My Experience with Natural Cycles

 Good morning everybody, I hope you are all well. I realise I’ve been a bit M.I.A the last couple of weeks and that’s because I’m on holiday! Yep, right now in fact I’m actually writing this from a cute little beach side cafe in El Campello (a tiny little seaside town near Alicante.) I had intended to continue with the Weekly Roundups etc however, I just wanted a holiday and too relax for a little while. However this post is very much going ahead as I feel I have SO much to say! As you guys know I’ve been using Naturals Cycles for the past few months. If you haven’t already do check out my original post discussing the world of contraception in general (click here) and also my Q&A post answering all you questions regarding the app (click here.) If you’ve done all of that already then yay! Now in the interest of transparency, this post is sponsored by aka, I have been paid to chat about Natural Cycles however… and this is super important – the team over at Natural Cycles have made it very clear that they want me to be honest and discuss both the positives and negatives when talking about my experience. It’s also worth pointing out that they did not come to me asking for a review, I in fact (after already using the app for 3 months) contacted them and pitched myself to work on this project. Anyway, with all of that cleared up let’s get on with it shall we.

As I’ve said many, many times before, the world of contraception is very much a personal journey. It’s not one size fits all and every body has a different body so what works for me may not work for you. This is my personal experience. As with everything there have been a few ups and downs along the way but my experience as a whole has been pretty positive. When I originally decided to give it a go it was very much due to the fact I didn’t want to be taking hormonal contraception anymore, it wasn’t something that was having a positive effect on my physical or mental well being anymore and having been on the pill for several years I wanted to try something different. In all honesty, when I first began using the app I found getting into the routine of taking my temperature each morning and doing so at the same time each day (within two hours) took me a few weeks to get right. During the first week there were a few days I just forgot, which was really annoying as I wanted the app to get to know my cycle/body etc as soon as possible. After a couple of weeks however it slowly became the norm. A top tip from me and something that helped me out big time is to place the thermometer on top of your phone each night so that when you wake up and turn your alarm off/check your phone etc it will be there and you will naturally remember to measure your temperature before you get up. It definitely took me a little while to get used to doing it however once I got used to it, it wasn’t a bother and was just part of my morning routine along with brushing my teeth.

A massive positive for me was getting to know my body and my cycle better than ever before. I feel so much more in tune with how I work and how my body reacts at certain times of the month. I’ve found that the most interesting part of using the app. I’ve recently started doing yoga each morning and upped my workouts at the gym, I’m really trying to improve my physical  health in general and have found that the app has slotted in perfectly with this. My body and sense of what my body is doing inside as well as out has been super interesting. On a similar note another thing I’ve improved is my sleeping pattern. Again Natural Cycles isn’t for everyone, you very much need to have some kind of routine to use it. For example student me wouldn’t have been able to wake up at around the same time each morning. I used to get in during the early hours of the morning and sleep until i HAD to get up for school/work. Now a days however my sleeping pattern has improved. Using the app in fact has helped me to have a more strict wake up time. I think on a general note my overall sense of well being is just better. For me personally hormonal contraception had such an effect on my mood that I always felt a bit sluggish and so the he routine the app has given me along with having no side effects due to it being natural and hormone free has made me feel lighter and and more connected to my body. The one negative that I faced or  at least worried about facing was getting my period whilst on holiday. This never actually happened in the end however when I was on the pill if I had a holiday coming up I just wouldn’t have my ‘break’ I’d continue taking the pill to assure I wouldn’t be on my period whilst away. From my experience on Natural Cycles it’s the only time I’ve seen a slight negative as I’m sure most of us would rather not be on our periods whilst sunbathing/swimming etc. As I said this never actually happened but there was a moment were I thought it might, the dates ended up landing in my favour (yay) but I thought worth mentioning as like I said at the beginning of the post, I want to share both sides of my experience. In all honesty however that really is the only ‘issue’ I’ve faced and I didn’t even face it in the end!

Overall, I’m really settled and happy with the way Natural Cycles is working for me, the interface on the app is simple and easy to use and the community as a whole is really supportive. It’s definitely not for everybody and as with all forms of contraception you should do your research to see if it’s a good fit for you but if it is something you’re eager to try I say go for it just keep in mind the basics – 1. Always use protection on red days, 2. Similarly to the pill it is 93% effective (when used correctly) and 3. The app is for people aged 18+ and does not protect against STI’s!  I’m delighted that I’ve found a method I’m happy with, will I use it forever? I can’t say but for now for sure it fits in with my lifestyle perfectly. As always if you have any questions or thoughts do leave me a comment below or over on social media – @littlemisswinney and I’ll do my best to help you in anyway possible. In the meantime if you want to know more, head over to the Natural Cycles website – www.naturalcycles.com and remember if you would like to give it a go you can use my discount code by clicking here. I hope you’ve enjoyed the post and whether this method is for you or not I hope you have found it interesting. Have a lovely week and I’ll see you for the Weekly Roundup on Sunday!

K x

*This post was kindly sponsored by Natural Cycles*