REBUILD: FOLLICULAR
EAT.
So what exactly does your mombody like to eat? The answer is simple - nourishing, delicious, clean, organic, whole foods as often as possible. Choose organic foods 80% of the time if you can.
As you know, when you eat and exercise to support your mombody, your mombody WILL SUPPORT YOU RIGHT BACK. So the trick is to start eating foods that balance your blood sugar. It’s the critical first step in helping your endocrine system/hormones become happier. And you’ll remember that a happy endocrine system has a trickle down effect of balancing your sex hormones further down the chain, which means a happier, healthier period for you.
Blood sugar is one of those things that once it’s balanced, your weight just melts away. But this doesn’t happen by accident - there’s a bit of a learning curve to understand how you can best support your blood sugar levels that is covered in the video. No more insulin spikes when you eat - let’s keep that mombody insulin nice and steady so your body can start working on other things that need tidying up.
Another bonus of balancing your blood sugar level is you are automatically eating to support your gut health. Your gut has good guys and bad guys (the bacteria that lives in your digestive track to help break down food) and this ratio is important. Sugar feeds the bad guys. Fiber feeds the good guys. When you cut out the junk - you are automatically supporting the good guys.
The follicular time of the month is the perfect place to start eating this way! The reason why is because your cravings aren’t as strong as they might be in the luteal phase right before your period starts. Plus, your hormones are telling your metabolism to slow down so you won’t feel as hungry right now. So it’s MUCH easier to eat healthy during this time of the month.
To sum up, these are the bests ways to support your mombody during the follicular phase:
Body temperature is higher which means it will feel good to eat cool, raw foods that are steamed or sautéed.
Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, yogurt, sprouted mung beans, fermented miso paste, are great to keep your gut healthy and happy. When you have a healthy gut you are also supporting your elimination pathways as well.
Preferred cooking methods are sauteeing and steaming because they aren’t so heavy.
You will naturally have less appetite (metabolism has slowed) in this phase once your hormones are happy.
You guys! I forgot to give you a reference for some good recipes that include fat, protein, fiber and greens all in one meal. If you are into smoothies, then I highly recommend the book Body Love by Kelly Leveque for her awesome blood sugar balancing smoothies (you can also find some recipes on her website). Also, if you want to keep it really simple then a great breakfast is an egg, served on a bed of greens drizzled in olive oil and lemon with a side of avocado and sauerkraut. This plate will give you a great ratio of fat, protein, fiber and greens.
My other favorite follicular recipes are included in the RECIPE link on the homepage to get you started. But first watch the video on follicular eats!