Luteal Phase Tracker: Your Cycle Phase & Food Guide

Luteal Phase Tracker is a simple, free tool that helps you see which day of your cycle you’re on, which phase you’re in, and how your hormones are shifting. Use this cycle calculator to understand your body better and get gentle, phase-based food ideas to support your energy, mood, and cravings throughout the month.

How this luteal phase tracker works

This Luteal Phase Tracker uses two simple pieces of information – the start date of your last period and your average cycle length – to estimate which day of your cycle you are on right now. Based on that day, it shows you which phase you are likely in: menstrual, follicular, ovulation window, or luteal.

Hormone levels change across the month, so the tool also gives you a gentle “hormone snapshot” for each phase. This is not a lab test or a diagnosis. It’s an educational way to visualize how estrogen, progesterone, LH, and FSH usually rise and fall throughout a typical cycle.

Understanding where you are in your cycle can make it easier to understand why your energy, mood, cravings, and sleep sometimes feel different from week to week.

How to use the cycle calculator

1. You need to enter the first day of your previous menstrual cycle.
2. Select your typical menstrual cycle duration in days because most women experience cycles between 26 and 30 days.
3. The application shows your present day and cycle phase and hormone levels and food suggestions based on your phase when you choose "Show my phase".

The tool provides useful information about your phases even when your menstrual cycle is unpredictable but it will not deliver precise results. The tracker enables you to track your phases throughout three months while you can see how your body matches the expected patterns.

Why food is included in this tracker

Most period trackers stop at you are on day X. Luteal Phase Tracker goes one step further by adding simple food ideas for each phase.

The program provides adaptable dietary assistance instead of enforcing particular dietary restrictions.

Your body needs iron-rich warm meals together with sufficient water intake to help with recovery during the menstrual phase.
Your diet during the follicular phase should consist of fresh colorful foods with lean proteins because these nutrients help increase estrogen levels and boost your energy.
The body needs fiber-rich vegetables and whole grains and good fats during ovulation to process hormones and control blood sugar levels.
The luteal phase benefits from complex carbohydrates and protein and magnesium-rich foods which help manage PMS symptoms and control cravings and mood changes.

If you want a deeper dive into food for the luteal phase specifically, you can read the full guide on [luteal phase foods](/luteal-phase-foods/) which explains what to eat, what to limit, and how to build a supportive luteal phase meal plan.

Sources and how this tracker works

This Luteal Phase Tracker is an educational tool based on average, textbook descriptions of the menstrual cycle. It does not measure your actual hormone levels.

Cycle length and phases

For the estimates, we assume:

• Day 1 of your cycle = the first day of bleeding
• Menstrual phase ≈ days 1–5
• Follicular phase ≈ from the end of your period until just before ovulation
• Ovulation window ≈ in the middle of the cycle
• Luteal phase ≈ the last 10–16 days before your next period

These ranges are based on public health sources such as:

• NHS: “Periods and fertility in the menstrual cycle” (nhs.uk) – explains that the time from ovulation to the next period is usually around 10–16 days.
• Office on Women’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (womenshealth.gov) – overviews of the menstrual cycle and hormone changes.
• Mayo Clinic: “Menstrual cycle: what’s normal, what’s not” (mayoclinic.org) – general cycle patterns and typical length.

Hormone patterns

Medical reviews describe the hormone patterns (estrogen, progesterone, LH, FSH) through basic explanations.

• The estrogen levels increase during the follicular phase before they decrease after ovulation and then experience a minimal increase during the mid-luteal phase before they return to their lowest point at cycle completion.
• The hormone progesterone maintains low levels during the follicular phase before it becomes the primary hormone in the luteal phase and then decreases when pregnancy fails to develop.
• The LH and FSH hormones reach their highest point during ovulation before they decrease to low levels which stay that way for the rest of the menstrual cycle.

These patterns are drawn from summaries such as:

Stat Pearls / NCBI “Physiology, Menstrual Cycle” and “The Normal Menstrual Cycle and the Control of Ovulation”.

Want a full guide to what to eat in this phase? Read the detailed luteal phase foods guide here.

Important note

The Luteal Phase Tracker exists for educational purposes only. The tool operates as a diagnostic tool but it does not confirm ovulation and users should not rely on it for medical advice. A tracker without medical supervision provides no useful function for birth control or fertility decisions. You should consult a qualified healthcare professional when your menstrual pain becomes severe or when your menstrual cycle duration exceeds normal ranges or when you experience concerning symptoms.

This page functions as a basic introduction to help you understand your menstrual cycle while tracking hormonal changes and providing nutritional support and relaxation techniques and physical activity.