her partner drink more than two caffeinated beverages per day in the weeks leading up to conception, according to research from the National Institutes of Health and Ohio State University. Women who consumed two caffeinated beverages every day during the first seven weeks of pregnancy were also more likely experience pregnancy loss.Studies suggest that caffeine consumption may delay pregnancy among fertile women. Male partners, beware! Some research suggests that caffeine consumption among wannabe dads may reduce the chances of conception. Men who drank two or more cups of coffee per day had only a one in five chance of conception through IVF. Caffeine increases cortisol levels, and high cortisol sends signals to the body that it is not an ideal time for conception. Finally, caffeine depletes the body of vital nutrients needed for ovulation and healthy fertility (including B vitamins and folate). If you hope to become a mom someday, you need optimal levels of five key micronutrients, which you will want to take in supplement form…and you won’t want to deplete them at the same time by drinking coffee! Don’t do the good work of getting your essential micronutrients and then shoot yourself in the foot by drinking caffeine.

‍Caffeine Problem #3:

If you struggle with hormone imbalances (and if you’re reading this right now, you or someone you love probably does), it can be sign that your body has a hard time metabolizing caffeine. Hormone imbalances might be a sign that you don’t process caffeine efficiently. That’s because the same process in the liver that helps metabolize caffeine is also involved in the metabolism of estrogen.Caffeine is broken down by the liver using the enzyme CYP1A2. Your ability to produce this enzyme is regulated by the CYP1A2 gene. If you have a mutation in this gene, it will affect how your liver breaks down and eliminates excess caffeine. You will also have a harder time processing and eliminating excess estrogen.Based on your gene variation, you’ll either make a lot of this enzyme (and be a successful caffeine swiller) or a little (and have a tough time with caffeine). Turns out only 10% of the population make a lot of this enzyme. That’s just one in 10 of us! So if you fall into the majority — if you’re one of the 9 out of 10 women who don’t process caffeine efficiently — you also, very likely, have a buildup of estrogen in your body. And estrogen dominance is what gives rise to a lot of the unpleasant period problems you experience.This is why getting off caffeine is such an important part of the FLO Protocol. Estrogen dominance gives rise to so many of the symptoms of hormone imbalance and you don’t want anything blocking your ability to detox estrogen.

Ready to Ditch Caffeine? Here’s How

Ready to say no to the hormone-damaging effects of caffeine, but afraid of withdrawal? Never fear! You can quit caffeine without symptoms—and without losing energy. If you follow these steps, you will feel great as you wean off caffeine and you’ll be much less likely to relapse.

1. Start to wean off caffeine during the ovulation phase of your 28-day menstrual cycle, when you naturally have the most energy.
2. Nourish your adrenals with adaptogens that help combat stress, like rhodiola, ashwagandha, and maca root powder.
3. Use magnesium to replenish your mineral reserves, balance your mood, and combat headaches.
4. Supplement with B vitamins. Make sure you’re getting B5 and B12 as part of your B complex.
5. Rehydrate with coconut water that is rich in electrolytes.
6. Do gentle exercise, like walks and yoga, but avoid heavy cardio in the week or two after stopping coffee.
7. Eat a big, healthy breakfast every morning, which will give you fuel for the whole day.

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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!

The last days of summer are for savoring. Fall will be here before you know it (with its plugged-in, back-to-school energy), so it’s time to make the most of August. It’s a month for getting outside, hanging with friends, and making a dogged commitment to rest and (cyclical) self-care. Happily, summer eating doesn’t mean sacrificing your hormone health. Food is the foundation of optimal hormone balance, and what you eat (and don’t eat) can mean the difference between experiencing period problems — like PMS, heavy or irregular periods, severe cramps, bloating, acne, moodiness, fatigue, and migraines — and having a seamless, symptom-free period. So think of the last days of summer as the time when you can have your chocolate—and eat it, too!Here’s one of my favorite hormone-supportive summer meals. It’s great for dinner parties and backyard cookouts and provides a few days of leftover meals for maximum relaxation!Appetizer: Gluten-free bruschetta with chopped tomatoes, basil, and olive oilChop up your best heirloom tomatoes, place in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Rip up some basil leaves in your hands and drop in the bowl, stir well with a fork and let sit while you toast the bread. Top toasts with tomato mixture and serve immediately. Save the remaining tomato mixture for leftover recipe below. Main course: Salmon en papillote on the grill “En papillote” refers to cooking something wrapped in parchment paper (or foil). Place individual portions of salmon on a sheet of parchment, top with 2 lemon slices, and 1 TB chopped parsley.Fold half the parchment over the fish so it touches the half under the fish and fold from one corner to the other until the parchment is completely sealed. Wrap the parchment in 2 sheets of foil to protect the parcel on the grill. Grill for 10-12 minutes.If you want to bake in the oven, omit the foil, bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. If you’re not a fan of salmon, use chicken or another cut of fish instead. Cooking it this way does two things: First, it keeps the steam in, ensuring moist salmon every time. Second, it protects the meat from charring on the grill, which creates carcinogenic chemicals.Side dish: Grilled corn on the cob with goat butter Soak the corn with the husks still on in a large pot of cold water for a minimum of 20 minutes before grilling so the husks don’t burn. Grill the corn in the husk to minimize the dangerous compounds generated by the grilling process. Will take about 15 minutes.Side dish: Sautéed Greens with garlicChop and steam any fresh greens you like with a pinch of salt in an inch of water in a shallow pan with the lid on. When the greens are wilted, add sliced garlic, shut the heat and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Find a local organic farm to get greens that are farm fresh and in season!Side dish: Zucchini Salad Lidia Bastianich, famed chef and author, changed my zucchini experience with her fail-proof technique.Add whole uncut zucchini into rapidly boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove from water and let cool.Slice it and dress with garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and minced parsley for the most refreshing cool summer salad. Dessert: Cherries and dark chocolateSummer desserts are the easiest with an abundance of fruits and berries in season. Choose a dark chocolate with at least 75-percent cacao content. Next day leftovers: LunchSalmon-salad sandwiches (instead of tuna) with fresh lettuce and basil on GF bread. (Use honey mustard instead of mayonnaise when mashing the salmon with a fork.) Served with crudite of cucumbers, bell peppers, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes.Next day leftovers: DinnerCut the corn off the cob, chop remaining leftover zucchini mix, and mix both together with leftover bruschetta topping. Serve on top of fresh greens. Top with a boiled egg and goat feta, if desired. Happy eating, and happy August! 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.

Is Your Period Healthy?

How do you know if your hormones are healthy? The answer is in your 5th vital sign – your period.The color of your flow, frequency of your period, and symptoms you have each month can tell you a lot about your health. There are 5 different V-SIGN TYPES, and knowing which one you have will help you get healthy now and prevent disease in the future.Click here to take The V-SIGN TYPE™ Quiz NOW

The teenage years can be a tricky time. Teens have to navigate newfound independence, more responsibility at school and at home, and, of course, surging hormones. The hormonal piece of teenage life almost always comes with a few bumps. As hormones like estrogen rush through the body for the first time, a breakout here or bout of big emotions will be normal.

But the teenage years don’t have to be a hormone roller coaster ride for young girls. Intense cramping, horrible PMS, severe breakouts, intense emotionality, and heavy or irregular periods do not have to be part of your teenager’s life—now or in the future. You can help your daughter feel better now AND help set her up for a lifetime of symptom-free periods.

Why a Lifetime of Healthy Periods Matters SO Much

The menstrual cycle is now declared as the “fifth vital sign” of health for teenage girls by the American Committee of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

That's right: a young woman’s 28-day hormone cycle is considered as important as heart rate and blood pressure—and clinicians are encouraged to use the menstrual symptoms as early warning signs 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.

In the ACOG report, teenage girls are encouraged to track their periods and build awareness of their 28-day cycle.

So, here is our first tip for adults who want to help a teenager girl in their lives escape period problems: talk to your daughter about the importance of tracking her cycle so she knows if/when things go sideways with her hormones. This can be when a period comes late or is overly heavy, for example, or when symptoms like acne are worse than normal. With knowledge comes power. When young girls know their cycle, they can tell when their hormones are sneaking out of balance—and they can take steps to balance them.

A great way for girls to track their period is with our MyFlo app. The app will go with her wherever her phone goes….which, for most teenage girls, is everywhere! It’s easy to use and it will help teenagers with more than just tracking symptoms. The app can help girls and women (moms, this app is for YOU, too!). It helps you figure out why symptoms are occurring and what foods will help manage them. In addition, the MyFlo app will teach your daughter all about how to use her cycle to her advantage - a conversation she certainly will not be getting in school!  She’ll learn that it’s okay to be different each week, that it’s okay to change her activities based on her changing energy levels.  She’ll learn that she doesn’t have to force herself to be the same every day, which is at the root of a serious toxic condition of perfectionism, which has many iterations, like anxiety, disordered eating, and more.  Your daughter will learn their best weeks to be social, the best time to curl up at home and do something relaxing, the best ways to manage a busy schedule, and the best ways to move their body during each phase of their cycle.  It's both intuitive and empowering!

So the first place to start is a conversation about the importance of understanding and tracking your cycle.

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How to Help Your Teen Have Healthy Hormones & Symptom-Free Periods

Helping teens have a healthy period—right now and for the rest of their lives—goes far beyond teaching them how to use a tampon or pad. If you’re a mom, aunt, sister, godmother, grandmother or loved one of a teenage girl, here are some of our suggestions:

‍Lead by example. It’s like that familiar airplane-safety schpeel: “Help yourself before you help others.” Your daughter will learn the most by watching what you do. Actions speak louder than words. So your best first step is to adopt The Cycle Syncing® Method when it comes to what you eat and how you exercise.  And if you haven’t yet addressed your own hormonal issues, let her know what your issues are, and that you are embarking on this exciting journey of hormonal recovery for yourself.  

As Michelle Obama said, “I think it's the worst thing that we do to each other as women, not share the truth about our bodies and how they work.”  

I couldn’t agree more! Talk about your period honestly and how not knowing about how to take care of it affected your life. The next generation doesn’t have to suffer if we help them.

‍Make education a priority. Menstrual education goes far beyond how to put in a tampon. Adult women need to support teens beyond the practicalities. My books, WomanCode and In the Flo dive deep on The Cycle Synching® Method. Another great resource for teens is the book Cycle Savvy by Toni Weschler (who wrote the comprehensive cycle-knowledge bible Taking Charge of Your Fertility).

‍Help teens avoid hormonal birth control as the first treatment for period problems. When young women experience period problems like heavy or irregular periods, severe acne, horrible cramps, and other PMS symptoms, many clinicians’ first instinct is to put them on the pill. But this ‘treatment,’ which is really a form of covering up the root causes of period problems instead of fixing underlying hormone imbalances, does a big disservice. If the teen in your life is dealing with reproductive health issues like those mentioned in the ACOG 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 underlying 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 that 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. While it can be 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—including depression, low libido, anxiety, hair loss, cancer risk, and even life-threatening blood clots—and suppressed functioning of her endocrine, metabolic, and immune systems. Read up on the negative side effects of the pill and share those with your daughter. So many women who have suffered with synthetic birth control syndrome wished they had been told that negative side effects were even a possibility, that their future fertility might be affected, and that they had known there was a natural solution to their condition.

‍Talk to your teen about food. A main source of hormone imbalance in teenage girls is diet, with busy high schoolers eating sugary snacks on the run, indulging in late-night eating, skipping breakfast, and generally ignoring the food-hormone connection. Food is one of the most powerful levers we can pull to balance hormones and have better periods. If your teenage daughter is plagued by symptoms like acne and crippling PMS, shifting how she eats is key. Talk with your daughter about the food-hormone connection. Emphasize the importance of eating plentiful amounts of dark, leafy, greens (to support liver detox and the movement of excess hormones out of the body), eating foods rich in key hormone-supportive micronutrients, and eating enough (healthy) calories to support metabolic functions and optimal micronutrient levels. Talk about the dangers of too much processed sugar and how caffeine can sabotage hormone health.

‍Keep toxic chemicals away from developing bodies. The endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in many everyday products, from makeup and perfumes to household cleaners, are hormone disruptive for every women—but they can be especially hard on young bodies that are still developing. Make sure your daughter has access to clean makeup, safe deodorant, and non-toxic soap, lotions, and shampoos. Eliminate toxic household cleaners and other chemicals (like pesticides) for the health of the whole family.

‍Introduce your teen to the FLO Protocol. The FLO Protocol is all about engaging in phase-based self care and it is as applicable for teens as it is for adults. There is absolutely no reason that you and your daughter can’t adopt the FLO Protocol together.

Spring has sprung! The warmer weather and longer days mean you’re getting out of the house more, which is great...that is, if you feel like being social. Acne can make you feel anxious about skin revealing clothing. I would know. I suffered from severe cystic acne for years until I resolved it using lifestyle, nutrition, and a specific skin care routine. You don’t have to hide out this spring. You can clear your skin in as little as three months with simple lifestyle, nutrition, and supplement strategies. Here’s everything you need to know about getting glowing, radiant, ACNE-FREE skin in 2019.

Why Acne Happens in your 20s, 30s, and 40s

Your skin shouldn’t sabotage your self-esteem. By learning why acne strikes adult women—and what you can do about it—you can regain control of your beautiful face and body. You can love your skin again. Adult acne is hormonal. That’s why you’re likely to notice breakouts at certain times of the month, in particular when you’re moving from the ovulation phase (mid-way through your cycle) to the start of your period. That said, the four phases of your menstrual cycle are normal, natural, and inevitable… but breakouts aren’t. If you’re breaking out at certain times of the month, it signals a hormone imbalance. You may have too much estrogen relative to progesterone (called estrogen dominance) or high levels of androgens (male hormones). Why do sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone affect skin in the first place? Research suggests that the oil-producing glands in the skin can act as their own independent endocrine (hormone) organs, responding to messages from hormones like estrogen and testosterone. When those hormones are in balance, they send an “all clear” message to your oil glands. When they get out of balance, that clear skin message goes sideways…and you’re left with unwanted breakouts.

Natural Remedies for Hormonal Acne

Here’s are the remedies I recommend for clear skin. These are the exact steps I took to heal my severe cystic acne:Natural Remedy #1: Food. Clear, glowing skin starts with what you eat and when you eat it. That’s because hormonal healing starts on the inside. When you use the Cycle Syncing Method™ to align what you eat with your 28-day menstrual cycle, you can see changes in your skin in three months from just this step alone. Flax and cilantro are particularly good to help the liver and large intestine flush out excess hormones. Natural Remedy #2: Exercise. The same phase-based self-care strategies that work for food also work for exercise. When you line up up how and when you move with the four phases of your menstrual cycle, your skin will glow even more. Natural Remedy #3: Customize your skin care routine. Your skin goes through natural shifts in elasticity and oiliness/dryness every month, and how you take care of your skin during each phase of your cycle should reflect and support where your skin is at. Here is a week-by-week guide to skin care. This routine is a crucial step in putting an end to hormonal acne. Day 1 – Day 6 (Bleeding). During menstruation, focus on restorative, soothing skin care. Think hydrating and calming masks, and collagen masks.  Day 7-12 (follicular phase). If you get facials with extractions, schedule one during your follicular phase. This is also the time to do any hair removal.Day 13-24 (ovulation/first half of luteal). Facials are still okay during this time, but it’s best to go for masks, not extractions. Dry brushing will help the lymph offload the estrogen. You don’t need much in the way of products during this phase.Day 25-Day 28 (the second half of luteal). This a perfect time for home care with your favorite products and using oil-based serum to reduce sebum production. Clay masks are also great during this time, and you can use products with lactic acid to shrink pores. NOTE: Don’t have any extractions or hair removal during the second half of the month when skin is thinner and increased blood flow to your capillaries means more post-extraction swelling. Save facial appointments until right after your bleed is over.Natural Remedy #4: Maximize your micronutrients. Make sure you are getting the essential micronutrients you need to support healthy skin. I take Balance Supplements every day of my cycle to optimize my hormonal health. Remember, clear skin starts on the inside. You can have the healthiest skin care routine in the world, but you won’t banish acne without considering what you eat and how you supplement.…. and if you don’t have any idea where you are in your cycle, start tracking it now with the MyFLO app. You can only practice cyclical self-care when you know which phase you’re in!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!

BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

Because you've asked for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, I created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:Balance by FLO Living Supplements are a complete package that work together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month (2 cycle) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.Click here to learn more about the BALANCE Bio-Hacking Supplement Kit.

If you follow FLO Living, you know I talk ALL THE TIME about how food is key to balanced hormones. And that’s true. What you eat—and when you eat it—is the critical first step in healing your hormones and resolving period problems.One of the key reasons food is so important for hormones is because of the essential micronutrients it delivers—micronutrients like magnesium, omega 3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and vitamin D—but the sad reality is that we often don’t get enough of these micronutrients in our food… even when we’re eating perfectly.That’s because many fruits and vegetables are grown in nutrient-depleted soil, so they don’t contain enough of the good stuff to support optimal health. It’s also because a lot of environmental factors— many beyond our control—collude to rob our bodies of precious micronutrients faster than we can take them in. It’s also because of the very real limits of our busy lives. Many of us simply don’t have the time to cook, let alone eat, 9 to 11 servings of vegetables a day.Food must come first when healing your hormones and trying to resolve things like acne, bloating, PMS, severe cramps, heavy or irregular periods, and other period problems. But sometimes a micronutrient-rich diet of hormonally-supportive foods isn’t enough to achieve optimal hormone health. Sometimes your body needs an extra boost.

What’s Your Deficiency Type?

As I said above, sometimes micronutrient deficiency just happens—even when you’re doing everything right.But there are some habits and practices that might seem healthy (or at least not harmful) but that, in fact, deplete essential micronutrients and make hormone imbalances worse. Here are a few ways you might be unintentionally speeding up micronutrient loss in your body: You drink caffeine. Caffeine leaches precious micronutrients from the body. You drink alcohol regularly. Regular alcohol consumption bleeds the body of micronutrients, too. You take the pill (or you have in the past). Same problem as caffeine. The pill causes your body to jettison micronutrients faster than you can replace them.You engage in extreme diets. Maybe you only eat one or two types of food. Whether healthy or not, these foods can’t possibly give you the wide breadth of micronutrients you need for optimal hormone health. Or maybe you don’t eat enough calories each day. If you’re not getting enough calories, you’re not getting enough micronutrients. You exercise too much. Over-exercise depletes the body of essential micronutrients faster than you can replace them.You use conventional health and body care products. These products are full of toxins that tax the endocrine system and prevent optimal micronutrient levels.You use conventional house-cleaning products. Same deal as using conventional health and body care products. You experience chronic, unremitting stress.Emotional stress taxes the body and works against optimal micronutrient levels.

The Micronutrients You Need for Hormone Health

In my nearly two decades of research, I’ve discovered the micronutrients that are absolutely essential when it comes to balancing hormones and resolving symptoms like PMS, weight-loss resistance, acne, mood swings, bloating, cramping, missing periods, and painful and heavy periods. The micronutrients you need more of when it comes to hormone balance are:Vitamin D3Vitamin KB vitaminsMagnesiumMicronutrients that support liver healthCompounds and nutrients that support gut healthThese micronutrients, in the right amounts, will help you get back on track hormonally and bring relief from your symptoms.

Why Supplements Matter for Hormone Balance

In the FLO Protocol, food comes first. After that, taking high-quality, targeted supplements is the single best way to help yourself recover lost nutrients and restore hormone balance. Supplements can help undo the havoc caused by caffeine, stress, hormonal birth control, and environmental toxins. And when you’re first starting the FLO Protocol, they will help you build a stable hormone base faster. The other beautiful thing about supplements is that they don’t just expedite healing; they help support long-term maintenance. Even the most hormonally-aware among us occasionally relapse into less-than-hormonally-ideal habits (coffee happens, I get it!). By continuing to supplement your (almost always) healthy diet and lifestyle with the right nutrients, you’ll be able to replenish your depleted stores quickly.It’s easy to feel protected by a virtuous diet. And if you’ve started using The Cycle Syncing Method™ to eat in phases in accordance with your 28-day menstrual cycle, you might feel like you’ve already gone the extra mile…. and you have! You have taken the best first steps to healing your hormones. But don’t let factors beyond your control—like vegetables with fewer nutrients and ambient environmental toxins— rob you of the symptom relief you deserve. Use supplements to fill the gaps, protect your hormones, and feel your best!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!

BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

Because you've asked for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, I created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:Balance by FLO Living Supplements are a complete package that work together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month (2 cycle) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.Click here to learn more about the BALANCE Bio-Hacking Supplement Kit.

If you’ve been following FLO Living, you know that eating and exercising in sync with your cycle is the key to getting rid of period problems and achieving the body and the life you want. (If you’re new to FLO Living, I’m so excited you’re here!). But did you know that you can align your life with your cycle in ways that extend beyond food and exercise—and when you do, you will:

• Look and feel better
• Improve body composition
• Experience fewer period problems, problems like bloating, acne, PMS, cramps, and heavy or irregular periods
• Help optimize fertility
• Help ease symptoms of PCOS and endometriosis
• Enjoy greater productivity at work and in life
• Have an easier time achieving work-life balance
• Feel more connection and support in your romantic relationships
• Have more energy

I developed The Cycle Syncing® Method over a decade ago to help women live in line with their natural, 28-day hormone cycle. Practicing The Cycle Syncing® Method changes everything. I know, I know...that sounds like a fantasy. It’s not. When you work with your body and your natural 28-day hormone cycle, rather than against it, you will notice benefits in every aspect of your life.

‍If you’ve tried different eating plans, exercise routines, time management programs, and other strategies for successful living and NOT gotten the results you want, I hope you’ll try this intuitive, simple, and profoundly effective practice. Now you might be thinking, “Engaging in phase-based self care… What does that even mean?” Or, “Shift my whole life to match my cycle? That sounds like a full-time job!” But the practice is straightforward, the changes simple and intuitive, and the rewards profound.

Keep reading for a closer look at what it means to put The Cycle Syncing® Method into practice in every area of your life.

What Does it Mean to Sync With Your Cycle?

Good question. On the surface it sounds like something really technical and complicated, guaranteed to take up time and effort. In practice, however, The Cycle Syncing® Method is simple. To sync with your cycle—or, as I call it in practice, to engage in phase-based self-care—is simply to know which of the four phases of your 28-day menstrual cycle you are in at any given moment and then tailor your food, movement, relationship, work, and lifestyle choices to your unique strengths, weakness, and needs during that phase. That might sound like a lot of adapting and changing, week after week. But once you start tracking your cycle and getting an embodied sense of what each phase looks and feels like in your body, the tweaks you’ll make to your food, movement, and life will become intuitive. Once you get the hang of it, phase-based self-care feels so natural that you won’t believe that there was a time when you didn’t engage in it.

Food and movement are two key components of syncing with your cycle, but they aren’t the only ones. You can bring this practice to every area of your life and experience even greater results. Starting this week, I’m opening the doors to a program to help you do just that. It’s called Flo28 and it’s designed to revolutionize your relationship with fitness, nutrition, and time management. Flo28 will help you simplify the phase-based self care, support you in the process, and allow you to achieve optimal health and happiness. But I don’t want you to have to wait to get started. Here’s a peek at what it looks like to engage in phase-based self care in all aspects of your life—and what you can expect when you do.

These are the topics and strategies that we will focus on in Flo28:

‍Food.

‍When it comes to food, phase-based self care is all about what to eat during each week of your cycle to best support your brain and body. If you’ve ever noticed that you’re hungrier during certain weeks of the month or that you tend to buy more food (in particular more sugary food) during those times, you’ve felt your body’s shifting nutrition needs. You already know, on a deep cellular level, that your body and brain will run their best when you eat the key micronutrients and essential macronutrients you need during each phase. Start matching your food to your hormone phase right away with my four-week food challenge. Do a deep dive into eating for your cycle with Flo28. (And if even the idea of tracking your cycle is new to you, use the MyFLO app to track your natural hormone shifts.)

‍Exercise.

‍When you tailor your exercise to your 28-day hormone cycle, you will get more of the results you want with less effort. That’s because doing intense workouts in some phases of your cycle will work with your reproductive hormones—and doing high intensity workouts in other phases works against them. In other words, high-intensity training at the wrong time each month will sabotage your weight loss and body composition efforts. Stop shooting yourself in the (exercise) foot. Start syncing your exercise routine with your cycle for more results, faster, and with less effort.

‍Productivity.

‍As women, we will excel at different tasks and responsibilities at different times of the month at work (and with life logistics) because of our shifting hormones. Now let me be clear, this does NOT mean we are less capable than men. Far, FAR, from it. It simply means we are primed to be even better at certain things at specific times each month. We’ll be better at communication certain weeks, for example, and better at detail-oriented tasks other weeks. What this means is that you can use your hormone cycle to consistently bring out your strengths at work, experience greater success at work, and achieve greater work-life balance.

‍Sex Drive.

Turns out you’re not supposed to be in the mood all the time! It’s normal to feel peaks and dips with desire and that’s ok and healthy.  The challenge is that when we’re hormonally imbalanced, we can start to experience consistent lower libido. When you start to eat, move, and live according to your unique hormonal needs each week, you can experience a profound and positive shift in your hormonal symptoms, including low libido. I consider syncing with your cycle the first, best thing you can do to balance your hormones and bring your sex life back to life.

‍Relationship.

‍You can leverage your strengths during each phase of your cycle to improve communication and connection in your primary relationship. The Cycle Syncing Method™ can help you reduce relationship tension, decrease fights, and make communication easier.

‍Manifesting your dreams.

‍Yep, syncing with your cycle and engaging in phase-based self care can even help you manifest your dreams. Our bodies move rhythmically through a creation cycle 12 times each year—and, knowing that, we can harness “new year/new you” energy all year long to achieve even more of our dreams.

The start of a new year is an exciting time, filled with promise and possibility. It's the only time, all year long when it is acceptable to really dream about the future and set intentions, to manifest our hopes and desires, and to create newness out of nothingness. Women (and men) are allowed to bring the feminine energy of creation to the masculine energy of endless to-do lists, and it is the combination of these energies that makes the time so magical. But as women, we have a superpower when it comes to manifesting our dreams: we get the opportunity to dream big, to create something out of nothing, to manifest our hopes and desires, 12 times a year. That’s because our menstrual cycle brings us new year/new you energy once a month. I know this might sound woo woo, but it’s true: our bodies move rhythmically through a creation cycle 12 times each year — and with that knowledge, we can harness new year/new you energy all year long. All we have to do is tune into our cycle, follow our rhythms, and not be afraid to manifest our wildest dreams. You might be thinking: That sounds lovely, but extremely vague. How would I even do that?The secret is that tapping into this natural cycle is easy, and the steps to get there are straightforward and concrete. I’m going to walk you through them right now.

Manifest Your Dreams Every Month

In almost two decades of helping women achieve hormonal balance, I’ve seen one thing over-and-over: manifestation has a mind-body component. When my clients tune in to their cycles—when they understand the unique strengths that come along with each of the four phases of the 28-day cycle—they start to experience changes. Big things start happening in their home lives, in their careers, and within themselves. Here’s a step-by-step guide to tuning in:Step 1: Know your period. If the idea of tracking your cycle is brand new, the first step is to identify where you are in your cycle and learn how each phase feels both physically and emotionally. In the beginning, it can help to track your symptoms with the MyFLO app. I recommend continuing to track your period indefinitely, but after some time you will begin to intuitively feel where you are in your cycle. Step 2: Engage in phase-based self care. What does it mean to practice phase-based self care? It means feeding your body what it needs during each phase of your cycle and nourishing your endocrine system with the right micronutrients. It also means aligning your exercise with your unique, ever-shifting hormonal needs each month. Step 3: Address your specific period problems. Hormone imbalances in the body often have similar (and connected) root causes, but you can tweak your approach to easing your period problems based on your specific symptoms. You can eat to help ease acne or tailor your meals to ease endometriosis. You can take specific steps to address bloating and work to treat fibroids naturally. You can even modify your meals to tame terrible PMS. Step 4: Embrace your feminine energy. The idea of “feminine energy” might seem far out, or it might seem like something exterior and irrelevant (like how you dress or style your hair). But feminine energy is something far deeper and more intrinsic. Embracing your feminine energy is about embracing the incredible strengths you have during each phase of your monthly cycle and learning to harness them in a way that allows you to achieve your personal, professional, romantic, and spiritual intentions and manifest your dreams. Step 5: Treat the beginning of every cycle as the beginning of a new year. Remember how I mentioned that we get the chance to embark on a journey toward a new self not once a year but 12 times a year? That’s thanks to the new year/new you energy that every menstrual cycle brings.

Here’s how approach each phase to manifest your dreams each month:

1. Your next period – Feel into the main areas of your life (your relationship, work, interests, plans). How do you feel about them and how do they make you feel? What do you desire as a result of this investigation? What do you want to transform? This is a good opportunity to journal about those feelings and desires that you wish to create. This stage is all about intuitive feelings and emotions.
2. During your follicular phase – This is when you can plan out the specific goals you want to work toward this month. During this phase, planning and strategizing are your super powers. You’ll have boundless energy and feel very hopeful and optimistic (and ambitious!) about the month ahead.
3. During your ovulatory phase – This is the best time to communicate to everyone (your partner, your work colleagues, your boss) what you are working on this month. You’ll have great speaking skills right now and can be very clear and concise in your explanations. You’ll also be convincing and persuasive, while keeping a helpful level of empathy and understanding of other’s perspectives and needs.
4. During your luteal phase – This is the time to take action to bring your goals to completion. This is a great time to bring projects to fruition. You’re creatively minded, but also happy to put in the necessary heavy-lifting to get things done.
5. Your next period – Now you’re back where you began. Evaluate the past month’s progress and really feel into the problems you may have faced and what you have achieved. You might consider changing course or starting again with a new approach. How has this month made you feel? What things do you want to transform in the coming month? It’s a new opportunity, your own personal “new year” every single month.

Imagine what having 12 opportunities to make forward progress would do in your upcoming year? This new year, I hope you join me in taking advantage of the powerful momentum that your body brings to manifesting your dreams.Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making healthy choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this – the science of your body is on your side!

Is Your Period Healthy?

How do you know if your hormones are healthy? The answer is in your 5th vital sign – your period.The color of your flow, frequency of your period, and symptoms you have each month can tell you a lot about your health. There are 5 different V-SIGN TYPES, and knowing which one you have will help you get healthy now and prevent disease in the future.

Click here to take The V-SIGN TYPE™ Quiz NOW

The simple act of giving gifts releases positive emotions and energy, but when you're pressed for time (and these days who isn’t?) finding that perfect gift can become stressful. It's about balance and we all know that you best serve others when you take care of yourself. Here to support you, I've decided to put together a list that will assist in your shopping efforts this holiday season! These are some of my favorite, go-to items that are great as gifts for any occasion as well as staples to have in your own home:

Womancode

Your best-selling, must have women’s hormonal health resource. You'll find you make extra space in that suitcase for any traveling with this paper companion. This book makes a great gift to give to a friend.

Balance Supplements

Looking to get off birth control or trying to resolve period symptoms? Balance is the first and only hormone biohacking supplement subscription box for women. Crafted with 5 formulations containing all the micronutrients your body needs to keep your hormones balanced.

Felix Gray Blue Glasses

I love this brand of glasses that helps filter blue light while working. It’s so important to take care of your eyes - something that doesn’t always resonate when you think of your health. These glasses are stylish and unisex.

Pique Tea Crystals

This tea brand is changing the way we enjoy tea and really, how we consume antioxidants. Improving gut health and digestion, reducing stress and sustaining energy, this is definitely a nice idea to gift anyone needing a boost in their daily routine.

Maude

Making sex better for everyone, one 100% natural product at a time. I highly recommend this personal lubricant that is completely natural and organic. No more guessing what ingredients are in personal products with this company. It’s sex made simple.

MyFLO app

Newly improved, this ultimate functional medicine period tracker helps keep hormones balanced. Women's Health Magazine's FemTech Awards named MyFLO as one of the 4 best period apps on the market.

Moon Calendar

Still my favorite calendar and produced using a hand-pulled silk-screen technique on 100% PCW recycled paper. It's a wonderful reference for your day-to-day activities and an affordable and thoughtful gift..

THINX

This team reinvents the way we wear periods, literally. Risk-free trial underwear AND you can tailor a set based on your cycle. How smart is that?

Kali Boxes

Kali takes the worrying out of finding the best products to aid you through your menstrual cycle. You can customize boxes based on product and frequency.

Vitner’s Daughter

Vitner’s Daughter doesn’t believe in creating shortcuts when it comes to producing some of the finest skin care on the market today. This active botanical serum is a game changer with my skin care. A smart and essential stocking stuffer.

Rahua

This control cream creates lift for my hair; finally products for curly hair that don't contain chemicals or liquid plastic that actually work!

RMS

Less is always more and as a mom on the go, if I can make any product useful in more than one way, that’s a bonus. RMS products are unrefined and organic. You better believe this lip-to-cheek stain is in my beauty arsenal.

Juice Beauty

Antioxidants are key for us as we age. I personally love a tried and true serum that not only minimizes fine lines but hydrates and soothes my skin. Another all natural and organic brand that is a staple in my skincare regimen.

Living Libations

I can’t get enough of this all-in-one body oil, face oil, cleanser and exfoliator.A little goes a long way and you only need a few drops to leave your body feeling completely moisturized. Made from all natural, wild crafted and organic oils and ingredients, Living Libations is another affordable favorite of mine

Moon Cycle Bakery

I have a special place in my heart for a brownie that is pretty much guilt-free AND one that satisfies my sweet tooth! Moon Cycle Bakery does just that. Birthed with a strong focus on women’s health and empowerment, this bakery serves up some of the finest vegan, gluten free, dairy free and overall cycle-conscious treats.

Innersense

Struggling to find products that work with my curly hair is an understatement, but Innersense’s I Create Lift lotion has transformed my hair care regimen. Perfect for any hair type and 100% Organic.

JETSWEAT

JETSWEAT is made for any woman who is interested in syncing her workout according to her hormonal cycle. Meet JETSWEAT, an on-demand, customizable fitness platform that provides exclusive access to premium boutique studio classes and structured programming personalized to fit individual goals. That coupled with real-time performance tracking empowers an active lifestyle wherever, whenever.Sign up for JETSWEAT here and use promo code JETSWEATVIP at checkout for 50% off of your first month (that's only $5 this month!)

For many women, the new year means one thing: changing how we eat. After the indulgences of the holidays, we often feel pressure to clean up what’s on our dinner plates and reset our health with food. So we jump on whatever food fad is trending this month, whether it is a “hot” new diet, a detox regimen, or eliminating a whole group of macronutrients (“No more carbs!”).

We’re determined to undo holiday damage. But do any of these approaches actually work?

Every diet that crosses your social media feed this month will promise to transform your life, but the only approach that will actually give you results is the approach that matches your unique hormonal needs during each week of your 28-day cycle.

If you struggle with any hormone-related symptoms, including weight loss resistance, severe PMS, irregular or heavy periods, PCOS, fibroids, hormonal acne, or impaired fertility, it’s imperative that you understand your hormone cycle and how to match what you eat to your shifting hormone needs throughout the month.

Why THESE Popular Diets Don’t Work for Women with Hormone Imbalances

Let’s take a close-up look at why some of today’s most popular eating plans don’t work for most women.

The Ketogenic Diet & Women

This low-carb plan is intended to put your body into ketosis, which occurs when you restrict glucose and start burning fat as a fuel source. People on this diet get 85 percent of their calories each day from fat, 10 percent of their calories from protein, and 5 percent from carbohydrates. The diet is used as a medical intervention for children with epilepsy and it is being studied as an adjuvant therapy for certain cancer patients. While studies suggest that the diet may have health-promoting potential, the protocol restricts carbohydrates so severely that most experts recommend doing it only with medical supervision. No one, whether you wrestle with hormone imbalances or not, should undertake a ketogenic diet lightly or without trusted medical support.

• The potential upside: People who follow a ketogenic diet tend to feel full for a long time after each meal (because fat is so satiating) and this can lead to eating fewer calories overall. It also means most junk food is jettisoned from your diet because almost all packaged foods have more than the allowed limit of net carbohydrates.
• The hormonal downside: There is conflicting information on how the ketogenic diet affects of thyroid health, with studies suggesting that it might negatively affect T3 production. The thyroid is one of the master glands of the endocrine system and for optimal hormone health women need optimal thyroid health. The very low number of carbs on the ketogenic diet can also put stress on the adrenal system. Adrenal fatigue is, by definition, a hormone imbalance. And it is best to avoid any diet has the potential to contribute to an existing hormone imbalance.

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Eating Raw Vegan & Women

Eating an abundance of rainbow colored vegetables and fruits, whether cooked or raw (or a combo of both, is a major win for health and hormone balance. But a true raw diet consists only of plant-based foods that haven’t been heated over 104-118 degrees F, and that can come with some drawbacks. The diet also dictates that nothing you eat is pasteurized, refined, or processed. Advocates of raw veganism believe cooking food destroys important enzymes and reduces their nutritional content.

• The potential upside: Loading up on organic, fiber-rich vegetables and fruits is always a good idea. An abundance of these phytonutrient-rich foods can improve digestion, enhance heart health, reduce inflammation, support cellular health, and have anti-aging benefits. 
• The hormonal downside: Studies have linked strict raw food diet to amenorrhea. If your gut microbiome is out of whack (perhaps because you have a history of taking synthetic birth control), your body will not be able to absorb the important nutrients in raw foods. As many functional medicine practitioners say, “We aren’t what we eat. We are what we can digest and absorb.” Nutrient deficiencies can compromise your entire hormonal system and show up as a host of symptoms, from missing periods to mood issues to weight gain.

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Eating Grain-free & Women

Gluten, which is the main protein in wheat, has gotten a particularly bad rap in recent years, and for good reason: it’s not good for your hormonal health, which is why I recommend removing it from your diet when you follow the FLO Living protocol. But many diets advocate removing all grains as a way to lose weight and optimize health.

• The potential upside: If you cut all grains and replace them with healthy fats, proteins, and complex, phytonutrient-rich carbohydrates, you may lose weight in the short-term. Some people also report a reduction in brain fog. 
• The hormonal downside: If you struggle with cravings and binge eating, going grain free can set you up for major cravings and make you vulnerable to moments of binging carbs, which can lead to blood sugar and insulin spikes—and turbulent blood sugar and insulin can interfere with ovulation and wreak havoc on metabolism and fat loss.  

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Intermittent Fasting (IF) & Women

Intermittent fasting is going for short or intermediate periods of time without food. This “not eating” window can be as short as 12 hours and include sleep time—for example, you could stop eating at 8:00pm one night and not eat again until 8:00am the next morning and call it a fast—or as long as 16, 20, or 24 hours.People fast in different ways. Some people try to go 12 or more hours without eating everyday. Others try to go 12 or 16 hours without food a couple days a week. Some people don’t eat for a full 24 hours one day each week.

• The potential upside: Studies suggest that intermittent fasting may help stabilize blood sugar and promote weight loss. 
• The hormonal downside: Intermittent fasting has been linked to hormone disruption in women. Specifically,  intermittent fasting can disrupt estrogen balance and estrogen imbalance may show up as:
• Low energy
• Poor glucose control
• Weight gain
• Impaired cognitive function
• Decreased bone density
• Poor muscle tone
• Reduced skin and hair health
• Poorer cardiovascular health
• Infertility

A disruption in one hormone system in the body can trigger other hormone imbalances. The other major hormone considerations for women when it comes to intermittent fasting are cortisol, the stress hormone, and thyroid hormone. When cortisol is imbalanced, symptoms include:

• Anxiety
• Low energy
• Insomnia
• Feeling wired-but-tired
• Sugar cravings

When thyroid hormones are imbalanced, symptoms include:

• Weight gain
• Brain fog
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Dry skin
• Dry hair
• Irregular periods
• Trouble regulating body temperature

So while intermittent fasting may have some benefits, this cascade of negative health effects for women may outweigh any benefit.

The Best Way for Women to Eat

These disparate diets do have some benefits, but none of them fully support a woman’s hormonal health. The cyclical nature of female biochemistry isn’t supported by eating the same way day in and day out. We must shift what we eat each week to support our unique micronutrient needs that specific week...which is something that none of these plans take into account. Your body isn’t the same every day and your diet shouldn’t be either! I created my phase-based eating concept 15 years ago to support each stage of a woman’s cycle.

Women are the biggest consumers of health-industry products and protocols—and we’re especially susceptible this time of year, when New Year’s fitness routines promise to burn off pounds and build lean muscle in no time.But here’s the dirty secret that no one is talking about this time of year (or ANY time of year): most of the research on optimal health and wellness is done on men, and because women’s bodies work differently—and because these differences are something most experts in the health space rarely talk about (I’m here to change that!)—we are left to try everything, be disappointed, and then try some more. It’s a cycle that costs us stress, energy, money, heartache, and sanity.If you’re tried any of these fitness routines, you already know on some level that they don’t work. Maybe you made progress for a while, but then it stalled. Maybe you never made progress or, worse, your symptoms got more severe when you started a new health and fitness routine. This phenomenon is all too common. I’ve worked with so many women who started a new health protocol—like eating Paleo and doing short, intense workouts—and seen their symptoms get worse. The thing to remember is that women are biochemically different than men and we need to adopt health-promoting strategies that work for our unique female biochemistry.In other words, we need to biohack like a girl. So what does that look like? The first step is to understand your 28-day cycle and then match your food and exercise to your natural hormonal shifts during those 28 days. When you sync your cycle to your food and movement routines, you’ll experience easier periods, less PMS, reduced bloating, clearer skin, and improvements in weight and body composition. By acknowledging your hormonal reality, you’ll finally be able to look and feel your best.

Your Exercise Needs Change With Your Cycle

Here’s an interesting catch-22: historically women have been excluded from nutrition and exercise research because of how our 28-day menstrual cycle affects our metabolism. (Researchers assume it will mess up the data and so instead of designing tests for us, they just leave us out.) But it is precisely because of those hormone changes that we need research into how we should eat and move.So the research on menstruation and exercise is limited, but not completely non-existent. We know a few things! First, research suggests that women in the luteal phase (the second half of the 28-day cycle) fatigue faster during workouts and need more time to recover. This is one reason to do higher intensity workouts during your follicular phase (the first half of your cycle) and save gentler movement practices, like yoga, for the luteal phase. We know from another study that a woman’s resting metabolic rate (also known as our basal metabolic rate) decreases during the follicular phase, hitting its lowest point one week before ovulation. So doing high intensity workouts during this phase serves as a counterbalance to a slower metabolism. … which brings us to a key biohacking takeaway for women: since your metabolism is naturally slower during the first half of your cycle, you have the power to speed it up — and lose weight and gain muscle! — by doing high intensity exercise during this time.Other research has found that insulin sensitivity is higher during the follicular phase and lower during the luteal phase. A separate study found that the body uses carbohydrates more efficiently during the follicular phase. What does this mean when it comes to exercise? It means that during the first half of your cycle you need less insulin to keep blood sugar stable and keep your body supplied with energy… and that makes it the ideal time to high intensity workouts like strength training and HIIT workouts. As estrogen and testosterone drop during the luteal phase, your energy for doing high intensity workouts will wane, too. And while a woman’s calorie needs go up during the luteal phase, her resting metabolic rate also rises. In other words, you will eat more in the last half of your cycle, but you will burn more, too. As your energy slows in the luteal phase, allow your workouts to slow down, too. Shift from high intensity bouts of exercise to activities like yoga, walking, and easy bike rides. Not only will these types of movements match your energy level (and you won’t be fighting your natural hormonal rhythms, which is counterproductive and unhealthy) but you will get better results, too. If you experience estrogen dominance (and almost every woman with period problems does), exercising hard all the time can backfire (I wrote more about why that happens here). In the end, the biggest takeaway is that a woman can’t exercise the same way every day and expect to see results. When you align your exercise with your menstrual cycle, you can finally look and feel your best.

What You’ll Get When You Start Exercising With Your Cycle

You can expect to lose weight and gain muscle more easily and sustainably, as well as prevent injury by varying your movement consistently. When you sync your exercise with your cycle, you’ll experience remarkable results. You’ll will also deepen your intuitive sense of what type of movement your body wants and needs every day—and at every phase of your cycle. 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!

Secrets of Cycle Syncing™

Did you know that you have optimal times each month for exercise, going on a date, asking for a raise, starting a creative project, and for tapping into your intuition? The secret is coded in your monthly cycle! Let me show you how to leverage your cycle to optimize your energy, productivity and happiness! In this masterclass you’ll discover:

• How your hormones shift and their effects on your mood, energy, and cravings
• Using your cycle to optimize your energy for your work and social schedule
• And how to cycle sync™ for better relationships and more love

Download "Secrets of Cycle Syncing™

I’ve made this prediction before and I’m going to make it again this year: You’re likely to have a really rotten period in January (and probably in February and March, too).If you’ve already gotten your period and you’re thinking How did she know?!?!, well, I can’t see the future. But I CAN see the past, and if your holiday was anything like mine it was full of joy, connection, and good memories, but yours may also have been crammed with stress, travel, disrupted sleep, and more sugary foods and alcoholic beverages than usual. Oh, and it probably left you with very little time for your normal self-care routines, like regular workouts and getting the essential micronutrients that keep your hormones happy. All that travel, stress, and sugar increases the chances that your body won’t make enough progesterone during the luteal phase of your cycle in the coming month(s). Less progesterone means more estrogen in the body relative to progesterone and it is that imbalance — more estrogen with less progesterone to balance it — that strands you with all the stereotypical symptoms of PMS. The same holiday trio of travel, stress, and sugar can delay ovulation in the new year, too. A lot of women worry they’re pregnant after the holidays because their period arrives days late!

Why Hormone Health is EXTRA Important in January

You can’t go back and redo the holidays. But you can take steps now to get your period back on track. And now is the time of year when you really want to optimize your hormonal health. If a hormonal imbalance has you feeling less-than-stellar, you won’t have the energy or interest in reaching any other health and wellness goals you’ve set for the new year. In other words, if your PMS is worse than ever in the first quarter of 2019, you’re more likely to rely on old, comfortable, and unhealthy habits to get you through. And any health and wellness resolutions you made for 2019 are less likely to happen!That’s why addressing hormonal imbalances and solving your PMS is the most important step you can take right now when it comes to living healthier in the new year. Being in optimal hormonal health now means that you are more likely, and more able, to reach your other health and wellness goals all year long.

How to Have a Pleasant Period This Month

Ready to escape a horrible January (and February and March) period? Here’s what I recommend:Make sure you’re getting the right micronutrients. I’ve been researching the menstrual cycle and hormones for close to two decades and I’ve learned that there are specific micronutrients women need to optimize hormone health. Holiday stress and high doses of sugar and alcohol during November and December can deplete these nutrients. These micronutrients are magnesium, vitamin D3, B vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids and if you aren’t getting enough of these micronutrients in your diet, I recommend taking a supplement. Micronutrient support is one of the best lines of defense against a terrible January period. Do a healthy, short detox. I also recommend doing a four-day hormone detox after the holidays. It’s a quick food program to help clear your system of all the holiday treats that tasted so good going in but are causing hormonal trouble now. I recommend doing this detox right after your last period. Get my complete four-day detox plan for free here. Curb sugar cravings with your food choices. When you finish the detox, prioritize eating complex carbohydrates, cruciferous vegetables, clean sources of protein, and healthy fats to help you with sugar cravings that may have developed over the holidays. If you’ve noticed that your sugar cravings really spiked during the holidays, consider making one or two days each week grain free this month. On those days, emphasize healthy fats like coconut oil, pastured eggs, and avocados, and drink bone broth. Take a fiber supplement to help sweep out the last of the processed flour and sugar. Add a healing juice to your daily routine. I’m not a fan of juice-only cleanses, but adding one healing juice to your daily food plan can turbo-charge your hormone-recovery efforts. Combine a handful of spinach, 1 carrot, 2 stalks of celery, half a bunch of cilantro, one-third a bunch of parsley, half a lemon with rind, half a green apple in a blender or juicer.Prioritize sleep. Try to get back on a regular sleep schedule, where you go to bed around the same time and wake up around the same time each day. 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!

Need more Hormone Help?

If you’re needing some health upgrading, it’s time you started you looking into what’s going on with your hormones.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.Click here to get your FREE detox and evaluation.

Whether you’re a FLO Living veteran (thank you! we love you!) or brand new to our group of empowered and hormonally savvy women (welcome! we love you!), we hope you’ve had a wonderful, happy, and hormone healthy 2018. We’re so grateful to have been part of your journey, wherever you are on the path, and we plan to bring you SO MUCH MORE in 2019. We have a lot of wonderful new content in store. We’ll be covering topics that will help you speed up your hormonal recovery and feel better, faster. Meanwhile, we’ve gathered together our most-read articles of 2018. These are the posts that women found most valuable over the course of the year and that they returned to again and again. We hope you’ll take advantage of this list as a go-to resource that you can refer to whenever you need support. And if FLO Living has made a difference in your life this year, or ever, please spread the love and share this post with anyone you feel might benefit from our blog and programs! And please, please, PLEASE leave a comment below (or over on Instagram) to tell me what kinds of hormonal health topics you’d like me to cover in 2018.

Our Top 10 Must-Read Articles of 2018

1. How To Get Clearer Skin and a Flatter Tummy in Time for Summer (May 22, 2018)

When summer hits, it seems like every magazine, blog, and social media post is trying to sell you a fad diet or new fitness craze to get you ready for swimsuit season. But buying into deprivation diets or crazy workout plans that ignore the importance of cycle syncing your exercise will only hurt your chances of true hormonal healing and the benefits that come with it: clearer skin, less bloating, and steady, sustainable weight loss. Looking and feeling your best is all about biohacking.

2. Why Your Hardcore New Year's Workout Plan is Failing You—And What To Do Instead (January 25, 2018)

Have you ever launched enthusiastically into a high-intensity regimen only to find yourself feeling drained, depleted, and somehow up a pant size? What gives? The key to making exercise work for you instead of against you is to understand your hormones and tailor the intensity and the timing of your workouts to your shifting hormonal needs each week.

3. The Connection Between Women's Hormones and Intermittent Fasting (October 23, 2018)

Intermittent fasting is all the rage. But fasting isn’t the same for men and women. If women try fasting but don’t do it properly, it can cause more harm than good. At the same time, when you know how to use intermittent fasting in a way that is safe for your unique female biochemistry—that is, when you know how to biohack intermittent fasting to improve hormone health instead of harm it—you can reap some amazing benefits.

4. Five Acne Cures That Actually Make Your Skin Worse (July 23, 2018)

I suffered from severe cystic acne for many years and I went to my doctor desperate for answers. Not only did their “solutions” not work, they made my acne — and my other symptoms — even worse. Don’t make the mistakes I made: address the real root cause of your acne and get the clear skin you deserve.

5. The Real Reason Behind Your Period Problems (April 5, 2018)

Have you ever wondered about the cause of your hormonal problems? The underlying issue affecting your weight, skin, fertility, health, and happiness? What if I told you that no matter what kind of hormonal dysfunction you’re dealing with — be it endometriosis, PCOS, PMS, or something else — you’re almost certainly struggling with one single cause? And that all it takes to overcome your issues once and for all is to understand how to outsmart the problem?

6. The 5 Supplements You MUST Have To Boost Your Sex Drive (February 7, 2018)

When it comes to healing hormonal dysfunction, food is always your best ally. But supplements can add critical extra support. Think of them as tools that will fasttrack your healing so you feel motivated, empowered, and in the mood.

7. Suffering From Adult Acne? The 5 Secret Fixes You Need (April 25, 2018)

Hormonal acne can accompany natural shifts in the menstrual cycle—for example, when you’re moving from your ovulation phase into your pre-menstruation phase. It can also be triggered by high levels of androgens (male hormones), chronically high insulin levels, and stress. But there are powerful lifestyle strategies you can use to address these root causes and heal your skin.

8. The 5 Ways Stress Affects Your Period (March 3, 2018)

Stress wreaks havoc on hormonal health. Here’s what’s happening to your hormones when you’re chronically stressed, and how you can take steps to address it.

9. Three Secret Reasons Women Shouldn't Drink Coffee (March 28, 2018)

If you have PMS, are trying to conceive, or have a diagnosed menstrual issue, you shouldn’t be drinking coffee or caffeine in general. Here’s the inside scoop on coffee’s corrosive effect on female reproductive hormones.

10. The 5 Healthy Foods That Are Secretly Sabotaging Your Hormones (April 11, 2018)

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.Please leave me a note below and tell me what hormonal health topics you’d like me to cover in 2018. What would you like to know more? What symptoms are you experiencing? 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!

Is Your Period Healthy?

How do you know if your hormones are healthy? The answer is in your 5th vital sign – your period.The color of your flow, frequency of your period, and symptoms you have each month can tell you a lot about your health. There are 5 different V-SIGN TYPES, and knowing which one you have will help you get healthy now and prevent disease in the future.Click here to take The V-SIGN TYPE™ Quiz NOW

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a confusing name for a complicated condition. First of all, you can have PCOS and not have cysts on your ovaries. At the same time, studies show that healthy women have cysts on their ovaries 25 percent of the time. So you can be in perfect hormonal health and have ovarian cysts and/or you can be cyst-free and have PCOS. It’s, well….confusing.Another common misperception about PCOS? That it’s an ovarian disease, or a problem with the ovaries. In fact, the ovaries are simply responding to a system-wide hormone imbalance. In other words, your ovaries aren’t causing the problem. They’re victims of the wider hormone imbalance happening in your body.You might be thinking, Well, that’s all fine and good, but what I really care about is healing my PCOS symptoms. How does knowing about what PCOS is and isn’t help me? Here’s how: When you know that ovaries aren’t the cause of your problem—and what you’re experiencing is a larger hormonal imbalance—healing your PCOS and erasing your symptoms becomes much easier. The root cause of your symptoms—hormone imbalance—can be addressed with nutrition and lifestyle. (Whereas it is significantly harder, if not impossible, to address a clinical ovarian problem with nutrition and lifestyle modifications alone.) And if you have PCOS, that’s good news! It means you can heal your PCOS and erase your symptoms with what’s on your plate, how and when you move your body, and other lifestyle choices. The best treatment plan for PCOS is the one you already have the power to do at home. Plus, lifestyle modifications cost no extra money and they have absolutely no side effects. Best of all? They really work.

PCOS Symptoms & The Importance of Food as Medicine

PCOS affects as many as five million women in the United States and it is one of the most common causes of infertility among women of childbearing age. PCOS symptoms—including weight gain, weight loss resistance, acne, missing or irregular periods, thinning hair on the top of the head and excess hair on the face and chest—can be annoying at best and debilitating at worst. As if that weren’t enough, PCOS can come with long-term consequences. The condition can set the stage for other chronic conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and stroke. PCOS has also been associated with increased risk of anxiety and depression. This is why addressing PCOS with lifestyle choices is so important, both for your health and fertility now AND in the future. Whenever I’m working with a client who has been diagnosed with PCOS, the first changes I recommend are food and nutrition. Food is medicine when it comes to PCOS. One of the biggest pieces of the nutrition puzzle for PCOS is blood sugar stability and insulin sensitivity. That’s because high insulin levels interfere with ovulation. And while a lot of factors affect blood sugar and insulin, including genetics and the health of your microbiome, the single biggest factor is what you eat. A diet high in processed carbs and simple sugars will send your blood sugar and insulin surging. A diet high in healthy fats, phytonutrient-rich vegetables and other complex carbohydrates, and high-quality protein will keep blood sugar stable. When you eat certain foods also makes a difference. I call the concept of matching your nutrition with your unique hormonal needs each week “Cycle Syncing®,” and it is one of the most important parts of any diet plan for women with hormone imbalances. If you don’t currently track your cycle and match your food with your shifting hormonal needs, get the MyFlo app and start tracking your 28-day cycle and aligning your food with your hormones.

Natural Strategies for PCOS

PCOS is best addressed with food and lifestyle modifications. Here are my top recommendations for healing the hormone imbalances associated with PCOS and erasing your symptoms:Have healthy protein and healthy fat at breakfast. Try to eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up to help keep blood sugar steady and keep you feeling full until lunch. Eggs and avocado make a good combo. Consider adding some leafy greens or other veggies so your plate is brimming with inflammation-fighting phytonutrients....But don’t overdo animal protein. A Harvard study showed that women improved their chances of fertility when they got more of their protein from vegetable sources than animal sources. For the absolute best sources of protein for your hormones, click here. (Spoiler alert: eggs are okay! They appear to be the exception to the rule when it comes to animal protein.)Embrace the RIGHT kind of carbs. Not all carbs are created equal. While some carbs are notoriously bad for health—think baked goods, white bread, pasta—others are important for hormonal harmony. Most women with PCOS struggle on a low-carb diet, like Atkins or Paleo. I recommend making rice, quinoa, buckwheat and millet part of your regular diet. Ditch caffeine. Caffeine is a catastrophe for your hormones. Numerous studies link caffeine with impaired fertility (which is a hallmark of PCOS) and general hormonal discord that it’s hard to keep up with them all. Here’s just a few: research shows that drinking 3 cups of coffee a day (consumed by either men or women) increases the risk of miscarriage by 74%. Coffee is considered equal to drinking alcohol and smoking in terms of impairing fertility. And coffee depletes the B vitamins that are so necessary for healthy ovulation and hormone balance. If you suspect you’re low on B vitamins, you can find the formula I recommend in my Balance Supplement Kit. Tiptoe around toxins (and try to avoid them altogether!). Many of the everyday chemicals we’re exposed to through cleaning products, conventional health and body care products, lawn care products and household pesticides are endocrine disruptors and are known to to have negative reproductive, neurological, and immune system effects. The Environmental Working Group lists 12 of the worst endocrine offenders. Read labels on cleaning products carefully or, better yet, make your own products with vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils. A study commissioned by the independent research group, Women’s Voices for the Earth, found that a large number of popular cleaning products contained toxic chemicals that weren’t listed on the labels.Sync your life to your cycle. When you live your life in accordance with your natural hormonal rhythms, your hormones are happier—and so are you. It’s as simple as that. Sync your life with the MyFLO tracker, the first ever hormone balancing app. Tend your microbiome. A healthy microbiome, the group of bacteria that lives in your gut, means a healthy estrobolome, the colony of bacteria in the microbiome that help metabolize estrogen. Hormonal healing is impossible if your gut is out of balance. The best way to bring your microbiome into balance is to supplement with probiotics. Patch up nutrient deficiencies. Micronutrient support is critical for women with PCOS. Our bodies need the B vitamins that can help with mood and progesterone production; the liver support that helps detox estrogen; the magnesium that helps balance the production of progesterone, estrogen and testosterone; the probiotics that help heal the gut; and vitamins D, K1, and K2 to support healthy immune function and regular ovulation. You can find all these supplements together in the Balance Supplement Kit I created specifically to bring hormones back into balance. Focus on strength training. Some studies suggest that resistance training may have a therapeutic effect for women with PCOS. Get some sleep. Sleep helps pretty much everything, including hormone regulation. Make getting more sleep a priority!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!

COACH CONSULT

Get Actionable Advice in a FLO Coach ConsultationWe believe that no woman should suffer simply because she has a period. And we also know that it’s not always possible to get access to functional and holistic healthcare solutions — sometimes they’re too far away and most of the time they are way too expensive. That’s why we offer phone and Skype consultation sessions with our FLO coaches. In your consultation session, your coach will go over your health history and symptoms, get feedback on any health changes you’ve implemented from our resource library, review your hormone test analysis if applicable, and help you develop a plan of action to solve your symptoms. [BOOK YOUR SESSION NOW]

If you rarely feel in the mood, you’re not the only one. Studies overwhelming show that Americans, and especially young people, are having less sex than they were even a decade ago. Experts say we’re in the middle of a sex recession.

That’s right, we’re in the middle of a full-blown, nationwide slowdown in doing it.

Now, I’m the first to admit there are likely many (many, many) reasons why we’re having less sex, from the screens that go with us everywhere (including bed) to emotional problems in our intimate relationships that pave over our desire to be intimate. There are even very, very positive reasons we might be having less sex: young women (and men) are feeling more empowered to say no or to set better boundaries around what they want—and what they don’t—in the boudoir.

But, for many women, low libido is directly related to imbalanced hormones—a fact that this recent article on the sex recession completely ignores. Hormone dysfunction is at epidemic levels, thanks to common environmental triggers and lifestyle choices. And if we don’t address these underlying hormone issues by adjusting our environment and lifestyle, we will never be able to reclaim our libidos.

So if you’re having less sex than you would like to—if you’re never feeling “in the mood”—the fix starts on the inside. Yes, a whole bunch of factors might be at play, and they all need to be addressed, but the starting place for women with low libido is hormones—and the very first step every woman should take to balance her hormones is by changing what is on her dinner plate.

From the Kitchen to the Bedroom

Sex is often the first thing to get de-prioritized in our busy lives. I think that’s a shame because not only is sex fun, it’s also great for your health. Sex and orgasm play important roles in regulating your cycle and sustaining your fertility.

You’re not always going to feel like tearing your partner’s clothes off, of course, because sex drive and desire ebb and flow with your natural 28-day hormone cycle. When you are tracking your cycle and paying attention to the changes you notice each week, you’ll find that you have natural shifts in how you feel about your partner, how interested you are in sex, and how much energy you have for gettin’ it on. This is to be expected! You’re likely to notice more desire during the first half of your cycle. That usually peaks at ovulation. Then during the second half of your period, desire slowly wanes until you find yourself less interested during your period.

But if you’re interest in sex during the first half of your cycle has disappeared, or if your desire during this time is lackluster at best, you can reclaim your sex drive by cycle syncing what you eat and when you eat it.  Matching your food to your unique needs during each phase of your cycle will support hormone health and boost sex drive.

Click here to find out which foods to eat (and when) to help reclaim your sex drive, and for more help with cycle syncing your diet in general click here. New moms who are struggling to reclaim their libido can find support here.

Although a new, so-called “female Viagra” was released a couple years ago (with much fanfare), prescription numbers have stayed low—and thank goodness. That’s because we know women’s sexuality is not as simple as taking a pill—and that any kind of pill that wants to mess with our libido is going to have a lot of unwanted side effects. What women need doesn’t come in a bottle. We need to be nourished from the inside out, and that starts with what’s on your dinner plate.  

Food is the single best way to reset your hormones and rediscover your sex drive. Make hormone-friendly eating your first step on the path to a more libidinous life.

The Best Supplements for Boosting Sex Drive

Supplements offer fantastic support for hormone balance and overall hormonal health, but supplements alone, without any other lifestyle changes, will have limited impact. That’s why I never recommend supplements in isolation. Food first, and then if you need more support, you can look to herbs, adaptogens, and essential micronutrients.

Here are the supplements I recommend if you are looking for more support in addition to your nutrition changes:

‍The 4 best supplements to boost your sexual health

(1) Rhodiola

• How you feel now: You have symptoms of adrenal fatigue with moodiness, PMS, and low-level depression.
• How rhodiola helps: Rhodiola supports the adrenal glands by preventing the breakdown of too much dopamine and serotonin during stressful times, leaving enough for us to remain buoyant and energized. A bonus benefit of rhodiola? It can work fast to change your energy levels (in as little as 30 minutes), so take one if you sense a romantic interlude in your near future!

(2) Zinc

• How you feel now: You are experiencing symptoms of estrogen dominance, which include weight gain, severe PMS, cramps, bloating, acne, infertility, fibroids, cysts, and irregular or heavy periods.
• How zinc helps: Zinc helps to boost your testosterone production and blocks the enzyme that turns testosterone into estrogen.

(3) Evening Primrose Oil

• How you feel now: You may feel sexual desire, but the sex itself doesn’t feel as good as it used to and you’re not getting big orgasms like you did before.
• How evening primrose oil helps: Evening primrose oil will balance out your progesterone and estrogen levels, increase dopamine, and help you produce more nitric oxide. This is absolutely essential for the dilation of blood vessels and tumescence that leads to bigger and better orgasms.

(4) Magnesium

• How you feel now: Symptoms of magnesium deficiency include muscle cramping, facial tics, restless legs, migraines, poor sleep, fatigue, and PMS. You can ask your doctor for a test for your magnesium levels.
• How magnesium helps: Magnesium makes it harder for your testosterone to bind to proteins and allows for more of it to remain “free” in your bloodstream—which is exactly how you want it to be for a higher sex drive. Higher levels of free testosterone make for more desire. Magnesium also combats anxiety and promotes a positive mood, helping you enjoy yourself more. Magnesium promotes good sleep, too, and studies show that getting enough high quality sleep is essential for healthy sexual desire and genital response.If your magnesium levels are very low, I recommend taking 360g a day in the form of a supplement. If your levels are within the optimal range, keep them there with a daily serving of dark chocolate (!) and greens.

Share this Sex-Boosting Advice With the Men in Your Life

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Literally! Men can benefit just as much from these supplements as women do, especially magnesium and evening primrose oil. In fact, these two supplements can help men with issues like premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction.

‍Bonus! What Food to Remove From Your Diet for Better Sex

‍All this talk of what to add to your nutrition and supplement routine brings me to the opposite: what you should remove from your diet right away.

‍For Women:

Canola Oil. It’s in everything and it raises your levels of omega 6 fatty acids, which crowds out room in your cells for health-promoting omega 3 fatty acids.  Studies suggest that boosting omega 3s can increase sexual desire and response in women. So stick to clean fats like olive oil and coconut oil and you’ll feel sexier pronto!

‍For Men:

‍Soy. Soy is full of phytoestrogens, which can dampen male sex drive. An ex-boyfriend and I experimented with this when he decided to become vegan. He ate and drank soy products for a month and by the end of that time he had zero libido. Within two weeks of stopping all soy, he was back to normal.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!

You’re young, you’re active, and you have no plans to get pregnant soon, so when your period stopped coming, you weren’t too worried. Maybe you even thought, Well, this is kinda great... no messy period to deal with! But no period means no ovulation—and ovulation is part of a healthy hormone cycle. A missing period is a sign of a hormonal imbalance, or trouble brewing beneath the surface. It’s a problem that you need to take seriously, whether you ever plan to get pregnant or not.Ovulation is a key indicator of a woman’s overall health and not ovulating can bring a host of unpleasant symptoms, including acne, weight loss resistance, bloating, headaches, and mood swings. The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists considers the menstrual cycle a vital sign, like blood pressure and temperature.And if you do hope to have kids one day, getting your period back is absolutely essential. The longer you go without one, the more you put your future fertility in danger.

Where did your period go?

There are some well-known, “textbook” reasons that periods disappear, like pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause. There’s also engaging in too much exercise. Many women think a hard workout everyday is healthy, but there can be too much of a good thing. Extreme exercise can tip you into hormonal imbalance. So can eating too little and/or being underweight. Finally, a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), in which cysts grow on your ovaries, can stop ovulation in young women.One of the top triggers for missing periods is coming off hormonal birth control. And stopping the pill doesn’t guarantee that your period will come right back. In fact, without making a concentrated effort through food and lifestyle modifications, many women who quit the pill do not start bleeding again for months or years.

What If Your Period is Missing, but You Don’t Have One of the Main “Causes”?

There are less talked about (but no less real) causes of missing or irregular periods, including stress. Chronic stress raises cortisol and messes up blood sugar, which disrupts ovulation. Studies also show that women with stressful jobs are at double the risk for anovulation (not ovulating) and menstrual cycle variability. Other research shows that women with high levels of stress around the time of ovulation have a harder time getting pregnant.The blood sugar roller coaster, when your blood sugar is constantly going up and down thanks to eating high-sugar and refined carbohydrate foods, can also fuel missing or irregular periods. Imbalanced blood sugar is linked to infertility, and diabetes drugs like Metformin are often prescribed to women with PCOS to trigger ovulation. If you are considering taking Metformin for PCOS or infertility, I strongly recommend regulating your blood sugar levels with the FLO protocol and prepping your body for a healthy pregnancy ahead of time. You may discover you don’t need the drugs. (It’s also worth noting that, for many of the women I’ve worked with, Metformin hasn’t worked at all.)

Here’s How to Get Your Period Back

Bringing your period back online is something you can do with nutrition and lifestyle modifications. I’ve seen women who haven’t had periods in years engage the FLO Protocol and start bleeding in three to four months. With the right lifestyle and nutrition changes, this could become your story, too!Your journey to reclaim your period should always start with what’s on your dinner plate, and for more on how to eat to balance your hormones and get your back your period, go here, here, and here. I also recommend these three key strategies:

1. Take self-care seriously. The more stressed you are (and who isn’t?), the harder you need to work to manage and mitigate stress. If you’ve been meaning to get back to your Yoga or Pilates class, do it today. Make sure you schedule dedicated non-work time—write it into your planner if you have to!—and engage in leisure activities you love. Some stresses in life aren’t modifiable (sick children or caring for elderly parents), but some are—perhaps certain friendships are no longer serving you and you can let them go or maybe the time is right to make a job switch? Scan your life for stressors you can change, and then do so!
2. Get off the blood sugar roller coaster. The single best (and side effect-free!) way to address blood sugar problems is with food. Emphasize healthy complex (and non-gluten) carbs, eat enough healthy, high-quality fats and proteins, and make sure you front-load non-starchy vegetables in all colors of the rainbow. One great tip for keeping blood sugar steady all day is to eat a low-glycemic breakfast within 90 minutes of waking up. And remember: sugar hides out in a lot of processed foods—even ones you wouldn’t expect. So read labels carefully, and stick to whole foods when you can.
3. Go to bed earlier! Hormones are hugely affected by sleep—or, more specifically, by lack thereof. The 24-hour circadian cycle has a direct influence on, and is directly influenced by, our bodies master hormones. When we’re short on sleep, it’s almost impossible to get our hormones balanced. So make sleep a priority tonight (and every night!).

If you are someone struggling with your period, now you know that change is possible! We’d love to hear what you’re struggling with and we’d love to help. Email us at support@floliving.com to connect with us for a consultation. You’ll get symptom analysis and feedback and direct, actionable tips to take your hormonal healing into your own hands.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!

Is Your Period Healthy?

How do you know if your hormones are healthy? The answer is in your 5th vital sign – your period.The color of your flow, frequency of your period, and symptoms you have each month can tell you a lot about your health. There are 5 different V-SIGN TYPES, and knowing which one you have will help you get healthy now and prevent disease in the future.Click here to take The V-SIGN TYPE™ Quiz NOW

If you’re a young woman in your 20s or 30s and your sex drives is low (or missing altogether), you might feel like an outlier. Why?Because social media, TV and movies, and other cultural cues suggest that youth is synonymous with wanting to get it on. And that’s not fair, because everyone’s sex drive is different.But the truth is that when we’re young (and even when we’re older)—and if our hormones are in balance—we should have times when, in the immortal words of 1970’s rock band Bad Company, we feel like makin’ love. So if you’re a young woman with a low (or missing) sex drive, what gives?Where the &#*!&! did your sex drive go? Your Not Alone: Low Sex Drive is Common in WomenFirst things first, if your sex drive is low or completely absent, you are not abnormal—and you are not alone. Studies suggest that one in four women of reproductive age have low libido. Other research shows that Americans are having less sex now than they did a decade ago, and that fewer heterosexual women are having orgasms than any other demographic.Not to sound alarmist but...young women are living in a sexual state of emergency! At the same time, many women with low sex drive—and many of the doctors they talk to about it—don’t treat the issue with urgency. And that’s a mistake because a missing sex drive can be a sign of serious hormone imbalances that can wreak havoc on overall health. It’s also a mistake to ignore low libido because having a sex drive—and, specifically, having orgasms, is critical to hormone health and overall quality of life. You need orgasms to improve hormone health, and you need good hormonal health to want to have orgasms! So what is a girl with a missing sex drive to do? The first step is to understand the underlying factors that might be contributing to your missing urge to make out. 6 Factors That Affect Low Sex DriveThere are many factors that can contribute to low sex drive and some of them are emotional and relational. These can include your relationship status, how you feel about your relationship, how you feel about your body (body image), your historical experience of sex, and any history of trauma or sexual abuse.Other factors can be psychological and environmental, like high levels of stress and anxiety, feelings of depression and low mood, or an extremely pressure-filled work environment or the stress of raising young children or taking care of aging parents. If any of these factors are part of your experience of low sex drive, I recommend working with a therapist or working with another healing professional to tend to these complex issues.Some of the other factors that contribute to the low sex drive are physical, which means you can make lifestyle changes to address these factors. Here are some of the physical roadblocks you might be running into on your way to rediscovering your sex drive:

1. Taking hormonal birth control. Low libido can be a side effect of taking hormonal birth control (HBC) or of having taken it in the past. That’s because HBC works by decreasing the production of testosterone in your body (and testosterone plays an important role in sex drive in both men and women) and because the Pill makes it harder for your body to use the testosterone that you are still making (HBC locks up the testosterone so your body can’t use it).
2. A history of low-fat dieting. The body makes sex hormones from a precursor compound in the body. And guess what that precursor is? Cholesterol. That’s right, the compound so long villainized in the health headlines is actually necessary for producing enough estrogen and testosterone in the body.
3. A history of taking antidepressants. These medications can be critically important for some women in maintaining mood, but they can come with side effects—and a notorious one is lower libido. Luckily, some herbs can help with this side effect. (More on herbal strategies for SSRI-related low libido below.)
4. Hormone imbalances. If you suffer from symptoms like acne, severe PMS, painful or heavy periods, irregular periods, bloating, migraines and/or hormonal headaches, it’s likely that you’re living with an underlying hormone imbalance (one that you can take steps to heal by using key lifestyle and biohacking strategies). This imbalance is also likely contributing to your low libido.
5. You’re not getting enough exercise. A raft of research has shown that exercise can help improve sexual desire and arousal.
6. You’re low on iron. Iron deficiency has been connected to low libido. If you’re never in the mood, you might want to get your iron checked and ask your healthcare provider about taking iron supplements or maximizing the iron you get through whole foods.

How to Get Your Sex Drive BackYou can take some simple but powerful steps to reclaim your hormonal health—and rediscover your sex drive. Here’s what I recommend:

1. Start cycle syncing. You can use certain lifestyle strategies to bring your hormones back into balance naturally, and one of the most important is syncing your life to your 28-day menstrual cycle. When you start to eat, move, and live according to your unique hormonal needs each week, you can experience a profound and positive shift in your hormonal symptoms, including low libido. I consider cycle syncing the first, best thing you can do to balance your hormones and bring your sex life back to life. If the idea of even tracking your cycle is new to you, use the MyFLO app to track your natural hormone shifts.
2. If you’ve ever taken birth control, run some labs. Consult with your healthcare provider about running some blood tests. Specifically, I suggest looking at your testosterone levels and your SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). The pill can wreak hormonal havoc in general, but it is especially rough on these two biomarkers—both of of which are important for having a healthy sex drive.
3. Do a detox.The pill can cause a flood of excess hormones in the body. And even if you don’t have a history of taking HBC, you might be estrogen dominant, which can cause system-wide symptoms including low libido. So you will also want to do a gentle, natural detox in order to get excess hormones movin’ on out—and your sex drive movin’ on up!
4. Embrace healthy fats. Healthy fats—like the kind found in avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts and seeds, and small oily fish like sardines—help support healthy levels of good cholesterol in the body. You need good cholesterol to manufacture sex hormones—and you need healthy levels of sex hormones to… want to have sex!
5. Consider taking Maca. Studies suggest that the South American plant maca may be beneficial in boosting libido, perhaps especially for women who take a selective serotonin uptake inhibitor.
6. Get moving. Make healthy movement a part of your everyday life. Exercise can be helpful in boosting libido. Just don’t forget to match your movement to where you are in your cycle. When you move can be just as important as how and how often you move.
7. Patch up micronutrient deficiencies. Getting enough iron can be especially important for sex drive, but you’ll want to make sure you have healthy levels of all the key micronutrients that support hormonal health. If you think you’re low in essential micronutrients, ask your doctor to run some labs and consider taking a high quality supplement.
8. Don’t discount the emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions to low libido. Remember that it isn’t just physical factors that affect sex drive. If something else is weighing on you—relationship dissatisfaction, an intensely crazy workload, unremitting stress, etc.—carve out time for self-care and consider talking with a therapist or other professional. In our crazy-busy mody culture, stress recovery can take a village.

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!

Need more Hormone Help?

If you’re needing some health upgrading, it’s time you started you looking into what’s going on with your hormones.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.Click here to get your FREE detox and evaluation.

You may have come to believe that hot flashes, weight gain, and a nonexistent libido are inevitable parts of getting older. Same with with regular ovulation, easy periods, and balanced hormones. But these extreme symptoms are not the norm—and they are NOT what you should expect at this age.

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‍Forget what you’ve seen, heard, and believed up until this point about entering your mid-30s and beyond. Your body does not have a set-in-stone expiration date for producing sex hormones, in fact recent New York Times reported research shows we can delay menopause with food!

‍You don’t need to fear perimenopause. But you do need to understand what your body is biologically programmed to do during perimenopause and how you can take care of yourself NOW to make this hormonal transition as seamless as possible. (You’ll also want to pay attention to the hormonal transitions happening during this phase if you want to get pregnant in your mid or late 30s or beyond.)

‍How to Have Easy Perimenopause

‍The first thing to know? Perimenopause begins much earlier than many women realize: around age 35 and lasts for the next decade or more. And how you experience perimenopause—whether it’s easy for you or riddled with devastating symptoms—is largely determined by the hormonal health you’re in when you hit your mid-30s.That is, if you’re experiencing period problems now—symptoms like severe PMS, painful periods, irregular periods, bloating, acne, fibroids, and heavy bleeding—your hormonal health is compromised and it doesn’t bode well for your next 10 or 15 years. I don’t mean to scare you, but you might be facing some of the horror stories you’ve heard about perimenopause.

‍On the other hand, if you’re taking care of your hormonal health right now—if you’re engaging cyclical self-care and the key biohacks for balancing and healing your unique female physiology —your transition into perimenopause can be smooth sailing.

‍So what can you do right now to reclaim your hormonal health and transform perimenopause from a transition to be feared to a milestone that should be celebrated—and barely noticed, at least symptom-wise?Let’s start by taking a close look at what happens during perimenopause.

‍Perimenopause 101

‍Let’s clearly define “perimenopause.” It’s a term that refers to the time between your reproductive years and your very last period.  It takes a long time, and even though it sets off old-age alarms for many women—when, as I mentioned above, this phase starts much earlier than most women think it does AND there is nothing shocking, abnormal, or bad about going through this hormonal transition (or about aging in general, but that is for another blog post a different day).

What’s more, so many women are getting pregnant naturally and having children in their late 30s and early 40s. The word “perimenopause” conjures up images of old maids, when in fact many women are waiting until perimenopause to start a family.

Natural hormonal changes DO happen during this time, so it’s important to know what’s going on.

In a nutshell, perimenopause is when a woman’s ovaries begin to move from ovulating like clockwork to not ovulating anymore. This is accomplished by the slow and steady rise of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and fluctuating estrogen levels. Over time, these fluctuating hormone levels become waning hormone levels and they stop signaling the process of ovulation all together (menopause). Think of this as a kind of reverse-puberty.

This era of shifting hormone signaling in the body is why good hormonal health is so important when you’re about to enter this phase of life. If your hormones are out of balance and causing difficult symptoms before you’re in perimenopause (when they should be be having), the addition of the natural hormone fluctuations that occur during perimenopause will not make symptoms any better. Far from it. Your symptoms are likely to get way worse.

‍Perimenopause can be divided into two phases:

Phase 1 (35 to 45 years old)

This phase is when reproductive hormone production starts to shift and become less consistent. That said, you shouldn’t feel symptoms during this phase if you’re in good hormonal health. You should be ovulating and menstruating regularly and have good muscle tone, skin quality, energy, and sex drive. In other words, you should  still be making enough hormones to feel vital and youthful. If you are experiencing symptoms like difficulty with fertility, vaginal dryness, accelerated skin aging, or dry hair (or all of the above), these are huge messages that your hormones need some TLC. To add insult to injury, these are symptoms that women don’t expect to experience until much later. Dealing with them as young as your mid-30s can put a major dent in your quality of life and indicates you are aging biologically faster than your chronological years.

Phase Two (45 to 55 years old)

During this phase, FSH levels rise to the point where you no longer ovulate. And while that sounds dramatic, this phase will be relatively smooth sailing if you’re taking care of your hormonal health. However, many women let the symptoms they experience in Phase 1 go unaddressed and that compounds their symptoms in Phase 2.

You can use targeted strategies in each phase—before perimenopause, during perimenopause Phase 1, and during perimenopause Phase 2—to heal your hormones and erase pesky perimenopausal symptoms.

‍If you’re NOT in perimenopause yet… Begin cyclical self-care, stat! The first step is to track your period.The next step is to eat, exercise, and make lifestyle choices in line with your cycle. This is especially important if you’re experiencing any period problems like severe PMS, irregular periods, heavy periods, bloating, acne, fibroids or hormonal migraines. You’ll also want to make sure your liver and detoxification system are in tip-top shape. One of the best ways you can support detox everyday is by eating cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, and Brussel sprouts. If you’re on hormonal birth control, you may want to consider other options. A history of being on the Pill can make perimenopause worse.

‍If you’re in Perimenopause Phase 1… You’ll want to stick to your cyclical self-care routine, and liver health becomes even more important during this phase. Continue to emphasize phytonutrient-rich vegetables and drink warm water with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice in the mornings. Tending your adrenal health is critical in this stage of life, so you will want to prioritize rest and relaxing activities, but you might also consider taking adaptogens, including:

Maca powder. I recommend maca powder as part of a wider hormonally-supportive diet when you’re age 35 or over and experiencing symptoms of perimenopause. Maca can help with:

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

Ashwagandha. This well-researched herb has been shown to reduce oxidative stress (the internal process that contributes to cell damage and accelerated aging) and support a healthy stress response. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, ashwagandha was shown to improve stress resistance and participants’ self-assessed quality of life. When it comes to hormones, ashwagandha has been shown to safely improve sexual function and low libido for some women (perhaps because it supports healthy testosterone production). I recommend ashwagandha if you struggle with anxiety and/or if you’re wrestling with low libido.

Holy Basil. This herb supports a healthy adrenal response as well as helping stabilize blood sugar, which is essential for healthy hormone balance. Research also suggests that holy basil can help protect the liver and support liver function. I recommend holy basil if stress and anxiety are an issue and/or if you wrestle with imbalanced blood sugar. If you have a history of taking over-the-counter or prescription medications, you may consider taking holy basil for liver and detox support.

Reishi mushroom. Reishi is a powerful adaptogen that is also full of antioxidants. The antioxidant benefits of reishi are well-studied, and when it comes to hormones studies show that reishi (and other cordyceps mushrooms) may help ease hormone-related symptoms by exerting an anti-androgenic effect in the body.

If you’re in Perimenopause Phase 2…Phase 2 is when FSH levels rise to the point where you no longer ovulate. Because many women experience accelerated hormone aging in Phase 1, they have a rough time in Phase 2. But when hormones are balanced entering this phase, your body should adapt relatively seamlessly by manufacturing slightly less, but a balanced amount, of estrogen and progesterone and testosterone. If you’re having hot flashes, night sweats, no libido, etc., then you likely have unbalanced levels of these hormones.

Take D3 and Evening Primrose Oil. These two supplements are especially helpful in the second phase of perimenopause. Evening primrose oil is a source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid that influences prostaglandin synthesis and calms perimenopausal symptoms. Vitamin D is foundational for hormone balance and overall health at every stage of life. You can read more about D3 here.

Increase your Zinc intake. Zinc is critical for the production of testosterone production. Having enough testosterone eases the perimenopausal transition. Zinc is bountiful in beans and seeds. You can also supplement with 50mg a day.

Eat enough healthy fat. Cholesterol (yes, the very substance that has been demonized for many years) is what our body uses to make our hormones. You need enough healthy fat in your diet to have enough cholesterol to support adequate hormone production. Your body is slowing down hormone production at this stage, so it’s critical to make sure you have enough of this key building block.

Getting Pregnant in PerimenopauseIf you’re planning to get pregnant after age 35, you have nothing to fear. Even though you’ve entered this new hormonal phase, with the right hormone support can increase your chances of getting pregnant easily and naturally. For my definitive guide on getting pregnant after 35, click here. And if you are in your mid-30s and thinking of starting a family or already trying, consider adding the following supplements:

Vitex. This herb, also called Chasteberry, supports regular ovulation, healthy progesterone levels and robust levels of FSH.

CoQ10. This has been shown to improve egg quality.

The secret to clear skin isn’t just in what you eat and what products you use, it’s also when you do it. That’s right, clear skin all month long is all in the timing.

Yes, other factors matter. Significantly so. Clear skin all month long depends on nutrition, skin care practices, skin care products, lifestyle choices, hydration, sleep and other factors that influence hormone balance.

But one of the key pieces is cyclical skin care, and it is a piece of the clear-skin equation that very few people, including other hormone experts, factor into their advice. As someone who struggled with serious cystic acne all over my face, chest, and back for almost a decade—and who cleared my skin by using nutrition, lifestyle, biohacking, and cyclical self-care to balance my hormones—I love sharing with women how you can balance your hormones to help your skin perform better.

The first step is understanding the skin’s changing needs during the course of your 28-day cycle. Let’s dive in!‍

Meet your 28-Day Cycle
‍During your 28-day menstrual cycle, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels naturally rise and fall. When your system is healthy and you’re cycling normally, these fluctuations occur in familiar patterns: during the follicular phase (which is the first days of your cycle up until ovulation) estrogen levels are naturally higher, during the ovulation phase (mid-cycle) estrogen and testosterone rise until they peak, during the luteal phase (which occurs right after ovulation and up until you start bleeding) estrogen and testosterone start to fall and progesterone rises), and just before menstruation and during menstruation phase, progesterone falls again.

‍How Fluctuating Hormones Affect Skin

‍Estrogen and progesterone levels affect the thickness of the skin differently each phase of your cycle.  During the follicular phase and especially during ovulation, high levels of estrogen boost collagen, make the skin thicker, and improve elasticity. You can thank the estrogen during this phase for that famed ‘ovulation glow’.  

Testosterone levels also rise during the luteal phase and that helps keep skin thick. But testosterone is a double-edged sword when it comes to skin. Studies show a link between spikes in this hormone and acne.

So this is the crucial point in your cycle when you either become vulnerable to breakouts or go through the second half of your cycle with clear skin. What causes some women to break out and others to barely notice a blemish? The difference is in the body’s ability to efficiently process and eliminate the excess estrogen and testosterone in the system as levels rise.

If your body isn’t processing hormones properly during your luteal phase and eliminating the excess, excess estrogen and excess testosterone accumulate and fuel acne.

This happens in two ways: the excess estrogen causes estrogen dominance and skin inflammation, and the extra testosterone triggers the sebaceous glands to produce more oil.

For women with optimally functioning endocrine systems, these hormonal peaks don’t cause a lot of problems. But for women who can’t process hormones correctly, acne is often the unwanted result.

Premenstrually and during your period, estrogen drops and your skin gets thinner, retains less moisture, and produces less collagen.  

Progesterone rising and falling in the luteal phase can worsen skin conditions if present.

This is why The Cycle Syncing Method® is so effective in addressing these fluctuations, as you'll be eating in ways that improve estrogen and progesterone imbalances.

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‍Signs that Acne is Hormonal

‍One sign, of course, is when you breakout during the luteal (premenstrual) phase. Hormonal acne can also be diagnosed by where it appears. Breakouts along the chin and jaw lines are a sign of hormonal acne.

Pimples on the temple are another common sign of a hormonal imbalance that stems from liver congestion due to excess estrogen. If you’ve got pimples on your forehead, it’s usually a sign of a gut imbalance.

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‍Your Skin Care Schedule During Your 28-Day Cycle

‍Here’s how to time your skin care routine to match your hormonal needs throughout the month:

‍Day 7-12 (follicular phase).If you get a facial with extractions, schedule it during your follicular phase. This is also the time to do any hair removal.

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‍Day 13-24 (ovulation/first half of luteal). Facials are still okay during this time, but it’s best to go for masks, not extractions. Dry brushing is a great way to help the lymph offload the estrogen. You don’t need much in the way of products during this phase.

Day 25-Day 28 (the second half of luteal). This a perfect time for home care with your favorite  products and using oil-based serum to reduce sebum production. Clay masks are also great during this time, and you can use products with lactic acid to shrink pores.

Day 1 - Day 6 (Bleeding). During menstruation, focus on restorative, soothing skin care. Think hydrating and calming masks, and collagen masks.  

NOTE: Don’t have any extractions or hair removal during the second half of the month when skin is thinner and increased blood flow to your capillaries means more post-extraction swelling. Save facial appointments until right after your bleed is over.

Everyday of your cycle. I take Balance Supplements every day of my cycle to make sure my hormones and skin can be at their best throughout the month. Whatever you do to optimize your micronutrients, don’t skip this step! Clear skin starts on the inside and with what we eat and how we supplement.

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!

Getting pregnant right now might be the last thing on your mind. Or maybe you’ve started to think about having a baby in the next couple years. Or maybe you’re ready!No matter where you are on your journey, it’s important to make nutrition and lifestyle choices to protect your future fertility. One in ten women in the United States have trouble getting or staying pregnant — and while some factors are beyond your control, research shows that you can improve your chances of getting pregnant in the future by making the right food, supplement, and lifestyle choices now.If you start researching today’s escalating infertility rates, you’ll learn that many doctors consider the causes “unknown.” But there are some real and modifiable lifestyle components to the fertility puzzle—components that are especially important to consider if you suffer from period problems like irregular periods, heavy bleeding, severe PMS, cramps, or hormonal acne. These symptoms are signs that your hormones are out of balance and that getting pregnant (whenever you’re ready) might be more difficult.Maybe you’re thinking Why wouldn’t I believe the doctors? If the causes are unknown and there is nothing I can do….I understand how you feel. I was told I would never get pregnant naturally—or even with IVF— when I was 20 years old. My PCOS was that severe. But I got pregnant naturally at age 37, after only three tries at home. I know that if I hadn’t been eating, supplementing, and living in a hormone-supportive for the past 15 years, I wouldn’t have gotten pregnant so easily.Today I want to share some of the fertility-enhancing strategies I used to get pregnant naturally at an ‘advanced maternal age.’ My story can be your story. Here’s what you can do today and tomorrow to preserve your fertility for next month, next year, or in 10 years!

Foods for Fertility

Here are some specific food choices you can make to optimize your fertility:Emphasize healthy, high-quality sources of fat. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat—the kind of fat found in foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, and small, oily fish (like anchovies and sardines)—help reduce inflammation and stabilize blood sugar, two conditions that are important for fertility. And if you haven’t done so already, say no to all trans fats! These sneaky little devils drive up inflammation.Opt for complex carbs (but DON’T go no carb). High or mismanaged blood sugar has been associated in the scientific literature with ovulatory infertility. So fertility-focused eating should emphasize complex carbs that take time to be digested (which keeps blood sugar more stable). Think non-starchy vegetables, whole fruits, and beans. But don’t cut out carbs all together. Very low or no carb diets can make the body think that not enough food is available in the environment and trigger survival mode. When the body is in survival mode, it de-prioritizes non-essential functions, like getting pregnant. After all, how would you care for a child on the ancient savannah if there isn’t even enough food for yourself!Eat your iron. Getting enough iron in your diet, either through food or supplements, has been shown to enhance fertility. High-iron foods include beans, beets, pumpkin, spinach, and tomatoes.Skip the skim. If you’ve read the FLO blog before, you probably know that I don’t recommend dairy products when you’re trying to achieve hormonal harmony, but if you’re interested in protecting and enhancing your fertility, you should be especially wary of low-fat options, like skim milk. Studies have linked consumption of low-fat dairy with reduced fertility. If you tolerate dairy and you allow yourself a bit here and there, make sure it is of the full-fat variety.Skip the soda. Studies show that soda drinkers have reduced fecundity.Skip the coffee. Whether or not caffeine and/or coffee inhibits your chance of getting pregnant (this is widely debated in the scientific community, with some research suggesting it does and other research suggesting it has no effect), research does show a link between coffee consumption and not being able to carry a child to full term. Don’t risk it!

Supplements for Fertility

There are some baseline support supplements that every women who is trying to conceive (or who wants to conceive one day) should consider taking. Here are the fertility supplement basics that I recommend. Every women who hopes to become pregnant one day, whether next week or in the next decade, should consider taking these supplements:

1. Vitamin D3. Vitamin D is critical for healthy endocrine function and, more specifically, it has been associated with improved success rates for women going through IVF. Optimal vitamin D levels might also help with PCOS and endometriosis, two conditions that can increase infertility.
2. Fish oil. The omega 3 fatty acids in fish oil drive down inflammation and promote healthy hormone balance. Also, once pregnant, adequate consumption of fish oil is vitally important for normal fetal development.
3. Probiotic. The importance of a healthy gut can’t be overstated, both for overall health and enhanced fertility.

If you’re experiencing specific hormone-related symptoms, you’ll want to consider additional supplements. Hormone symptoms act as warning signals that your body might not have all the nutrients it needs to conceive and sustain a healthy pregnancy. Here’s what I recommend:Symptom: Low progesterone (irregular cycles, weight gain, hormonal acne, hormonal migraines)Supplement: vitamin B6Function: Helps the ovary make more progesteroneSymptom: Elevated estrogen (severe PMS, swollen breasts, fibrocystic breasts, heavy menstrual bleeding)Supplement: Calcium D-glucarateFunction: Helps the liver metabolize estrogenSymptom: High Cortisol (unremitting stress, excessive thirst, increased urination, changes in libido, accelerated skin aging, high blood pressure)Supplement: B5Function: Gets your adrenals making the right ratio of cortisol to DHEASymptom: Irregular Ovulation, PCOSSupplement: InositolFunction: improves ovulation regularitySymptom: Insomnia, Fatigue, Bloating, ConstipationSupplement: MagnesiumFunction: Miracle micronutrient, essential for over 300 reactions in the bodySymptom: Poor Egg QualitySupplement: CoQ10Function: improves egg qualityAlways 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!Supporting your Fertile FLO, Alisa

Introducing the BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

You’ve been asking me for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, and I finally have created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:

Balance by FLO Living Supplements are a complete package that work together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month (2 cycle) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.

Click here to learn more about the BALANCE Bio-Hacking Supplement Kit.