How to Support Healthy Ovulation

Believe it or not, ovulation (not your period) is the STAR of the menstrual cycle.

Without ovulation, our body does not produce progesterone, we will not experience a true period, and hormone imbalances get out of control.

And of course, when ovulation isn’t occurring regularly, this creates many issues with trying to conceive.

Luckily, our bodies are incredibly wise, and there are a few easy things you can start doing to ensure that you’re supporting healthy and regular ovulation.

Here are a few of my most common tips:

Be mindful of over-exercising

Across the board, I find that my clients are not eating enough and they tend to be over-exercising. We get stuck in this trap of feeling like these two things are actually good for our body, (aka losing weight), when in actuality it is causing SO much stress on our reproductive system.

Syncing your workouts with your menstrual cycle is a great way to be mindful about not exerting the body. I actually wrote an article all about this over on Shut Up + Yoga – check it out for my more details 🙂

Don’t Skimp on the carbs

In addition to not eating enough (which is sooo common), we tend to fear carbs because we have been told that keto and and other low-carb diets are “healthy” for us. This may work well for men, or make you feel better in the short-term, but the woman’s body does not thrive off of this type of restriction.

Our body LOVES good quality carbs and so does our hormones! My favorites are fruit, sweet and white potatoes, and squash/zucchini, and cassava 😋 Carbohydrates are the bodies main source of energy, so when we deprive ourselves, this causes our body to feel really stressed. Stress suppresses ovulation, so not a good combo. I dive more into nutrition for hormone balance in my self-paced Heal Your Period program here.

Keep Blood Sugar Balanced

Another common mistake? Intermittent fasting and not eating breakfast within 60-mins of waking. This can create a total roller coaster for blood sugar levels throughout the day.

Make sure that you’re giving your body good amounts of protein/fat/carbs throughout the day will keep your blood sugar nice a stable. A blood sugar balancing breakfast might look like:

• Avocado toast with 2 eggs on sourdough bread with a side of sausage or fruit

• A loaded smoothie with 20g of collagen protein, 1/2 avocado, milk, 1/2 frozen banana, and cocoa powder

• Organic Greek yogurt with blueberries

• Coffee AFTER breakfast

Remember, a blood sugar roller coaster = stress on the body = wacky ovulation!

Prioritize stress reduction

And finally, we can not underestimate the affects of mental and emotional stress. I’ve watched clients prioritize their favorite stress reduction techniques, and work on some simple mindset shifts, and see WONDERS in their cycles. It’s truly amazing 🧘🏻‍♀️ and often undervalued.

Prioritizing even 5-10 minutes of mindful breathing can support ovulation more than you think. I recorded a free body scan meditation here that does just the trick. Try it out and let me know what you think!

As always, if you’re looking for more personalized support regulating your cycle and/or fertility, you can schedule a free discovery call here to chat more. Here for you!