The Women’s Reproductive Health Resources That Changed My Life For The Better
photo: @ashleynbattle
Well this is an unusual article for me, but one I am more than excited to share with you all!
As the founder of Excluded Fashion I know many of you expect me to be talking about fashion here, however, what if I told you that’s not truly my real passion…
I started Excluded because I wanted women to be and feel included in the fashion world as fashion is one of the best ways to express yourself and embrace who you truly are. But fashion itself isn’t my true passion…
My true passion in life is helping women feel confident in themselves.
While confidence can take many forms for women (i.e - feeling your best when that pair of jeans fits just right!), the result of having confidence always manifests into the ability to tackle any situation you are put through in life and that’s what I truly want for women.
We go in and out of many phases of life and yes, while clothing follows you through all of them, you know what else is also there for you throughout every stage of life?
Your health.
More specifically, your reproductive health.
Here’s a little story I’d like to share…
If you’re a millennial like me, your extent of reproductive health education was probably that one day in elementary school where they separated the boys and the girls into different classrooms to have “the talk” and a presentation on the overhead projector about ‘your body’. And that talk was basically “One day you’ll get a period, you’ll bleed once a month, it’ll suck and you’ll deal with it the rest of your life. Oh and you can get pregnant now, here’s how. Don’t do it.” and everyone in the room was too awkward to pay attention, and then we forgot all about it afterwards because we were, well… elementary school kids!
*inserting triggering book cover here*
And for most of us, that education didn’t extend to the home much at all either, probably because our mother’s also had to go through the same thing. Who else just got handed that AmericanGirl “the care and keeping of you” book by their moms and called it a day?
Almost… 100% of my friends have the same experience!
Needless to say, we were taught practically nothing about our bodies growing up, were all traumatized when we got our first periods and were told not to have sex or we’ll die and go to hell.
Great times amiright.
Fast forward to when I was older!
After age 16 I was always on hormonal birth control because that was just “what we had to do” as girls growing up right? You have acne? Take birth control. You have heavy cramps? Take birth control. You’re moody? Take birth control. You’re a girl who’s breathing? Take birth control!
Hormonal birth control was treated as a catch all solution for girls and women growing up and really treated as our only option as well.
Gotta love western medicine right?
Throughout college I had a hormonal IUD and (at the time) I thought it was good for me. I barely had a period, and when I did it was light and I didn’t have many cramps and thought “ok I guess this is good enough” not thinking of what it was actually doing to my body.
It expired right before I was going to graduate and move across the country and part of me thought to myself “I’ll just take a break from birth control for a bit and let my body reset” since I had been on non-stop birth control for almost 6 years at this point.
Now… I suffered from severe depression all throughout college, not making a correlation at all between that and my birth control. I had very intense mood swings, very high highs and very low lows to the point it was maddening, and I just thought that’s what I had to deal with.
Until it disappeared.
The very first month after I had my IUD removed… I was a completely different person.
My periods went back to normal almost immediately. My depression COMPLETELY disappeared. My skin was even more clear than it was before. I felt more balanced and sane in my life than EVER.
I was in total shock.
And all I had to do was get off hormonal birth control and let my body do what it was meant to do.
After that I completely immersed myself in reproductive health education to figure out why and in my research, I realized there were so many things I had zero clue about when it came to my body…
I had no idea we had cycle phases (Menstrual, Follicular, Ovulatory and Luteal Phases) or that we could optimize our entire well being based on our infradian rhythm (your 28 day cycle). I had no idea the effect food, sugar, caffeine, dairy, etc. had on our body and hormones. I didn’t know how damaging hormonal birth control could be to women, even more so than what I had experienced (FYI - I’m saying could here because it can be beneficial to some women depending on their circumstances. It’s a choice every woman should be able to make for themselves!).
I had no idea that women were not included in fundamental health research that shapes our entire health industry today and that we are still underrepresented in clinical trials. Almost everything that “society” said was good for us (intermittent fasting, certain hiit workouts, only following your circadian rhythm, etc.) can actually backfire and be damaging to women.
That alone almost made me depressed again knowing how little us women are taught / knew about our bodies growing up.
And that was just the beginning.
Needless to say, after being enlightened to all this, I put what I had learned to the test, started cycle syncing and my entire life changed for the better instantly! Ever since then I feel SO much better, I know how to listen to my body and honor what it needs, I know how to workout best for my goals and health, and not only that, it was just a breath of fresh air finally being heard from someone and knowing that what we go through isn’t a burden, but can be empowering.
I no longer think of my period and being a woman as a burden. I now see that I have a built in roadmap for my entire life that I am grateful to have!
If I had these resources back when I was younger, I can’t even begin to imagine how different my life could be right now and how much healthier and empowered I would’ve felt.
So with that, I made it a mission of mine to give these resources to all my close girlfriends so they have the ability to take control of their lives and health as well, and I can’t wait to (hopefully) share this with my future daughters as they’re growing up and encourage the next generation to be educated about their bodies, empowered to have these conversations, the ability to make the right choices that work for them and, avoid the shame, embarrassment and potential health risks that come from not being educated properly.
And for women’s health week, I want to share them with you too.
Now DISCLAIMER! Even though I’ve done my research, I want to make the very obvious statement that…
I am no expert in this field!
I understand we as women are incredibly unique and not everyone experiences the same thing as others. So I’m not here to give you medical advice or tell you what you should and shouldn’t do with your body.
I’m simply sharing the resources I used to take control over my reproductive health that changed my life for the better with you, in hopes that you can also take control over your health in the best way possible, feel your best and live the best possible life you can live.
My goal is to amplify the women in this field who have dedicated their lives to health education, research, medicine, clinical studies, treating patients and medical practice to bring this valuable information to our lives.
So enough of me talking! Below you’ll find the foundational resources that got me started on my journey of reproductive health education and made me feel and be my best self.
I hope you find this information valuable. If you do please share with your friends to bring peace of mind to them as well. Send me a DM on Instagram with your experience as well - I would love to hear from you!
Flo App
This is the app that started it all for me. When I wanted to first start tracking my cycle I turned to this app. Not only does it help you track your cycle and what phase of your cycle you’re in, but it also gives a ton of helpful information, including:
Quick and easy tips on improving your cycle health
Extensive database of sexual health information, everything from the basics of your menstrual cycle, all the way to managing health conditions, sex education, fertility, etc.
Customized recommendations based on your personal goals (overall health and wellness, fertility and conceiving, sex life and self pleasure, disease detection, decoding what’s happening in your body, women’s health education, weight management, skin concerns, and more)
Ability to track your daily symptoms to predict your next period, potential pregnancy and tips to manage PMS symptoms
Ability to share where you are at in your cycle with your partner - notifications to your partner on how to interact with you based on where you are at with your cycle
Reminders of where you are at in your cycle and tips to manage each phase
Ability to track your symptoms daily from appetite, to mood, skin, energy etc. (a very helpful tool to use when you head to the doctors office and ask how you have been feeling!)
They describe their app as a “Virtual health assistant in your pocket” and I couldn’t agree more. I would recommend this app for every girl and woman out there from the age of 10 - 40.
Disclaimer:
For context I say 10 because to me, that was the age I started hearing more about my body, but I didn’t reach menarche (getting my first period) until about 12. If I had any type of sexual health education before I got my period I would’ve felt much more comfortable and prepared for what was coming, so of course I leave this recommendation up to the mama’s out there if looking for educational resources for their daughters!
Cons:
There’s currently little to no information for women in perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause
I wouldn’t use this app as a catch all for women who are pregnant or postpartum as much of the information focuses on cycle management and fertility
Cost:
Free trial option
$14.99/month
$79.99/year ($6.67/month)
Friends plan (up to 5 friends) - $10/month ($119.99/year)
Optional Flo Sex Package add-on to your plan to optimize sex life, from learning self pleasure, what boosts your sex drive, health benefits of sex, solo and with a partner, etc.
Flo Living
Now this is where it truly gets juicy. Flo Living is what really ignited my passion for women’s health education.
IN THE FLO
I’m honestly not exaggerating when I say this book has changed my entire life. This was the first book I read on the subject and wow was it full of SO much information I had no clue about!
In this book you’ll find very technical and medically based information on women’s reproductive health, everything from where our health data comes from, to the research that author Alisa Vitti, HHC, AADP, and functional nutrition and women's hormone expert conducted and her personal background with the matter and how she was able to heal her PCOS through food and lifestyle changes, to how to improve your productivity, happiness and physical well-being by cycle syncing etc.
I really cannot say enough about how great this book is. I’ve read through it 3 times (as someone who is not a reader) and I keep pages of the book screenshotted in my notes app as reminders.
I recommend this book for someone who’s really seriously interested in tackling your overall health inside and out.
WomanCode
From the same Author Alisa Vitti, WomenCode to me can be described as the intro to the world of cycle syncing. In the Flo is the second edition in her series of books and tackles very deep, scientific and evidence based data, while WomenCode is the book that describes things at a high level for you.
In the Flo can be harder to follow if you’re not paying attention deeply and you may be getting information you may not be looking for (like scientific studies, data, history, etc.) but with WomanCode she gets right to the point and keeps things easy to follow.
This is the perfect book for women who are looking to start off on their cycle syncing journey or just looking to improve their overall menstrual health.
Supplements
The Flo living brand offers a multitude of different supplements for all kinds of conditions. From balancing your periods, to reducing fibroid symptoms, PCOS symptoms, perimenopause symptoms, optimizing fertility or just supplements to optimize each phase of your cycle, they really have it all.
I personally have been using the cycle syncing supplements for over 2 years and they have been a game changer for me! I am currently on (one of the only) non-hormonal birth control options with the copper IUD, which I’d love to get off of but I want to be safe until I’m ready to have children!
With the copper IUD, one of the most common side effects are heavy periods and increased period pain because of inflammation caused in the uterus. While I don’t necessarily have heavy periods anymore (I did after the first year of having the IUD) I still have pretty debilitating period pain for about 2 days on my period with the IUD, but with cycle syncing and using these supplements, I’ve experienced a DRASTIC change during my period when it comes to pain management and I have very little PMS symptoms.
It’s definitely more manageable than normal and my periods are a regular light one day, heavy day 2 and 3, medium day 4 and light day 5, so I know what to expect. When I’ve had a lapse in syncing with the supplements it does get out of whack a bit when it comes to timing and PMS symptoms, so I know the supplements have made a big difference.
My Flo App
Alisa offers a companion app to help with cycle syncing and keeping track of symptoms, etc. Everything is pretty high level in this app, but to access more details like workout programs, the full membership and options to purchase, you’ll need to be a part of their membership. I have not tried the membership.
Not going to lie, the app is pretty basic. They recently did a rebrand and are adding more features, but for women looking to be serious about their cycle tracking, I’d recommend Flo. However this app is free so it’s a good place to start if you want to get into the habit of cycle tracking and syncing to your cycle phases
The Period Lab
I actually found Miranda Popen, @theperiodlab on Instagram and I thoroughly enjoy her content and videos! She has a pretty similar background to me as well in terms of being an athlete so I was curious to what her protocol was.
While I haven’t gone through her protocol program before, I do have to say I agree with all of her principles and they follow the same research I’ve seen before. I’m not sure of the cost either so unfortunately can’t give you information on that.
If you’re looking for a coach to guide you through some of these principles on a set program to tackle hormonal challenges, I would 100% book your free consultation call to see if you’d be a great fit for the program. If you’re looking for introductory information about the whole work of understanding your period, hormones, cycle syncing, etc. definitely follow her instagram page. She has LOADS of amazing, quick and easy to digest content.
