How to Use Your Menstrual Cycle to Transform Your Body with Dr. Stephanie Estima

Do you face your time of the month with absolute dread? How could you not— the agonizing abdomen pain, the mood swings, feeling tired and uncomfortable in your own body. The repetitive nature of periods, and how they affect human bodies, has been a struggle since the beginning of time. People with periods display strength simply by carrying on with their responsibilities despite the gruesome (and sometimes gorey) shedding from the inside out. But no worries, this may be the opportunity for you to sync with your body (and mind) like never before…and even use your period to help you finally feel free in your body!

“So really understanding, playing, and tinkering around with different caloric allotments, different macronutrient allotments through the cycle really ended up being the key for me to remedy that estrogen dominance so that every month my breasts weren’t angry at me, that I could put on a shirt without it being a painful endeavor.” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

Dr. Stephanie Estima is an incredible woman who dedicated her career to studying female physiology, metabolism, body composition, and functional neurology. Her inspiration was born out of pure hatred for her period (rightfully so seeing that she used to bleed through her clothes every month), especially how it made her feel. What began as a need to change her own life sparked this movement of understanding the influence of menstrual cycles on health, fitness, mindset, and how we pursue excellence. From her passion for women’s health and healing birthed her signature program: the Estima Diet!

You deserve to feel happy in the relationship with your body…

… which is exactly what prompted me to sit down with this doctor on this week’s IHML Show episode! We are having an open discussion about the importance of building your relationship with your cycle through food, fitness, and everything in between. Dr. Estima deep dives into the science behind the menstrual cycle, and how it influences the ups and downs we feel weekly! Rather than restricting your body, she insists we listen to our instincts to make empowered choices and create a positive relationship with food. She even shares her own experience navigating her cycle and the changes she’s made to feel confident in her own skin (which you can find in her book The Betty Body!)

Let this episode be the beacon of hope you need to find that inner peace no matter what time of the month. Creating alignment should not be strenuous— it should be empowering. Period!

In This Episode:

[0:17] Welcome Dr. Stephanie Estima, the woman who turned her hormonal stress into a total success!
[2:28] The common practices Dr. Estima tried for her period problems before finding her hormonal holy grail.
[6:24] Want to see change in your health? Listen to Dr. Estima’s learnings!
[15:38] How you can blend this diet with your cycle for ultimate impact!
[19:54] Dr. Estima breaks the myth behind women lifting weights.
[22:15] Ready to grow some muscle? Tune into how you can create that habit.
[25:36] How Dr. Estima blends her lifting routine into her monthly cycle.
[28:43] What you can expect as a result of living by your menstrual cycle.
[37:53] Emily and Dr. Estima reflect on the importance of building a relationship with food.
[43:11] Dr. Estima’s advice for women who want to create a life beyond their dreams!

Quotes:

“One of the things that I was missing was in fact that I am not a man, that I am not a little version of a man. But I, in fact, am a woman with a menstrual cycle and as such having sort of these varying, oscillating hormones really week to week and truly day to day, throughout my menstrual cycle.” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

“So really understanding, playing, and tinkering around with different caloric allotments, different macronutrient allotments through the cycle really ended up being the key for me to remedy that estrogen dominance so that every month my breasts weren’t angry at me, that I could put on a shirt without it being a painful endeavor.” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

“Can I change the way that I train based on my cycle? The answer ended up being, yes, I should be.” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

“I always joke and say the period is like the popular girl, she gets all the attention right?” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

“So you just, as much as we would like to think that, you know, we can go against our biology, you just simply cannot, your hormones are much more powerful. Your microbiome, the whispers that it gives your brain via the gut brain access, it’s gonna be very difficult for you to resist that over the long term.” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

“I think that we’re [women] scared of lifting weights. I think a lot of it still persists this myth around ‘we’re gonna turn into the Hulk, we’re gonna turn into this bulky, crazy, you know, bodybuilder’ right? Whenever I say the word body building, a lot of people have this sort of connotation of like these freaks of nature that are all juiced up and they’re on steroids, but that’s simply not true for women.” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

“I would also just say the psychology around your relationship with food, I think is an important one, we don’t talk about it enough. And quite frankly, I’m not asked about it enough.” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

“I’m laying out the map [of nutrition] for you to maybe follow, but why people won’t necessarily be successful in following that map is the way that they feel about themselves. The stories that they’ve been told from mothers, fathers, teachers, preachers, in terms of their worth, in terms of their value, in terms of their capability, et cetera.” — Dr. Stephanie Estima

“So, um, I think that if you look at your cycle as information that will help it. Your body is always providing clues, right?” — Dr. Stephanie Estima