Our Monthly Cycle, Part 4: When is the Luteal Phase and What’s Happening in the Body?
I’ll admit it, I used to put very little attention on the luteal phase of my own cycle. After ovulation, I would just sort of forget that “something” was still happening.
The luteal phase is actually really powerful and our habits and actions during this 10-14 day period sets the stage for our menstrual phase and future cycles (as I’ve said, each phase is important and necessary for the prior and upcoming phases throughout the cycle). Like a beautiful puzzle, we need all of the pieces for the full picture.
As a quick review, we are on part 4 of the blog series ‘Our Monthly Cycle’. So far we’ve covered: an overview, the follicular phase, the ovulatory phase, and now we’re on the luteal phase.
There are four phases in the monthly cycle:
Menstrual Phase - 3-7 days. Releasing, letting go, turning inward.
Follicular Phase - 7-10 days after you stop bleeding. Likely when you’re open to new things.
Ovulation - 3-4 days. Fertile, receptive, when hormone levels peak.
Luteal Phase - 10-14 days - During the first week of this phase you will have more energy, then in the second half you’ll likely want to shift toward taking more care of yourself to prepare for the menstrual phase.
SO what’s happening during this phase?
Remember when I said the follicle (the little thing that holds the egg up until ovulation) will still be doing something after ovulation occurs? Well, that follicle (now called the corpus luteum), in your ovary, continues to make/release progesterone and eventually is reabsorbed. And *this is really cool* your corpus luteum rapidly forms into a fully vascularized 4 cm structure in less than 1 day.
When the follicle reaches this point it is in the final stage of its journey. It makes progesterone which counterbalances estrogen. Progesterone thins your uterine lining while estrogen thickens it. I read a nice analogy recently talking about the see-saw that certain hormones are on. Progesterone and estrogen is a good example. Progesterone is what causes your temperature to increase, and it also calms the nervous system by converting to a neurosteroid. This means that if you take hormonal birth control you do not make progesterone and don’t get to benefit from this calming, mood-enhancing effect.
Progesterone is one of the keys to a healthy cycle and it comes during the luteal phase (when not on hormonal birth control).
Here is a nice image from the book Period Repair Manual to show you when each hormone comes into play:
In the second half of your cycle your metabolism speeds up and you naturally burn more calories and have an increased appetite. The rise in progesterone slows down digestion and can lead to constipation. Eating high fiber foods can help.
Your immune system also responds differently during the second half of your cycle. Studies have found that when estrogen levels rise (a.k.a. the first half of your cycle), your immune system is on high alert and ready to attack. But, during the second half of your cycle when estrogen dips and progesterone increases your immune system downshifts slightly. With balanced hormones you likely won’t notice this at all, but with imbalanced hormones you may feel run down or be more likely to catch a bug during this time.
FOOD FOR THE LUTEAL PHASE
Your body needs more calories right now, because you are burning more. **This does not mean “you're burning more so eat less”** Go for slow-burning complex carbs like beans, grains & root vegetables to stabilize blood sugar and help with digestion.
Beans, grains & root veggies
Cabbage
Celery
Cucumber
Sweet potatoes
Apples
Dates
Cooked leafy greens (high in calcium and magnesium to reduce fluid retention)
High fiber foods - chickpeas, pears, apples, walnuts to help liver and intestine flush estrogen
EXERCISE DURING THE LUTEAL PHASE
Just because you are naturally burning more calories right now does not mean that you should be doing intense workouts. Increased stress (intense workouts) pumps out cortisol which works against your actual workout and leads to fat storage and muscle atrophy. Women reach exhaustion easier in the second half of the cycle compared to the first half. Overall, listen to your body - if you feel like slowing down, do it.
During the first half of the luteal phase your energy is still probably pretty high. You can try more strength training and intense yoga during this window. Then, as you approach the second half of your luteal phase experiment more with flexibility exercises and gentle yoga. I mentioned in the follicular phase that you can try experimenting with working out in the morning during the first half of your cycle. Now, try exercising in the afternoon during this second half of your cycle and see how you feel.
During the luteal phase you likely have a more natural desire to get things done. This is a good time for bringing things to completion. As you near the end of the luteal phase, turn inward and start to focus on how you nurture yourself through the menstrual phase.
How do you know you are in your luteal phase?
Tracking your basal body temperature: When you see a rise in your temperature for 3+ consecutive days then you have ovulated and are shifting into the luteal phase. With a healthy corpus luteum, you will record between 11-16 days of “higher temperature” days between ovulation and the first day of your period. No consistent rise in temperature? This means you did not ovulate. If the temperature rise is shorter than 10 days then you had a short luteal phase which could have been caused by stress. A shorter luteal phase means lower progesterone. And remember, progesterone is kind of badass, so we definitely want to optimize our food & lifestyle choices to support the entire monthly cycle and benefit from this awesome hormone.
To start Tuning Into Your Cycle, I’ve made a Daily Tracking Sheet for you and a Luteal Phase Cheatsheet so you can keep all of this information handy throughout the month. Get the freebies here:
As always, remember that the phases of your cycle are not concrete and many things (stress, environment, etc) can affect or throw off your cycle. It’s okay. Every month is a new cycle and every day is a new opportunity to tune in and get to know what’s going on with yourself. Symptoms are signs -- don’t ignore them. Take the information you’re being given every day and determine the best plan of action (or non-action) for YOU. You can do this. Just start observing and noticing, the rest will come naturally with time.