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The Sex Cycle

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Jul 29, 2008 3:29 pm US/Eastern

The Sex Cycle

MIAMI (CBS4) ― A local doctor says that a woman's hormones may be affecting everything from what you eat to what you wear, and it's the shift in the levels of hormones each months that many women to experience shifts in their behaviors.

Dr. Carol Clark, a leading clinical sexologist, said the motivations are beyond conscious control. "Our basic motivations come from that unconscious caveman brain, and then we try to make sense of it with our pre-frontal cortex, the reasoning brain," she said.

In the earliest part of the menstrual cycle, known as the follicular phase, lower levels of progesterone make it more difficult to quit smoking. But rising estrogen and dopamine levels make risky behaviors more likely.

And women find men with softer feminine facial features attractive.

"At different phases women are looking to fulfill different needs, and some of those needs have to do with settling down, finding a mate that will be protective and take care of her and her offspring," Clark said.

The opposite is true during the fertile phase, or ovulation phase. Women tend to prefer masculine, rugged looking men. Women are more likely to cheat around ovulation and they dress provocatively.

"To attract someone with whom to mate, she's going to make herself as attractive as possible," Clark elaborated.

But the fertile phase is also a good time to work out, the body burns the most fat, and the pain threshold is the highest.

But don't be surprised if you get unwanted attention from men in the gym.

"Men are very in tune...subconsciously," Clark revealed.

And they show it with either jealousy, or flattery.

The last phase, the luteal phase, may be the worst time to diet because women have the most trouble controlling their hunger. And for some, symptoms of PMS begin as hormone levels plummet.

"It just makes sense that their moods are going to fluctuate as well," Dr. Clark said.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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