🔥 How Do I Get My Sex Drive Back? Understanding Your Hormones, Reclaiming Desire, and Learning to Live in Sync with Your Cycle

By: Dr. Alyssa McPeak

Let’s talk about something most women don’t talk about enough — sex drive (or the lack of it).

If you’ve been feeling “off,” disconnected, or like your desire disappeared somewhere between work, stress, and hormone chaos… you’re not alone.

So many women tell me they love their partner, but their body just isn’t responding the way it used to. They’re tired, overwhelmed, and exhausted.

Here’s the truth:Your sex drive isn’t broken — your hormones are just trying to tell you something.

🌸 The Hormones Behind Your Sex Drive

Your sex drive is controlled by a delicate dance between several key hormones:

💕 1. Estrogen

Estrogen rises in your follicular and ovulatory phases, making you feel confident, energetic, and sexy. It increases blood flow, vaginal lubrication, and even helps with natural arousal.

When estrogen is low (often after coming off birth control, during stress, or in perimenopause), desire can dip dramatically.

🔥 2. Testosterone

Yes — women have testosterone too! It’s a major player in your sex drive, motivation, and mood. Low testosterone can make you feel tired, flat, and uninterested in intimacy.

Excess stress, poor sleep, or nutrient deficencies can all suppress this hormone.

🌙 3. Progesterone

Progesterone rises after ovulation — it’s your calm, nurturing, and feel-good hormone. While it’s not the main libido driver, when progesterone is balanced, it helps you feel emotionally connected, relaxed, and secure — all things that make intimacy easier and more enjoyable.

When progesterone is too low (often from stress, insulin resistance or irregular ovulation), anxiety and irritability can take over.

⚖️ 4. Cortisol

Your stress hormone, cortisol, can either support or sabotage your sex drive. When it’s balanced, it helps you feel alert and stable. But when cortisol is chronically high, your body goes into “survival mode,” and reproduction (including sex drive) gets put on pause.

💛 How to Support the Hormones That Fuel Your Libido

You can’t force your sex drive back — you have to nourish it back by supporting your body and hormones.

Here’s where to start:

🥑 1. Eat Real Food — and Eat to Support Your Cycle

Your body needs fuel to make hormones. Eating excess sugar and processed foods can cause your sex hormones to shut down.

Include:

• Protein with every meal (eggs, chicken, grass-fed beef, bone broth protein)

• Healthy fats (avocado, coconut oil, olives)

• Zinc-rich foods (pumpkin seeds, oysters, grass-fed beef)

• Magnesium-rich foods (spinach, cacao, almonds)

🧘‍♀️ 2. Manage Stress Like It’s Your Job

Stress is the #1 killer of libido. Your body can’t prioritize reproduction when it’s fighting for survival.

Try:

• Daily movement — walking, yoga, or stretching

• Breathwork or meditation

• Setting boundaries and protecting downtime

• Going to bed before 10 p.m. to support hormone recovery

💧 3. Balance Your Blood Sugar

High or fluctuating blood sugar increases insulin and cortisol — both of which suppress ovulation and testosterone.

• Break your fast with protein-rich foods

• Pair carbs with protein and fat

• Avoid sugary snacks and drinks

Balanced blood sugar = balanced hormones = balanced libido.

💤 4. Support Sleep & Recovery

Your sex hormones are built while you rest. Aim for 7–9 hours per night and avoid blue light before bed. Try magnesium glycinate, Epsom salt baths, or calming herbal teas to unwind.

🌿 5. Live in Sync with Your Cycle

This is the key. Your hormones ebb and flow throughout the month — and so does your sex drive. When you learn how to live, eat, and move according to your cycle, you begin to flow with your hormones, not against them.

• During your follicular and ovulatory phases, estrogen and testosterone are high — your libido is naturally strongest.

• During your luteal and menstrual phases, rest and emotional connection take priority.

When you honor those shifts instead of fighting them, you bring your body back into balance — and your desire follows.

✨ Learn How to Reconnect with Your Body

If you’ve been feeling “off” — low energy, low libido, irregular cycles — your body isn’t broken. It’s asking for rhythm, nourishment, and safety.

That’s exactly what I teach inside my Cycle Syncing Course — how to live, eat, and thrive according to your natural hormonal rhythm.

Inside, you’ll learn how to:

• Support your hormones in each phase of your cycle

• Understand why and how your libido changes throughout the month

• Restore balance to estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone

• Feel confident, connected, and back in tune with your body again

Your sex drive is your body’s way of saying, “I’m healthy, balanced, and ready.” Let’s get you back there. 💕

👉 Join the Cycle Syncing Course ➝ https://dralyssa.teachable.com/p/how-to-track-your-cycle