@grandplans
Here's one study of BMR fluctuating that way, highest before menstruation, lowest around ovulation, even while you're sleeping
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=2706224&ordinalpos=48&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
I came into contract with most of this information through weightlifting. It becomes pretty obvious pretty quickly that as a women you have "high gravity" days and "God-mode" days a lot more often and with a bigger impact than the fellas do. Here's an article summarizing some of the current info in how women working with their cycle can get better results:
bayesianbodybuilding.com/menstrual-cycle-periodization/
What I don't think he mentions is that you are measurably physically stronger or weaker at certain points of your cycle. E.g. for me, I can generally comfortably bench press 55kg for a few reps and sets. In the week before bleeding I'd be lucky to get 40kg and it would leave me absolutely exhausted. 2 weeks later I could do over 60kg and have enough energy for another try later the same day. Weightlifting women seem to be on the cutting edge of this because while you can ignore bouts of low energy in your day job, if you're trying to move weight regularly you can actually quantify the impact of that low energy and see when it's happening over and over.
It is a bit hard to find this information because as a society we're still stuck in the ancient belief that women are basically like men but smaller and weaker (which incidentally is where trans identifying men get the idea that they can 'become women'). The info is out there, you just have to dig.
Then again, you don't really need to read a scientific study on it, just start watching your own body. I think some women fluctuate more than others, you probably already know if you have quite strong effects from your hormonal cycle or not really. I saw it explained once in terms of summer/autumn/winter/spring which is the same information as early/late follicular/luteal but it's easier to remember which is what:
Winter is the week which includes the start of your bleeding. For me, it's probably 4 days before bleeding and the first 3 days of (heavy) bleeding. In this time you are low on hormones and low on energy. You need to eat more, keep warm, and rest. This is your Yin. It's a time for recuperating and purging all the things from last month that you won't be needing to take forward. Do yoga and chill.
Spring is the next week. For me its start is marked with a few days of progressively lighter bleeding, but of course that depends on the length of your cycle. If you have rested properly in winter you will be full of energy in spring. Spring is the time for growth and increase, it's the time to grind. If you're lifting weight, or running, or studying, this is the time where you can hit targets and make steady consistent progress.
Summer is ovulation. This is the peak, your Yang. I call it "god mode". I need hardly any food or sleep. I'm hyper focused, I stay up until 5am because my mind is racing and then wake up at 7 or 8 feeling totally fine. If you lift weights or run, this is the time when you will break your records. If you study, this is when your best work will get done so finish off your assignment in this time. If you tend to 'overeat' a lot in autumn/winter this is the time when you cancompensate by eating less (I find i'm not really interested in food and i can eat much less without feeling hungry). You can work out harder, you recover faster, you're stronger and you're also measurably more attractive to the opposite sex, so if you're single go out on the prowl in this week ;)
Autumn is the 'come down' from summer. The weather is changeable, you will have up days and down days and you just have to take them as they come. You should make the most of your up days, and you will find you can push hard because you know you have a designated rest period coming up soon. At the end of autumn/start of winter is when you will find you're hungrier and need to start eating more. You will have more 'down' days and fewer 'up' days as you get closer to winter.
If you're on hormonal birth control it will impact this cycle but doesn't usually eliminate it.
I found that when I wasn't listening to my body and trying to do things the 'man' way what I had was:
Winter - trying and failing to prevent myself from binging. Forcing myself to work out even though my body is screaming 'NO', failing to achieve anything worthwhile anyway, feel crappy about myself, cry.
Spring - still exhausted and sort of 'hung over' from trying to push myself in the week before. Getting a little more energy and finally manage to stop binging.
Summer - have a few successes but assume they are flukes. Don't know how to take advantage of the additional energy I have. Lay awake all night unable to sleep but feeling like I should try to sleep 8 hours. I'm not hungry but force myself to eat what I'm 'supposed to' any way.
Autumn - have successes and failures, feel lost and helpless because doing the same thing has totally different outcomes for no clear reason. Start to get hungry but control it with willpower because im 'supposed to'. Start craving chocolate but ignore it because in 'supposed to'. Get at least one migraine.
Also your body weight fluctuates hugely throughout your cycle so there is absolutely no point in weighing yourself day-to-day. If you want to track your weight, weigh yourself once a month at the start of spring.
It's bloody criminal that we teach young girls about the menstrual cycle in terms of bleeding/not bleeding. In a way the nutter TIMs are correct (from my perspective) that the actual bleeding is a fairly small part of the bigger picture, but of course they're completely wrong about everything else.