by Samah Elomari,  Women’s health physiotherapist 

We women, with our moods and energy levels will often find ourselves blaming our menstrual cycle for most things! At the same time, driving our housemates or partners mad!

Ladies, let’s turn it all around and use our changing hormone levels every month for the better! Here are women’s health physiotherapist Samah’s top 6 tips for exercising and training throughout your month.

Tip 1. At the end of your period and the week after, you are building more and faster muscle mass. This is due to the rise in oestrogen. Use these weeks to work on your strength training and lifting.

Tip 2. Around ovulation, your testosterone levels go up. Testosterone makes you feel competitive, powerful and energetic. This is perfect for competition day and running. At this time, you also have better coordination and faster reaction times – great for if you’re trying to learn dance or gymnastics routines. Book those dance classes and attend  Zumba classes at this time i the middle of your cycle. Find your feet if you are usually tripping over them!

**Tip 3.**If looking to lose fat, you’ll burn up to 30% more fat during aerobic exercise in those 7 days after ovulation. This is due to the rising combination of estrogen and progesterone, which fires up your body’s ability to burn fat.

Tip 4. If you exercise according to heart rate zones, expect higher heart rates to be more of a challenge to reach during your period. Try shorter workouts or shorter runs and swims during this time too, because you’re more likely to experience a drop in endurance. Leave you endurance workouts alone during your period.

 **Tip 5.**When training at higher intensities, you might experience more of a challenge during those 7-10 days after ovulation. Your heart is working slightly harder than normal, especially if you’re training in hotter climates…so you’ll reach a higher heart rate more quickly. Go back to those  dance and Zumba classes perhaps!

Tip 6. Here is comes, the most important tip.  Listen to your body and please  be kind to yourself. Only you know how your body is feeling. If you’re experiencing premenstrual syndrome (PMS) – that irritability, fatigue and a down mood – maybe what you need is some R&R, meditation and Yoga. Leave that big weights session or run to another day.

How true is the beloved old myth that when you are pregnant, you can eat for 2?

Jennifer May, Nutritionist and owner of Sydney City Nutritionist cannot disagree more. While pregnancy may make you feel that hungry, you cannot double your food intake each day. You may, however, may wish to double your nutrient intake with healthy eating habits.

If you put on too much weight during pregnancy, you increase your risk of gestational diabetes, backache, higher blood pressures, and C-section birth. Conversely, gaining too little weight during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight, premature delivery, and, later, developmental delays, or chronic health problems in your baby.

Here’s Jennifer’s guide throughout pregnancy when it comes to calorie intake:

• During the first trimester of pregnancy no additional calories are needed, however you may feel hungrier due to the high requirement of nutrients.
• In the second trimester an extra 334 calories on average are needed.
• In the third trimester an extra 475 calories are needed per day.
• It is important to meet those needs with foods that are highly nutritious and which promote optimum health and balanced blood sugar such as healthy protein, healthy fats and high fibre carbohydrates.

If you need further guidance on healthy eating habits and menus for pregnancy, contact Jennifer She would love to help and can consult with you through telehealth or face to face!

Jennifer is a wonderful CBD based nutritionist and mum too. She is passionate about nutritional medicine and working with other health practitioners for that holistic wellness in all she meets.

I love her approach to nutritional health. She loves:

• helping patients to enjoy balanced healthy eating - to help all to achieve their goals without restriction, which evens allows for celebrating, rebelling and enjoying treats.
• improving the understanding of how to maintain a healthy approach in the long term to nutrition, moving away from ‘on a diet, off a diet’ approach.
• to utilise the therapeutic use of certain foods, supplements and nutrients. A large focus of her treatment approach is the therapeutic effect of foods - rather than just their calorie or macro content.
• to live by her own teachings that when we eat well, we then have the energy to work towards our other life goals. 

**Being a woman, she enjoys the work she does in pregnancy and women’s health arenas, including:
**

• Preconception care and fertility
• Complications of pregnancy (fatigue, morning sickness, constipation etc.)
• Post birth recovery - managing prolapse (bowel health + laxation), energy recovery, sleep support, emotional support, breastfeeding nutrition etc. 
• Hormonal imbalances - assessment, nutritional planning, supplemental support. 

Jennifer offers the following nutritional medicine services:

• Consultations face to face in York Street, Sydney
• Virtual consultations Monday-Thursdays.
• Food intolerance testing
• Range of blood testing - nutritional bloods, vitals, hormones, thyroid, diabetes etc
• Stool testing
• Salivary hormones (mostly adrenals, otherwise usually refer for bloods)
• Food intolerance recovery (digestive repair)
• Eating disorder recovery (digestive repair and retraining) 

Contact her at info@sydneycitynutritionist.com

Website: www.sydneycitynutritionist.com

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