Should You Eat More on Your Period During a Cut?

Nikkiey: Hey everybody, Nikkiey here with WarriorBabe, and welcome back to our viewer Q&A. Today in this video, we're going to discuss that time of the month and whether you should adjust your macros or your workouts. We're going to dive into deload weeks, and we're going to discuss whether nutrition is more important or workouts are more important. By the end of this video, you're going to know the answers to those questions and hopefully be able to use them to your advantage to tone up, finally get in control of your body forever, and get the results you're seeking to accomplish for yourself. So let's dive in.

Question number one, from KJ: "When doing a cut and that time of the month rolls around, should we increase our calories during this time? I try not to and keep my macros consistent, but find it harder to push when weight training. Today, for example, I found myself having to go for lighter weights just to get through some of my reps and complete my workout."

This is a great question. To all of my viewers, to all of the babes out there who question that time of the month: do I need to adjust my macros? What should I do with my training? Here is your answer, KJ.

First of all, there's nothing you need to do with adjusting your macronutrients. You keep the same macros across the whole span of the cycle, unless you're due for making an adjustment to change up the progress that you're seeing.

Now, for the workout portion, this is going to be as detailed as I can make it. We'll start with when you have your period: day one of your cycle through the seven days the period may linger for. You are going to have a decrease in energy around this time, and it is okay. I don't want you to feel, when you go into the gym and you're not having a kick-ass workout, that you're not challenging yourself enough. Don't beat yourself up. It is completely normal to feel tired, to feel like you can't push weight and it's hard. That is normal. All of your hormones at this point are lowered. Progesterone, testosterone and estrogen are at their bare minimum. So understand that it's more about the quality of showing up, getting some movement in and feeling really good after showing up for yourself, over the quantity of "Am I pushing my sets? Am I pushing my reps? Am I hitting PRs?"

That's completely normal in that phase, and in the week before, the third and fourth week of your cycle, you're going to feel that same way as well. So it's quality over quantity. You may not be able to push as much. It's going to feel a little bit hard because your energy levels are decreased.

Now let's talk about around ovulation, after the seventh day of your period and on into the next portion of your cycle. This is where you're going to feel like an absolute beast. This is where you're going to recognize that your energy levels are definitely improving. You feel like you can go Hulk mode in the gym. You feel like you're going to be able to hit personal bests, hit PRs, and that's where you want to be able to do that.

So when you understand that it's normal to have low energy at some points of your cycle and higher energy at others, you're going to be a little bit easier on yourself and not feel like you have to go Hulk mode the whole 28-day cycle. Once you grasp that, you're going to be able to go into the gym with a little bit more confidence. Know when you need to focus on quality over quantity, and know when you can go beast mode inside the gym.

Question number two. Diane asks: "Hi, are deload weeks important, and how do you incorporate them into your workouts?"

Deload weeks are an amazing concept. I will say first and foremost, I am horrible at implementing this for myself, and I'm sure you can relate, because rest days are sometimes challenging for people. Can you imagine a whole entire week of taking off from workouts? So I have two approaches to deloading.

The first approach: if you don't want to go the whole seven days taking a rest, you could train for three days and focus on max reps. Challenge yourself with what you can hit on a squat, what you can hit on a bench press and what you can hit on a deadlift. Then make the rest of your training that day higher rep and not as intense as going for max reps. And you still have four days of rest after that in your deload week.

The second approach is taking the full week off. Now, let me speak to the mindset of those individuals. You're not going to lose all of your progress in one week. So get that out of your head. All of your progress will not be lost in one week. In that week off, or even in the four days you give yourself off, you're allowing for optimal recovery. You're allowing your body to re-energize, for things to stabilize, and for you to be able to go and crush your workouts afterwards.

A good time to incorporate this into your training is, let's say, when you're getting poor sleep. You're not sleeping enough. You're under more stress in your life than normal. You're not recovering from your workouts, and your recovery is taking anywhere from three to four days before you stop feeling sore. That would be a good time to say, "Okay, I need to give myself a deload week. I need to pull back on my training. I need to rest. I need to recover so that I can come back stronger."

All right, question number three. Alicia asks: "Is it safe to say that diet is more important than workouts?"

They definitely go hand in hand. You need one for the other. But let me say this, and I've said it before: nutrition is king, exercise is queen. They come together, though. You can't have one without the other. You need exercise to break down the muscle, but then you need nutrition to repair, recover and build that muscle.

Now, if you're somebody who solely focuses on your workouts, you're inside the gym five days a week, you've been doing it for years on end, six months, whatever, and you're not seeing the results you want, then I would ask: where's your nutrition at? What does that look like? Are you eating enough of the right types of food? Are you at a good caloric intake, or a caloric deficit, that is going to facilitate the results you want? Are you consistent with that nutrition? Are you following it as much as you should be to get the results you want?

I would definitely question those things, especially if you're not seeing the results you want after six months of being in the gym. Then your nutrition probably isn't where it needs to be. You need the two together, but I would definitely say nutrition is a little bit more important than the workouts.

So that's all I've got for today. I hope you enjoyed the answers to those questions, and maybe you had that same question along your own journey and now you have the answer. Be sure to tune in next week for our next viewer Q&A, where I'll be answering new questions that come through. And if you have any further questions around the topics we talked about today, please leave them in the comment section below this video. I'm always happy to help you.

And if you want sustainable macro, nutrition and workout information for your individual needs, head over to warriorbabe.com and check out the other resources we have. There are even more resources around the topics we talked about today, to help you understand how to get the results you want and keep them forever. All right, I'll see you next time.