“ every pregnancy and every woman is different, it’s just pointless comparing,” she added, clarifying that the same advice applies postpartum. Is my bump big enough? Too big? Have I gained enough weight? Too much? “A massive thing we all do is compare,” Deignan said. You just have to be completely flexible.” 8. Alluding to the spikes and drops in energy and morning sickness that can punctuate pregnancy, she said: “You may feel great one week and completely floored the next. “I know my body and I’m very sensitive to how I feel, so I trust my own instincts,” former world champion Lizzie Deignan asserted with enviable confidence. It turned out I just needed to listen harder. 'Listen to your body’ is a common instruction given to pregnant mothers, and initially the directive struck me as infuriatingly vague. (Image credit: Charlie Crowurst for Future) The best cycling apps like Fitr Woman, or even Garmin Connect, can help you. But if you’re trying to conceive, you may be more interested in optimising your extra-curricular activities around the peaks in luteinising hormone and rises in body temperature which occur on each side of ovulation. Planning training around your menstrual cycle can pay dividends in performance (we covered seven ways ‘traditional’ cycle training approaches don't work for women - and what you can do instead over here). Carbs aren’t always the answer, but poor nutrition and recovery are often implicated in hormone imbalances.

“We have found that being in a state of carbohydrate deficit during the day can lower testosterone in men or oestrogen in women and raise cortisol – switching off the endocrine system, even if eating carbs in the evening,” author of Hormones, health and human potential Dr Nicky Keay told me at the time. I resolved the issue by adjusting the timing of my carbohydrate intake.

Our 2019 Cycling Weekly reader survey showed that 30% of female respondents – me included – were putting their hormone health at risk by underfuelling. A healthy hormone balance is essential to conception.

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