Girls, the month you stop fighting week 4 is the month everything changes

I want to tell you about a client of mine.

She came to me completely exhausted. Training hard, eating what she thought was enough, doing everything right on paper. And her period had just stopped. Not gradually, it had disappeared.

Every time we looked at what was actually happening, the answer was the same. Under-fuelling. Not dramatically, not obviously. But consistently, quietly, chronically under-fuelling. And her body, doing exactly what it was designed to do, had made a biological decision to shut down reproduction. Because survival felt uncertain.

Getting her period back wasn’t about adding one extra snack. It was about weeks and months of consistently showing her body that there was enough. That it was safe. And when her cycle returned and it always does, when we do the work properly it was one of the most significant moments I’ve ever had as a coach.

Because it meant her body trusted her again.

I’m telling you this because I think most of us have been taught to see our cycle as an inconvenience. Something that happens to us. Four weeks of unpredictability that we just have to manage around.

But here’s what I actually believe, and what I teach inside every coaching relationship I have your cycle is the most underrated performance tool you own.

Here’s why.

Your hormones shift every single week. Oestrogen rises through your follicular phase and it is your body’s performance hormone. It supports muscle protein synthesis, improves insulin sensitivity, enhances mood and cognitive function. This is why week 2 feels like living in your best body. The PBs happen here. The strong runs happen here. It is not luck. It is physiology. Then progesterone dominates the luteal phase and this is where most women go wrong. Progesterone raises your resting metabolic rate by 150 to 300 calories. It slightly blunts insulin sensitivity. It increases hunger consistently, across the research. And it makes everything feel harder.

So what do we do? We eat less. We push harder. We look in the mirror and blame ourselves for looking puffy and feeling slow. We call it weakness. We call it falling off track.

When actually your body is doing exactly what it should. It needs more. And you are giving it less.

The women in my coaching who have the most consistent training months, the best body composition results, the most stable energy they are the ones who have stopped trying to train identically every week. They push in week 2. They support in week 4. They fuel for the phase they’re in.

And the ones who’ve had their period disappear? They got it back. The ones with severe PMS cramps that had them bedbound, bloating that couldn’t be explained? When we addressed the magnesium, the anti-inflammatory nutrition, the carbohydrates in the luteal phase instead of restricting them — things changed. Not overnight. But consistently and meaningfully.

Your cycle is not a problem to manage. It is data. It is your body communicating with you every single week.

The framework I give every client is simple:

🩸 Menstruation → restore. Iron, protein, magnesium, carbs before training. Don’t restrict

because you feel bloated. That’s inflammation, not fat.

🌱 Follicular → build. This is your window. Take the heavy lifts. Do the intervals. Go for the PB. Your body is primed — fuel it like you know it.

⚡ Ovulation → perform. Push. Hydrate. Warm up well. Eat.

🌙 Luteal → support. More food, more carbs, more sleep, more grace. Your body is doing more at rest. Feed it accordingly.

Note: Every female is different, the above is a framework that a lot of females seem to follow, but it doesn’t mean it works for you. I have months where i’m not effected no matter the phase, others where my week 4 wipes me out. Female health is a lot of ‘mights’ and so use the guidelines and shape them into your own.

If your cycle has disappeared, or your PMS is severe, or you’re feeling flat and exhausted week after week that is not normal. It is a signal. And it is one I can help with.

The month you stop fighting week 4 is the month everything changes.

Poppy x