Delayed Period 😒

Hi ladies 🤗 I'm definitely no newbie to this site as have been lurking for a few years now but have never felt the need to post as there is soooo much helpful info ready and available! But after being on the Le diet for the past 4 months and gearing up for our attempt, of course my body has decided it's not going to play ball.

Ive always had regular periods and my time spent swaying hasn't seemed to cause any issues until now. I've never exceeded a 28 day cycle and am now on day 34 with no af in sight. I am wondering if this is common? I've found quite a few threads mentioning cycles starting early but am struggling to find anything regarding delayed cycles. I thought it was best to get advice here before I take in to my own hands and ruin all the hard work I've put it 😝

Just a little bit of info that may or may not be helpful... I'm 30, and am following a complete Le style diet (vegetarian) with mid range limits for fat and protein while eating 3 meals a day (skipping breakfast, first meal around 11am), coffee, fibre, alcohol (usually only a few glasses on the weekends) I am also doing 60 mins of cardio 6 x per week and have lost 7.3kg (16 lbs) over the past 16 weeks now being my lowest adult weight, My bmi is in the healthy range being 23.

It also may be worth mentioning, we were ready to try last month I was doing opks but never got a clear positive (although I got very close one morning so was unsure if I had a short surge during the night if this is possible) we dtd anyway and thought we'd take a chance with that one attempt but my husband was feeling the pressure so I decided to call it quits for the month. My plan this month was to bd multiple times as per usual but without protection but only once in the fertile period and not let him know that that was the 'attempt' until afterward. But I have to get my period before I put that plan in to action Lol. But I'm now re thinking the 'almost' positive opk.... I've been testing for the past wee while and have always got a no doubts positive which lasts for 24 hours (testing 3 times per day) and then slowly lightens. the past month I got an almost positive then 4 hours later a clear negative 🤔

Apologies for the long winded post, I really appreciate all the help, support and knowledge all of you women offer ☺️ X

I expect your body geared up to ovulate then didn't, hence the nearly positive OPK. This will then make your AF appear delayed. Do you temp? That helps me to see when I have eventually ovulated. My first few months on the diet were also OK but after about 4, like you, my ovulation date started going all over the place, sometimes as late as day 27 so then I'd end up with a really long cycle. Then I ate normally for 10 days (my weight didn't actually change) and my ovulation date was back to day 17 as normal so I definitely think the diet can affect your cycle and when you ovulate and then that in turn makes AF seem 'delayed' x

Hi and welcome out of lurkdom!

Yes, that's always the way it seems to go - everything is totally predictable till the month you're ready to try and then it goes crazy.

You may not have even ovulated yet or it may have happened later than you think it did. Periods are not delayed, ovulation is delayed, and then periods come after that.

Can you tell me in numbers what your limits are?? Sometimes the people who think they're within limits are really not eating enough.

We could do either every 4-5 days and skip the OPK all together, or your plan also seems totally reasonable to me as well - but I do think you should keep BD occasionally even after the one attempt.

I also think you need to have an attempt if you think you're ovulating at any point. Most of the time it will still happen, just a little later than it normally comes.

Thank you so much for your replies ladies!

Onelast, I haven't tried temping, I've done a smidge of research on it but was unsure if it would work for me as my little guy is a horrendous sleeper getting me up what seems like millions of times during the night (sometimes I wonder what I'm doing adding another to the mix, but it doesn't last forever right!?!) :rofl::, do you have to have a decent amount of resting time before taking your temp?

Atomic, I'm pretty sure I reach protein targets getting them around 45-50g per day. My fat limits total about 35-40g a day BUT I'm going off packaging and in regards to spreads etc and I'm a little unsure if I'm using a full serving. For example, peanut butter i Love the stuff but in moderation and know I get more than 50 servings from a decent sized jar and count the 10g of fat from the label in my totals so I may be a little shy on my fat. Hmmmm I'm wonder if this isn't helping my situation.

Every 4-5 days sounds very reasonable, I don't find OPK's overly stressful but I definitely found last month a little disheartening (and expensive) taking a few a day and not getting that clear positive. It would definitely keep hubby happy too, he's all for helping with the sway but is feeling the pressure when it's his turn to take one for the team as he knows what I'm putting in to it.

On a positive note, AF arrived this morning. Hooray! The only ever time you'll find me excited by this is when TTC :D :D

Thank you again for all of your help! x

Yes you need the 30 g fat minimum or you can stop ovulating.

Can you think back on when you might have ovulated??

I usually get a positive opk on cycle day 17 and generally have a 28 day cycle but last month there was no clear positive. I stopped testing around cycle day 20 so I'm guessing it's likely I ovulated much later as I started my cycle on day 36. Will include a smidge more fat to ensure I'm getting at least the 30g and hope that may help things along this month helps ����

We can try every 4 day method instead if you want to. That way you won't have to worry about the OPK.