Devon Loftus - The Moon Cycle Cookbook: A Holistic Nutrition Guide for a Well-Balanced Menstrual Cycle

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Liz Bevilacqua and Sarah Guare

Art direction and book design by Alethea Morrison

Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

Cover and interior photography by Poppi Photography, except for page 74, Jazmin Quaynor/Unsplash

Text 2021 by Devon Loftus and Jenna Radomski

Ebook production by Slavica A. Walzl

Ebook version 1.0

October 12, 2021

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To those in search of empowerment through self-love and good food this is for you.

By Katie Lemons, Twist of Lemons

I first met Devon after traversing my way through a blustery yet picturesque snowy New England blizzard. We tucked ourselves in cozily at a caf on one of Bostons cobblestone streets. The whole afternoon was idyllicbig fluffy snowflakes falling outside the window, bottomless cups of piping-hot coffee, and easy conversation with someone I felt Id known for a lifetime.

Ive now known Devonher words, passions, and big ideasnot only in winters but in many seasons of life. Each season of my own life has brought different challengeslearning, living, loving, but also failing, floundering, fumbling. The one constant that has held me together through it all is nourishing myself with nutrient-dense foods and intentional compassion.

Devons Moon Cycle Bakery helped me to glue together the pieces of my own lifes mosaic. What most thrills me about The Moon Cycle Cookbook is the wholesome and expansive definition of femininity. It treasures all parts of womanhood, whatever that looks likenot simply the physical aches and pains of a menstrual or uterine experience. Its about learning to take care and self-nourish during the crampy parts of life, the unexpected and the unknown, the joyful parts, and the sorrow-filled parts, too. Its about listening and leaning into intuitive repletion. These tenets are embodied in Moon Cycle Bakery and this book.

I often think back to that first afternoon Devon and I spent with one anotherjust being, just together. That sense of warmth and community is etched into every fiber of The Moon Cycle Cookbook. This book embraces and emphasizes community in a scrumptious way. Have you ever noticed the word community contains the letters and sound of a little yum in there? After experiencing this book, I think thats definitely on purpose!

This book is like tucking yourself into your favorite caf on a snowy daybursting with comfort and delicious joyand having a conversation with a forever friend.

May you traverse the seasons of womanhood within these pages.

Hi there. My name is Devon and Im the founder of Moon Cycle Bakery, a baked goods delivery service. We specialize in making delicious treats with hormone-supportive ingredients that are designed to nourish women from the inside out. My business is built on a foundation of seeing, hearing, and acknowledging others. We believe that when we embrace ourselves and our individualized needs, we can make empowered choices for our health and well-being.

The story of my business and this book began many years ago, when I was in college. It was there that I found depression. Or perhaps it found me. Either way, soon I felt like I was drowning. It was hard and scary, and there were moments when I wasnt sure I wanted to go on, but seeing the fear on my moms face while she watched her daughter suffer was enough for me to choose to receive help.

During therapy, I learned a lot. I healed a lot. I fell in love with myself. I learned how to have my own back.

I had thought for so long that my pain came solely from not feeling heard or seen by others, but through therapy I realized that it actually sprang from self-neglect. I was suffering because I wasnt taking the time to care what I thought about myself, to physically listen to my body and give it what it needs, or to celebrate myself in all my imperfect, quirky, loving ways.

I decided to commit to these four acts for the rest of my life: hearing, listening, acknowledging, and empowering. Through a move across the country, ruptured ovarian cysts and ER visits, a wedding, a kitchen fire, reactions from birth control, lifeless work environments, a business start-up, departure from the West Coast, pregnancy and birth and postpartum depression through it all, I practiced these four acts.

During my bachelorette party, a comment from a friend awoke me to the fact that other women want to be held, seen, and acknowledged as well. Near the end of the night, my fianc arrived with a homemade cake decked out with chocolate ganache, which was welcomed warmly. A friend said to me, I dont know if its because Im about to get my period, but I almost cried, this cake is so good. What started as a passing joke became a much bigger conversation. My friends and I wondered: Where is the support during our periods? What do we really know about what happens in our bodies and spirits during each phase of the menstrual cycle? How can we best support and celebrate ourselves?