Workouts and nutrition around my cycle

Carla: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to My bump 2 Baby expert podcast, where we bring experts from all over the UK to answer your questions on everything, pregnancy to preschool. 

[00:00:31] Today I am joined by the lovely Dora from Fun Mums Fitness, and we are going to be talking all about fitness and nutrition around your cycle. I hope you enjoy this episode.

[00:00:50] Hello everybody. And welcome to My Bump 2 Baby Expert podcast. Today I am joined by fitness expert Dora, who helps mums in their fitness journey and she has a company called Fun Mums Fitness. 

[00:01:07] So hello, Dora, how are you?

Dora: [00:01:09] Hi, Carla. I’m very well, thank you. I’m very excited and thank you very much for inviting me to your super podcast.

Carla: [00:01:18] Oh, thank you. It’s so nice to have you on here. And I’ve been admiring what you do for quite quite a long time now. Um, so basically Dora, today, we’re going to be talking all about workouts and nutrition around our cycles, which is something. I’ve not really thought about it. I’ll be honest, but, um, it definitely intrigues me. So I’m looking forward to finding more about, more out about this. 

Dora: [00:01:43] Yeah. This is a very fascinating topic. And unfortunately, um, women and mums, they don’t know a lot about it because . Coming on our period, we just say, Oh yeah, I feel crap. I feel bloated. 

Carla: [00:02:00] Yes. Yeah, absolutely. 

Dora: [00:02:02] And even our partners are saying that, Oh, you have very. Silly today, or you have very agitated today so you must be coming on your period and then be just basically sweeping under the carpet. But this is something, what has a major, um, effect  our life or our emotions, um, even on our social skills, our whole cycle has like, has an effect on all of it, but very importantly, on, um, fitness and nutrition. And the exercising and nutrition. And I think, um, now that actually keeping fit and being fit and eating healthy for this, um, luckily becoming quite a popular and cool thing, uh, people are paying more attention to little details, like a cycle. How does it affect our, um, nutritional, exercising? So of course we all know that we have  weeks when we feel really, really motivated and we feel that  own the world and we want to run and we want to keep fit and we have all these plans that we are going to work out every morning and then we can do it for a week or two. And then there is the week when we feel absolutely, tired, rubbish. We think that, or we just sit on the sofa, we can’t be arsed even to go for a walk.

[00:03:34] And of course this is the same with food. So we all know that before we come on, our period, we all crave very sweet stuff. Um, sugary things. And then usually after the period, it’s when everyone is feeling that, Oh, this is a time to sort my nutrition out and we feel that we can really control what we are eating and we class ourself as like being good with food. So it would be absolutely silly for us not to be aware of the power of our cycle or our training. Um, so, um, unfortunately, um, from my experience, I think only about 40% of women track their cycles and it’s really bad. Um, so when I, when a mum comes to me for personal training session, um, and it allows me  uh, to focus on just one mum, not like on the classes. I, my first question is that how is their cycle? If they track it, if they know what happens on what part of the week, the months, because I have to plan their workout program. 

Carla: [00:04:49] So Dora, what, why is it important to track cycles and be aware of the impact or cycles has on our training and nutrition then?

Dora: [00:04:59] So there are four, basically different periods of your cycle in terms of training and nutrition. And these are the period, obviously it’s from the first day of your bleeding to the last day of your bleeding. And then after this comes to the follicular phase, what is from the last day of your bleeding to ovulation, and then you ovulate that. The third period and the fourth one is a luteal phase and then different, in this four different phases, your body reacts to training completely differently. So best time period for training is generally saying, because we have to say, every woman is different, but generally saying is the follicular phase. It’s basically the period between your period and your ovulation because that’s when your hormone level begins to rise. And this is the feel good phase. This is when you feel really social, outgoing, powerful, full of energy. This is when you feel that you are really tracking your nutrition, you are really good with it. And they actually, if you think about it, it makes sense because your body is getting ready to ovulate them. Normally you want to basically have sex and have baby because that’s how the body reacts. So you have to nourish yourself really well and you have to be outgoing and social because you have to catch the man for your ovulation. 

Carla: [00:06:45] Yes. Yes. That makes sense. 

Dora: [00:06:47] And then period, your strength training is really, you are very strong.  So if you are doing any weight lifting, any gym work, you are a lot stronger and you can lift heavier. You can go harder. And also it has an higher increase in muscle strength. So even if you do the same in this period, then you will do other periods. It builds your muscles better. It’s absolutely crazy. And there’s the same with endurance training. So if you are just running, cycling or doing Zumba or whatever, you will feel more energised and it has like a better impact on your body and on your muscles. So I, I just find it really fascinating, but I also have to say that there are a few percentage of lucky women who are actually the strongest on their period, because this is the point when your oestrogen level, is the lowest. So there are a few women who feel really, really strong on their period. Maybe not the first day but from the second day. So that’s why it’s very important for you to track everything, not just the fact that you came when your period. But you track how you feel, in terms of physically, emotionally as well.

[00:08:12] And what, what is very important that it is actually safe to exercise during your periods. Because there are a few myths that you should not really exercise. You should, you might feel really weak on your period. If you are those kinds of women. Um, you might not have really the mood for training, but what I would say, what is the most riskiest?  Like the riskiest is to exercise is your luteal phase. What is before your period. When you have all the premenstrual syndrome because, um, your body temperature rises about 0.3 degrees. What doesn’t sound a lot, but when you’re exercising and when you are hot and sweaty anyway, it is a lot and your body temperature stays high. So it is very, very important to stay, hydrating during your workout. Because you can get really quickly, um, dehydrated plus you can faint, you can feel really dizzy. And in these periods, so before your period, your endurance decreases. So maybe that’s the best time to schedule your rest days as well. 

Carla: [00:09:34] Yeah, that’s really interesting. Um, so when it, when is it best to push yourself in training?  Would you say, um, you know, during the period time or is that when you’d probably need the extra push?

Dora: [00:09:48] For about 90% of females is after the period and before ovulation. And there is like  5/10% of women who are actually the strongest on their periods, but for that, you really should know yourself. But generally saying after your period before ovulation is the best, um, then you push yourself. And also during ovulation, because that’s, that’s your peak. 

Carla: [00:10:19] How do you recommend that we track our cycles? 

Dora: [00:10:23] Well, to be fair, there are different. Um, there are tons of apps out for this, but I’m, I’m very old fashioned in that. And I, I have a paper diary. And I track it there because then it allows me that I can just, I usually I write a few words, like how I feel. And thenI I’ve noticed the pattern. And when I started doing it was a game changer in my training, it was a game changer. So one of my clients started to track her cycle and also how she was feeling physically and emotionally and what she was eating. And she did it for three. Four months actually. And she, it changed her life because what happened previously that she always said, okay, I’m going to train. I’m going to lose weight. I’m going to sort my nutrition out. And then she was doing really well for three weeks and something happened and I didn’t hear from her for about a month or two. And then she came back again, said I’m really going to sort everything out. I feel really strong, very motivated. It went on for three weeks, something happened. And then I just ask her that actually, do you track your cycle and do you know how you feel the different parts of periods of your cycle? And then she said no, and she started doing it. And then she realised that basically she, she always loses the game when she’s before or on her period. But previously, she just said that fat that she failed me basically. So she, it took her a month or two to come back on track. But now, because she knows that this is how she works. She pushes herself for three weeks. She’s spot on with everything. And in that week, she’s on survival mode. And then once it’s over, she just messaged she’s me, I’m back. And then she pushes herself for three weeks. 

Carla: [00:12:28] It’s changes your mindset that, because I think a lot of the time that’s a lot of it. Isn’t it? You feel like you’ve failed. 

Dora: [00:12:34] Yes, exactly. So knowing your body and understanding how it works, it is vital. It would be a game changer for every, every mum. And also one tiny thing where I have to mention. If you, if, if someone is, um, has the coil and has no periods, you still have the cycle. So you just don’t come on your period, but you still have exactly the same cycle. So it’s not that you are basically running on the same level for 365 days. You still cycling round. Um, even if you don’t have your period and, um, in terms of nutrition. So I just, I just would like to very briefly point out a few things. What I, um, I think very important that when you’re on your period, Um, usually we have cramps or yeah, these, type of feelings and nuts are really, really good at this point because they contain magnesium of what is a muscle relaxer, um, relaxant. So if you eat nuts, that’s going to help you with your cramps as well. And obviously if you are on pre period and you suffer with cramps and gases than, um, we all should avoid. Um, Um, processed foods, sugary foods and raw foods, because they are going to make it even worse. 

Carla: [00:14:10] Right. Okay. Yeah. No, that makes sense. I think that sometimes when you crave them, isn’t it? 

Dora: [00:14:15] Yes. 

Carla: [00:14:16] So no, that, that is really good. Yeah. Right. So, so then could you tell me then, um, where, what you a bit about Fun Mum Fitness and where people can find you where and what you do. 

Dora: [00:14:28] Yes. So, um, we are in Surrey and we are going to launch in Devon. Very soon. We offer personal training for mUms. We offer  classes for mums together with their children. So on the classes, mum, they bring their children who are crying, sleeping, um, running around, beating each other up, playing. So it’s, um, it’s a very nice community. And we also offer an online workout program for mums for is basically 20 minutes long workouts. Uh, every week, day for mums, um, what can be done at home. It’s really easy. And, uh, if anyone is interested finding us, they can go on Instagram Fun Mums Fitness or go on Facebook, Fun Mums Fitness UK, or, or check our shiny new website. What is www.funmumsfitness.co.uk

Carla: [00:15:22] Excellent. So the online classes, you do a workout every week, day. That’s only 20 minutes. 

Dora: [00:15:28] Yeah. And that’s brilliant. You’re actually quite, they are different than if you go on YouTube and then just pick some workout videos because we record, um, the videos ourselves. So it’s actually a mum talking to you whilst you’re exercising and doing the exercises, quite often, I have my children jumping on my head and, uh, my dog’s licking my face. Um, so it’s, I think it makes it real. Yes. And, or the, all the workouts. What we do is very important. They are for mums. So they are designed for mums. They are not just some random kind of workouts. 

Carla: [00:16:13] Yep. Put you tea in. And, and while you’re doing that, you can get your workout done, can’t you online. Um, that’s what I was doing.  I Absolutely loved it.

Dora: [00:16:22] Great. I’m so happy to hear it. 

Carla: [00:16:23] Dora. That’s amazing. So thank you so much for coming on today. Um, and, um, we’ll put Dora’s links in the show notes, so you can find more details about, um, Fun Mums Fitness there. So thank you. 

Dora: [00:16:37] Thank you very much for the opportunity. 

Carla: [00:16:40] Thank you.

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