There are days when you know you are hot. When your skin is glowing, your hair is flowing and that flash flood which would normally make you look like a drowned rat – somehow transforms you into a tousled temptress. It’s Ok – take a selfie we all know that moment won’t last.
If you are ever wondering why some days you’ve *got it* and others….*not*, my advice is have a look at the calendar. What you might find is that you actually ARE “hot” on your hot day – on average 0.2 degrees Celsius hotter than normal and that’s because research suggests that women look better and feel more confident and are more likely to be “in tune” (flirty) when they ovulate.
Why? Hormones: in particular oestrogen and to some extent testosterone. Leading up to ovulation a woman’s production of oestrogen increases, peaking at ovulation and then steadily declining afterwards.
In 2005, researchers at the University of St Andrews in Fife, UK, found a positive correlation between a woman’s facial attractiveness and her oestrogen levels. They did this by photographing some 58 women over a six week period and measuring their levels of oestrogen (it’s important to note that none of the women participating in the study were taking the contraceptive pill or wearing make-up). They then showed the images to both men and women who rated their appearance. Images of the women with higher levels of oestrogen in their system were rated higher in terms of attractiveness, health and femininity.
The higher levels of testosterone present during ovulation can add to this – boosting a woman’s level of confidence and making her more open to taking risks or being impulsive. In some women the combination of hormones around this time can also result in higher levels of anxiety and stress.
Understanding where you are in your cycle may not stop you from feeling the way you do – but it can help explain why and allow you to put in place coping systems.
Of course you could keep a paper diary (and many women do) however there are some excellent Apps out there that make it infinitely easier to do this. These Apps keep track of your cycle ,allowing you to input information about how you feel at different points – so you know the why – but more importantly the when.
Two of the Apps we’ve tried are Period Diary and Clue. Utilising 3 months of data (and assuming you are pretty regular) both can predict with some accuracy when you are ovulating, in the PMS zone and everything else. They also allow you to add notes and track your symptoms.
From a practical point of view it makes good sense to keep track of your cycle. Having an awareness of how you are likely to feel on different days allows you to understand why you suddenly have a craving for a rare slab of sirloin or how you managed to finish that entire bag of corn chips – OR why you picked that fight with your boss, boyfriend – or bestie.
Being able to predict with some certainty when you are likely to be feeling your strongest and your most vulnerable is incredibly powerful. For example, you may want to schedule that hot date in and around the time your ovulation – but you may also chose to ration your alcohol consumption (and you may want to make absolutely certain you use protection if the date gets a bit hotter than you expected).
At the same time, you can try to avoid scheduling that interview or important meeting during your PMS zone (or the week that follows for that matter). Or at a minimum be prepared and build contingencies into your planning.
Keeping a diary can also help you pinpoint which foods are likely to exacerbate or ease your symptoms. For example, some of the research suggests alcohol and caffeine can heighten PMS symptoms, while omega oils (fish and flaxseed oil) can cause them to abate. Exercise too can help manage anxiety through the release of endorphins.
While some will object to using an App to store such personal information, others who have had positive experiences with other “health” orientated Apps and devices (Fitbit etc) will agree – knowledge is power. And sometimes the more we know about ourselves the better prepared we are in our interactions with others and in creating a setting for success.
Source images: Apple App Store, Feature image from All Kinds of Pretty Blog
