Reflecting on stress from a female perspective.

The picture to this post shows the different prerequisites that I have as a woman. Purely from a hormonal perspective. Without me inflicting any external stressors in my life, just living my life. The biofeedback data to the left is from this month’s follicle phase and to the right when I am in the luteal phase.

Oura

Ever since I started wearing my Oura ring and get feedback on my sleep quality it became clear to me how much just the hormonal changes of my cycle affected me. At first this irritated me. I felt that my cycle interfered with my lifestyle, held me back with my training, made me not as resilient to stress, no matter what I tried I just could not increase my recovery etc. Also it felt unfair that I as a woman are “sentenced” to this hormonal circus going on inside my body.

Acceptance

Now I am more accepting to myself, which makes the situation much easier to handle. I also think about how miraculous my body is to be able to grow a new life inside of me – that is truly a gift. And as with most things there is also something “bad” to counteract the good things.

High drive and ambition in life

I have a high drive and ambition in life, and my lifestyle do get restrained in the luteal phase. But instead I now focus on recovery. Doing things that makes me calm, relaxed and content. To change my mindset from feeling restrained into embracing this phase. This means taking the time to cycle my macros, stepping out of fat burning and autophagy (which we should not constantly stay in anyway), taking hot baths, and feeling good about eating more food. From a biological standpoint we need to remember that we might potentially grow a new life inside of us at the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle hence our caloric need increase. And since I do not fast in this phase I naturally also increase them.

Challenging my metabolic flexibility

I practice looking at this as a challenge to my metabolic flexibility. The more flexible you are, the better you can handle changes in diet and amounts of food you eat. My goal is basically to get less and less negative effects from the luteal phase in relation to my body composition.

Communication with loved ones

Also I find that when I have some “hard data” that shows just how my recovery has been, it is easier to communicate to my loved ones around my well-being. It empowers me 👍😊 This in turn makes them more empathetic to my situation which is great of course!

What do I need today to be at my best?

Now a days I always ask myself – what do I need today to be at my best? To make the best of this day based on how I feel. As the driven and ambitious individual that I am, this has also helped me to not push myself too hard on those days when I am not on top. To work is a marathon and not a sprint so the key is to find a strategy and lifestyle that I can keep for as long as I am working.

Balancing the stressors

So, with this new insight to my ability to recover depending on where I am at in my cycle, it then comes down to balancing the stressors that I have in my life. Things that are perfectly fine to do in the follicle phase is a “no go” for me in the luteal phase. If possible, I also plan activities after my cycle. Things that require more from me I try to steer to the follicle phase.

Perimenopause

On top of the menstrual cycle I am also in the perimenopause phase which means more stress is added  on my female body. To phase out the ability to create new life is a big change. Some refers to this as the second puberty. It is important for me to remember this and not think that I can handle a lifestyle that was perfectly fine in my 20s. Sleep is much more important for me now a days for example. So keeping a healthy sleep hygiene is vital for my well-being.

Time to summarize

So to summarize this post. It is more and more important to listen inwards the older I get. To pick up on the signals my body sends me (symptoms if you will) and take appropriate measures based on them. I’d rather listen to the whispering sounds from my body then wait until it is screaming at me.