Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark - “Track Your Period, Learn The Phases, Avoid Pregnancy Naturally.” - With @LittleRaeOfHealth

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

Your hormone bestie and my most popular guest on The Spillover, Emily (aka @littleraeofhealth) is back to teach you EXACTLY how to track your period, understand the subtle changes in mood you experience during the different phases of your cycle, and determine if your period is not normal. Alex and Emily fan girl over different wellness practices they are into lately and why your period is one of the most underrated perks of being a girl. (YES, PERK!) Take control of your health and learn how to balance your hormones naturally with the ULTIMATE RESOURCE: The Balanced Babe Blueprint Online Course https://www.balancedbabeblueprint.com... Use promo "CUTESERVATIVE" for $100 off: https://www.balancedbabeblueprint.com... For Emily's $47 snack size course, head here: https://www.balancedbabeblueprint.com...https://www.instagram.com/littleraeof...https://open.spotify.com/show/7Gm7RUy... . LAST CALL! Get ticket details for Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit at https://ywls2024.com and use code ALEX for 25% OFF admission! Interested in making a tax deductible donation to support The Spillover? ☕️✨ Visit https://donate.tpusa.com/donate to contribute to guest travel, set needs and more! . Support American farms and shop GOOD RANCHERS to try the New King Box and get FREE BACON FOR LIFE with code CLARK. https://www.goodranchers.com/ Get 100% Organic tampons & now PADS! Try GARNUU today at https://garnuu.com/ and use code ALEX for 15% off. Elevate your skincare routine with NIMI SKINCARE! Go to https://www.nimiskincare.com/ and use promo code ALEXCLARK to get 10% OFF your order. Switch to ALEAVIA organic prebiotic body wash and ditch artificial fragrances. Use code: ALEX15 for 15% OFF. https://www.aleavia.com/ Drink Freedom2o™ Speak your Thirst. Protect the First. We hydrate the spirit of freedom loving Americans across the country one bottle at a time. Speak Free. Think Free. Live Free. https://freedom2o.com . Looking for like-minded friends? Join the Cuteservative Facebook group:   / 1234544066933796   Listen at 6 PM MST/ 9 PM EST every Thursday by subscribing to ‘The Spillover’ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify ☕️✨ @RealAlexClark Instagram |   / realalexclark   Instagram |   / poplitics   X | https://x.com/yoalexrapz Spotify |https://open.spotify.com/show/7M0C7cl... Shop Real Alex Clark Merch! https://tpusamerch.com/collections/real-alex-clark

This weekend, the largest conference in America for conservative women, the Young Women's Leadership Summit, is in San Antonio, June 7th through 9th. Here from House and Habit, Megan Kelly, Erica Comazar, Suzanne Venker, Katie Fowse, Emma's for Mama, Riley Gaines, Candice Owens, Yonnie Park, and more with our dynamic breakout sessions covering everything from birth control to true crime. Ages under 10 are free, and females of all ages are welcome. There will be a mother's room for nursing mothers. Go to YWLS204.com with code Alex for 25% off. YWLS24.com with code Alex for 25% off last minute tickets. Find the link in the description. One of the best life hacks for both men and women to understand is how a woman's menstrual cycle

works. What happens to her during each phase? How to track it in the first place and even how to avoid pregnancy naturally without using hormonal birth control, which comes with a massive laundry list of side effects. I'm bringing back one of my most popular guests whose first appearance on the show changed so many lives and even led to multiple pregnancies after struggling to conceive. Praise God. She's known as Little Ray of Health on Instagram and is a holistic health coach who has turned her personal struggles into a mission to help women around the world take back control of their health. Once a self-described PMS monster plagued by hormonal acne and carrying an extra 20 pounds, she is transformed into a period unicorn with clear skin and pain-free. periods. Over the past three years, she has amassed a massive following across platforms, and her

balanced Bay Blueprint course has helped over 20,000 women balance their hormones naturally, using nutrition and lifestyle changes as God intended, without relying on Big Pharma to fix them. Her mission is to create an army of women who ditch hormonal birth control and learn how to track their cycles to take back their health, fertility, and true femininity. Emily is also the host of The Little Ray of Health podcast, where she covers a range of topics, including hormones, gut health, metabolism, and more. ultimate mission is to educate and empower women everywhere to break free from the hamster wheel of hustle, harness the power of their hormones, and truly step into their power. Today we're getting

back to the basics, how to track your period, what each phase of your cycle means and the game changer it is for you and your partner to understand it. And also just how to avoid getting pregnant naturally or get pregnant if you want to. Watch this interview by subscribing to Real Alex Clark on YouTube. Each week we are helping to heal a sick culture by interviewing different experts offering their own unique remedy for your physical, spiritual, or emotional health. If you've benefited from this show in any way, please consider becoming a financial supporter. We are produced by Turning Point USA, which is a 501c3 nonprofit. That means that everything from filming with guests like Emily in person to set and staff

is all paid for by listeners like you who love the show. To make a tax deductible donation, please click the link in the show notes. And if it's not a good time to make a financial commitment, I understand leaving a five-star review telling others how the show has taught you something new or improved your life also really helps. Please welcome certified holistic health coach Emily from Little Ray of Health back to the spillover. Why is having a period one of the most underrated parts of being a woman and not actually a curse? Your period and your hormones and like what we're going to talk about today, the face of your cycle, are literally the cheat codes to being a woman. They're the cheat codes to like living a really healthy,

vibrant life, not burning out, like feeling amazing. It truly is. And your period is, I call it your superpower. I really do believe that. And I did not used to think that. Okay. I didn't used to think that. I used to think it was like a curse, literally a curse. Because you were doing poorly. Horrible. Yeah. What was going on with you? So I got on birth control at 15 and it was great at first. I feel like everyone, it's like great at first. And then when I was 23 or 24, it just all started backfiring. I got hormonal acne. I had really heavy painful periods. I had cystic acne. I was bloated. I was inflamed. I gained like 15 pounds in a month, which felt like so weird because I didn't change anything about my diet or lifestyle. And it just felt like my body was turning on me. But like my body was

against me. Really it was like a cry for help that something else was going on. And so yeah, I went to a couple doctors, my primary doctor. And they were like, my OB was like, this is normal. You know, we've talked about this before. And I was like, I don't. feel normal. I know this isn't normal. They just say, welcome to womanhood. Like, this is what being a woman is. Like, you're going to have cramps. You're going to have a painful period. Women are gaslit by their doctors all the time. They are told, oh, this is normal because they see it all the time in patients, but that doesn't mean it's actually normal like it, you know, we should all be experiencing it. Yeah. Just because something's common doesn't mean it's normal. Just because you and all

your girlfriends are going through something and every woman you've ever talked to in your life, still doesn't mean it's normal just because it's common, but these things get normalized just because they're happening to everyone. And it's just, it's not true. And so really your period, I mean, it also is a detox for your body. Like your hormones are going through the cycle every month. You're ovulating and then your hormones are fleshing themselves out in starting over. And so it really is an integral part of your overall health.

And when you're on birth control, you're not getting that true detox, right? You're not getting a period. You're not getting a real period. I mean, unless you're on like the copper IUD, which is non-hormonal. So you do get a period with that. But while you're on like any hormonal contraceptive, it's fake. It's a withdrawal bleed. Like you think like, oh, I'm getting a regular period.

It's not real. And so why is a period such an important vital sign for a woman to know what's going on with her health? So your period, you can think of it as your monthly report card of what's going on with your health. It really is like the canary in the coal mine in terms of what's going on. inside your body. It's like this monthly report card that you can get a hand on every month. How am I doing? Oh, if it's painful, if it's a regular, if it's heavy, if it's this, if you're breaking out, if you feel horrible when you're ovulating, when you're actually supposed to feel your best, like it may again feel like your body's working against you, but it truly is just these like smoke

signals and this like SOS from your body, listen to me, something's going on. What is a normal period supposed to look like? So a normal period is going to range from like 26 to 35 days on average. Some women have a perfect 28-day cycle, but some it's a little shorter, some it's a little longer, but that's really seen as like the normal range, 26 to 35. It should not be a reason you call out sick from school or work. You shouldn't be doubled over like a heating pad on one side, a heating pad on your back, like popping my doll like it's candy. It shouldn't ruin your life. Like at this point in my life, my periods used to be horrible. They don't affect my life. And that's really how a healthy period should be. It should be three,

six days long. It shouldn't be super painful. You might have some discomfort, some cramping, some like minor aching. But again, it shouldn't be like, I have to call out sick from school. This is ruining my life. I'm nauseous. Like, my acne is so bad. Like, it shouldn't be like that. It doesn't have to be like that. Okay. So those are all warning signs that something is off hormonally. Yeah. What does it mean to sink your life to your menstrual cycle? This is such a fun concept. And it can sound overwhelming at first. But like, I call it go. with your flow. So like living in tune with your cycle, going with your flow, sounds kind of cheesy, but stay with me. It is a way to sync your diet and your lifestyle, your social engagements,

your work, all of these kinds of things, nutrition, with the phases of your cycle. So you actually have four phases to your menstrual cycle. I know when I was growing up, I just thought like either I was on my period or not on my period. Like those were the two phases. That was it. But really there's four phases and your period is technically like the least exciting part of it. Okay, so what are five things that every woman should know about our hormones? And then we're going to get into all those phases and what they mean. So probably the number one is that you can only get pregnant six days out of every menstrual cycle. It's so wild to me. I mean, this was something that I thought you'd get pregnant every day, right? The whole mean girls thing,

like don't have sex or you will get pregnant. It's like it doesn't work like that. It's not that easy. It's six days out of the month. Even the most like fertile mortal, even if you're like, I am so fertile, it's six days maximum for any woman per cycle. That's because sperm can live for up to five days and then ovulation is one day. So that's pretty interesting and not, I wish we were taught this. Like it's so insane to me how backwards like the health and sex education is in this country. You're, and we'll get into the phases, but the bone structure of your face shifts slightly when you're ovulating to be more symmetrical and slightly more feminine to make you more attractive.

Because this is when your body, like this is when you could get pregnant, right? So this is when your body's like, all right, let's find a mate. Let's make us look more attractive. So that's pretty cool too. The next one is melatonin. So melatonin is actually a hormone. And it has a lot to do with your circadian rhythm, but it influences your actual menstrual cycle. And so like late night screen time, late night scrolling, grabbing your phone first thing in the morning actually has a massive impact on your hormones. That's one of those like invisible forces that you can't see, but really makes the difference. Fourth one would be that your metabolism actually, increases by 10% in your ludial phase, which is the last two weeks of your cycle. So the two weeks

before your period, you might have cravings, you might feel hungrier. There's a reason. Your body's doing a lot behind the scenes and your metabolism actually increases. So you can eat a little bit more in that phase. Love that. Yeah. And then the last one is that we need cholesterol. We need cholesterol to make hormones. And it's like this idea that cholesterol has been demonized by like big food and big farm and all of this is such a lie. And it's so bad for women. Women eating like low fat and avoiding cholesterol. So really affecting your hormones because your hormones are literally made from cholesterol. Okay, so we talked about what a normal period is supposed to look like. What does an abnormal period look like? So an abnormal period would be super painful. First of all,

a regular. So like you're not having a regular period. You can't get a handle in it. You don't know when it's coming. That's a sign that there's something going on. Another one is that it's really painful. Like that's not normal. Again, you shouldn't be popping ibuprofen. You shouldn't be popping my doll. It shouldn't ruin your day. So if it's a really painful, really heavy, irregular. If it's longer than six days or shorter than three, so a really short cycle or a really long one, that's a sign that something is up. Also, we will talk about the phases, but when you're ovulating, so mid-cycle, this is when

you should feel your best. But if it's when you feel your worst, all hormones are like kind of highest at this time. So if there is an imbalance, like you already have too much estrogen and then estrogen peaks on top of that, you're not going to feel great. So that's another sign that there's something going on. And if it's heavy, like if you're changing a tampon or a pad more than once an hour, this is a big red flag. What is your anti-PMS cheat cheat? My anti-PMS cheat cheat, one will be syncing your lifestyle with your hormones.

So we'll talk about going with your flow. That overall, but like a crash court, like, oh my gosh, my period's coming. What can I do? Magnesium. Magnesium is huge. Now, which magnesium? All of them. Okay.

So just like a, sometimes there's like a blend. Yes. A pill that has like a bunch of them. Bio-optimizers has a magnesium breakthrough. That's like the most comprehensive on the market has all of them. And that's like a powder. So I love that one. Also magnesium like topically.

So primally pure has one that's like a cycle soothing spray. So you can spray it on like over your abdomen, over your uterus. You can put on the bottoms of your feet at night. But just upping the magnesium, dark chocolate, dark chocolates high in magnesium. Red meat. Before like in the ludial phase before you get your period, obviously on your period, you're going to lose a lot of blood. you're going to lose a lot of iron. So if you can get ahead of that. So I always say like before your

period, like I like to eat steak all the time. But this is especially the time to get a big juicy burger or a big steak in. Those are two my biggest. And then slowing down. So really just taking it easy because the harder you push, the more you're going to inflame your body, this is a time to kind of take it easy. So a few days before your period, just like dial it back. Take a bubble bath. Like take a magnesium salt bath. So pour some Epsonsol in the bath, up your electrolytes. That's the thing. You're going to lose electrolytes. You're going to lose iron. You're going to lose all these things. So if we can get ahead of it and really like up all those stores ahead of time, it can help you not feel as depleted on your period. Okay. So let's get into the four different phases of your period. I have said and got a lot of heat for it that women have essentially four different personalities every month. Now, people took that as I meant humongous mood swings, which is not what I was saying. But am I correct to say that women have? have four fluctuations in their personality during any given month.

Yeah. You're four different women over the course of the month. And to me, and again, it's not crazy. Like, it shouldn't be a whole theatrical thing. Like, all of a sudden, you know, you change. You don't have multiple personalities, but like your moods change slightly. Like your creativity, how sociable you want to be, how you look, how you feel, what you crave. Like, all of these things do change.

And I think it's so fascinating. Yeah, you are four different women. And how validating is that, you know? Which phase kicks us off? Your menstrual phase. Okay. So day one of your period marks day one of your cycle. That's when it all starts.

It starts with your period. I used to think like, oh, my period marked the end of it, but I know it really is the beginning. That's your menstrual phase. So again, healthy period should be three to six days. So a menstrual phase would be between three and six days. Technically, your follicular phase does also begin on day one. That's not the way that I usually teach it to women because it kind of gets complicated. I like to teach the four separate phases.

But technically the second you get your period, your body is already getting ready to ovulate. So like as it's all shedding, your body's already on it getting ready for ovulation. Okay. So phase number one is your menstrual phase, your period. And what do we need to know about that time of the month? What's good to do? What's good to do? What's bad to do?

So you can think of this. I like to describe it as the seasons. So like the seasons that nature goes through, these are the four seasons that we also go through. And I think this is so cool that like we mimic nature. and I just think it's so beautiful. So you can think of your menstrual face as your inner winter. It's the easiest way to think of it because this is the time when you should kind of be hibernating. Okay. It's the time when your energy is going to be low. All hormones are at their lowest. So people are like, oh, she's so hormonal on her period. You're actually the least hormonal on your period.

They're all the lowest. So this is why you'll feel lethargic. This is why you just want to chill. You don't want to work out. You don't want to make plans. You don't want to like do anything crazy. And there's a reason for that. You shouldn't be. You should really be taking. it easy, being more introspective, like staying home, hibernating, honestly, journaling, self-care should be huge during this time. So the way I want you to think of the phases and even like life as a women when we're talking about going with our flow, instead of having daily to-dos, monthly to do. So I want you to think of your battery, your health, your body as a battery, and it's monthly, it's not daily. So men have a 24-hour cycle. It resets every day.

So that's why they can just like get over fights like that. No, like they just reset. Like they wake up in the morning. They're just a new person. And women are not. We have, so we have a circadian rhythm. Obviously, we also have an infradian rhythm. And that's the name for like your menstrual cycle.

So there's like 28 to 35 day infradian cycle that then like has to do with everything that we're talking about today. So you have your menstrual phase. You're hibernating. You're just taking it easy. You want to focus on things that you would eat in the winter, right? Like hearty stuff, grounding food, sweet potato, beef, stews, slow cooked stuff. up really nourishing hearty foods during this time, you're not supposed to be pushing it in the gym, not on your period. It can, I mean, exercise can help. Obviously, always listen to your body.

That's what I always come back to. It's like, if you feel good enough to go for a walk or to go to the gym and have a light workout, go for it. It can help sometimes, but do not push if you don't feel good. So don't make plans. Don't throw parties. Don't work out hard and eat really nourishing foods. Like treat it as winter. easiest way to think about. Okay. So that's phase number one, the menstrual phase. Then you move into your follicular phase, which is like your inner spring. So the same way that like the flowers are blooming in the spring and everything's coming alive. So are you. You're starting to feel your energy coming back after your period. You start to like feel social again. You want to get out. You have

your energy coming back. You start to look better. Like I'll talk about this over the over the course of the month. You know days where you look in the mirror. You're like, no, this is wrong. I didn't look like this last week. Like you almost feel like you have like dysmorphia, but truly like you are changing throughout the month and there are reasons for that. So follicular phase, your inner spring, creativity is really high during this time. So in terms of like work and school and all of these things like that, like if you can time brainstorming projects being creative. So if on your period you kind of were journaling, maybe mapping out your goals for the month ahead, like I said, this monthly battery, this monthly to do, what do you want to get done this month? All you're doing

is getting that on paper. Then when you move into the second phase, the follicular phase, this is when you can start outlining stuff. Okay. And brainstorming and getting pen to paper, not necessarily doing anything about it just yet, but this is when creativity is the highest energy is like coming up there, ramping up towards ovulation. So this is the best time to like get all your ideas out. Another thing during this time, you're going to want to focus on probiotic rich foods. So your gut, microbeautics. wyom also changes over the course of your cycle. Okay, so like what? Fermented foods? Yeah. Kimchi, sourcrow, like high quality Greek yogurt. Cambocha. Cambocha. All good things to have like all the time, but especially in this phase to support your gut. And also

healthy fats to support ovulation. So loading up on healthy fats, cholesterol rich foods to support progesterone production for a healthy ovulation. Okay, love that. And group workouts during this time, like circuit workouts, strength training. You have your energy. So like take advantage. of it. So that'll go to about day 13 or 14. So that's the second phase. And then around day 14 is ovulation. So all women ovulate on a different day. This is where like the period tracker apps get it wrong or like the rhythm method that like put a little flower on day 14. And it's so much more than that. So ovulation is the main event of your cycle. It's what your body is preparing for all month. And that's another thing about hormones. It's like whether you're trying to get pregnant or

not, that is what your body is trying to do every single month. Like that is the main goal of your body is to reproduce, is to have a baby. So whether you like it or not, that's what it's trying to do. And this is why we're trying to learn to live with our hormones instead of like living like a man, 24 hour day, 24 hour cycle, like repeating it. So ovulation, all hormones, progesterone peaks about right after, but all other hormones are highest. So your libido is the highest during this time. You feel the best. You have the most motivation. You have the highest energy. You look better. You have like a fertile glow. Like I was saying, your bone structure of your face shifts ever so slightly.

And once you start tracking the phases, you'll see this. You'll be able to see it. You'll be like, oh, I'm ovulating. Yeah, I can feel it. Wow. You feel better. This is your inner summer. So if you think about like during summer, you feel hot, you feel sexy, like that's the main goal.

Abedatio is highest. This is when you're fertile. So this is the only time of your cycle you can get pregnant. So ovulation is a one day event. And are you more friendly during ovulation? You're more sociable. You actually, like, the right and left hemispheres of your brain are communicating more clearly. So, like, you speak better.

So if you want to plan interviews, photos shoots, date nights, things like that, like parties, going out with friends, social engagements, you want to plan around ovulation. Because that's when you feel the best. So you want to take advantage of it. Wow. Okay. I love that. Yeah.

So this is the best time to kind of, if you're thinking about your monthly to-does, if you're a content creator, if you're front-facing on any kind of, you're a content. kind of brand or whatever, film, film content, film content, plan interviews, kind of smash out all of that kind of stuff when you're feeling your best. Instead of like two weeks later, right before your period, you're like, oh, I have to do this thing and now I feel terrible and I don't like the way I look and all of that. And it just kind of starts to spiral. So ovulation is the time when you want to do all that.

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deciding what day you're going to be getting married? 100%. After you talked about this on the live, I was like, yes, totally. I read of. I said, I said people are literally mentally ill. Why are so many women? I see it all the time. They're like, hey, so what should I do? Like my honeymoon's going to happen during my period. I'm like, are you dumb? Literally. Are you dumb? Why in the world? Yeah, don't you know when your period is? Why would you do that? Are you, is it all planned around the venue? Like, well, the venue's only available during this time. So then I have to do it here. I'm like, then pick another venue. I mean, I would. Yeah. But then when people do that, then they usually get pregnant on their honeymoon. Yes. You know what I mean? So think about these. That's your goal.

Then there you go. You can knock it all out. And once you have an irregular or a regular cycle, especially, so many women, I'm sure, in the comments, we're like, well, I have a regular, I have an cycle. Yes, they were. It's not, it's not like, that's in. So then my response is, well, then you need to get the fix. There's something wrong. Literally. Literally. People think I'm heartless. I know. It's frustrating. They just don't want to do it. And I understand it. You don't want to spend the money. You don't want to go get it checked out. But I'm like, okay, we have these tools. This is all telling you. If your period is a regular, you can't track it or this is this. Something is going on. Yeah. It's not just like, oh, I have a regular period. That's my life now forever. No, that's a sign something's going on and you can fix it. Okay. And so,

100% I'll plan that around my period and my ovulation. All of that. Any photo shoots we have, engagement photo shoots, all of that kind of stuff. Because, yeah, can you imagine getting married the first day of your period, second day? No. No, I would cancel it. I would cancel it. Okay, so then is there anything else that we need to know for the, for the ovulation phase? So ovulation, foods to eat. Workouts? Hit workouts during this time. I do not recommend doing hit all the time. Like people, like women that are doing berries, orange theory all the time. No. So recipe for disaster for your hormones, the best time to do hit or higher intensity is while you're ovulating just to take advantage of that high energy that you have. Foods to eat,

if we think of like your inner summer, right? What foods do you eat during summer? It's like light, fresh, raw foods, seafood, coconut, like melon, watermelon, salad, that kind of stuff. During this time, it's also common for women to like retain water, be kind of bloated or maybe constipated. So eating these water-rich foods can really help combat that. those things. So this is the whole overarching idea of going with your flow of kind of getting ahead of these things and learning to work with it. So all of these water-rich foods can help to combat that. So that's the most important part. Ovulation, the only time that you can get fertile happens mid-cycle. So some women, it's like day 13 or 14. Some women, it's 15, 16, 17. But usually,

once you have a regular cycle, it's like mine's been day 15, like clockwork for three years now. Like has not changed. Then we move into your ludial phase. So basically like day, if we're going off a perfect cycle, like day 14 ovulation, 15 and on, luteal phase. Longest phase of your cycle lasts two weeks. This is when your body would be nurturing a possible pregnancy. So during this phase, like the first half, your hormones will still be high. You'll be feeling good. You'll still, like, ride that ovulation high for the first half.

And then the second half, as you, like, get closer to your period, your hormones begin to dip. This is when PMS can occur. So it's kind of like split. There's a first half and a second half. So first half, I usually have women like, listen to your body if you still have a lot of energy, like keep it going, keep the social engagements going. But since this is a time your body's nurturing a possible pregnancy, it's on high alert. So it's on high alert for stressors.

So your stress threshold is much lower because your body's like, is this a safe place to have a baby. Okay. It's like looking around. Its alarm system is set. It's ready to go. And so also your immune system is slightly suppressed so that your body doesn't reject a possible pregnancy. So there's a lot of women that are like, I always get sick before my period. Weird. Okay. So that might be a good time to throw in an extra vitamin C supplement in your routine,

a little extra zinc, a little extra elderberry syrup or whatever, just to like keep everything good, keep everything under control. I love bee pollen, all that kind of stuff. Oh, I love bee pollen. Yeah. So all of those things. So once you kind of understand what's going on, yeah, you can kind of plan, too, because raw milk is super good for helping combat sickness. Yeah. So all of these things, I just think it's so cool that once you know it, and also what's so fun, I think it's fun, that you'll find if you do this long enough, you'll crave these foods. So like before I'm here, like, I crave steak and I crave a burger or when I'm ovulating,

like your appetite's just lighter. Like in the summer, do you want to eat beef stew? You don't. No, actually, and I love this too, because a lot of people get overwhelmed when it comes to eating and cooking real food. Well, how do I know what to? make, when do I make it? They're just like, I don't even know what recipes. And so if you shopped for your family or yourself and you started planning around your cycle, your family doesn't even

have to know. Your kids don't have to know. It's just like, oh, you know, this part of the month, like I know we're going to do a lot of burgers. We're going to do some steak. We're going to do some stew. You know, this time we're going to do pastes. This time we're going to do some fish. Like, you could honestly use your cycle as a blueprint for your grocery list for your entire family. Yeah. I have like Pinterest boards with like meals for each, like, like, recipe ideas. for each phase. It really sounds overwhelming at first. It actually makes life easier. I love it. I love like you're saying, like it gives you this blueprint. It gives you this outline to follow. So you're not just like winging it every day, not knowing what's going on. Take it easy the few days before

your period. So like we're saying, this is when your battery is getting very low. Is this when you're the most irritable? The week before. Yeah. This is when I'm like, I'm going to hurt your feelings. Yes. Yes. Yes. You're like, for you. You might want to get away from me. Yes. I'm like, that's exactly. Yeah, that can happen. You just get a little bit moody or a little bit more sensitive.

And again, it shouldn't be a drastic change. But you'll feel it. You'll feel like, okay, you're breathing the wrong way. Yes. Like, I love you, but like you're breathing the wrong way. So, but you also might be like more needy. Like, with a relationship, they're like, well, I'm, I'm more needy, but like on my own terms. Yeah.

That's a ludial phase. Also, ludial phase, like I was saying, if there's a time you feel ugly, it's usually your ludial phase. Like when you're like, I wore this outfit last week, it looked perfect. I hate it now. My hair doesn't look right. Also, your skin and your hair does change over the course of the month too. You're either like your skin is drier on your period. Hair can be drier. Once you move into the ludial phase, you can produce more oil. So your hair might be oilier. Your skin might feel oilier. So you can kind of also adjust your skin care. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That's everything for the four phases. You talked a little bit about what foods are the best to eat during the phases. But what are our food cravings actually telling us? Like, If you're somebody that always is craving sugar, you're always craving salt, what does that tell you about your body? Yeah. So if you are craving salt, chances are you do need sodium. I think there's this idea that, like, salt is bad, but it really is salt is good. Real salt is good. Real salt. Yeah, like, Redmond, real salt. I love Maldon, real salt. I don't know how you say it. Maldon salt. There's, like, high quality, not table salt. Not iodized table salt. And I get messaged from women, like, I thought iodine's good for your thyroid. No. I'm like, not born in salt. So you need to get investing real salt for your family.

and on the table, exactly what you're saying. The Redmond's, Maldon's. I like Vera. Vera salt is like microplastic free, great salt. All of those are good. Rebans is probably the least expensive. Taylor Dukes, who is speaking this weekend at YWLS, she also sells a great salt.

So like, there are places to get it, but it's worth it because salt is really good for you when you're getting the right kind. Yeah, and you need more than you would think. When you're eating out of the time, you're eating processed foods, you're getting fast food. Like if you're doing that, you're going to get a lot of the bad kind of salt.

But if you're adding it to your salt, you're cooking all your stuff at home, you're probably not even getting enough. And we need salt because salt helps us hold, it helps get the water into ourselves. So it helps like cellularly hydrate you from the inside out versus if you're chugging, like if you're one of these people drinking a gallon of just like plain water every day, it's so bad. Oh my gosh, you know what I've been radicalized on is that we don't need eight glasses

of water a day. That one is crazy. That one actually is like, that one changed my mind recently even. Yes. Especially if you're getting good quality water and adding electrolytes and salt. Because we talk a lot about how having warm lemon water in the morning, you taught me that is so good. And then sprinkling the real salt, a little bit of that in there even. Yeah.

Yeah. So we don't need to be drinking because some people are like bringing around like this gallon of water. Oh my gosh. Some of my coworkers, I roast them so much because they bring this like 200 pound humongous thing of water every day. I'm like, what is this? Why are you carrying this? We don't need this. So, yeah.

You don't see people do it in Europe. Do you see people carrying Stanleys in Europe? Never. Because they're drinking mineral water. Yep. In glass bottles. And it's like, as long as you're drinking it around your meal time and like, you're just not avoiding it completely.

Like, you're going to get enough. Okay. So the salt. And then what if you're craving sweet stuff all the time? Sweet stuff, it honestly could be that your body does need like more carbs, like more energy. So sugar. Look, our brain knows. even though it's not efficient, it knows that sugar is the quickest form of energy.

So if you're someone with like chronic fatigue or like you're under eating, you're chronically dieting as like most women that I've ever met have before or currently are, your body's not getting enough food. And if you're not getting enough food, by definition, you're going to be malnourished. Like your body can't do the things it needs to do because you're not giving it the calories it needs. Calories are really just like energy. It's not about like, oh, I just control calories to control how I look.

Like when you restrict calories, you're literally telling your body, like, I'm not going to give you what you need because I want to be in control and I want to change the way I look. And so it could be that you need more energy. Obviously, you can get it from like sweet potatoes and like starchy veggies and carbs, dark chocolate, real fruit. But it can also be a sign that you maybe have like some candida overgrowth or maybe some gut issues because the more you feed that bad bacteria, like the sugar craving bugs. Oh, you're right. Yeah. That is like. I'm a little

listen and they're like Yeah That's what it is They control your brain Oh my gosh Yeah that is I forgot

I've heard that before You know what I love Is that you and I You know we are like enemy number one Telling people You don't need to drink as much water

You don't need to wear sunscreen as much Raw milk Assetian come after me So hardcore Like the government hates us The sun one is

crazy to me Because it's like The sun's been around longer than us So like Why is it suddenly Like the sun is bad like flowers turn to face it.

Like cats and dogs lay in the sun. You know how good it feels to like be in the sun and like have a tan and the summer is the best time. And there are things people get so hung up on this, but what about this? But what about this? The thing is you're still being smart about it. You're not, I mean, if you're somebody who is sensitive to burning and stuff, then don't go out, you know, from 12 to 2 p.m.

Where you know the peak sun UV rays are that are likely to burn you. It's like, okay, strategizing. I'm going to go out in the morning to get my son. I'm going to go out in the late afternoon. Or you're wearing linen. If you're somebody that burns easy, you're wearing linen clothing where you still get benefits of the sun through it, but that you're not going to burn. The other problem is you can wear sunscreen.

You've got to make sure it is the right mineral sunscreens. So many of the sunscreens are making it worse because they are filled with cancer-causing ingredients. There was a massive recall, like last summer, the summer before, of all these popular brands that you get at Walmart, get at Target, that are known to, cause cancer. There's so much around sun. Sun. Sunglasses. I stop wearing sunglasses for the most part, unless I'm driving, like, facing the sun. Because there's actually a chemical reaction that happens when your eyeball, when sunlight hits your eyeball, that actually creates a

process that starts producing these things that protect you from a sunburn. So it's actually by getting morning sun and getting your eyes adjusted, your body goes, okay, let's start getting this process ready if we're going to be in the sun and you don't burn as easily. Also seed oils. I used to be pale as a ghost, couldn't tan, only burned. Now, I couldn't tell you the last time I got a sunburn, and I haven't worn sunscreen in 10 years. Because the seed oils are doing something, do you know how to explain that, what they're doing that causes sunburn?

Yeah, it has a, there's kind of a few different ways, but the main way is seed oils are really high in omega-6s, which oxidize. They're very unstable. And if you have a really high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, it creates a lot of inflammation in your body. And so those inflamed cells are actually more likely to sunburn. So it's really crazy. And also we need vitamin D.

So vitamin D, when we get sun, it hits our skin. It creates a process that then creates cholesterol. So that is, again, I was talking about cholesterol and how you need it to make your hormones, to make pregnant alone, which is like the master hormone. And if you're not getting sun, like, you're not getting that. It's also for your immune system. You were telling me last night that you have tried to be really disciplined recently about getting your morning sun and your evening sun. How are you doing it? What are your tips for that and

what differences have you noticed? Okay. So I have been trying to get like as soon as the sun, if I wake up before the sun, obviously, I wait until the sun comes up. But some people call it sun gazing. I just like go in the sun when the sun is out in the morning. What it does, it does a couple things. It basically controls kind of your circadian rhythm. So when your eyes see sunlight in the morning, it creates this like 12 to 13 hour countdown clock to release Melancho. So can I just, I'm asking you like dumb questions to be really specific, but like, are you going out and like standing in your yard? Yeah. Are you going for a walk? Are you just looking at the window? What are you doing? Not a window. You want the actual light. So if you're somewhere where it's cloudy too, that's fine. You want full spectrum light. So even if it's through clouds, it's okay. You're still getting it. I go on my patio and I just sit out there. I'll eat my breakfast, have my coffee, do everything out there. And again, it's in the morning when it's just nice outside. It's calm. It's also a nice way to start your day.

Does it have to be when the literal sun is coming up or just in the morning? In the morning. As soon as you can upon waking. Like within 30 minutes of waking up. Yeah, ideally. Because of that 13 hour like countdown clock. So like if you get sun at 7 a.m., then at 7 p.m., around 7 p.m., your body will start producing melatonin to get you sleepy.

So like it all has to do with each other. So also getting like sunset, watching the sunset, being outside at that time, again, is giving your body these cues, that it's time to wind down. the day is ending, it's time to get sleepy. Now going on your phone, going on screens, watching TV late at night is going to delay that. It's really going to screw up your melatonin. And all of your hormones work together. They're really like a symphony. So when one is out of whack, it causes all of them to be out of tune. So it's like also this idea of like, oh, well, what if I have low progesterone? What if I have high estrogen? What if I have low testosterone? Well, they all interact with each other. So you could have low progesterone because you have high estrogen. And you can't just

play whackamol and attack one of them or just be like, oh, I have low progesterone, I'm just going to take progesterone cream. It'll be fine. You really want to get to the root cause and fix this kind of like imbalance and get everything in tune again. What kind of benefits have you noticed from waking up like that? I have an oa ring. I know you do too. So you get like the stress, like the resilience score. Yeah. Have you looked at yours? So the o'erring is really cool if you don't have one. It gives you a score kind of based on your heart rate variability. And it can tell you if you're in like a stressed state or a relaxed state. And I was finding that before I really was diligent about this, like I was waking up pretty stressed. And also I changed the way my alarm is.

I don't have like a blaring alarm that wakes me up out of a dead sleep because that's super natural. Did you get the hatch? I don't have the hatch, but I have like a really quiet alarm because I sleep, sleep like a crazy person. I have like earplugs, mouth tape, eye mask. Like I'm out. Like you you cannot contact me. I'm on Do Not Disturb of the highest level. And so the hatch doesn't work for me, but the hatch is amazing because it does mimic a sunrise, which is best. But cortisol will help wake you up in the morning. So that's the reason why you wake up, you get a little burst of cortisol. But then if you wake up and you just start going, you get on your phone, you're checking emails, you're going to send your body into such a high stress state. Not to mention if then you have coffee,

you skip breakfast, you like head to work, you do all the things, you do a fasted workout. like you are just ramping up the cortisol. And so starting my day slow like this has truly like changed my entire day. I feel so much more grounded. My stress is like I'm, I'm in a relaxed state. And what that's also going to do is it's going to help everything. Right. If your cortisol is lower, your blood sugar is going to be more stable. Your progesterone's going to be stronger. Cortisol is we need it and it does get a bad rap, but it can be enemy number one when it comes to your hormones. What does a hormone balance meal look like? So a hormone, hormone balance meal is going to have a protein, a fat, and a carb. That's like the main things that I try

to focus on. So main, like the star of your show should be protein. The star of your plate, star of the show is protein, and then you want to build your plate around that. That's really the easiest way to see it. If you're doing that, you're going to get enough protein, probably not going to overeat because protein is so satisfying. You start with carbs. Like then everything kind of gets messed up. You might get full. You might overeat. Like if your biggest portion is pasta. Exactly. Okay. Protein on your whatever that may look like, you know, four to eight ounces, depending on what kind of protein it is. But we want 25 to 30 grams of protein. 25 to 30.

30 is ideal. Per meal. 35 is great. And also eating your weight in protein. If you weigh 200 pounds and you're looking to lose weight, you need to eat 200 grams of protein. Right? It kind of goes back and forth. Some people say per pound of ideal body weight.

So like if someone's 200 and they want to be 160 or 150 or whatever, they can do 150. But I thought that wasn't enough to support them in the process of losing weight. So it's kind of like some people will say one or the other. Some people, if they hear 200, they're like, I can't do it. Because it is hard. All of this that I'm talking about today, it's going to sound overwhelming. And maybe, like, if you're on birth control right now, all of this is like, oh, my God, this sounds overwhelming.

It will be at first, but, like, it's so much more rewarding. So, no, it's not as easy as, like, grabbing a meal or, like, eating out or tracking your cycle. But, like, overall, it's just so much better for it. you. So meal prepping is amazing. Like really taking the time to take care of yourself is so important. So protein on your plate, then a starchy veggie or a carb. Like I love sweet potatoes. I have like a paleo-based diet. So I do quinoa or sweet potatoes or fruit. I love fruit with my meals. Some people would say it's like leaning towards an animal-based diet, which I actually think is probably the best overall. And I really see like your diet, any diet for a woman should be a

fertility diet. What's the difference between animal-based and carnivore? Carnivore is like just me. That's like just straight up meat. I am not a fan of carnivore long term. I'm a fan of it in a very short term. Like, I'm doing carnivore for one month. And then I think it's like super beneficial. Otherwise, I am, I like a little bit of all of these different food groups. I don't like eliminating a food group entirely. And carnivore, like when people say, oh, I went carnivore and all my symptoms went away, but then I added, like, even simple things. Then I added sweet potatoes back in avocado and everything flared up. And I go, okay, so you didn't heal. Like, all it did was you just avoided triggers in the meantime. Yeah, so something is causing you problems. Yeah. I mean, then I would say,

wouldn't you say that they need to get like the food allergy test and see one of those things, like a sweet potato or whatever could be causing you problems. Yeah. Because you and I talked about how, just to update everybody listening is that I was told, you know, this whole list of 15 foods that are irritating my gut. I've been pretty good about avoiding all of them. And I've been pretty good about avoiding all of them since February, the beginning of February. One of those things was eggs, egg whites, egg yolks, the whole thing. So I have been good about eliminating them entirely. I, a couple weeks ago, had them a scrambled egg dish at a breakfast place. I was like, I'm going to try them again, see how I feel, tried them, didn't get sick, but I just felt weird. And what I love is that you and I

were talking about this, when you are so in tune with like paying attention to what you're eating and different foods and all this kind of stuff, you noticed the most microscopic changes. And you and I described it like, you'll tell your fiancé, I don't know what's wrong. I just feel weird. Something is not right. I am so in tune like I said the same thing all day. We were filming and I was like, well, I ate those eggs and like, I don't know, nothing's happening to me, but I do feel weird and I can't explain it. So that's what happened. Then the other night, I tried them again. This time violently threw up. Like I threw all of my entire meal up and I knew, like I could I felt so nauseous immediately within 10 minutes. It was all coming up. So I have an egg

allergy. 100% I can't try it again. So unless, you know, after a couple years or something, maybe I'll try it. But like it seems to be like that is a legit allergy for me. This is why it's important to, if you, you know, get rid of a whole bunch of stuff, you go carnivore, then you start involving all these other foods. And then you're like, oh, something's causing me problems again. It's like, you probably do have a serious food allergy. Yeah. And it's also just like keeping it simple. Like really eating as close to like our ancestors ate. And like I say, if it didn't come out of the ground, if it didn't have a mom, like maybe think twice about eating it. You know?

So true. And I was vegan for one year, okay? I did the whole thing. It absolutely ruined my life and ruined my health. It took me like three years to get everything back again. So I really advocate against a plant-based diet for so many reasons. But yeah, once you know your body, you know when something doesn't jive with you. What are signs that you're running on stress hormones?

Some of these, if you feel triggered, when you feel like I'm calling you out, waking up and like, like, waking up in a panic already. Like, waking up and feeling like, all right, the day is already, I've already lost part of the day. Like, you kind of already feel stressed. Maybe you have digestive issues, whether it's like IBS could be caused by it. Constipation. You may have acne. You may have a regular or painful periods. You may feel the most common one is like feeling tired but wired at night.

So like you kind of have like a flip-flop cortisol pattern. where in the morning when you wake up, it's low and you feel sluggish and you still feel exhausted after you wake up. Like you're drinking three cups of coffee just to wake up in the morning. And then at night, when you should be tired, like your body feels tired, but you're in bed and your brain is just going. So that's a really big sign. Brain fog is a huge one that you're running on stress hormones.

Like I said, acne, blood sugar cravings. That's a big one because cortisol is going to like deplete everything and you're going to need more energy and so it can give you sugar cravings. How do you stop that? How do you stop running on stress hormones? So, okay, I just did. It's so much fun. I just did like a little masterclass called the cortisol control blueprint.

So we have like this cortisol control cuties group. And so I have them all doing, again, starting their morning with morning light, not the phone. No phones. No scrolling. That would be hard for me. It's really hard. And it sounds like, oh, how much could that really change it? I could read you all the testimonials in that group right now of these women saying,

I feel like I have four more hours in my day, even just from like not spending the first half an hour of my day scrolling, I feel focused. I feel like I can actually think straight. Well, and I'm pretty sure you and I both are fans of the Skinny Confidential podcast, and I'm pretty sure Lauren Bostic, doesn't she, she's the host of that show, and that's like a health and wellness podcast, and she keeps her phone out of their master bedroom.

So she leaves it out, and she only has books on her nightstand. So when it's bedtime and she's in there, she turns the red light on her lamp. She has a red light light bulb. She turns that on. I'm pretty sure. I'm like talking for her, but I've listened enough. And then she is only reading. And then when she wakes up in the morning, you know, she's, she's scraping her tongue and

she's doing all that kind of stuff. And then she does like meditation, I think, and stuff like that. And then she will have time to check her phone and, like, check emails and see what's going on for the day. Like, it'll be there. That's hard to do. It's really hard, especially when it's a habit. And so now I do sleep with my phone in our bedroom, but then I leave it. It's an adult pacifier to scroll your phone as you're falling asleep, which I do,

every night and scroll my phone as soon as I wake up. 100%. And it is really just that habit that feels very hard to break because it is so addictive, this like dopamine machine. But I swear to God, it'll change your life. As Emily can tell you, severe and serious period cramps are a sign that there may be a hormonal issue lurking that hasn't been dealt with. It can also mean that the tampons you're using are exacerbating your cramps and making you feel worse. The tampon brands that we both grew up using are saturated with disgusting chemicals, and you're putting them in one of the most absorbent areas of the body. Of course, that could be contributing to your cramps. Many women have found relief

from period cramps by switching to 100% organic cotton tampons and pads. I use Garnu, a conservative-owned and pro-life feminine product company that uses no chlorine, dyes, fragrance, or glyphosate covered cotton. Garnu is pantyliners, pads, overnight pads, heavy tampons, and light flow tampons. They also have period cups, and Garnu is a period subscription service, So your customized order will arrive at your door each month just in time for Strawberry Week. I have found that subscribing to Garnu not only saves on this monthly cost, it also saves time because Garnu automatically comes straight to your house. You don't have to make any last minute stops to pick up tampons every month.

Go to Garnu.com and use code Alex for 15% off 100% organic cotton period products. That's GAR and UU.com with code Alex for 15% off 100% organic cotton period products. Find everything in the show notes. Nimi's skincare is proud to announce Nimi clean, six brand new, innovative products designed to give you show-stopping skin without the ingredients that you don't want. Nimi reached out to me. They asked me to send a list of ingredients that needed to be left out of this new line,

and for some suggestions on some different products that I would love to see Nimi release. One thing was an AHA toner. So AHAs are chemical exfolients that gently dissolve dead skin cells. This can help improve skin texture, fade dark spots. I recommend using these every other day and maybe avoid the night before spending a lot of time in the sun. Every product in the Nemi Clean line is completely fragrance-free, formulated without dyes and paribins. And all Nemi-Clean products pass the EWG Skin Deep Test. Another Neme clean item that I'm really impressed with is the 2.5% retinol renewal serum.

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line. Find everything in the description. I think for a single girlie like me, this is a really hard habit to break because I have no one to yap to. So it's like if you're married, then you are like, you have somebody and you can be like, it's yap time. You know what I mean? Like as you're going to bed, like let's talk and like whatever and then wind down. And right now, I've no one to talk to this. It's like, well, I'm going to scroll Twitter. So I envy the yap girlies. No, I know. Daniel gets exhausted. Or sometimes I'm like, I'm like, can you just tell me a story? Yes. Can you tell me a story to fall asleep to?

It's like when we're like talking, I'm just dozing. I'm just dozing. Yeah, the yapping. That is, that helps. It does. But reading, I mean, I have like a little red light from Amazon. It like clips onto my book. So it's like a little red light book light.

Or you can get blue blocking glasses. Oh, and I told you to, they're going to think this is so fun. So Hilda from the Wise Traditions podcast, her and I were just traveling together for something. And so we were staying in the same Airbnb. And she got there before me and I go into the bathroom. There's like all of these red. string lights hung up at the bathroom. And I was like, oh my gosh, did she do this or is the Airbnb doing that? Like, did this come this way? And I'm like, there's no way. She packed these and put these up to calm

down at night. And it was so peaceful staying there and having those red lights on at night. And I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to copy this. I'm going to order these and then travel with them anytime, you know, put them in the bathroom or put them in my own bathroom at home. But I asked her, I was like, did you bring that? And she's like, of course I did. I mean, she's so on it. So that's a good tip too. I like just like string lights, like what you would get used for Christmas. You plug them in, you turn them on in your bathroom at night as you're getting ready, like brushing your teeth, whatever, and having those on instead of the big fluorescent light bulbs.

Overhead lights are after sunset. It's literally jail time if you're turning on the big light. No, it's a crime. It's a crime against humanity. It needs to be a rule in your house. This is what I would tell your kids. I would make it fun because if you're just like, don't turn on the big light, they're going to be annoyed and they're going to be like,

I hate this rule, but make it fun. So it's like, it's Scrooge time. It's poo time. You know, when you're walking around, your little nightcap and your gown, and he's got his little cork gun that he walks around, patrols his hole with whatever that is, that little cave he lives in, like be like at Scrooge time we're in our pajamas and like we're only using candles. We're only using beeswax candles to walk around. And it's, yeah, making it a thing. Making it a thing also, it really is so much more

peaceful. Even if you're like, I'm not going to get a bunch of red lights. Okay, first of all, they're cheap. So cheap. It's not special. Can we just stop making excuses. They're not special. Just try it. Just try it. It is so peaceful. And eye level and below is ideal. Because if you think about like evolutionarily speaking, once the sun sets, it's at eye level or we had fires going. Right? So warm amber glow coming from like the ground. Get the beeswax candles. And also this isn't going to work if you're lighting your bath and body works toxic sludge. Straight to jail. Yeah. So throw them all away. Throw them all away. Get the beeswax candles. Get red lights. Use that only. Don't put the big light on after sunset.

It probably sounds crazy all of these things, but once you get it down, it will literally change your life. Like, there's no other way now. There's no other way. How do you track your period? If you have no idea where to start, give us all the basics, how do you do it? Okay, so like we said, day one of your period marks day one in your cycle. And then it goes from there. Okay, is that full on bleed or is that like brown, reddish discharge?

How do you know when the first day actually is? So ideally, it is a first day of a full bleed. And if it is like spotting for a day before like darker blood, that's old blood. That's probably low progesterone. So again, this is another sign that there's something going on. Okay, then I've been marking this wrong on my apps. Like it depends. It really, it depends how much.

It's like if it's spotting, I wouldn't necessarily count it. Like if you just need like a panty liner, I maybe wouldn't count that. But again, it could be just a sign of lower progesterone. Okay, so the first real bleed. Yeah. And you were talking about it like a healthy period. should be bright red, should be bright red blood. Like, that's ideally healthy blood. We're going to get, this is going to get TMI, but it's so important. Like, seriously,

it's this is not just for the Q service, it's not just for the girlies. Like, send this to your husband, send this to your boyfriend, send this to everyone, your hinged date, like, everyone needs to know this. Day one of your period marks day one year cycle. That's the beginning. You can use a calendar for this. You can use the apps. Like, there's so many things. The way that I started, which I think all women should is like hand charting, like using a calendar, like not relying on an app or some kind of algorithm to tell you where you're at, just so you can actually get in tune with what's going on.

So day one of your period, then like once your period ends, you're now like fully follicular phase. So that's usually going to happen around day six or seven. So that's around like week two. And when I have women first start tracking their cycle, I have them take it week by week, even though not every phase is a solid seven days, it is just easier that way. If like your menstrual phase is one through six and then seven through days seven through 13, you treat it as filicular,

and then you move into ovulation. It's just a lot easier to get a handle on it from there. So then you're in your follicular phase after your period is over. So then you're in like that inner spring that you're not fertile during this time. You're totally fine. Ovulation that happens mid-cycle. And there's a few indicators that you could be ovulating. So your cervical fluid or your discharge will change. Your body temperature will change. You'll feel different. One thing I've noticed learning about this, how to track your cycle and paying attention to your body is that during each phase, there is, there are slight differences in your discharge.

Yep. So it'll be like obviously when you're on your period, you're on your period. Then after that, it's going to be more dry. It's going to be more dry. Moving into the follicular phase, it's going to be more creamy, like lotiony. thicker. And again, this is not fertile cervical fluid. It would be nearly impossible for sperm to swim through it. So this is a sign that you're not fertile. Then it'll get like more watery. Then when you're ovulating, it'll be like, sorry to ruin egg whites for you, but it'll be like

an egg white texture. Okay. That's super peak fertility. That's the easiest for sperm to swim through. Like I said, your body's main goal is to get pregnant. It's going to do everything in its power to make that easier. So that's what's going to change. And then obviously, once you move after ovulation, it's going to go either like more absent or dry. So you can use a real calendar, planner, you can use natural cycles app, flow app. 28. 28 is going to be the only that I know of conservative-owned period tracking app. The rest of them, I mean, some people complain. It's just like, it's whatever at this point, but there's going to be like propaganda crap on there that you don't like. Menstruor. I literally don't pay attention to any of it. I mark my day. I mark my day. I mean,

and I'm off the app. It's not like I'm spending time hanging out in these apps. Yeah. So some people get real butt heart. If you're really, really that concerned about it, do 28.

I've got comments that are like, you should be more inclined. Gun to my head, I will not say menstruators. Well, never. I will never. You can burn me at the stake. I don't care.

I don't care. So then that's how it changes. That's how your cervical fluid will change over the course of the month. And like, we're not taught this. We just like, when you're growing up, you're like, what is this? What's happening?

You feel gross. You don't know what's normal? Yeah, you're like, What is this snail trail? Literally. And that's actually like how you can learn to track your fertility. It's like looking in your underwear, looking in your toilet paper. Like that's part of the fertility awareness method.

It's one of the like fertility factors that you will like chart down daily. So if you do not want to get pregnant, when do you have sex? Okay. So since you're only fertile, those six days. So like let's say you ovulate on day 14, then you would avoid having sex from day like 9 to 14. or 8 to 14. So you would avoid it the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation, which requires knowing when you ovulate, knowing your cycle, knowing your symptoms. So it does take a little bit of work to learn. But once you learn it, like literally it's those six days

and every other day out of the month, like Greenlight, you're good. You physically cannot get pregnant. It's impossible. Are you sure? Is that accurate? It's a hundred percent. I've had women comment on my stuff and try to be like, you're wrong, like you're just more fertile when you're ovulating. No, it's physically impossible. Like the second you ovulate, the second you release an egg, the egg starts to die. Okay, but let me just clarify here. Because the ovulation phase, I mean, all these phases are like about seven days each, but you're saying the five days before that starts. Because sperm can live for up to five days. Okay. So that would be the last five days of what what phase? Follicular phase. Okay. So the last five days of your follicular phase. Okay. So the last five days of your

follicular phase through all of your ovulation phase don't have sex. Yeah. If you are trying to avoid getting pregnant. Exactly. And then if you are wanting to get pregnant, what do they need to know? Then you would, when you have that peak cervical fluid during those days. So day of ovulation, again, if it's around day 14, peak fertility is a couple days before, though. That's like ideal.

You kind of want sperm already ready and waiting. Because like I said, once ovulation is a one day event and the second you release an egg, it starts to die. So you really want sperm already in there for like the healthiest highest chance of getting of like getting pregnant and sustaining that pregnancy. So if you want to get pregnant, you have sex during your peak fertility days, which is the five days before ovulation and then possibly the day of ovulation. Otherwise, the other whatever 21, 22 days out of the month, you're good to go. Like you're good. You're, you cannot get pregnant. Okay.

I know it's hard. It sounds like when I learned about this five, six years ago, when I got off birth control, it took me six months of researching this before I, like, trusted it before I was like, okay, okay, I can do this. And then once you're tracking, once you start tracking your cycle, after how, basically, like, how long does it take to notice if there are irregularities in your cycle? Like, you need to wait at least three months, you know, track it for six months, then you'll start to notice patterns.

When you start to pick up on patterns. So for like using the fertility awareness method as a form of like birth control, as a form of contraceptive. You really want to do it for at least three months. That'll give you a good pattern if you have a regular period. Three months is a good enough time. I would say six months is how long it took me to feel really confident using the method and not like still hesitant. Like can I get pregnant? Do I trust it? I felt after six months I was super confident in myself. And with the fertility awareness method, it's side effect free. Like all you need is it either you can have an aura ring, Apple Watch you can use it sinks to natural cycles, a $10 basal body thermometer. I got mine at Target

when I first started. It still works like five years later. And because your temperature and it has to be a basal body thermometer because it tracks to like two decimal points. So before you ovulate, your temperature will dip slightly and then after it will spike and it'll stay elevated until you get your period. So you'll notice these patterns with your temperature. And so that's how you can tell if you've ovulated. So using that thermometer is a good way to really get in tune with your cycle. That's part of the fertility awareness method, the symptomothermal method, which is 99.6% effective with perfect use, which is much more effective than hormonal birth control.

You mentioned birth control. If somebody is hearing you describe all this, you're like, okay, for the first time of my life, I want to get off birth control and I want to start tracking my period. What are the best ways to support your body getting off of birth control? Yeah, this is a really good question. So birth control does a lot to your body. It's not just like controlling your cycle, which it doesn't regulate your period. Like there's so many myths about it. I really think it's the worst thing. I know you agree. I think it's the worst thing to happen to women ever. But it depletes essential vitamins and minerals. It can really affect your gut health.

It severs the connection between your like brain and your ovaries. So they're literally not communicating. So when you get off birth control, it takes a little bit for it to come back off. online, especially if you got on birth control when you were 14 or 15, when your period wasn't even regular, right? And I read the statistic, most women are on birth control for reasons other than preventing pregnancy. Correct. So it's like to control hormonal symptoms and acne and like regulate your cycle, which it doesn't do. Doesn't do. So it's going to deplete essential vitamins and minerals. It's going to mess with your gut. So when you're getting off, I don't recommend cold turkey. I recommend following some kind of like anti-inflammatory supportive protocol to really focus on supporting those things.

Because if you get off, you can go through something called post-birth control syndrome, which is like where everything kind of gets worse. So if you don't follow any kind of plan, then all of a sudden you rip this band-aid off. So what do you mean by plan? Are you talking about different supplements when you say anti-inflammatory protocol? Are you talking about red light therapy? Are you talking about a diet? Yeah. So I have a master class on this in my course and every course. thing. But you really want to focus, yeah, eating a very anti-inflammatory diet. So switching to a more like paleo lifestyle, cutting out seed oils, fried food, refined sugar, even alcohol I would recommend in the detox process just because birth control really bogged down your liver as well. You really want to support your

liver because that's what's in charge of packaging up all these excess hormones and toxins and getting them out of your body. So eating a diet that supports your liver, which to support liver detox, actually like red meat is great and fruits and vegetables are great. You don't know. necessarily need a ton of supplements, but they are helpful. Like glutathione you can take to support this detoxification and healing process. I always recommend taking magnesium. I think everyone, we just can't get it from food. Right. So everyone should take magnesium. We really need, I think, vitamin D to K3, we really need magnesium. Those are like the two. I'm like, we need this. Yeah. So beef liver, I also recommend because since it's depleting your essential vitamins and minerals,

like you're going to need to replenish those. And I think like beef liver, like a supplement is the best multi that you can take, really. Everybody wants to know what beef liver supplement brands we like. So I will say I like birthright and I like heart and soil. I think those are two like you cannot go wrong. Do you have any favorites? Those are really good. I love paleo valley.

Just because I buy a bunch of different stuff from them and I just love them as a company. I, when I first like was going to start working with them, they set me up on a call. and I just thought it was going to be like some affiliate manager. And it was the founder. And he spent three hours on this Zoom call with me. And he told me all about, they also have a meat company called Wild Pastures. They make bone broth protein and the beef sticks and the capsule. So they use the whole cow.

So between all of their companies, they work with these regenerative grass-fed farmers and they use the entire cow for all these different things. And I just thought it was so cool. So I just have like an emotional tie to that company. And their quality is amazing as well. So that's the brand I love. but I've heard amazing things about those too. And then when you are off birth control,

what are the best ways to train your body to start having a period again? It's going to take a little bit. Like, you don't want to expect it to come back right away, especially depending on how long you've spent on birth control. For me, it took three months. I think it's how mine came back, but you really want to focus on,

in terms of hormonal balance in general, you want your body to feel safe. You want your body to feel safe enough to be, like, ovulating, and to possibly get pregnant. That's the whole thing. if that's the whole thing our body wants to do, then it needs to feel safe to do that because that's how it's going to feel safe enough to have a period.

Because a period can only happen if you're, for the most part, ovulating. So you want it to feel safe. So you want to be eating enough. Again, you want to be replenishing your nutrient stores, supporting your body, not going crazy at the gym. Like especially, I feel for those women that gained weight on it and want to lose weight. And like, that will come once your body feels safe. So you don't need to get off and like, be like, okay, and now I want to diet.

now I want to do this. Like really give your body some time to come back to baseline. What are you going to notice after balancing your hormones within a week, within the first three months, within the first six months? Okay. So within a week of like balancing your hormones following like a hormone balancing diet, low inflammation diet, anti-inflammatory. After one week, I felt like I felt brighter.

I felt lighter. I could think clear. I didn't have as much brain fog like that quickly. after a couple weeks, I noticed like my bloating had gone down. I was sleeping better. After one month, my skin started to clear up. Like, I started like whatever breakouts I had, my hormonal acne, like I had no new breakouts. After three months, I felt amazing. After three months, like my periods were pretty regular, pretty darn pain free. Like, they didn't affect my life, which was like, I couldn't even believe it. I couldn't believe that I spent, I mean, most women will spend

10 years of their life on their period. And so, like, if you're miserable, that is the most miserable 10 years of your life. You're going to cancel work. You're going to stay home. You're going to cancel vacations. You're going to cancel plans. You're going to miss out on so much. And you don't have to. And then after six months, I felt so empowered and in tune with my body. I felt like I had like kind of harnessed this power and this magic. And I felt like I got a handle on it. Like, I felt like I was a team with my body, you know, instead of like working against it, not understanding it, feeling bloated or inflamed, like not liking who I saw in the mirror, like not feeling like it was me.

After six months, I felt like it really only takes like three to six months, but you will start feeling better immediately. What are the potential side effects of hormonal birth control? Increase risk of breast cancer, hormonal acne, gut issues, IBS, painful sex. So it can cause like dysfunction actually messes with your gut. it can cause bone and like muscle loss, tissue loss. It can affect your mate selection. So it can affect the partner that you choose.

Mood swings, anxiety, increased risk for anxiety and depression. Libito. God, the list goes on. Like, it's, it makes me so sad because the cons compared to like the pros is insane. The cons totally outweigh the pros for hormonal birth control. Yeah. Is the copper IUD a safe alternative? No.

No, a million times no. So many women think it's better because it's non-hormonal, which is true, it's non-hormonal. But the way that the copper IUD works is by inflaming the uterus so that nothing can implant, right? It's going to inflame it, it's going to, like, irritate it so that you can't get pregnant. Well, it doesn't mean, one, it doesn't mean that fertilization can't occur. So you can still have an egg fertilized and then you would just pass it basically like you would have an abortion every month, like a self-abortion, which is insane. then the way that it works by inflaming it, what they're finding out now, the data showing us

that inflammation does not stay localized. So it spreads throughout the entire body. You're completely inflamed. You're probably bloated. You have heavy periods, painful periods. Maybe you have migraines. Like, you probably feel terrible. It's the copper idea.

And copper toxicity is obviously a massive issue. Heavy metals. Like, you're inserting copper into your body. Everybody asks that. Like, that's one of the top questions I get is, What about the copper IUD? Isn't that like better? It's so insane that then you would go to your doctor, right? And they're not going to tell you about the fertility awareness method, which has been around.

I mean, like rhythm methods and stuff like that have been around since the 1920s officially. I'm sure we've been using it for hundreds of years. But the fertility awareness method, like the symptomothermal method that I explained, has been around since 1970. So are there any side effect-free, non-hormonal contraceptive methods? Not that I know of besides like the, the fertility awareness method, which is completely side-effect-free. There are some things. Wooden condoms?

Yeah, barrier methods. Then there's something called fexy. Have you heard of this? Never. It's newer. It still freaks me out. I don't think I would ever use it. But they say it's a safer, natural alternative.

It isn't a spermicide, but it kind of acts like a spermicide. So you insert it into the vagina, and it's like it changes the pH temporarily inside the vagina so that sperm can't live. Interesting. So it just freaks me out. Yeah, it really freaks me out. Yeah, I don't know about that. I wouldn't, yeah, nothing that's going to change your pH because that, yeah, you just don't want to mess with that. T.M. I am on the journey to become the world's best little pooper. Imagine that on my hinge profile.

One of the main symptoms of Hashimoto's is struggling with constipation. And so I try to make sure that I'm getting enough magnesium. I alternate between magnesium glycinate and citrate. And I like to take a little magnesium epsom salt bath once or twice a week. The cherry on top is using Alevia's organic prebiotic body wash during my little magnesium bath. This is the Rolls-Royce of non-toxic body washes because it's not only a soap. It is a prebiotic wash, so it's feeding your skin's microbiome, helping it to repair itself even faster. The founder created the body wash to be a solution for her daughter's eczema. Alevia body wash is for the most severe sensitivities and skin issues, even for those who don't have skin problems like me per se, but just want to use products that have zero artificial fragrance don't have carcinogenic chemicals, help fight signs of aging and give optimal hydration

for dry skin. Allivia uses less than 10 organic, non-GMO ingredients from land and sea in every bottle, and they also have little travel size organic, prebiotic body washes, hand soap, and prebiotic lotion. Get 15% off with code Alex15 at Alevia.com. That's Alevia.com with code Alex 15 for 15 off or click the link in the show notes. Did you drink your water today? What if your choice of water could make a statement. Now, we learned in this episode that you don't have to have as much water as you previously thought, but when you do reach for it, what if it could symbolize your commitment to values like freedom, individuality, and self-reliance? Freedom to a water isn't just about what's inside the bottle. It's about the message that it sends with every sip. This is why

I drink this on every spillover episode. With labels like, this water isn't free, but your speech is, it's not just refreshing. It's rebellious and it's unapologetic. It is a reminder that even the most ordinary acts like staying hydrated can be infused with meaning and purpose. But, okay, why does it matter? Why should we care about the source and sustainability of our water or the message on the label? Because every choice we make, no matter how small, shapes the world around us. By choosing Freedom 2O, you're not just choosing a brand. You're choosing to stand up for what you believe in. You're choosing to support companies that share your values and prioritize your freedoms. Try Freedom20 and tag me in your Instagram story for a repost.

Let's show the world that every gulp is more than just hydration. It's a declaration of independence. Keep sipping, stay hydrated, and always be free. Go to freedom2.com today. That's freedom2.com. Speak your thirst. Protect the first. What do you wish that women with PCOS knew? You can live symptom-free.

It's not like a death sentence. Yes, when you have like an inflammatory or autoimmune condition like this, if it's autoimmune PCOS, yeah, you may have it. Right? It may always be there, but you can live completely symptom-free. Birth control is not the answer. Birth control is not going to fix it. That is usually the first thing your doctor is going to give you. That's not the answer. You can live symptom-free with diet and lifestyle changes. And also, unless your doctor actually did an ultrasound and found cis, go get a second opinion. If they're just listening to your symptoms and saying, oh, I think you have

PCOS, without even seeing if you have, because it's polycystic ovarian syndrome. So if they're not even checking for cis. Is that happening a lot? Yes. Based on symptoms. And it's also a sign of insulin resistance. Yeah. So there's a few kinds like insulin resistant PCOS, autoimmune PCOS, post pill PCOS. So getting off the pill can actually trigger you getting PCOS. So there's a few different kinds. But yeah, insulin resistance, which again, like you can work with these things. Like it's not a death sentence. You don't need met form and you don't need any of these crazy things. You can manage your blood sugar, you can heal, you can use diet and lifestyle changes. Like PCOS is not a death sentence. What is your advice for women who say that, you know, they've gotten off birth control and everything

and it's been a long time, but they still are dealing with incredible, like, bouts of cystic acne, and it just nothing will clear it up. So first, usually with those women, I ask about, like, their diet and lifestyle. So, like, what's going on? What's their toxic burden like? Like, what is, what's in their home? What kind of cleaning products are they using? What kind of personal hygiene products, shampoo, lotions, candles. It also might be that they have especially a dairy allergy or a gluten allergy that they don't know.

And even if it is like all good stuff, you know, it still could be irritating. It could be a severe dairy allergy. 100%. And that's why there's so much information out there. There's like pro-metabolic and keto and all of this and grass-fed butter is great and raw milk is great. It's not great for everyone.

Right. So I think people hear these things and they think sourdough, raw milk and they go crazy. but if you have a gluten issue and a dairy issue, that's going to inflame you even more. And especially, usually for like my Hashimoto's women and like women with thyroid issues, I really have them avoid gluten. Like the actual protein structure of gluten can really act as like an massive inflammatory trigger and cause these big flares.

So again, just because something like maybe doesn't affect your stomach doesn't mean that you don't have an issue with it. Right. So like dairy could be a big thing even if it doesn't hurt your stomach or gluten. You eat it and you feel fine, but you have brain fog in irregular periods and you have acne and all of these things. So there's so many different triggers, but I really, it's kind of getting back to the foundations, just working backwards, kind of starting at ground zero, doing somewhat of an elimination diet, just on your own. Like, I always encourage women. Like, I have my course. It's a very foundational course and I always tell women, like, do this for six months before you go get testing because it's a very foundational course that focuses on metabolism, gut health.

health, nutrition. Because if you feel like crap and you go get a test done, it's going to tell you exactly what you already know. Are there any common denominators between women that you see pop up a lot if they struggle with cystic acne? Yeah. So dairy is a huge one. Blood sugar. Blood sugar can be a huge one too. So if you're just like writing that blood sugar issue, it can be a huge trigger for breakouts and stress. Stress is the hardest one. And it's like the one of the biggest factors, especially when it comes to fertility. And it's like this invisible. force. We can't feel it. And most women, I would argue, I was the same way, have been operating at such a high stress level for so long. We don't even think we're stressed. We just think like,

this is normal. But we are so stressed on the inside. We're putting so much stress on our bodies. And again, it's the blue light. It's the environmental factors. It's polluted air. It's processed foods. It's like sometimes you think you're doing everything right. But there's just all these little factors behind it and stress and like the state of your nervous system. is a huge one. What do you think about intermittent fasting? I don't love it. I don't love it.

So there's a couple things. And Mindy Pulse wrote a book called Fast Like a Girl, which I read parts of it. And I think if a woman is very metabolically healthy, there are certain times of her cycle that she can fast. But as like a hard and fast rule, I just say, no. I just say like circadian fasting, which means eating after the sun comes up and stopping eating before the sun goes down, which is like how we ate historically, right? When it was dark, we weren't doing anything. So there are systems in your body. Like I know I was like kind of like a gym rat. I went through a fitness girly phase. And there was this time where it was like, don't eat carbs

after dark. Like if you eat after dark, you're going to get fat. And while that's not inherently true, there are certain processes in your body that down regularly at night. Digestion begins to shut off because you're supposed to be going to bed. What is a sluggish liver? How does that impact your health? Liver health is so important. And it's not that sexy to talk about, but it really, it matters so much because your liver is like what, again, detoxes, packages up, gets rid of all of these excess toxins and hormones. And there's so many nutritionists, TikTok nutritionists out there that'll be like, oh, your liver detoxes itself. Like you don't need help. Which is not true because we are under so many more threats in our daily life, like environmental, food, emotional, all of that kind of stuff. Then we, we, were, you know, when we were designed, right? We weren't designed really to go through all of these stresses and be around all of these toxins and be eating all of this processed food that's not real. So there's this common idea that like, oh, when you turn 30, like your metabolism backfires, right?

Like when you're 30, it's all over, which is so not true. And I know you've had people on your podcast before that talk about this. Usually what it is, if like you turn 30 and you start to gain weight and you feel it's just like your lifetime of toxic burden catching up to you. And so what you can do, again, I talked about it really, like, supporting your detox pathways, make sure you're sweating. So some signs of a sluggish liver, do you have a hard time sweating? Barely at all. Really? Do you get really red? Like, does it feel like it stays trapped? No, I don't have that. I'm just not a sweater. So I don't know. So there's different things. But, like, if you find, like, you're, you feel like you should be sweating and you're not, that's a sign that your detox pathways are, like, kind of congested. You're not going to the bathroom every day? Big sign. Big sign. Again, if you don't. eliminate these toxins, they will recirculate into your body. Also, can we talk about the fact that that's why using, like, regular deodorant is so bad for you because the stuff is not getting out and draining.

It's, yeah, antiperspirants. It's horrible. Horrible. Like, why would you want to block that? Like, sweating is so important. It really is one of the biggest ways that we get toxins out. And if you block that, you try to stop people that get, like, their sweat glands. Can't you get layers like a surgery?

Yes. And here's the thing. It is like, it is important. And so I recently switched. I finally, I have tried so many non-toxic deodorants hated all of them until I used salt and stone, which is now like, I think that's my personal favorite, all natural deodorant. And they're not a sponsor. I wish they were if you want to be holler. But so when I put my hand under my armpit, like, I'm not sweating right now, but if I'm outside or something in the summer, if I'm like in the car in Phoenix Heat.

I mean, my armpits will be a little bit damp. I'm not like profusely sweating. But before, you know, there would be no dampness when I was using antiperspirants. And I'm like, I wonder how bad that was for me. Yeah. You're just blocking it. You're like blocking the pathway. When I was younger, I didn't sweat. Like my face would get so red. I would feel so hot and so overheated, but I couldn't sweat. And so that's one of the signs your liver is congested. Just like fatigue, constipation, gut issues. You're just, your liver is. overburdened weight gain, like trouble losing weight. It can also be your liver.

And so taking care of it, there's like teas you can drink. Like, dandelion roots great for detoxing. Like you can get liver tinctures to just add to water and drink. So many easy ways to support your liver. Coffee enemas. Is it possible to make up for a bad diet with supplements? No. No.

No. This is something, yeah, we could shout this from the rooftops. You can't out supplement like a bad diet. You really can't. And it, like, let's say you're not getting enough nutrients from our food, which a lot of people aren't. Our soils are depleted. Like, it's just hard. Supplements help, but they will never.

It's in the name. They're supposed to supplement. They're supplemental. Yes. Exactly. All right. Exactly. What is your number one bloating hack?

There's a couple simple ones, like bloating for dummies. Chew your damn food. Chew your food. Too many people. I watched them. I mean, I'm like, you didn't even chew. So digestion begins in your mouth. So if you're not chewing your food, my grandpa used to say chew your food and no, chew your drinks and drink your food.

So drink your food, chew your food until it's a liquid. And then on the opposite side, if you're having a drink, like if you're having a smoothie, add things to it to force you to chew to help the digestion process. Because these people that drink all these smoothies with a million things in them, if you don't, if you just chug that, like I always tell women too, like don't put things in a smoothie that you couldn't sit down and eat. Like a smoothie is still a meal and it should take you 15 to 20 minutes to finish your smoothie. You shouldn't just slam it. So what do you mean like leaving some strawberry chunks in it or something? Yeah. Or like sometimes I'll blend in like cacao nibs at the last second and just pull some.

They kind of taste like chocolate chips. So just adding texture or making them really thick like an assaille bowl essentially. But yeah, so chewing your food makes a huge difference. You wouldn't even believe. Slowing, it depends when you're bloated. If you're bloated after meals, could be a food allergy, could be a food sensitivity, could be an issue. Or you could just be eating on the go. Like my two top tips for bloating are chew your food and sit down to eat.

Sit down to eat. Take a couple deep breaths. If your body isn't in rest and digest mode, it can't digest, right? So if you're going, going, going, going, you're eating on the go. You're eating while standing. Your nervous system is in like a fight or flight state, right? It's activated. So digestion is turned down.

Okay. So if you take a few breaths, you choose. to your food. I promise you it will make such a difference. And apple cider vinegar before meals to help with your stomach acid. What are some health and wellness habits that you're really loving right now? I dunk my face in a bowl of ice water every morning. It is my favorite thing. I love it so much. I don't go a day without it. I mean, if I go a day without it, I'm still ice rolling, but dunking my face in the ice water. And how long do you hold it there? For a total of like 30 to 60 seconds. So like I can hold my breath for like,

10 seconds under there until it gets really cold. So I'll do like three to five dunks. And it's, I love it. So that's something that I've been loving. Facial, like lymphatic drainage facials on your face. Like a facial massage that you can just do after you do your skincare in the morning. It makes such a difference. It's kind of insane.

Like guasha? Yep. Guasher. You can just use your hands. You can use your hands. You can do guasha. It makes a difference. Like I know some of me like, I don't know about this.

Stick with it. I'm obsessed. So the ice dunking your face, the guashire or the facial massages. Another thing that I've been loving, I love going for walks after my meals. Fart walks. Fart walks, yes. That video was so funny. That lady's a, she's a legend.

But it's really good for your blood sugar. And it just like feels good to get outside. I love taking, I now stop doing, I used to do a long walk in the morning. Now I do three shorter walks, like throughout the day. And I'm obsessed. It like breaks up my day. I get outside. I get sunshine. I get moving. It helps my blood sugar. Helps everything. Another one is coffee enemas, which is crazy. I want to try this. Haven't done it yet. Why would they

come at you? Okay. Do you think it's weird? Yeah. Or like, or nurses will be like, this isn't safe. You shouldn't be telling people that. I'm like, this has been a practice for so long. You guys were TikTok dancing during the pandemic. I mean, like, let's just, you don't know everything. No, it's the TikTok nurses and the TikTok dietitians. I just, I can't with them. But coffee anemas been around forever. It's super good for your liver. And it sounds really overwhelming or freaky or you may be intimidated. It's the easiest thing. How often do you do it?

I do, I'm like sometimes once a week, once or twice a week. And what do you just lay on the bathroom floor? Yeah, I put my legs up on the wall too. So I'm like supporting my nervous system, legs up on the wall, lymphatic drainage. It takes like all in all. What do you do, buy a kit somewhere? Yeah, online. So you can buy stainless.

I like the stainless steel buckets or you can buy like glass or silicone is like, like, like the good option, but the best is going to be the stainless steel bucket. You don't want to be doing it out of plastic. And then you buy like a special kind of coffee tested for mold and mycotoxins and all of that. And it literally takes 15 minutes. And you feel so good. It's the new thing. Like you really feel so good.

I feel so energized. It's wild. And I've even done it. It's not like it because yes, it's coffee. So it's caffeine. But it's different. You could do it at night and it hasn't kept me up. So you have this Balance Bay blueprint.

You've helped over 20,000 women. balance their hormones, a lot of my own audience. Talk to us about this course that you offer. Yeah. So this course is like the mecca of courses. Like I really wanted to put everything in it. So it's so much more than just like learning your period or like getting rid of PMS or understanding your hormones.

We talk about hormones, cycle tracking, nutrition, gut health, sleep, routines, stress, supplements. There's a recipe ebook. There's multiple master classes inside of it. It really, and I wanted to make it for a woman in any stage. So really, whatever you're going through with your hormones, whether you have PCOS, you're getting off the pill, all of these different things. Like the foundations are still the same. It still is really like getting rid of inflammation.

It's like anti-inflammatory at its core, which is what the course really focuses on. So like wherever you're at, it's perfect. I've added to it so much. I'm, it really is like my baby. It's everything that I learned on my journey, healing my hormones. I really made it my mission. I was like, I don't want any other woman to have to go through this. So how can I create a course that teaches her everything that she needs to know,

everything that I had to like kind of find across the internet, try for myself. And it took me like a couple years of trial and error versus now it's all packaged up with like a bow on it in my balance babe blueprint course. Multiple people in my audience have done the balance babe blueprint and gotten pregnant who wanted to, which is really neat. I cry. I literally, I'll ball my eyes out. I got one the other day.

and I looked up to our previous messages and before she enrolled she was asking me some questions and then she goes I can't wait to send you my I'm pregnant message one day Oh my gosh So then a couple months past

I have chills a couple months passed and she sends me a picture of a positive pregnancy test She's like I'm crying in the bathroom right now I haven't told anyone you're the first person I told and it's just like

that will never be lost on me like that's so it's an honor like I don't take it lightly like I really it's my favorite thing. Okay. And so this course, how much is it total?

So it's $397. Okay. But CodeCutervative will get you $100 off. Wow. So that's $2.97, but I created a, because I understand, like I've always wanted to make things accessible. So the $2.97, that course has everything, like everything you could ever need to know. But just for the podcast, I created a special resource called Going With Your Flow that covers

everything we talked about today. So the phases of your cycle, the way your hormones fluctuate, fertility awareness method, how to use it to get pregnant, how to use it to avoid pregnancy, plus three of my masterclass. So breaking up with birth control, the fertility awareness method masterclass, and the third one, which is going with your flow. Oh my, it's phenomenal. So it's kind of like a masterclass that goes along with it, and that will be $47. What?

Yeah. It's probably $300 worth of like masterclasses, but that's like if you were like, okay, if I'm on a budget, where can I start? How can I start today? The Going With Your Flow Ultimate Bundle is it? But if you want like the Mac Daddy, the Bounce Bay Blueprint online course. Okay, great. And we'll put the links for both of those in, and of course your Instagram,

which is Little Ray of Health, R-A-E, Little Ray. All of that will be in the show notes and description. And so I don't know. Anything else? Any other things coming up that you want to say or less thoughts? Okay. So what I hope today is that you leave this podcast, leave listening to this, feeling empowered, not feeling overwhelmed. I never want any woman to feel like overwhelmed or like she's not doing enough or she's doing everything wrong.

Like truly, wherever you are is a good place to start. And you can start today with just a few things. You don't need to do everything at once. That's always my main goal is to make it like easily digestible. And like, okay, I can start this today and I feel good and I feel empowered because you should. Like women are amazing and we can do these things. And change the language that you're using when you're thinking about this. When you hear information like this, stop saying to yourself, I'm overwhelmed, I'm overwhelmed, I'm overwhelmed.

Say, I'm empowered. I'm empowered. I'm empowered. That you have all of this information to then take it and use it. No, truly, like our hormones are like our sidekicks and our cycles like your superpower. It really is. And it's like time that we started using it. Thank you, Emily, for coming on again. One of my biggest episodes, one of my most fan-favoreded guests that I've ever had has been you. So thank you so much for coming back. course. It's always fun. Go back and listen to Emily's first interview with me. That is still one of my biggest episodes to date. It's season four, episode one from January 2023. Next week, I'm going to be speaking to a breathing expert. He is the best-selling science journalist who wrote a groundbreaking book

all about mouth breathing and its negative effects on our health, how the food that we eat can contribute to mouth breathing if there is a right or wrong way to breathe during sex. And of course, if mouth tape really works. If you have ever learned anything of value from this show, please leave a five-star review telling us what that is. The spillover comes out

each Thursday night at 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern, wherever you listen to podcasts. I'm Alex Clark, and this is the spillover. Love you, mean it. Bye.