How to tell where you're at in your menstrual cycle without an app

If you've been tracking your menstrual cycle, just using an app, you're gonna wanna watch the entirety of this video because by the end of it, you will learn how to track your entire menstrual cycle just by learning your ABCs, is what I call it. Those are actual body cues. So if you're new here and do not know me yet, my name is Omega. I am an exercise scientist and menstrual cycle educator, and I have a lot of programs down below to teach you about reducing PMs, balancing your hormones, getting fit, using your cycle, and taking the guesswork out of nutrition. So if you want to learn more about any of those, you can check out my programs using the link in the description below here. And if you are new here, also make sure to subscribe to this channel. And when you'll do, you'll get the latest in menstrual cycle education.

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And if you're excited for this video and if you're excited to learn your body in a whole new way, let me scoot forward a little bit, then go ahead and light this video. And when you do, you will, uh, help this video reach more people. So let's dive into the nitty gritty, how to tell where you're at in your cycle. We're gonna take this phase by phase and it's gonna be really easy for you. So the menstrual phase is obvious. You're bleeding out yahoo ha duh. Okay. The follicular phase, also obvious, it starts when you stop bleeding. Um, what happens during the follicular phase though, your egg, your follicle, that becomes the egg starts to mature. So that process can actually start happening when we're bleeding instead of looking at the cycle, like, I have this phase and then it stops, and then I have this phase, and then it stops, and then I have this phase and then it stops.

Let's look at the cycle as just that this really smooth cycle that were taken through each month. So understand that your follicles can start to mature even when you are bleeding, okay? But the follicular phase is characterized by this follicle maturation. And what else happens when the follicle matures? We get this boost of estrogen and testosterone, and that makes us feel really, really good. So what you can notice in the follicular phase is that rise of energy. And you may be wanting to know like what days, um, what days are the follicular phase, and instead of focusing on the days, because everybody can have a different length of an entire cycle, right? Every, like, not everybody has a 28 or 29 day cycle. One of your friends probably has a 40 day cycle or a 70 day cycle. So understanding the actual body cues is actually more effective for you than understanding the days in which you should be in one phase or another.

Okay? So really organic, organic interpretation of the science here, okay? With that follicle maturation, your libido might pick up. And with this libido picking up, what you're going to notice is a change in your cervical fluid as well. And, uh, one of my clients actually didn't know this, so I think it's important to talk about, oh look, there's a cat behind me and a plant. But, um, what you're going to notice is a change in the cervical fluids. So it's gonna go from like a little white and clumpy. So cottage cheese looking to a white and smoother in the follicular phase. And as it gets smoother and more like yogurty, then you know, you're reaching the climax of the entire cycle, which is ovulation. And I'm gonna have to watch her. She's like sniffing that so lovingly like she wants to get in it. Um, anyway, so with ovulation, there's also gonna be a change in cervical fluid as well.

And that change in cervical fluid is going to appear more clear and the texture of it is going to be a little bit more sticky, um, and stringy as well. And that sticky, stringy cervical fluid actually tells us that we are in the ovulation phase. Now with ovulation, I want you to also understand that ovulation is an event more than it is a phase, but since it's characterized by that rise of energy, that peak and estrogen and testosterone, um, we can look at it as a phase. So the days around ovulation are usually, uh, characterized as the ovulatory phase when we are supposed to feel our best. Um, I wanna talk about cervical fluid, and then I wanna talk about the reality of my ovulation when I ovulated. I'm not ovulating right now because I'm pregnant right now. Um, six months pregnant to be over six months pregnant now 29 weeks pregnant now as of yesterday.

Um, so first cervical fluid that clear, stretchy, stringy, cervical fluid is great for transporting sperm and it helps shuttle the sperm upward, and that's why it becomes this stretchy, stringy stuff. And with ovulation obviously comes fertility and we're fertile generally for about six days, four to six days, depending on your cycle length. However, I made a video about this, not this pregnancy, but another pregnancy that I had. Um, I actually got pregnant during my bleed phase. And so understand that, yes, we are only fertile for a certain amount of our cycle four to six days, right? But, um, sperm can live longer than that. Sperm can live seven days as well accepted. I've seen research that says sperm can live up to 10 days too. So not to freak you out, just something to keep in mind is that our fertility is one thing and sperm lifecycle is a totally different thing that we cannot control.

And the cervical fluid is meant to help keep sperm alive because it has a good pH balance to it that allows sperm to thrive. Okay? So that's the follicular into the ovulatory phase. Um, went into like a fertility deep dive there, but I wanna talk about the symptoms that can arise during ovulation because the general narrative tells us that, oh, we feel our best, we feel most sexy. Our libido is highest, we're vibrant, and that is true. But just like everything, um, it exists on a spectrum. So there was a time in my life when during ovulation, I felt like I wanted to go into a rage cage. I was irritable, I was annoyed, I was short-tempered. And I don't think people talk about those things enough that the ri the rise in testosterone is a very real thing. And although I don't know what I was experiencing those symptoms, I was, and I wasn't the funnest to be around, nor did I wanna have sex during that time.

So although like my body was giving me the cues that I was ovulating, I wasn't, my body wasn't subscribing to the narrative of what ovulation, quote unquote should be. So instead of following the narrative norms, I want you to be able to tap into your own body. So if you do find that certain things that I'm not talking about are common for you, make a note of that, okay? Keep a, keep a regular pen and paper journal and keep track of your cycle that way if you really want to get away from using technology. Okay, so we went over the bleed phase, obvious, um, follicular phase and ovulatory phase. Now let's go over the final phase, which is the ludial phase. Um, so without getting too deep into it, the LAL phase is the longest of all of the phases. And the biggest characterization of the lal phase is the increase in energy, or no, that's not true.

The increase in basal body temperature, I'm sorry, I got baby brain over here. An increase in basal body temperature. So what is basal body temperature? Basal body temperature is our temperature in bed first thing in the morning without moving around too much or at all. And basal body temperature can be hard to track with just a thermometer if you're not already in the habit of that. Um, but if you are tracking it with a thermometer, know that your basal body temperature increases 0.5 to one degree fahrenheit after ovulation. Okay? And that tells us one, that you're no longer fertile, and two, you've ovulated. Three, you're no longer fertile. Did I say that already? Did I say no longer fertile twice? Did I mention that I have baby brain anyway? Maybe I did. I don't know. Um, solutio phase biggest characterization is the rise in basal body temperature.

Um, and so if you don't do the thermometer, there are other things that you can use to track this. Um, you can also use what's called a temp drop. It is a armband that sits right here that takes your temperature constantly. It's a bit of an investment. I think it's around 150 to $200. But if you really want to track your body temperature for fertility reasons or you just really wanna dial this in, then I think it's a great investment. Okay, other things that characterize the LAL phase are PMs, , PMs. So there are so many different PMs symptoms, and I made a video all about each PMMS symptom and how to start addressing them. And I'll link it in the comments below, but you see the shot of it, the thumbnail right here. Um, so with PMs, there's a lot of different types and pmms can start at varying days of your cycle.

If you are someone with pm d d, which is not PMs, it's way, it's a totally different ballgame. But if you're someone with P D D, you might notice anxiety and depressive episodes about two weeks before you start your cycle. Um, bloating, breast tenderness are also very common. Anxiety, depression that are not, uh, P D d, um, also happen throughout this, throughout this phase of the cycle. Um, diarrhea and constipation. So constipation can happen because of an increase in progesterone. It just slows down our bowel. Let's just say it, um, slows gastric transit, that's what I was looking for. And diarrhea can happen at the onset of bleeding. So period poops, uh, that's because of prostaglandins. And again, like, I don't wanna go into this too much, but there are a variety of PMs symptoms that we can have. And if I, if you are experiencing one that I didn't mention, then, um, make sure to write it down to spotting is one that I didn't mention, but I'm mentioning it now.

Um, that is, it's a, that's a PMs symptom, um, and a side of lower progesterone. But again, I'm, I'm getting away, I'm getting away with the lingo and the knowledge here. So those are the actual body cues of the ludial phase. And like I said before, everything exists on a spectrum. So in your notebooks, or maybe you've done this on an app already, make sure to note what PMs symptom you're experiencing and when you're experiencing it, and this'll give you an idea of the tr the trends, the actual body cues that tell you that your period is coming or that you're in a certain phase of the cycle. Okay? Now let's talk about the transition from the gluteal to the bleed phase. So for a lot of us, the transition is, I'd say for all of us, the transition is obvious, right? There's blood out hoo-ha, right?

Um, and for some people, this was me a while back, you can have spotting before you have like a dark cherry red blood. And, um, for some that is quote unquote normal. And, um, I, it, I don't wanna, I keep holding myself back because I wanna just make this a basics video. If you're more interested to learn about the different blood color, make sure to click the link down below in the description that says blood color. And, um, and you'll be taken to an Instagram post that I made about blood color and what the different blood colors mean. Um, but if you have like purple blood or kind of rusty colored blood, those mean two different things. I don't want to get into it right now because I just wanna stay focused, focused omega focus. Um, anyway, so I, I think I covered all the bases in this video. We have the menstrual phase slash bleed phase, very obvious. Then we slowly transition into the follicular phase. Follicles are maturing. We might have a rise in energy and an increase in cervical fluid. Then we have the ovulatory phase again, that cervical fluid gets stretchy clear, um, and maybe sticky. And then we have the transition into the ludial phase where we have that increase in basal body temperature as well as perhaps some PMs symptoms. And then we transition

Into the menstrual phase, which could be spotting, or you could be gushing like the Euphrates River, my friends. So if you like this video, please give it a like, comment below with any questions that you have. I have a lot of other videos on menstrual cycle basics, so um, you'll be able, I'll link a playlist down below too so you can explore those videos as well. And if you haven't subscribed yet, please subscribe to this channel. And if you're interested to learn about how to reduce PMs, um, how to get fit using your cycle, balance your hormones, or take the guesswork out of nutrition, make sure to also check out the description below where I have a link to all the cycle balancing courses and education that I have. Thank you so much for watching this video. I will see you in the next one. Bye.