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You're listening to an episode of the Abigail Pugh Podcast with, you guessed it, Abigail Pugh. I'm an introverted mama who took my online business from zero to seven figures in 15 months, selling my own digital products on social media. And guess what? I did it all with my 3 year old daughter no less than 3ft away from me at all times. Now I'm bringing you everything I've learned about building a wildly profitable online business that supports your life while allowing you to truly live it. Get ready for raw, honest conversations with entrepreneurs making thousands per month selling their own digital products and people just like you who ditch self doubt to create the life they've always wanted. If you're ready to make more money, have more impact, and still have time for the things that matter most, you're in the right place. Grab your sneakers, head out on your hot girl walk, and let's dive in. Okay, y', all, we are 65 episodes deep into my podcast, which is insane to say that I have for 64 weeks in a row recorded a podcast episode for you guys, but this week is going to be a little bit different. This week we are doing a flashback Friday episode, if you will. Yes, I know it's not Friday, but that's what we're calling it where you get to listen to one of my most popular episodes. If you missed it or if you listened to it a long time ago, you loved it and you forgot to implement it. Today is perfect for you. Today's episode is going to be all about using your cycle to make more money. Now if you guys are new around here, you know that I track my cycle very closely and I only launch during my ovulation phase of my cycle and it has literally changed my entire life. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. If it's your first time listening to it, you're going to love it. It is literally one of my favorites. And if, like I said, you've already listened to it and you didn't apply it, now is your chance. I appreciate you guys so much listening to this podcast. I just needed a little bit of a break break this week, right? And I don't want to press pause on releasing new episodes. So I thought, you know what, let's just re release one of my best episodes that I had in the very beginning for you guys to listen to again. So I hope you love it and I will see you next week with a really amazing episode that I'm like so excited for. I just didn't have the mental capacity to Record that this week, and I just want to stay true to myself. But next week's episode is so good. It is all about my bootcamp, the launch, the nitty gritty, what worked, what didn't work, what I'm not going to do again, things like that. So you can kind of see a live launch recap from the bootcamp. So enjoy this episode, and I hope you have a great rest of your week. I am so excited for today's guest. So for the past year or so, I have been detoxing from mold poisoning and really just getting in tune with my hormones to kind of just level everything out. And a few months ago, someone mentioned cycle syncing, and I immediately became obsessed. Right? I started planning my launches and really anything in my business that required more energy from me around my cycle, and it has made a huge difference in the quality of the work I'm able to get done and overall, just the quality of my health. So I thought it would be amazing to have a hormone health coach join us on the podcast today to talk all about how we as female entrepreneurs can sync our cycle to our business. And I actually found Emily from a threads post I did asking for any experts on this topic. And when I tell you, I was immediately obsessed with her content. Like, immediate follow, immediate. Oh, my gosh, I need this girl on my podcast. I was so excited when I found her. Uh, Emily is not only, like I said, the cutest and sweetest girl ever, but she's also a hormone health coach who helps women like you and me balance our hormones and use our cycle to our advantage instead of letting it ruin our lives. So, Emily, welcome to the podcast. I am so excited you're here.
A
Thank you. I am. I'm so excited. This is my jam. This is what I eat, sleep, live and breathe. So I'm so excited, and I'm so excited to dive into the business aspect because I do touch all over on hormones in on my page, cycle syncing, all that good stuff. But I think this is truly, like the missing piece and the key to running a business without burnout as a female entrepreneur.
B
Oh, my gosh, music to all of our ears hearing that. So I'd love to kind of just jump into how you got into being a hormone health coach and cycle thinking in general. Like, is there a story behind it? Did you something happen with your hormones? Take us through that.
A
Yes. I feel like that's kind of for a lot of people, at least in the health space, coaches and whatnot. It's like you make your Mess your message. And so, yeah, I went through hell, really, with my hormones. I got on birth control at age 15 for really no reason. Like, my periods weren't crazy, just everyone else was on it. I think that's kind of what moms back in our day were doing. It's like, oh, everyone's on it. Here you go. They thought they were doing the right thing. So I got on birth control. Everything was great, honestly, until I was about 23. Things just started to backfire. I started to gain weight rapidly out of nowhere. I was breaking out. I had no libido. I had brain fog. Like, all of these things. And so at the time, I was actually becoming a health coach. So I've always been passionate about health and wellness. Always. I got a psychology degree, and even through college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Like, no idea. Like, everyone around me was like, I'm going to be this. I'm going to be this. I had no clue. All I knew is I love people and I loved psychology. So I was like, I'll just pick this and run with it. So I did that. I graduated. Still had no idea what I was going to do. I actually went on a trip to Costa Rica, and I met this random couple. Okay. At this little breakfast joint. And they did what everyone does. Oh, congrats. You just graduated. What are you going to do? And I was like, everyone keeps asking me that, and I have no idea. They were like, well, what do you love? And I was like, health and wellness. Like, at the time, I was even like, maybe I'll start a wellness blog. That was. This was 10, 12 years ago when, like, Instagram wasn't what it was, what it is today. And so they were like, we did this thing, we became health coaches. Like, you should look into it. So I was like, oh, that sounds cool. Went home from Costa Rica. I was enrolled, like, the day after getting home.
B
Oh, my gosh. I love that.
A
It was so fun. It just felt. It was one of those things where it was, like, a full body. Yes.
B
Yep.
A
But then I graduated through my health coaching program, so. Institute for Integrative Nutrition. But they didn't teach business at the time, so I still, like, didn't know what to do. I had all this knowledge, was like, I don't know what I'm doing, though. I don't know how to do this on Instagram. Because in their day, it's like, face to face, right?
B
Yeah.
A
They tell you, like, go to your local community center, like, host workshop.
B
And I was like, over my dead body.
A
Literally. That's not scalable. First.
B
No, not @ all.
A
Like, I can't. It just never felt right to me. So I was like, I'm gonna try this Instagram thing. And so from there, I just hired, like, business coach to business coach and programs and masterminds and all of that. And at the time, I was going through a lot with my hormones. I was going from doctor to doctor. They were like, what you're feeling is normal. I had brain fog. I had no libido. I had acne. I was gaining weight. My periods were terrible.
B
I can't believe that they said that was normal. Like, that's insane to me.
A
Yeah. When I said, well, I have, like, no sex drive, they're like, well, that's normal, sweetie.
B
Like, oh, my gosh.
A
No. The gaslighting that I went through, and I was like, none of this. And I also had gut problems at the time. Okay. So that, on top of gut problems, couldn't eat anything without my stomach hurting. And I was just like, you know what? I'm going to figure this out myself. So I started doing so much research, Reading books, watching podcasts, listening to interviews, everything I could, just soaking up all the information. And then IIN at the time also had a hormone health course and a gut health course. So I did that, and I was like, this is it. I started to feel better. I healed myself, and I was like, I. This is what I'm going to help women with. Like, no one should have to go through what I went through, and no one should have to be told that this is normal, when they can feel amazing and they can understand their bodies and they can live in tune. So, yeah, fast forward to today. And then it's kind of morphed from there as my life has changed and my life has pivoted and I've grown, right? My Instagram, my account, my business, everything has grown to my wildest dreams. Like, never in a million years did I think it would turn into this. And it's still going, and it's so fun. But I have learned along the way that you cannot. My husband is a business owner. Okay, fiance, I call my husband, but whatever. And he. He is so different. I watched him run his business and scale it to, like, seven figures in the past, you know, however long. But I've known him 10 years, and I'm like. He tries to give me advice. I'm like, that, babe, that wouldn't work for me. Or I could try and I could show you that I would just nose Dive into the ground because of burnout. And so I began to go, how many other women are dealing with this? And I learned almost everyone.
B
Yep. And hold up real quick. I. You mentioned your fiance, right? Is it true that men have a 24 hour hormone clock?
A
Yep.
B
Right. So they're like resetting every 24 hours, whereas we have what, a 28 day cycle?
A
28. 28 to 35 is like a healthy menstrual cycle, but it's longer than a day. Yeah. Men, they wake up, they go to sleep. It's the same. They're just like a little machine. That's what the 9 to 5, they're like kind of like robots. Honestly, in that sense, they're not. We are essentially four different women over the course of the month. Which sounds crazy, but I bet the second you hear that, you feel validated. And it resonates of like, oh, so I'm not supposed to feel the same way? Have the same motivation? You, creativity drive every day of the month, like, it's such a relief, honestly. It's like this permission slip to go, okay.
B
And it just makes so much more sense. Like, I feel like women were kind of set up for failure when it came to nine to fives. And I never really had a traditional nine to five. Right. Like, I was a nanny, I was a house manager. I like, always did these, like, unconventional jobs. So I was kind of able to, you know, work around those things my way, but still like this, like, clocking in every day, doing the same exact thing every day. Like, I cannot vibe with that even just, you know, creatively. Right. And I used to feel like, oh, why am I not able to do this every single day? Whereas my husband can, like, write out his checklist for the day and be fine with getting like, the exact same things done every day. And I'm like, I will literally lose my mind if I do that. And now I'm like, oh, it makes perfect sense that we are. We're not set up for that.
A
No, it's. It really is the craziest thing because you learn and it. At first, it feels very weird to kind of let go of this nine to five grind every day, hustle and start to work with your hormones in the same way that I'm sure if people, like, used to track their calories and now they intuitively eat. It's scary.
B
Yeah.
A
It's like, I don't. That's. No, there's no structure to it. What do I do? You, Your body knows what to do. Like, you, once you Tune in, you know?
B
Yeah.
A
And it's just. It's so cool.
B
Yeah. And I feel like too. It's hard not to feel like, oh, I'm not doing anything, so I'm not moving forward. Like, that's been one of the hardest things for me is like when I'm in a certain phase of my cycle, I'm not as creative. I like need more rest. And I always have this little thought in the back of my brain that's like, you need to be doing more. You need to be doing this. Like, what if you don't hit your revenue goals? What if this. And just really, like, really telling myself like, okay, this is for the better. Good. Next week you will be feeling ready to go and creative and you'll get so much more done the next week. But it's hard to rest. It is hard to like, take a seat back. Especially when my husband's like, he can go and go and go. Like he could do the same thing and he's fine. And I'm like, I'm losing my mind today and I need to be on the couch and watch Friends all day. Which, you know, I can't do because I have a three year old.
A
But yeah, a good rot day. I called it a couch rot day. And it's necessary and it does feel unsafe or scary or actually can induce anxiety. If you've kind of grown up in this productivity culture and we've been raised and that's how I was. I was really good at school. Later I was like, maybe I have adhd, I don't know. But school was easy for me. Running a business at first was not because I was like, okay, I'm really good. If someone like maps it out, I'm great.
B
Yeah.
A
And then having this, like, oh, wait, I'm in charge now. I had to do this. And so like actually cycle syncing kind of provided a structure where before I'm like you, I never worked a real job.
B
Right.
A
I mean there's. This doesn't feel like a real job because it's so fun for me. But I've never had a corporate 9 to 5. I worked in a restaurant for 10 years as I became a health coach. And then I continued to work in there to support it. Worked part time at naturopathic offices and things like that. And there was one time I had to cover a girl, she was getting married. I had to work full time for two weeks, nine to five, for two weeks. It was the worst two weeks of my entire life. I didn't. I Go, am I this? I feel like I'm coming down with a sickness. I don't know. I'm depressed. It just. I was like, how do. How do people do this?
B
We're not built for that.
A
Exactly. And so I understand. Everyone, look, I'm not hating on a corporate 9 to 5. Look, if that's your jam, that's your jam. And I'm sure people listening. It's not your jam, and that's why you're here.
B
Yep, exactly. So I feel like it's the perfect time to kind of dive into the four phases in our cycle. So I think they are menstrual follicular ovulation and luteal. Right?
A
Boom. Yep. Okay. Nailed it.
B
So can you walk us through each phase individually and then kind of what business tasks we should be focusing on during each phase?
A
Okay, so first phase, day one of your period marks day one of your cycle. Now you have four phases of your cycle. Like, the four seasons is the best way I can describe it. Like, the four seasons that nature goes through. Right? Winter, spring, summer, fall. That's kind of how I'm going to describe it. The easiest way to understand it. So your period is the first phase of your cycle. That's your winter.
B
All I can think of is Game of Thrones winter is coming.
A
Literally, when you're in your luteal phase and you start to feel kind of ugly, we'll talk about that, too. Luteal phase is like, if there's a certain time of the month, you look in the mirror, you're like, nothing's right. Nothing's right. I wore this outfit last week. This looked great. I hate it today. I think it's right. That's luteal phase. Winter is coming. So winter phase, your first phase, menstrual phase, you're on your period now. We just like to think about things you would do in the winter. Are you going out? No, you're not. It's cold, you're hibernating, you're resting. Your body's going through a lot. Okay. We think. We don't think about it that way. We just kind of power through it. But your body's going through a lot, so this is a time to kind of just take it easy. As far as your business concerned, you're going to be okay if you. You're not massively productive for three or four or five days. And in fact, a really good way to understand it is that, like, the more you honor these phases, if you think about, okay, you have a battery Right. A month long battery, not a day long battery like men have. If you burn all your battery at a rapid rate because you're not conserving energy when you should be, then when it comes time when you should have the energy and the creativity, it's not there and you're just gonna feel off, it's gonna feel forced, you're gonna get frustrated and you're not gonna understand. Like, I don't get it, I don't get it. Nothing's working. It's because you didn't take care of yourself ahead of time. So it's like kind of delayed effect, but on your period, just take it easy. Rest, self care. This is the biggest thing like self care. Journaling, being introspective. So in business terms like this time when you can look at the past month at kind of everything at your business, maybe take an inventory of what's going on, what's been working for you, what's not, what feels aligned, what doesn't. This is a time to just kind of be introspective. Then you move into your follicular phase, which is your inner spring. So when you're on your period, all your hormones are at their lowest. This is why you don't feel super motivated or creative or inspired or energized. Um, all your hormones are low. So you move into follicular, which is your spring. Hormones begin to rise. Now if you think about spring, this is when like flowers are blooming and things are starting to come alive. That's how you're starting to feel. Your energy's coming back. Creativity peaks in this phase. So if your period should last anywhere from like three to five, six days, seven, that might be a sign that something's going on. If your period's a week long, but then you're going to move into follicular, which will last until ovulation, which is mid cycle. So your follicular phase is about 10 days. And this is when creativity is highest. And brainstorming, outlining, like mapping out the month ahead. This is the best time to like brain dump. Get all your ideas on paper and again take that inventory that you did when you were on your period and all those like journaling that you did and look at it and go, okay, how can I now restructure, like when you're on your period, taking that inventory. Don't do anything with it, Just write it down. Yeah. And then once you move into your. Because that's not the time.
B
Yeah.
A
Once you move to moleculars, that's when you really want to go. Okay, now how can I strategize? How can I make this work? What do I have? Map out your calendar for the month. Monthly to dos are the best for women. Not daily to do. Yeah, mapping it out monthly and going, okay, in the next two weeks. Here's what I can get done. Or three weeks, because my period coming in another three weeks, and I'm going to take a few days off.
B
Winter is coming.
A
Yes, winter is coming, y'. All. Maybe we should make a sweatshirt. Unless they have a trademark.
B
I'm sure it's trademarked, but I love that analogy. It's so good.
A
And then. So that's your inner spring. So creativity. Also, like, socializing. Like, you should have more energy for socializing during this time workout. In terms of other stuff, nutrition workouts. Nutrition. You want to focus on, like, healthy fats to prepare for ovulation. It's another thing. Even if we are not in a phase of life where we are trying to get pregnant, our body is always trying to get pregnant. And also, disclaimer, this is for women that are not on hormonal birth control. So women with a natural cycle.
B
Gotcha.
A
Not on birth control. If you're on birth control, you don't have a hormone cycle at all. It basically just shuts it down, and it's just, like, flatlined. So then after follicular, after you've mapped it all out, ovulation is like your inner summer. You feel hot. During this time, you're actually physically slightly more attractive. The bone structure of your face shifts slightly to be more feminine so that you're, like, more attractive to a potential mate. You have, like, a fertile glow again, making you more attractive. Partners can perceive you as being more attractive.
B
It's crazy.
A
And you'll feel it. Like, once you know this cycle, you'll be like, oh, yeah. So this is mid cycle, around day 14. All women ovulate kind of on a different day. It depends. 14, 13, 15, 16, 17. Um, but right, mid cycle.
B
So ovulation would be the perfect time to film content and B roll, guys. So you feel good? I feel like that's when I always film mine. And sometimes I'll notice that it's ovulation, sometimes I don't because I track. But I'm not, like, super intense. I can kind of just know, like, okay, if I feel crappy, oh, my period's coming. Okay, take it easy. But I always feel so good around the ovulation, and I want to do my hair and makeup. I want to feel good. And like your content and your B roll and your videos will just like feel so much better when you feel good in them, right? Like there's an energy in people's content when they feel good filming it. So ovulation, take note. Film your B rolls then.
A
Film your B rolls, Film your content. Even recording podcasts actually like the right and left brain hemispheres communicate the most clearly during this time. So you're actually like more eloquent and you enunciate your words better, you can see, speak your thoughts better. Interviews like at this podcast, interview during ovulation is great. Photo shoots, anything like that. Best time is ovulation. And in terms of just like in life, this is the best time for like date nights and socializing and all of that more intense workouts. It's. This is when your energy is the highest. Like I said, inner summer. Like you feel hot, you feel spicy, you feel good.
B
Well, good thing I am in that part of my cycle for this interview.
A
Here we go.
B
Feeling it.
A
See, perfect. And it's like kind of I, I almost feel like we instinctively, if we were to get real quiet and only listen internally and map things out, we would actually know how to do these things. There's also, there's a nutrition aspect. I teach in my course to cycle thinking and things like that. And you. I will naturally crave these things when it's time. Like I don't have to look at a chart or anything. I naturally want them. So there's this kind of innate intelligence that's inside of us that can get clouded or quieted or hindered when we're constantly like scrolling or we have constant stimulation that kind of, it's just internal noise. And so it's just so good to get. I mean we all know we shouldn't scroll as much as we do and we all still do, but we're getting better. But yeah, ovulation is the best time for all of that stuff. Anything that's like front facing, you're out there, you're communicating. Podcast interviews, photo shoots, anything like that, that's when you're going to feel the best. Now that's going to last. It's. Ovulation is a one day event and this is the only time of your cycle that you can get pregnant. So you are not fertile all the time. You can only get pregnant six days out of every cycle and that's around ovulation. So after ovulation you're moving to your luteal phase, which is your inner fall or autumn when the leaves Start to change. This is kind of when your hormones start to turn over. This is your longest phase. This lasts about 14 days. So from around, if you have like a perfect cycle where it's 28 days and you ovulate on day 14, this would be from like day 14 to 28. So two weeks, half your cycle, you're in your luteal phase now, the first half, you'll still ride the ovulation high a little bit. It's not like a sudden shift. It's a gradual changing again. Just like the leaves in the fall, it's a gradual change. So it's not like you have to cram all this content creation and things like that into one day. You really can. And in fact, I encourage women when they're fully first on like a syncing your cycle with your life journey, to take it week by week. So just to treat menstrual phase as a week, follicular as a week, ovulation as a week, and luteal as a week, it makes it way easier than trying to be super precise at first when you're just trying to get down the principles. So first half of luteal phase, you can still do the ovulation stuff, still record, still film, still create content. And I call the luteal phase the get shit done phase. I love that this is the time again, if we think about biologically, okay, this is the time when our body would be preparing for a possible pregnancy. So another thing to really be aware of is that your body is on high alert for stress during this time, especially like the week before your period. So like the second half of the luteal phase. And this is because this is when your body would be preparing for a possible pregnancy. So it's like, okay, let's make sure our environment is safe. There's no threats, Everything is good to go. But even again, if we're not. If we're not trying to have a baby, our body still is. So it's so important to honor that part of it. And the luteal phase again, nesting. This is like kind of what people call nesting. You might notice that whenever you get that itch to clean or organize or clear out, it's probably during your luteal phase. Probably is this is when you just like, want to clear house. And this is also the time to just get those tasks done. So things that you mapped out in your follicular phase, maybe you created your content in your ovulation phase. Now's the time to refine it, to edit to outline projects, to, like, write all your captions, all of these kinds of, like, tasks, projects. You will have so much energy in, like, those 10 days, from, like, ovulation to about three days before your period, that's when you're going to really just take a nosedive. That's a little dramatic, but it takes a turn quite quickly.
B
Yeah.
A
And so. And I know it sounds scary maybe to be like, how am I supposed to get a month worth of stuff done in, like, seven to 10 days? But if you did all the front work, right.
B
Yeah.
A
You outlined it, if you mapped it out, if you created the content, you already have all of these ideas and now it's just the execution.
B
Yeah.
A
And so that's when you have those, like, seven to 10 days to do that. And then you wind down Winter. Winter is start all over. Start all over. And so at first, it might sound counterintuitive to do less, but you're getting more done. But it really works. I promise. If you give it a chance and you stop trying to do everything every single day, it might feel like you're swimming upstream or walking through mud. And this is why. It's because you're working against your biology and against your hormones.
B
Totally. Now, I know. For me, I can feel it now. So I do track. But for anyone who's just getting into this, is there an app that you use to track your cycle? What's your favorite one?
A
Yeah, so there's a few different apps. I know since it's so ingrained in my brain, I don't really use one to track the phases. I track my, like, actual menstrual cycle and my temperature and fertility and all that. So I use Natural Cycles, which is. Has been cleared by the FDA as a form of contraceptive. It has, like, a patented algorithm that tracks your temperature. It's wild. So that is super accurate for tracking your fertility. That's what I love to use. It's literally my form of birth control. And I use my OURA ring to sync my temperature. It does all that. But an amazing App is called the 28, and it has your phases. You log in. It's so cool. You do have to pay for it. It's not that much money, but it gives you so many insights. It'll give you recipes, it'll tell you, hey, you're moving into this phase. Look out for these signs. Natural Cycles will do that a little. It'll just say, like, hey, your period's coming. You might notice mood swings, but it's not as cool as 28. And then there's also the Flow app, which probably most people have heard of.
B
Yeah, I used Flow for a while and then now I just started using. I think it's called Stardust. And it's all based around, like, the moon cycles, too. And I just love the little reminders. Like, when I go into a phase, it'll be like, hey, you're probably going to be weak today. Don't try and lift a car. Like, it's kind of funny too. I'm like, cool, I won't pick up my car.
A
You're like, right, I'll write that down. Right.
B
I'm like, okay, note to self. Don't pick up my car today. But I love that. So if you are trying to use it for just your business, probably Flow or what was the other one you mentioned?
A
28.
B
28. Okay, so I will link both of those below for you guys in the show notes so that if you are wanting to use an app, I found it so helpful in the beginning. It's also what we use for birth control. Didn't think I'd be talking about that today, but. So it's just really nice to, like, track things and know. And they have, you know, little reminders so that you remember to track it. Cause that was something for me too. I used to just write it down in a planner and kind of track from there. But if you forget, you're kind of totally screwed. So I love having the app just, like, pop up and tell me, like, hey, here is what you need to do.
A
And it's also so cool. And all of them also give you the chance. I know in natural cycles you could put notes of, like, any symptoms. Did you have a breakout? Did you feel bloated? Did you feel tired? Did you feel anxious? And you can see the cycle that you go through. And then month after month, if you're like, oh, every day, every day on cycle day 27, I want to burn my business to the ground. Okay, that's just your hormones. Like, don't do it. It's okay. You're not crazy. It's your hormones. Like, that's the biggest thing that cycle thinking and learning my hormones gave me is like understanding the waves that we go through and that it's normal. I mean, massive waves, not so normal. But there's a fluctuation and it's beautiful and it's there to help us and protect us. And I've said before, like, the 9 to 5 isn't for women and it's not. But that doesn't mean that women aren't capable of working hard and running businesses and doing, like, these big, big things.
B
In our own way.
A
Yeah. Is that like, oh, you say, like, women shouldn't work. I'm like, nope, never said that.
B
Not what we said.
A
Yeah. We are capable of, I would argue, doing, like, more than men in some ways. And so I think, historically, women have always worked. It's just looked differently.
B
Yeah.
A
And over the past, you know, 10 years, with the rise of hustle culture and all of this and female entrepreneurs, and we've just kind of lost what makes women different and special in that space.
B
No, totally. Now, I know you mentioned a little bit ago that there are some, like, changes in us. You said our jaw changes to make. Make us look more attractive, which is. It makes perfect sense. Right. Because back, you know, before we were able to track all this, I'm assuming, like, the male would find you more attractive, so then they would know then to impregnate you.
A
It's crazy.
B
What are some random or weird facts? I know you had, like, a reel on this. That kind of happened during our cycle or our period.
A
Yeah. So the bone structure of your face shifts slightly and your skin changes, actually. So because of the fluctuations in your hormone, sometimes your skin is more oily, sometimes it's more dry. I just did a podcast episode on this, and everyone was freaking out because I was like, skin types aren't a thing. Like, the same way hair type isn't a thing. Like, you don't naturally have oily hair. Like, that has nothing to do with your hair type. Skin types aren't a thing. And I feel like that's just when that blew my mind, when I realized, oh, like, the skincare industry just wants to, like, take all of our money and make us think we're this type of thing. So sometimes, like, during your luteal phase, your skin might be oilier because your androgens are higher. So you can actually shift your skin care with your cycle, too. And that also helps prevent breakouts and things like that. That was a crazy one. Also. Just crazy, weird facts. You're like, when you're on your period, it's only literally 2 tablespoons of blood usually. And that is clickbaity. Ish. Because obviously it is more than that, because you have other stuff going on in your body, but it really is only that much blood. Okay, so some other ones. Oh, yeah. Your period get worse in the cold. So another crazy fact is your period actually gets worse in the cold. This is mostly due to, like, Kind of like a drop in dopamine and a drop in vitamin D. And during the winter, we're not really moving as much or sweating. So those hot mom walks and hot girl walks are so important for moving. Like our lymph system and our lymphatic drainage and detoxing excess hormones. You can get pregnant only six days out of the month. That's one that people still, to this day, they're like, I'm 35. I didn't know that. It's crazy to me that we don't know.
B
Like, why were we not taught all of this in high school? Like, why was I taught how to. You know, why was I reading history about things that are not relevant anymore? But I wasn't taught how to, like, track my cycle, pay my taxes? Like, I was just like that. I'm like, why? I wish I would have learned that. Like, my husband took home E.C. in high school, and he's like, we did nothing. We, like, made cookies and we learned how to iron. And I'm like, why are you teaching us how to iron? Like, anybody can figure that out. Like, I want to know the nitty gritty things, like, how many days I can get pregnant per month. That would have been really relevant information.
A
Yeah. Instead we're learning that Pythagorean theorem and then like, oh, you can't use calculators. You're like, all we do now is use calculators.
B
Yes, My iPhone is my calculator. Like, come on.
A
Also, oh, during your luteal phase, you're more likely to get sick. So I said, during this time, this is when your body's on high alert. And actually, it's when it would be fostering a possible pregnancy. So what your body does is it lowers your immune system so that your body doesn't reject it. Reject the pregnancy. So a lot of women are like, I get sick right before my period. That's because your immune system is slightly suppressed. And if you were hustling hard instead of resting when you were supposed to rest, your immune system is now slightly compromised and you could get sick. So I have so many women that are like, I always get sick or I always feel yucky right before my period. And it's like, you gotta learn cycle thinking. Also, the average woman will spend 10 years on her period in her lifetime.
B
Oh, we did not need to know that one.
A
Insane. And it's like, back in the day. So, yeah, like I said, my periods were horrible. They literally ruined my life. And now, like, not to sound dramatic, they do not affect my life whatsoever. They don't. I don't take ibuprofen. They don't hurt. I'm not in pain. It's not crazy. I can go on with my day to day life. And I just think that to tell young women that, like painful period symptoms are normal and that's just part of womanhood. And you might have to stay home from work or stay home from school or cancel things. Like. No, you should not have to miss out. I mean, 10 years of your life if you have painful periods that are essentially like messing with. With your actual life. That's so much that you're missing out on.
B
Yeah.
A
To something that's preventable.
B
Yep.
A
Hormonal birth control does not regulate your period. Doesn't fix your period. It just shuts it down completely. That's the one I talk about all the time. Yeah. Be like, oh, no, it fixed my period. I go, it turned it off. It just goes in there. It's exogenous hormones. Basically tells your reproductive system like, we got this, we got this. Just stop.
B
Wild. And nobody tells you that. Like, I was never on hormonal birth control. I had an IUD for a little while and then I just didn't feel right on it. So I got it out and I started cycle, like tracking my cycle. But nobody says that. Nobody tells you that. When you go in and you're considering getting on it, I'm like, that's a really big piece of information that I feel like we should be told that. Like, disclaimer. Tell me that this is what's really going on.
A
Yeah. It can affect your mate selection. That's my favorite one to tell people it can affect. And I've had women go, I was on birth control. I was about to get married. I got off birth control and I left my fiance.
B
Oh, my gosh.
A
Here's the. It works kind of one of two ways. So when you're on birth control, you're more likely to. And you can look up their studies on this. Like, I'm not lying. This is data, real data. The sweaty T shirt test they did. And they had women on birth control and not on birth control. Hormonal birth control do. Like, they had men sweat in a T shirt. They put them in little baggies. They had women smell them. Okay. And like, not rate attractiveness, but like, it's pheromones. Right. And you had to choose between two of them. The women on birth control chose men who had more DNA similarities with them, which is what you do not want. So For a potential, like for the strongest, most resilient offspring, you want most, like different DNA, opposites. It just makes them the most resilient. So there was that and then there's also. They did studies on women on birth control and they had two renderings of men and one had slightly more female characteristics and one had more masculine to the brow bone, the jawbone, things like that. Women on birth control chose the more feminine looking men. So there's just like this running joke of like, if you're on birth control, you probably think Harry Styles is hot and if you're not on birth control, you probably think like momoa is hot.
B
Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. I had no idea. Well, you can really dive deep on all this, you guys. This is intense.
A
It's crazy. It's crazy. And it's like our hormones quite literally run everything we do. Sleep, motivation, creativity, libido, I mean our mood, our appetite, everything. Everything is just like. Our hormones are just like little messengers that tell different parts of our body what to do and what like hormones, neurotransmitters to produce.
B
That's so wild to me. Now. Are there like snacks or drinks or things that I know for me, like as an entrepreneur, I work from home, I forget to eat all the time, which I know is not good, but are there like little, I don't know, mocktails or snacks that we should be like eating throughout the day to kind of help us through, like just balance our hormones in general? I'd say yeah.
A
So whenever we're thinking about like a hormone balancing, hormone friendly, hormone supportive meal or snack, we want it to be protein focused for the most part and we want it to be balanced. So protein, fats and some like healthy carbs, starchy veggies, things like that, fruit. So we never want to eat naked carbs. That's what we want to avoid. And naked carbs are just like plain fruit or crackers or toast. We want to like bulk it up with some protein and some fat. So that would be like apple and peanut butter with maybe some like beef sticks on the side. That's super quick and easy, takes a minute. Or hard boiled eggs or something like that. Instead of toast, maybe we do avocado toast with some like sausage or some protein on the side. It doesn't have to be super crazy, but we just want to make sure that we're balancing it to support our blood sugar because that's another thing that's going to dictate our energy throughout the day, is our blood sugar and if our blood sugar is constantly on a roller coaster, our energy is going to be going up and down, we're going to be crashing, and we can't sustain. Sustain, like stable energy and stable moods throughout the day. So it's super important to be eating balanced snacks to support our blood sugar. So, like I said, just cheese and cracker. You know what I mean? Like adult. I call them adult lunchables. They're one of my favorite little snacks to make a charcuterie board, if you will, but that's super easy. And again, if you're sitting at your desk and you can just snack on something, it doesn't have to be super crazy. I would urge you, though, all my entrepreneurial girlies out there is to, like, make time, Even if it's 15 minutes, to take a couple deep breaths and eat something. And we don't. We just don't want to be all the time eating on the go. It's not good for our digestive system if we're on the go. Our body is in fight or flight. Like, we're either in rest and digest and we're calm and we're safe, or we're in fight or flight. So we just want to make sure that whenever we can, you know, we're just taking a moment to eat. Like I said, 15 minutes. It doesn't have to be all crazy. You don't have to have an hour and light a candle and do a whole thing, but just trying to make a few minutes just to support your digestion and like I said, and your blood sugar, because cortisol spikes, blood sugar spikes. And it's just this whole stress roller coaster. In terms of specific snacks. I love this, like a viral and everyone's talked about at this point, the raw carrot salad. Or you could just eat a raw carrot, like Bugs Bunny style. You could go for that, too. And with the skin on a big carrot. Okay. Not the little baby carrots that are, like, bleached and skinned and all of that and chopped up and it's terrible. And I get it, they're easy. But, like, make your own little carrot sticks, you know? Yeah, but with the skin on. So the skin of the carrot actually contains insoluble fiber. And what I do is I take like one big carrot and I wash it, obviously. And then I like, I peel it with a peeler and turn it into ribbon and then make like a little raw carrot salad. So then I'll add some olive oil, some salt, a little apple cider vinegar, sometimes add a little honey And Dijon mustard. And you can have that with any meal or as a snack. And what the insoluble fiber is going to do is it's going to help detox excess estrogen and excess toxins from your body. So you can have this every day of your cycle, but the best time to, like, utilize it is during your luteal phase. So I kind of didn't really talk about how your hormones fluctuate, but when you're ovulating, all hormones peak. And if you already maybe are teetering on the edge, maybe you have some higher estrogen. If that peaks and you have even more estrogen and you can't get rid of it, that's what's going to lead to those really, like, painful periods, heavy periods, cramps, acne, bloated, water retention. So the more we can support detoxing again. Carrots. So easy, right? Delicious. And you just want to make sure you have a fat with it. So if you have a fat, it helps actually absorb the vitamins in it. So, like, literally, I have this healthy ranch, Primal Kitchens ranch. I dip a carrot and branch and like, that's one of my snacks.
B
We use coconut oil on ours. Is that like, I make carrot salads and we just drizzle like a little bit of coconut oil, a little bit of sea salt, and then like a dab of maple syrup. Because my 3 year old eats it. If I put the syrup on, why no.
A
So good. And it really is like, I've added even shaved apple. So I've done an apple like the same way. And that's super good. Everyone loves it. Like, Daniel loves it. I've made it for my family. Like, it really is a hit.
B
Yeah.
A
And mocktails. Let's do the. I love a mocktail. I'm in my mocktail era. There's a few. So during the day you can make an adrenal supporting mocktail. And your adrenals are like what? Secrete cortisol. So supporting your adrenals helps support your stress response. And when we are stressed, as most entrepreneurs in general are, you know, it's just par for the course.
B
Yep.
A
We kind of can't avoid it. So the best thing we can do is support it. Cortisol burns through minerals and magnesium and all these things so much faster when we're stressed. So we want to replace that. So an easy. Like, I'm sure maybe some of y' all have seen the creamsicle, the orange creamsicle mocktail, which I love to make. It's orange juice, like Maybe half a cup of orange juice. It's not a ton. I do a little bit of coconut milk or like any kind of non dairy milk to make it creamy. And then I'll add collagen. And you can either add. You want a form of potassium. So potassium is also really supportive of the adrenals and replenishing. It's a really good mineral. And so you can add cream of tartar, which sounds weird. It's tasteless and it just adds a lot of potassium. Or you can add coconut water, another great real food source of potassium. And then a little lime juice for a little extra vitamin C. Like, I love it. It's so refreshing. And collagen. I had a little collagen just again, to support blood sugar. Yeah, we have some fats from the coconut milk or non dairy milk, some collagen, because orange juices is straight up sugar. And I'm not against sugar or fruit of any kind. But we just want to always make sure, again, no naked carbs, that we're supporting our blood sugar when we can. So that's a really good one. Again, it tastes like a literal creamsicle. It's so good.
B
It's so good. We have them like every day and we freeze them in, like the little silicone popsicle things too in summer. They're so good. Like, my child never has regular. You know, somebody might have given her a regular popsicle, whatever. But we always make them from like the adrenal cocktail things. And they are so good. My current kick right now is I get this like fresh elderberry syrup. Like, she makes it from berries that are never dried. And it's so good. So I put a little bit of elderberry syrup, like a little bit of oj, not very much. And then sparkling water and oh my gosh, it's so good. And you can add like lemons in. I'll add collagen. But just like always, sipping on something like that, I feel like it keeps me alive. Like, I have one right here next to me. Without them, like, I just don't drink water during the day. I'm not as good at that. So having that like always, I just feel like it really helps my blood sugar. So stay very stable as I'm stressing all day as a mom and an entrepreneur and all the things that we have going on.
A
Exactly. And again, we can't avoid it. Like, you can't. I'm not perfect with anything I do. I don't do everything all day. Stress is unavoidable. Okay, we can't all just, like, live off the grid and just not work and whatever. Like, we have demanding lives and I don't want anyone to feel like, oh, I'm too stressed. Like, it's okay. We could just support it. And yeah, obviously taking an inventory again and saying, what can I take off my plate? What's possible for me to outsource? What's maybe not even making me that much money and I'm actually spending a lot of time on it kind of things. And where can we take the stress off? But yeah, I love the adrenal mock. An easy one also, if you're like, that's a lot of ingredients. Coconut water, salt, and lime juice.
B
It's so good.
A
Nature's Gatorade, really.
B
Yeah.
A
So those are really easy. I also love to support, again, blood sugar, like before meals. If you're, like cooking dinner. Again, no one loves apple cider vinegar. I get it, it's gross. But if you do apple cider vinegar with like olipop or poppy or some kind of healthier soda and a splash of apple cider vinegar, what this does is apple cider vinegar has actually been clinically proven to help reduce a glucose spike. So if you can drink that while you're making dinner or maybe 15 to 20 minutes before dinner, you can help support your blood sugar and then indigestion and all of these things in the meantime. And it tastes delicious. There's a new hopefully. I don't know if it'll still be here when this episode comes out, but Olipop came out with a collab with Barbie and did a peaches and cream flavor. And let me tell you, it's incredible. It's incredible.
B
I saw it on your stories and I texted my husband. I was like, next time you're at the co op, please make sure and check if they have this. I need it. I don't know if we'll get it because we're not. We're like, in a smaller town. But, like, I really want to try it maybe online. Yeah, I might have to order a case of it and see if it's good.
A
It's. It's even and usually doesn't love. He'll have my healthy sodas, but he loves the root beer, the poppy root beers.
B
Oh, it's my favorite.
A
Yeah, Root beer floats with it. Life changing.
B
So good.
A
And so the other one that I wanted to mention is the Sleepy Girl mocktail, which it's gone viral so many times. It is. The main ingredient is tart cherry juice, which actually contains the precursor to melatonin. So this is something you're going to drink at night while you're winding down. Maybe you're watching tv, maybe you're reading, getting ready for bed, taking a bath, sipping on this. You can do. I have tart cherry concentrate, so I just use about a tablespoon and like half a can of sparkling soda, sparkling water, whatever you kind of want to do. The tart cherry juice and then I add magnesium to is so good. So because it has the precursor to melatonin, it's upping your melatonin without taking a melatonin supplement. Let me tell you, you'll sleep like a rock. Like, it really did. And there are certain things where I'm like, is this really gonna work? It does, it does. And it's so good. And it's. To me, it's also this thing of like romanticizing your life as an entrepreneur. Like, we're sitting here, we're working all the time. Like, how can we make things more fun? That's my current favorite thing is like, how can I make this more fun, more enjoyable? Like add a little bit of dopamine, you know, make a fun sparkling drink. Even if you're just reading in bed, it really does feel like a little treat at the end of the day.
B
Yeah, I literally have at least two drinks near me at all times. I just, I need my mocktails, I need my sparkling, I need my warm drinks. Okay, so I know, as you know, the listeners are all busy entrepreneurs, right? Most of us listening to this are, um, what would you say, you know, top five daily tips for balancing our hormones? Like, easy things that we can do. Because I know, you know, there's so many things we can do. But if you were to pick like five that they could start with now, what would they be?
A
Okay, I'm gonna try to keep them. Zero cost. So waking up and eating a protein focused breakfast within an hour of waking, which I'm not asking you to make like a three egg sausage, sourdough toast, all of that. Like, I understand. Especially if you're not used to eating breakfast that might sound insane. Something protein focused. Even if it's a protein shake, even if it's like maybe a little slice of avocado toast and some sausage, maybe it's Greek yogurt and berries. Eating a protein rich breakfast within an hour of waking up is so good for our stress hormones and for our blood sugar to set the stage for the rest of the day. So eating breakfast within an hour of waking up, getting morning sun so good. All right. And not even morning sun, just morning light, full spectrum light. It doesn't. If it's cloudy where you are, that's okay. Just getting light in the first, like within, you know, as soon as you can after waking. Really, if you wake up when it's dark, then as soon as the sun comes up. But this is going to help set you basically, when you view light in the morning, it basically sets a 12 hour timer, a countdown timer on when your body's going to release melatonin. So this just helps support your circadian cycle and it's going to help you sleep better, feel better, just have a more consistent cycle. So you can eat your breakfast outside if you want and you can kill two birds with one stone. Now, I should have mentioned this first because this probably is the most important one. No coffee on an empty stomach.
B
Life changing.
A
Let me repeat that. No coffee on an empty stomach, y'. All. This is probably the most pervasive habit. Even more than like skipping breakfast, I would say that there are more, especially women out there just waking up drinking coffee. And I get it, okay? I used to be that. I used to be you. I love coffee. I will never give up coffee. It is my favorite ritual. And now I just, I have something small. I do like a little yogurt bowl or I even. I have like a protein shake. If I'm not super hungry before I have my coffee. It is going to make such a massive difference. Not only for anxiety, okay, for like starting your day stressed. And the crazy thing is for so long, I wasn't even aware of it. I wasn't even aware until I started eating before I had coffee and I was like, oh my gosh, I feel so much more calm. And I wasn't drinking a ton of caffeine. Like, I drink half caff and I drink like one cup of half caf, which is literally half a cup of coffee. But eating first, I have so much more clear, sustained energy than like all of a sudden bouncing off the walls. Like, I already can't focus. It's wild.
B
I'm a different person. Like, I've been doing this for probably two or three years now. And when I first started doing it, I just added protein to my coffee and it still was too much like it. I still felt like a little wired and now I am religious about it. Like my lattes, I do not have them until I've had at least 30 grams of protein. Like, my brain just needs it. And on the days where I like, don't eat as much before my coffee. I'm literally like wired and I feel insane all day. Like, yeah, I can't tell you this. This would be my number one thing. Guys, if you are drinking coffee first, please just eat before, please.
A
And just something small like you're saying, like, even adding. Because a lot of say, can I add collagen to it? Can I add protein? I'm like, it's not, it's still not the same. Your body needs food before the caffeine.
B
Yeah.
A
And yeah, it does. It is wild how much of a difference it makes. And it's simple. You're already going to eat breakfast, hopefully. Please just eat your breakfast before your coffee. Simple. Another really good one is walking after. I mean walking in General. Getting like 8,000, 10,000 steps a day. I. What I like to do, sometimes I take long walks, like one long walk. But I really try to get out sporadically throughout the day and just kind of break it up. Especially if we can walk for like even five to ten minutes after you eat. This also really helps reduce any like, glucose spikes or blood sugar spikes, supports digestion. And it's just a good way to just get out and get some sun and be in nature. So especially for the women who are like, I, I don't have time to like, get out there for a full hour. Like, do you have 15 minutes? Do you have 10 minutes? Any little habit counts. It's another thing. You don't have to do it all. Every little habit you add truly does make a difference. Like it really does. And then the last one, and again, it's hard to say which one's the most important. Please stop scrolling before bed for the love of your hormones, the love of your mental health, everything, you. And again, if you're in the habit and you've been doing it for so long, you don't realize how much it's affecting you. But getting off screens like at least an hour before bed makes such difference. Again, your cortisol, your melatonin, what I even found. This is so crazy. I wore one of those blood sugar monitors, the continuous ones. And it was a night where we ate dinner early. We ate dinner at like 5. We went on a walk and then we were getting bed. It was like 9:30 and I was scrolling and nothing crazy. Typical scrolling, typical. Just like looking at your explore tab, whatever. And then I go to like check my blood sugar before I go to bed. My blood sugar had spiked while I was scrolling because it was creating a stress response in my body.
B
Oh my gosh.
A
Which is why it also delays melatonin.
B
Oh, I bet. I'm sure. I started leaving mine in the other room. Like, I plug it in in the other room. And I actually just listened to a podcast episode the other day. I don't remember who it was, but they were saying they got this thing that, like, gamifies not being on your phone. So, like, her and her spouse do it and they plug it in, and then, like, they try and see each day, like, who's on their phone the least amount. Obviously, I would lose because I work on my phone and my husband does not. But just this idea of, like, oh, let's try to be on our phone as little as possible, because even if you're not scrolling, I feel like we have the world at our fingertips. So I'm like, oh, I need to order this one thing on Amazon, and then I go order, and then I go somewhere else, and then I check something else, and then I'm just, like, mindlessly scrolling. So I even started putting it away when we were watching TV at night because I found myself just aimlessly scrolling while we're watching Friends, and I'm like, why? Why do I need to be doing two things at once? It literally makes zero sense. There's also a setting on your iPhone that you can change it to, like, a red tint. And I love it. It's like I. It's. My setting is triple click.
A
I have it on the triple click.
B
Yes, you can do a triple click. Or like, mine's the back of my phone. If I tap the back side of my phone three times, it goes red. So I'll do that at night. And I. I mean, I double up. I wear red light glasses at night too, because I don't want any blue light before bed. And, like, if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably online. You're probably on Instagram selling something, right? Like, we're on our phones so much. So anything I can do to kind of combat that and not mess up my sleep at night. So that has helped me so much. Like, all these little hacks help so much.
A
It's so helpful. And the. So the red light setting, blue light glasses. Because, yeah, let's be honest, like, we're all still on. I still watch. We're still watching Love Island. Okay. I'm not. Yes, I'm off my phone, but I love a mindless guilty pleasure. Reality, trashy reality TV before bed. It just, like, treat again. It just helps my brain just shut off.
B
Yeah.
A
And I used to be. Now looking back I'm like, I was addicted to stress hormones. Like, I used to be like a criminal minds, like, true crime, like, obsessed. Obsessed with the darkest stuff. And I just realized I was addicted to that. Like, to that feeling.
B
Yeah.
A
And so blue light blocking glasses. Game changer. Yeah, game changer. If you're on screens or anything at night, also, like changing your lights in your home, you can change them to red bulbs, but also or just after dark, only having like eye level lights. So not having your. Oh, I'm all pointing. Like, they can. Not having overhead lights. Because let's think about this. Overhead lights evolutionary. We only had light in the past 100 years. Okay. Before that, if there was an overhead light, it was the sun and the sun was out and it was daytime. So what we're telling our bodies if we have overhead lights at night is like, hey, it's daytime. Like, we don't need to get tired. We don't need to do any of that. Like, don't worry, there's light. And like, I find overhead lights offensive at night. Like, if Daniel turns the closet light on, like, I'm not coming close to it. I'm like, how do you do that at night? Like, you're crazy.
B
Yeah. We ended up getting these like little salt lamp plugins because, I mean, I have a three, she's almost fourth toddler, so I can't have it like completely dark. And I don't really want loose candles in the house. So we ended up getting these like, they're like crystal pink salt lamps.
A
I love those.
B
And they just plug in around the house and we're able to turn those on. And it's. It's so helpful. But yeah, my husband is like, offended if I have to turn the light on for any reason. I'm like, you have your red light glasses on. You'll be fine.
A
Okay.
B
I just need to see this. But yeah, so many helpful things. This was amazing, you guys. Emily is on Instagram at Little Ray of Health. I will tag her below in the show notes. But if anyone is looking to a kind of balance their hormones first and then get more into cycle syncing with their business, do you have any resources for them that they can kind of get more information on that?
A
Yes. So my master resource would be my online course, the Balance Bay Blueprint, which is a comprehensive, self paced online course that teaches you how to use food as medicine to balance your hormones for easier periods. Like, if you're struggling with painful periods, hormonal acne, any of that kind of stuff. The course is really the Mecca. It covers gut health, metabolism, nutrition, sleep, stress, cycle tracking. There's recipes. There's so much in there. It's like a gold mine. So that I have that online course, but if you're looking specifically for, you're just like, you know what, that's cool. But all I'm looking for is, like, how to use cycle thinking. For my business, I have a resource called Go with your flow. It's a masterclass that teaches you how to use your hormones and the phases of your cycle. For business, there is some nutrition. So it's not like it's just strictly business. It goes deeper into kind of what we talked about today and how to basically modify your lifestyle so that you can live in tune with your cycle instead of working against it, which, like I said, truly was the game changer and the key to, like, growing my business in a sustainable way without burning.
B
Out, which is I feel like what everyone listening, that's what I need. Just, like, constantly making sure that I'm taking care of myself while I'm scaling. Because if not, then you're going to scale and then burn out, and then it's not really worth the scaling. So thank you so much for being here, Emily. This was amazing. I feel like this is my favorite episode yet, which I know my podcast is new, but this was amazing. And I am going to practice what Emily is preaching and head out on my hot mom walk and eat a snack while I'm walking. So we will see you guys on next week's episode. Thank you so much for hanging out with me and my guests today. If you learned anything from our episode, I would love it if you could share it over on your Instagram stories and tag me Abigail Pugh until next time. Love you. Mean it.
Episode Summary: The Abigail Peugh Podcast – Episode 65: Using Your Cycle to Make More Money with Hormone Health Coach Emily (FBF)
In Episode 65 of The Abigail Peugh Podcast, host Abigail Peugh delves into the transformative concept of cycle syncing with guest Emily, a dedicated hormone health coach. This episode, originally aired on July 8, 2025, provides actionable insights for female entrepreneurs seeking to harmonize their business activities with their menstrual cycles to enhance productivity, creativity, and overall well-being.
Abigail opens the episode by sharing her personal journey of detoxing from mold poisoning and becoming attuned to her hormonal health. She emphasizes how adopting cycle syncing has revolutionized her approach to business, allowing her to align her work with her body's natural rhythms.
“I started planning my launches and really anything in my business that required more energy from me around my cycle, and it has made a huge difference in the quality of the work I'm able to get done and overall, just the quality of my health.”
— Abigail Peugh [04:00]
Emily recounts her path to becoming a hormone health coach, highlighting her struggles with hormonal imbalances caused by prolonged use of birth control. Her experiences of weight gain, acne, low libido, and brain fog inspired her to educate and empower other women to understand and balance their hormones naturally.
“I got on birth control at age 15 for really no reason… Everything was great, honestly, until I was about 23. Things just started to backfire.”
— Emily [04:34]
She details how self-education and holistic health coaching programs enabled her to regain control over her health, leading to the creation of her successful business focused on hormone balance and cycle syncing.
Cycle syncing involves aligning business tasks and personal activities with the four distinct phases of the menstrual cycle: menstrual, follicular, ovulation, and luteal. Emily explains how each phase correlates with natural energy levels and cognitive functions, allowing women to optimize their productivity and reduce burnout.
“We are essentially four different women over the course of the month… it's a permission slip to go, okay.”
— Emily [09:02]
Known as the "Winter" of the cycle, this phase marks the start of the cycle and corresponds to low energy levels. Emily advises using this time for rest, self-care, and introspection.
“Self-care, journaling, being introspective. Look at the past month and take inventory of your business.”
— Emily [13:44]
Referred to as "Spring," this phase is characterized by rising hormones, increased creativity, and social energy. Ideal activities include brainstorming, outlining, and networking.
“Creativity peaks in this phase. Brainstorming, outlining, mapping out the month ahead.”
— Emily [16:39]
"Summer" represents ovulation, a period of peak energy and attractiveness. This is the optimal time for front-facing business activities such as content creation, filming, and networking.
“Ovulation is the perfect time to film content and B-roll… your content will feel so much better when you feel good in them.”
— Emily [19:02]
Called "Fall," this longest phase involves preparing for a possible pregnancy. It's a period for refining projects, editing, and completing tasks. Awareness of heightened stress and immune suppression is crucial to prevent burnout.
“Nesting is like wanting to clean or organize. Get those tasks done now so you don't burn out later.”
— Emily [24:18]
Emily recommends several apps to help women track their menstrual cycles accurately:
“The 28 gives you phases and recipes and tells you when you're moving into a phase… Flow gives you little reminders like, don’t try and lift a car today.”
— Emily [24:29]
Emily shares several strategies to maintain hormonal balance and support cycle syncing:
“Protein-rich snacks help maintain stable blood sugar and support hormone balance.”
— Emily [35:16]
“No coffee on an empty stomach… eat something protein-focused first.” [47:19]
“Please stop scrolling before bed for the love of your hormones, the love of your mental health.”
— Emily [51:13]
Emily discusses the significant impact hormonal birth control has on menstrual cycles and hormone health, emphasizing that it suppresses natural hormonal fluctuations rather than regulating periods.
“Hormonal birth control does not regulate your period. It just shuts it down completely.”
— Emily [32:17]
She highlights studies showing how birth control can alter mate selection preferences and emphasizes the importance of understanding its effects before opting for it.
Emily shares intriguing insights about the menstrual cycle:
“Your hormones literally run everything we do… sleep, motivation, creativity, libido.”
— Emily [34:28]
Abigail wraps up the episode by thanking Emily and highlighting her recommended resources:
“If you're looking to balance your hormones first and then get more into cycle syncing with your business, check out my online course, the Balance Bay Blueprint.”
— Emily [55:05]
Abigail encourages listeners to implement the discussed strategies to sustainably scale their businesses without succumbing to burnout.
“Creativity peaks in this phase. Brainstorming, outlining, mapping out the month ahead.”
— Emily [16:39]
“No coffee on an empty stomach, y'. All. This is probably the most pervasive habit.”
— Emily [47:19]
“Cycle syncing provided a structure where before I never worked a real job.”
— Emily [12:17]
For more detailed insights and resources, listeners are encouraged to follow Emily on Instagram @LittleRayofHealth and explore her courses mentioned during the episode.