Why am I writing this!

I am infatuated by weight loss and exercise, making it a lifestyle change instead of a 2-month fad is something that should be easy and simple. Being on a ‘diet’ shouldn’t mean that you have to give up the things you enjoy. I have been watching various Instagram personal trainers as well as most weight loss programs. I have realised that there are two common themes; a restriction of calories that provokes weight loss whether that is through the charcoal diet or even the McDonalds diet (YES! THERE IS A MCDONALDS DIET) and that a majority of people that diet are women. This provoked various questions in my head the main one being “why do women find it so hard to lose weight”. Whilst listening to a podcast by James Smith he spoke about the menstrual cycle of women and this led to me writing this. I will state now I am not a professional this is generalised research from lots of various sources but if it can help one 1 person understand the effect their menstrual cycle has on weight loss and their body it would have been worth it!

Menstrual Cycle 

Throughout this short article I will try to explain the effect that the hormones have on your body and how your diet and training programme should be based around the menstrual cycle.

 As most women know their menstrual cycle is split into 4 phases; the menstrual phase, the follicular phase, the ovulation phase and the luteal phase. A woman’s cycle is individual and the length of it can go from anything from 22 days to 39 days however this will differ from woman to woman. However, for simplicity, I will break the menstrual cycle into a 28-day cycle, the first 13 days will be the follicular phase and the other 15 days into the luteal phase. During a woman’s cycle it is known that the hormones that are associated with the cycle have different effects on the body. 

During the first two weeks of the menstrual cycle women generally have a relatively stable amounts of hormones within their body, this will be consistent month after month. However, this is dependant on age and how close they are to the menopause. The hormones included within the menstrual cycle that will affect training, diet and weight are; follicular stimulation hormone (FSH), oestrogen, progesterone and also testosterone. Within women high levels of FSH is often linked with women that are beginning to go through the menopause. Research into menopause is something I am keen to widen my knowledge and awareness in, before I comment further about method’s women can take to diet and train. The reason for this is due to the decreased hormones produced by the thyroid gland and the fact older women are more likely to develop osteoporosis and sarcopenia. 

When training in the gym both men and women will stick to the same routine every week but get demoralised when their weight does not change or that they don’t meet personal bests in weeks 3 or 4 of their training regimes. During the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, there is an increase of progesterone this hormone promotes water retention. This means that in the luteal phase a woman will weigh more than she did in weeks one and two of her cycle, this is why women should only compare their weight from the same stage of their cycle from month to month (As shown below). This is due to the fact that the physiology of a woman changes 4 times a month in accordance with their cycle.

Weeks of cycle	Month 1 weight	Month 2 weight	Month 3 weight
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Another effect of progesterone is that it increases your basal metabolic temperature. This means that within the luteal phases the metabolism speeds up and the body needs more energy to function. This is why within the luteal phase of the cycle women need between 100-300 more calories per day, due to the change in their hormones. This is why, in my personal opinion, mass produced diet plans and food restrictive diets aren’t necessarily the best option for women because they do not take into account the needs of a woman, whilst they are going through their menstrual cycle. Women should aim to curve cravings instead of remaining on a strict diet because curving cravings will decrease the likelihood of binge eating.  

Another reason why the metabolism is altered during the transition between the follicular phase and the luteal phase is due to the increase of oestrogen. Oestrogen is a hormone that helps regulate the metabolism and body weight, it also plays a vital role in the emotional well-being of women and should not be overlooked during a training programme. The reason for this is during weight and resistance training, oestrogen aids in the oxidisation of fat whilst helping prevent muscle soreness. This is why around the 13-17th day of a woman’s cycle, I would recommend weight training, to support an increase in a positive attitude. Another reason why weight or resistance training would be recommended is, during this phase, an increase of testosterone occurs (the day before ovulation). This hormone increases the sex drive of a woman and this boost of testosterone can have a positive impact in the gym. This increase in testosterone will likely result in personal best within the gym due its effect on muscle strength. 

One massive part of a woman’s menstrual cycle is premenstrual symptoms (PMS) this a physical and emotional condition that women may experience. This often occurs 3-5 days after ovulation and some symptoms may affect women’s emotional state in such ways as; depression, fatigue, increase/ decrease appetite and even insomnia. The physical implications that may occur during PMS are; bloating, weight gain, breast tenderness and even acne. This results in a lack of motivation and eagerness to exercise. However, it is important to note that a woman’s menstrual cycle is individual as will be the severity of their premenstrual symptoms even if at all. So, my question is why some personal trainers don’t take into account the cycle when planning training programme or diet plan. I would recommend whilst a woman is in the luteal phase of their cycle to change their training to more resistance work with a light weight and more repetitions compared to doing something like a split squat that requires a lot of balance and could become uncomfortable. 

One thing that needs to be considered in regard to the menstrual cycle when losing weight is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This is a syndrome that can cause irregular cycles and can increase or decrease the length of their cycle however it is important to establish not every form of PCOS is the same. One common characteristic of PCOS is insulin resistance. This is something that will affect the absorption of glycogen into muscle fibres. However, with carbohydrate segmentation before and after training the improvements in insulin sensitivity may be improved. Women with PCOS can have 2-3 times more androgens within their body meaning they have elevated amounts of testosterone, as a result of this they are frequently better at doing weight-based training due to this increase in testosterone. Training can also be aided with the control of protein (increase) and carbohydrates in pre and post work out stages. This will aid someone with PCOS due to the fact it will affect their insulin sensitivity.

My final point in regards to the menstrual cycle and weight loss, is that although I promote women to be healthy and more importantly confident within their own skin. Taking physical exercise to the extreme can have a detrimental effect on the menstrual cycle. If you look at the physiology of a woman, they are built to carry children this is why their body stores a certain amount of fat to facilitate this process. However, if a woman drops her body fat percentage too low, she could suffer from amenorrhea, this is when the body fat is too low within the body that it goes into a survival state and the reproductive organs are stopped in order to use the fat for the woman to use the fat reserves in other areas of the body. It is again important to note that this is unique to every individual and women shouldn’t be infatuated by their body fat percentage or body mass index (BMI).

Key points 

– General mass-produced diets don’t account for a woman’s menstrual cycle

– Diet for the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle then for luteal phase try to maintain the weight

– Measure weight in accordance to the stage of the menstrual cycle from month to month not week to week

– Train the body in accordance with the change in hormones throughout the cycle. 

– If you have PCOS increase your protein and segment your carbohydrates and weight/ resistance train your body.

– Do not excessively diet or exercise to the extreme as it will increase the chances of amenorrhea occurring.