Finding Your Flow

The Cycle Syncing Method with Alisa Vitti

Interview by Hailey Bethke | Photography courtesy of Cycle Syncing®

Alisa Vitti is a functional nutrition and women’s hormone expert, creator of the Cycle Syncing Method, and author of bestselling books WomanCode and In the FLO. Over the last twenty years, she has been on a mission to transform hormonal healthcare and empower women to become more in sync with their bodies’ natural rhythms.

After suffering from PCOS (which resulted in having no cycle from age twelve to twenty-two, being fifty pounds overweight, painful cystic acne, depression, anxiety, and hair loss), Vitti had experienced how the conventional care model had failed her and continues to fall short for women diagnosed with various hormonal issues. She believes this is because mainstream medicine often fails to understand the root causes of hormonal dysregulation, requires an extensive timeframe to be fully diagnosed (which is seven years, on average), and uses a “one-size-fits-all” approach to treatment—ubiquitously prescribing birth control as a solution.

“I wanted to help myself, and then I wanted to help every woman going through these issues,” Vitti shares. “To do this, I built one of the original, if not the first, femtech companies, FLO Living, which launched in 2012. We help women via our patented app, supplements, and digital therapeutic programs to help them take control of their hormonal health at home for menstrual issues, infertility issues, and perimenopause issues. It’s a hormonal health management platform for every woman, from their first bleed to their last.”

She explains, “We must do away with hormone suppression (aka oral contraception) as the first treatment for period problems of every type (from PMS to PCOS, fibroids, etc.) and embrace dietary and lifestyle intervention as the first line of treatment. Our understanding of what hormones need to function optimally has come a long way. Though more research is needed when it comes to women’s hormones, we do have a tremendous amount of published research showing how effective dietary and lifestyle interventions are.”

We asked Vitti to share more about her proprietary Cycle Syncing Method and how our female readers can better work with the natural features of their bodies. Knowing your cycle, inside and out, has never been easier and more accessible, thanks to modern-day research and technology.

VIE: Tell our readers about Cycle Syncing®. What are the four phases within the menstrual cycle, and how can we best make shifts to work with our bodies instead of against them?

AV: Cycle Syncing is the method I created after discovering the infradian rhythm and its impact on women’s systems. Much like the circadian rhythm needs specific support, our infradian rhythm must be supported to perform optimally. The problem that I also found was that everything women have been told to do, from eating the same calories daily to working out the same way daily to waking up at the same time every morning, is not only based on research done on men that actively excluded women, but fundamentally disrupts this infradian rhythm and causes all sorts of hormone issues that affect a woman’s cycle, immune response, stress response, brain, and metabolic health. I detail all of this in my best-selling and seminal book on this subject, In the FLO.

Women have an unknown second biological clock called the infradian rhythm, which we experience throughout our monthly cycle, but it affects way more than your period. It affects your body’s key systems, from your metabolism, brain, immune response, stress response, libido, fertility, and cycle. So, your diet is a critical tool that you must use to support this infradian rhythm. You have to change your self-care routine to match your changing hormones, while men need to keep theirs the same daily to match their hormonal patterns. I created a method to optimize this called the Cycle Syncing Method.

Everything works better in your body when you support your biological rhythm properly.

There are three pillars to my method:

1. Change the foods you eat and caloric levels to match the four phases of your cycle—to optimize blood sugar stability and hormonal balance.
2. Change your workout type and intensity to match each phase to optimize metabolism and fat use as fuel.
3. Organize your projects and time management around each phase to reduce cortisol and stress.

The Cycle Syncing Method syncs your food type and caloric intake, your workout type and intensity, and your projects to each of the four phases of your cycle (follicular, ovulatory, luteal, and menstrual) so that you can not only support hormonal health in each phase and reduce cycle symptoms but also reduce stress, boost energy, and live with your unique feminine dynamic energy at the center of your life.

Diet is one of the main drivers of hormonal balance—what you eat affects your insulin, cortisol, estrogen, and progesterone levels. Any issues you are having with your hormones, skin, weight, moods, or cycle are likely tied to your diet and can all be improved dramatically by using food strategically to support and optimize endocrine function. The problem is women are told that the diet that will help them is based on research done to optimize male health, and it turns out it’s messing with women’s hormones! The now famous and viral Cycle Syncing food chart is in chapter four of In the FLO.

At a high level:

• In the follicular and ovulatory phases, think of lighter meals emphasizing more raw foods.
• In the luteal phase, focus on blood sugar-stabilizing meals that include root veggies, beans, whole grains, cooked vegetables, good quality fats, and proteins.
• In the menstrual phase, focus on protein, fats, and easy-to-digest meals like soups and stews.

Exercise dramatically affects hormone levels. Depending on the intensity, it can reduce circulating cortisol levels during or after, decrease circulating estrogen levels, boost endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, boost testosterone and human growth hormone, have profound effects on thyroid hormone, and help manage insulin resistance. It’s an essential tool to balance hormones because we were made to move! For women who are still menstruating, we have to factor in our steroid hormone changes across the cycle phases when we make our fitness routine as they create different hormonal patterns. I created the Cycle Syncing Method with this in mind. So you’ll focus on intense cardio and HIIT workouts pre-ovulation. Post-ovulation, you’ll do strength training and zone 2 cardio only.

• In the follicular and ovulatory phases, focus on cardio and HIIT. Because the metabolism is slower (needs fewer calories) and resting cortisol is lower, you can use cardio to burn stored fat as fuel.
• In the luteal phase, studies show that because metabolism speeds up and resting cortisol is higher, you need 279 more calories per day. You should focus on strength training to burn fat as fuel, build lean muscle, and keep blood sugar stable, which will help you eliminate PMS during this phase and optimize your workout results. It also means you must not do HIIT workouts during this phase, as it will turn on fat storage and muscle wasting.
• In the bleeding phase, all hormones are at their lowest levels, so try restorative cardio like walking, yoga, or pilates.

Diet is one of the main drivers of hormonal balance—what you eat affects your insulin, cortisol, estrogen, and progesterone levels.

VIE: What are some common misconceptions about cycle syncing and menstruation that you wish more women knew?

AV: Cycle Syncing has gone viral on social media, from 15,000 hashtags in 2020 to 500 million hashtags in 2023. Everyone posts what they’re doing in each phase with their food, fitness, and more. I think it resonates with women on a profound level because it’s the first and only method that puts their biology at the center of the plan and validates how they have been feeling inside their bodies throughout their cycle. It’s a relief to finally be given the information on how your cycle phases work and what to do to care for yourself as you change throughout the month. This is in stark contrast with every other plan that has been researched on men and has left women out but told them to do those plans and programs anyway and hope for the best. It’s wonderful to see how my work is shifting the cultural narrative around what real hormonal health looks like for women in their reproductive years. It’s cyclical—period.

The only women who cannot truly engage in the Cycle Syncing Method are women who use hormonal birth control. Unfortunately, you don’t have any cycle phases when you are on that medication. You are in a sort of menopausal state with low levels of all hormones, no ovulation, occasional breakthrough bleeding that is not an actual period, and no phase changes.

The benefits of using the Cycle Syncing Method are enormous. You can keep your blood sugar more stable, reduce stress levels, boost estrogen elimination, improve bowel movements and gut health, clear skin, eliminate PMS symptoms, eliminate cramps, promote cycle regularity, experience better moods, better sleep, and better sex drive, lose weight more efficiently, and boost your productivity. Everything works better in your body when you support your biological rhythm properly.

VIE: What is a struggle you’ve navigated related to spirituality, health, or wellness and a tool you used to help heal?

AV: I struggled with my hormones, and that had a profound effect on me. As a result, I have been building all the tools I wish I had had at the time. I have personally used the Cycle Syncing Method for the past twenty years. Unexpectedly for myself and for so many women who use this method, it has the added benefit of being a practice that heals a lot of the cultural conditioning we receive as women around body image, feminine versus masculine energy, and being in the full expression of our emotional range and our identities.

It has been a method that has both physical and emotional benefits.

VIE: What does living a vibrant, healthy life look and feel like to you?

AV: It looks different every week based on my phase! It is listening to my body and adjusting my self-care routines in real-time based on what is needed. It looks like the opposite of perfection and strictness. It’s soft, dynamic, and creative!

VIE: What is your opinion on health trends? Do you like trying them out, or do you believe that true health is found in simple habits that occur consistently?

AV: I think it’s great that we keep exploring and pushing our understanding further. I applaud those who love to experiment. For women in their reproductive years, I think organizing your self-care around your hormonal patterns will give you the most bang for your biohacking buck. After menopause, you can do more with your exploration into more extreme trends if you’d like. Personally, I focus on supporting the systems of the body, not trends. That looks like supporting the circadian rhythm with good sleep hygiene, supporting the infradian rhythm with Cycle Syncing, supporting metabolism with blood sugar stabilization and building and maintaining lean muscle, supporting the pathways of elimination with fiber, probiotics, micronutrients, and cardio, supporting the immune system and longevity with regular orgasm (for women), and supporting mental and emotional health with meditation and social connection.

VIE: Name one challenge you’ve experienced that people wouldn’t guess from the outside looking in, your life on social media, or your success with FLO Living.

AV: I was very shy when I was younger and struggled to express myself. I remember having a hard time speaking up in class, organizing my thoughts for an essay, and finding the right words to communicate my feelings. I have worked all that out, but I still consider myself an introvert with learned extroverted skills.

VIE: What are some of your favorite techniques that are easy to implement as beginners to cycle syncing? Let them know where to connect with you and how to start their cycle-syncing journey.

AV: 1. Download the free official Cycle Syncing app, MYFLO. MYFLO will tell you which phase you’re in and what to do in each phase for food, fitness, work, and relationships, and it even provides recipes, grocery lists, workout videos, and a monthly calendar so you can sync everything up with your cycle. 2. Pick up the book In the FLO to dive deeper. 3. Start with one aspect of the Cycle Syncing Method, like modifying workouts, and build from there. 4. Remember—this is not a diet; it’s a lifestyle, so pace yourself. Go for whatever you can do each day. Take the pressure off yourself to get it right or to be perfect.

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If you’re struggling with hormone problems or issues like PCOS, fibroids, heavy bleeding, infertility, or perimenopause, visit FLOliving.com and get started with your free hormonal assessment.

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Get to Know Alisa Vitti

One piece of advice you would give your twenty-year-old self: Travel more and drop the body shame.

Favorite mantra: Progress over perfection.

A life-changing book: Circe by Madeleine Miller—the only hero’s journey told from the feminine energy POV. It should be required reading!

One thing that will always make you laugh: My husband is always doing things to make me laugh, and I love him for it!

Favorite sweet treat to indulge in: D-A-R-K C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E

Favorite form of movement: Mini trampoline

A simple joy you experience in your daily routine: Getting outside to walk in nature, feel the sun, and breathe in the smell of all the trees and plants.