Amanda Borucki is a women’s health coach and FAMM-certified practitioner who helps people ditch the guesswork and actually understand their cycles. Her journey started the way many do — a doctor handed her the pill at 20, and she spent six years on it before realizing the side effects weren’t worth the trade. A copper IUD came next, which she remembers as “the painful thing I’ve ever experienced” and followed by the kind of periods no one signs up for, and the pain never fully resided after its removal. Eventually she divorced and turned to fertility awareness. Now she teaches others how to chart, how to spot what their bodies are saying, and how to make informed choices about hormones, health, and fertility. Amanda comes to the podcast after having joined Born Free Method three years ago, and we are excited to one day support her through her births!

You can work with Amanda through her website. You can enroll in her next online course cohort under the Courses tab.

* 00:14:05 - Women Often Judge Women for Adjusting Their Lives Around Their Cycles

Amanda shared her journey with contraception and body literacy, from early ignorance to painful experiences with hormonal birth control and a copper IUD. These challenges deepened her empathy and inspired her to coach others in understanding their cycles. Amanda also shares her disdain for having been compelled so long to live in her masculine.

* 00:22:20 - Education & Conditioning to Be Afraid of Pregnancy

She reflected on how cultural and religious conditioning fueled fear and misinformation about reproduction. Her experiences—including her husband’s vasectomy reversal, which re-sealed and now he is considering reoperation—led to a deeper respect for menstrual health.

* 00:53:03 - How can you use fertility tracking to determine the ideal time to have sex to get pregnant? Or avoid pregnancy?

Amanda emphasized charting ovulation through basal body temperature and cervical mucus—“nature’s sperm hotel”—as more effective than LH strips or apps. Stress, diet, and lifestyle all affect ovulation, making body awareness essential. Amanda explained the difference between true menstruation and withdrawal or breakthrough bleeding, Your ovulatory cycle and menstruation are vital signs! This is the crux of her upcoming six-week online course (starting Oct 14; code NATHAN10 for 10% off) covering anatomy, physiology, fertility charting to determine your fertile window, and how to modify lifestyle and environment to adjust the tracked metrics to optimize your health and fertility.

* 01:25:10 - Nutrition, Environment, and Lifestyle Impact Fertility

Amanda has found that caloric intake and especially protein intake are the most common issues pertaining to a suboptimal ovulatory cycle and fertility. She emphasizes the role of protein in fertility, noting that under-eating and poorly planned vegan diets can disrupt cycles. Amanda highlighted animal protein’s benefits but encouraged intentional nutrition for all diets.

* 01:35:33 - Learning About Your Cycle is a Means of Reclaiming Your Health

Through her personal story and professional training, Amanda empowers women to track cycles, prevent or achieve pregnancy naturally, and reclaim reproductive confidence. Her coaching (and fertility awareness tracking in general) is also relevant to the menopausal transition.

You can work with Amanda through her website. Find her on Instagram.

You can enroll in her next online course cohort under the Courses tab. Code NATHAN10 gets you 10% off this cohort and future cohorts!

References from the conversation:

* Lily Nichols, RDN

* Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, BA, FAE

* Real Food for Fertility: Prepare your body for pregnancy with preconception nutrition and fertility awareness, by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack and Lily Nichols

* The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles & Optimize Your Fertility, by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack

* DUTCH Testing - Nathan is very good at reading these if you are interested

* Miracare Cycle Hormone Tracking - code BORNFREE15 for 15% off

* Her Biorhythm online course - useful for further modifying your lifesty/environment after you’ve used fertility awareness charting to distinguish the four phases of your cycle

Show notes can be found on Substack

Related episodes:

* Beyond Ovulation Apps: Building a Real Women’s Health Operating System with Kirsten Karchmer

* Your OBGYN Didn’t Learn About Nutritional Support for Fertility, with Lily Nichols, RDN, and Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, FAE

* Tracking your sex hormones at home with the Mira Hormone Monitor

* Kelly Ruef, ND and DUTCH Testing

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews.

* 12-month access is $750

* Lifetime access is $3997 (This option comes with some other perks as well, including direct support from me and Sara for life by phone/text/email)

* Fertility Deep Dive ($499) if you just want to focus on pre-conception planning and fertility, but this content is included in both of our other offerings above.

We have payment plans available for the lifetime package, and we have discounts available for any of our programs for students and birthworkers. Just shoot Nathan and Sara an email: [email protected]

Work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Born Free Method | Clear & Free | Twins-BreechMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5

Get full access to Born Free Method: The Podcast at nathanrileyobgyn.substack.com/subscribe