REBUILD: WEEK 2 - OVULATION
EAT.
In the ovulation phase, your body still craves cool foods - think salads, smoothies, juices, raw veggies with hummus. And just because your mombody loves cool foods right now doesn’t mean you need to eat everything raw and uncooked. Some of the best cooking methods during this phase are steaming and poaching because they are lighter techniques.
Body temperature is higher which means it will feel good to eat cool foods now.
Raw foods are great: salads, juices, smoothies that promote alkalinity.
Preferred cooking methods are steaming and poaching because they are lighter techniques.
You will naturally have less appetite (metabolism has slowed).
Eat foods that support your liver detoxification system.
Ovulation is the perfect time of the month to focus on 1). alkalinity and 2). liver detoxifying foods. You are supporting your mombody in a major way so get ready for your mombody to support you right back.
Eating alkaline is simple to do since it really boils down to eating more fruits and vegetables. I always tell my moms that every meal is a chance to eat veggies! So even when you eat the chips, be sure to dip them in the guac and top with some broccoli sprouts - every meal is a chance to get those fruits and vegetables.
The food we eat is either acidic or alkaline (basic). Turns out, when you eat more alkaline foods you help normalize cortisol levels (hormone balance), feed the good gut bacteria, improve your natural progesterone levels, and detoxify estrogen (estrogen levels can be too high because there are so many toxins in our world posing as fake estrogens which is really confusing to our mombody - some of the best alkaline foods for detoxifying estrogen are broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower). Adding greens to every meal is a great way to eat alkaline - even breakfast is an opportunity to get those green, leafy vegetables on your plate. But don’t stop there, more alkaline foods include fruit, vegetables and nuts and seeds.
It’s also important to eat foods that support our liver because our liver has a huge job to do! This organ filters waste and toxins in the blood and maximizes the number of nutrients and minerals reaching other areas of the body. The liver moves toxic waste into the digestive tract so that the body can clear it quickly. In order to do this properly, certain micronutrients must be available for the liver to do its job. These include vitamin C, B vitamins, and selenium, Theses micronutrients are easy to get because you eat them in all those fruits and vegetables we keep talking about. And selenium is easy to get by eating two brazil nuts a day. But we also need to think about glutathione (an amino acid known as the “master antioxidant”) and we need to support our body’s ability to make it - this is easy to do by exercising and eating those delicious fruits and vegetables again. To further support your body’s ability to make glutathione its also good to eat garlic and onions - these foods contain sulfur which is needed to make glutathione. In our modern world, the liver has to deal with a lot of toxins coming in and anything we can do to help support this process is a major player in weight loss and overall health.
All of this to say, eat your fruits and vegetables.
Healthy fascia is also a focus this week so now is the time to throw out there that two foods can make a huge difference when it comes to rebuilding healthy fascia - my favorite thing about having healthy fascia is that it helps tighten that loose mombody skin. The addition of collagen and/or bone broth will serve your mombody well. I personally love to put collagen in my smoothies and herbal tea. As for bone broth, I love to drink this warming food later in my cycle. Do not skip these important secret weapons when it comes to falling in love with your mombody.
Don’t forget that my favorite ovulation recipes are located in the RECIPE link on the homepage.
Check out the video below.