Support Your Hormones: The Smallest Changes Can Make the Biggest Difference

Did you know you don’t have to make a complete 180 in your life in order to feel better and support your hormonal health?

If you’re struggling right now, or are simply curious about how to feel your best, listen closely.

I’ve seen small changes make a huge difference in hundreds of women I’ve worked with. And, I’ve seen women who seemed to do everything ‘right’, no sugar, no alcohol, working out, meditating, sleeping eight hours, and still experienced hormonal issues.

Of course, there is no doubt that moving your body, eating well, and taking care of your brain and nervous system are beneficial and important for your hormonal health. But let’s put this into perspective.

Believe me, I’ve been there. I tried intermittent fasting, cut out sugar, gluten and lactose, took every supplement I could think of, forced myself to hit 10k steps a day, and tried to squeeze a workout, meditation, journaling and a ‘peaceful’ coffee moment into my morning routine.

However, my hormones didn’t really respond to those ‘perfect’ lifestyle adjustments.

Nowadays, I’m sometimes on my phone until too late in the evening. Some days I rush out of bed and have coffee on an empty stomach (even though I know I can’t handle caffeine very well). And on other days, I meditate or journal, do yoga, eat a whole-food diet and have a slow evening routine without screens.

It’s. All. About. Balance.

But what exactly is that balance? You learn your balance by feeling and listening to your body. Let me help you get started.

Nutrition to support your hormones

Two things matter most: keeping your energy steady across the day, and giving your body the building blocks it needs. When your blood sugar stays relatively stable, your energy and hunger stay steadier too. And your body builds hormones from what you eat, so enough protein, healthy fats, and micronutrients matters!

Practical nutrition tools

Stick to around 3–4 proper eating moments a day. Breaks between meals support healthy insulin signalling and hormonal health. We’ll dive deeper into this later.

Add an extra source of protein to your meals: fish, eggs, poultry, legumes or cottage cheese. Protein keeps you full and gives your body important building blocks to support your hormones.

• Top your salad or toast with some anchovies.

• Cook an extra egg in the morning.

• Make yourself a cottage cheese bowl with veggies or fruits.

Add fruits, vegetables and fresh herbs. Their vitamins, minerals and antioxidants help your body produce, use and process hormones.

• Add some rocket, tomato or parsley to your avocado toast.

• Have a vegetable soup next to your lunch.

• Swap supermarket granola for nuts, seeds and fresh fruit with a little good-quality honey.

• Add some lemon to your water.

Our hormones can influence appetite and energy needs, so it is completely normal for your hunger and food intake to change throughout your cycle. We will look more closely at how that works, and how to support your cycle with nutrition, in the coming weeks!

Movement to support your hormones

Movement is really important for your health and hormones. But again, it has to fit within your capacity.

Your energy, capacity and recovery needs can change throughout your cycle. So, do you really need to force yourself to hit 10k steps every single day and do five HIIT workouts a week? Maybe not.

That doesn’t mean women shouldn’t do HIIT because it ‘spikes cortisol’. Yes, intense exercise temporarily increases cortisol, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Cortisol is allowed to rise. What matters is the bigger picture: how much stress and training load you’re experiencing, how well you recover, and how you actually feel.

A few things you can focus on:

• Include strength training. You don’t have to lift heavy: start small and focus on building and maintaining strong muscles.

• Look at your sitting time rather than obsessing over a specific step count. Move more throughout the day: walk, dance, stretch.

• Listen to your body and adjust your workouts according to how you feel. Maybe that means going full out during some parts of your cycle and choosing more Pilates, yoga or walking at other times.

• Choose movement you actually enjoy! We want to feed the soul as well.

A couple of years ago, I dragged myself to the gym a few times a week. I hated it. Nowadays, I play tennis, dance, do barre and pilates, and do strength workouts at home.

Feel what works for you.

Nervous system regulation to support your hormones

We all know our stress hormone cortisol. But let me clear something up right away.

Our goal is not to never produce cortisol or never to experience stress.

Cortisol helps us wake up in the morning and helps our body respond to stressful situations. A temporary rise in cortisol can help you give that presentation at work or be extra alert when you need to be.

It becomes more relevant when stress is chronic, recovery is insufficient, or your body constantly feels like it has to stay ‘on’.

Everyone has a slightly different stress response, which means one person may be more sensitive to stress than another. And we all have different ways of relaxing.

Do you feel like you do everything in a rush? Is your breathing often high in your chest? Do you overthink a lot? Is it difficult to fall asleep, or do you regularly wake up during the night? Do you often feel anxious or constantly ‘on’?

These can be signs that your nervous system could use a little more recovery.

If your symptoms are persistent, severe, new, or affecting your daily life, it’s important to discuss them with a healthcare professional. That said, there are also simple lifestyle changes you can try yourself to support your health and see what works for your body.

Choose one:

• Slow down. Become aware of your pace. Try slowing down while you cut your food, wash your hair or walk somewhere. Simply becoming aware of how fast you move through your day is already a first step.

• Focus on your breathing. Take a few slower breaths towards your belly a couple of times a day.

• Use a journal to dump your thoughts. Get them out of your head and onto paper.

• Dance it out with friends. Relaxing doesn’t always mean sitting silently by yourself.

• Stretch it out. Stress can show up as muscle tension, and gentle stretching can help your body relax.

The recommendations in this article are intended as general information and are not a substitute for personalised medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

The key takeaway

Supporting your hormones isn’t about doing everything perfectly. It’s about understanding your body, noticing what it needs, and finding the small changes that actually work for you.

And that’s exactly what we’re building with Vyvi. Instead of giving every woman the same list of things she ‘should’ be doing, we want to help you understand your own body and hormones, and turn that into personalised guidance you can actually use in daily life.

Over the next weeks I’ll go deeper on each of these, starting with nutrition: what to actually eat, why it works, and how it shifts across your cycle.

Follow Vyvi’s journey and join the waitlist to be among the first to try the app when our beta opens later this autumn.

See you next week!

Eske Romée Ruijters
Head of Health and Nutrition