If you get cravings during ovulation, you may be miscalculating ovulation, trying to cycle sync too hard, or have a hormonal imbalance. Women tend to have high estrogen levels that suppress food cravings during ovulation. It’s helpful to troubleshoot the issue so we can be at our peak performance.
Are you tired and craving chocolate during ovulation? Do you think cycle syncing is a lie because we’re supposed to have high energy and low cravings? I felt horrible during ovulation, and I started to doubt the truth behind cycle syncing.
Estrogen decreases cravings and hunger, and it peaks during ovulation. Most women will be noticeably less hungry during ovulation. So why do some of us feel so hungry instead? I’ve rounded up some reasons and included the fix. From most likely to least likely, the three reasons you might be getting ovulation cravings are:
- You calculated your ovulation date wrong, and you’re in the luteal phase.
- You’re working out too hard and not eating enough.
- Your hormones are not properly balanced.
Once we pinpoint why we’re getting ovulation cravings, we can make changes to benefit our body and energy. And then, we can enjoy the ovulation phase that cycle syncing promises.
Are You Getting Luteal Phase Cravings?
The food cravings may be usual food cravings from the luteal phase. If you ovulated early and are actually in the luteal phase, evidence shows cravings increase after ovulation.
Estrogen plummets after ovulation, which gives some women symptoms similar to PMS. When hormone levels drop quickly, our bodies can react with fatigue and hunger, similar to how you may feel right before you get your period.
Once ovulation has occurred, your body enters the luteal phase. During the luteal phase, our metabolism speeds up, and we physically require extra calories. We’re naturally more hungry after ovulation and statistically increase our cravings for salty and sweet foods.
If we don’t track when we ovulate, we may think we’re getting these symptoms during ovulation. Maybe it’s dropping estrogen levels and increasing progesterone levels from the luteal phase causing cravings.
Learn more about how to track your cycle and symptoms in the CHI Method email mini-course.
How To Fix Luteal Phase Cravings
In the luteal phase, we try to eat regularly and ensure we’re eating balanced protein, fats, and healthy carbs at each meal. If we fast and then eat a larger meal, our bodies will react more to simple carbohydrates due to increased insulin resistance.
When we track our cycle and understand when we ovulate, we can ensure we’re following each cycle’s suggested diet guidelines. Doing so will help us get the nutrients we need and cause fewer cravings.
You’re Cycle Syncing Too Hard
According to cycle syncing guidelines, we do our highest intensity workouts during ovulation, and we eat similarly to a raw vegan. If we follow the advice too closely, we might burn ourselves out.
Ovulation is hard work for your body and requires a lot of energy. If we try to burn extra calories with long, intense workouts and then eat salads all day, there isn’t enough energy for ovulation. Your body will crave high-calorie foods to produce the energy needed to ovulate.
We can use health tracker and cycle data to see whether our body is struggling during ovulation, and that’s why we’re getting cravings. Join the free course.
How To Fix Ovulation Cravings from Cycle Syncing Too Intensely
We can add more protein and calories to our diet if we’re hungry and following cycle syncing suggestions during ovulation. After a workout, eat lamb, salmon, shrimp, or tuna. All are recommended proteins during ovulation.
Our bodies are also best able to digest alcohol and chocolate during ovulation. We can enjoy these foods and get the extra calories. We get the added benefit of our body more easily eliminating alcohol and sugar from our system.
Is a Hormonal Imbalance Causing Ovulation Cravings?
Two different hormonal imbalances may cause cravings during ovulation.
- Low estrogen – Estrogen suppresses appetite. If there isn’t enough estrogen, food cravings may persist. When women go into perimenopause, estrogen levels tend to decrease, which causes more cravings.
- High testosterone – Testosterone stimulates appetite and peaks at ovulation. If your testosterone levels are too high, it may be causing food cravings. Women with PCOS often have higher levels of testosterone.
How to Naturally Balance Low Estrogen
Foods like soybeans, flax seeds, and sesame seeds improve our body’s ability to create estrogen. These are the foods cycle syncing and seed cycling recommend during the first half of our cycle to increase estrogen.
Some supplements can help improve our estrogen levels. Maca and vitex are two great hormone balancers.
How to Naturally Balance High Testosterone
Some foods and supplements improve our body’s ability to eliminate extra androgens like testosterone.
- Licorice
- Flaxseeds
- Green tea or spearmint tea
- Omega-3s
- Reishi mushrooms – I love the mushroom elixir with reishi from Four Sigmatic. I drink it before bed to calm my body and get deep sleep.
Do You Have Parasites?
I debated whether to add this reason why you may get cravings during ovulation. I’m not sure whether it’s likely for most women.
Many women sync their cycles to the moon. If you have, you’re likely ovulating with the full moon. Parasites are more active with the full moon and can cause cravings because they require more energy at this time. Sounds disgusting, right? I highly doubt parasites cause ovulation cravings, but if you’re out of ideas, you can look into it.
Check whether ovulation corresponds with the full moon, and if it does, see your doctor about your concerns.
I got too intense about cycle syncing when I first started. I fasted, worked out hard, and ate less than I usually do. Of course, my hunger took me over. Once I listened to my body, I realized I could find the right balance of stress from fasting and exercising with nutrients from the right foods.
I learned this when I started tracking my HRV across my cycle and realized my body needed rest, not hard workouts, when I was ovulating. And taking that rest made all the difference. Check-in with your body using the CHI Method and your health tracker (Apple watch, Oura Ring, etc) data.