REBUILD: WEEK 1 FOLLICULAR (7-10 Days)
I always tell my moms that you are actually four different women throughout your cycle as we have four different phases as well. Get to know the strengths of each of these different women in each phase. Once you learn to leverage your hormones (and strengths) in each phase, your health and wellness journey becomes so much easier.
As you navigate the follicular phase I want you to channel your inner Michelle Obama (when she was our nation’s acting first lady). Michelle was large and in charge.
As your hormones begin to increase in concentration you will begin to feel an acceleration of SUPERCHARGED energy. There is a feeling of newness, a clean slate - a sensation of excitement that Michelle probably experienced when she first stepped foot into the White House. You can conquer anything when your ambition is coupled with unwavering curiosity. You can expect to feel sharp, and fierce, and ready to take on the world. Your cerebral brain power is at its strongest in the follicular phase. Now is the time to plan out 100 projects and don’t be surprised when you actually have the energy to get them all done. The First Lady has no time to rest on her laurels and you don’t either. Time to channel this powerful energy.
THE BIG PICTURE OF HAPPY HORMONES
Your mombody’s 28-day menstrual cycle is just as reliable as the four seasons of the earth. Just as we experience fall, winter, spring and summer throughout the year, a very similar pattern is happening monthly inside your mombody. You experience hormonal shifts that resemble “the four seasons” within your mombody throughout your 28-day menstrual cycle.
Therefore, you can think of the follicular phase of your cycle as your mombody’s “spring” season. It is a time of a new beginning, a fresh start, and it begins directly after your period ends. Day 1 of your spring season begins the day after your bleeding ends.
It’s easy to remember what your body needs in the follicular phase when you think of what your body needs in the actual spring season outside. As outdoor temperatures begin to rise your body naturally craves cooler foods like salads and smoothies and needs less calories to feel satisfied. Your body feels physically lighter. Energy levels begin to rise so cardio (and bone-building) workouts like running, jumping, and bouncing feel so good in this spring-like phase.
By the end of the week, you will know the best ways to support your mombody in the follicular phase. Here’s an overview of everything we will cover this week in the program:
Body temperature is higher, so cool foods are recommended. Lightly sautéed, steamed cooking options are helpful here.
Eat foods to support your blood sugar balance, give your liver a break, and keep your gut healthy.
Less appetite because your metabolism has slowed down so less food consumed.
One tablespoon of flax seeds and pumpkin seeds per day. Flaxseeds help reduce estrogen and pumpkin seeds are great for progesterone production in the luteal phase.
Cardio is king. However, if you are hormonally imbalanced (or you are trying to lose weight), you must keep your workouts to no more than 30 minutes. Going beyond that will push it into fat storage mode.
Exercise to support your adrenals. Exercise should leave you feeling energized, not drained.
Practice the BAB breath and learn about alignment as these steps are the beginning of your inside-out transformation.
Throughout the follicular week, we will cover the MBODY8 lifestyle that supports your mombody through the 4 pillars of health: EAT, MOVE, REST, DETOX. These practices will become like second nature - not so much what you have to do to take care of your mombody, but rather about the healthful, vibrant person you are to become.
2 SMALL DETAILS FOR CARVING YOUR MOMBODY:
ALIGNMENT
(AND BREATHING DOWN BELOW)
This week we are going deep inside your mombody to see how your skeleton stacks up. There is a famous saying that goes, “You are only as young as your spine”. At Bodies After Baby, I like to add, ‘you are only as young as your spine “AND YOUR PELVIS”’. Let’s talk about why both pieces are so important to your mombody.
The problem is this: Your mombody core needs some help after having all these children. The skin is loose, the muscles are inactive or weakened, love handles start to set up residence, maybe a mom pooch hangs over your jeans, etc.
The solution is this: Start paying attention to your alignment. Hand’s down, your mombody looks its best, and functions its best, when you have three gorgeous curves in your spine, and a pelvis that has found neutral.
First, proper alignment makes you appear slimmer around your waistline - there’s a reason why supermodels know how to “pose” for the camera to make their waistlines appear smaller. Second, with proper alignment you can literally reclaim 1-2 inches of height that you have lost over the last decade. Our elders complain all the time that they shrink as they age - well, compression of the spine, tucking of the pelvis, and a posture with rounded shoulders is the reason why! Lastly, when you have a neutral pelvis, your internal organs and pelvic floor are more fully supported so you can absolutely have confidence while jumping and laughing, And the best part is, your lower belly will actually be flat again when this all comes together.
In these videos, you will learn how your muscles can be quite imbalanced after pregnancies, bad habits, poor posture, and a stressful momlife. These things all wreak havoc on your alignment.
Do you have tight rounded shoulders? Do you have a wide waistline? Do you have a flat mom butt? Do you leak urine while running or jumping? Do you have pain anywhere in your mombody? These things are what can happen when your spine and pelvis are out of alignment. Proper alignment is crucial for living a pain-free, injury-free, and leak-free life.
My apologies up front - we cover finding neutral pelvis and those three curves in your spine SEVERAL times in this week’s video collection. I’m sorry up front! Just fast forward when you think you’ve got it down. After alignment, be sure to check out the next “small detail” of breathing - video located below.
MOMBODY ALIGNMENT
ANOTHER SMALL DETAIL FOR CARVING YOUR MOMBODY: BREATHING
How you breathe is how you live.
When you are stressed out you take short, shallow breaths. In contrast, when you are calm and relaxed, you take deep, long, nourishing breaths that fill your blood with healing oxygen. So guess which way of breathing your body prefers? Yes, relaxation is your body’s favorite place to be because of the nutrient dense breathing pattern that comes along with it. This type of breathing is something you should carve out time for during your day, even if you thrive on being a go-getter and living off of adrenaline to power through your days. Why?
Because breathing experts agree that deep, meaningful, nutrient-transporting breathing is your body’s fountain of youth. Let that soak in for a second. How you breathe either helps facilitate aging, OR, when you learn to teach your body to breath correctly most of the time, it will actually help slow down the body’s natural aging process. Take years off your face by learning to breath deeply - that’s cheaper than botox. Here’s how it works…
When you are relaxed, your nervous system turns on a “rest and digest” or “tend and befriend” process that goes to work cleaning up inflammation, removing toxins, and pumping fresh oxygen to your cells - this is wonderful for your mombody wellness. But, in the opposite direction, your “flight or fight” response is turned on when you are stressed out. You know this feeling well because you feel anxious, you are sweaty, your heart rate is beating out of your chest, and you are on high alert because cortisol and adrenaline are pumping through your veins. This all-important stress response is imperative for survival when there is REAL danger in your way (like a car about to hit you or a predatory tiger about to eat you) but this response is no way to live your entire life.
Remember, how you breathe is how you live - now you know that your mombody prefers to be in a relaxed state, instead of worrying about what you perceive to be real danger in your modern momlife (yes, taxes are stressful but not life-threatening, Yes, dinner needs to be cooked, kids need to be bathed after soccer practice, but again, this is not a life-threatening situation). Be mindful of what your body is doing when you are breathing.
So, long story short, telling your mombody (through breathwork) that “everything is ok” is a crucial first step in achieving maximum wellness.
And the best part is, breathing not only helps you stay young but it also helps you get back that slim, beautiful waistline. Learn to turn “on” your inner core muscles that have been weakened throughout your time as a mom in this video. While proper alignment is step one, learning to breathe properly is step two of your inside out transformation.
Don’t miss the informational video below this one…
BAB BREATH
The video below explains what happens when you try to exercise without coordinating your breathing properly. For instance, if you try to do a crunch while inhaling, there is too much pressure in your mombody core and can cause damage to the already vulnerable areas of your pelvic floor and mombody core. Exhale to “Lift and Cinch” and Inhale to soften. The work should always be done on the exhale - “Blow before you go”.