Advice please...19 day cycle caused by LE diet/exercise or something else?

[maidentomother]

You need 1500-1800 cals MINIMUM when doing daily cardio. I recommend not increasing fat at all, increasing protein up to 50g, and getting the rest/most of the extra cals from carbs. If you don't have PCOS, empty carbs like white bread, soda, fat free candy etc is ideal. Otherwise more complex carbs, white rice, and fruit are good sources of carbs only for PCOS ladies.

[honeybee37]

Oh honeybee I'm the same. My luteal phase this month was 8 days. It is a total nightmare knowing what to do I agree. Has your luteal phase always been short? Mine has and I did manage to easily conceive my two boys. Is short lutal phase linked to having boys? I always feel that that could be the reason I only have boys iykwim?? I really hope I'm way off the mark with that!

I don't know tbh. With my first, I had a chemical preg the month before and I convinced myself it was due to my luteal phase so the next month I used a progesterone cream until week 12 and had a totally normal pregnancy. Don't know if it was related! My second, the month before I had a 3 day LP (I was breastfeeding and it was the first month i ovulated post partum), had an oopsie and another normal pregnancy (no prog cream). I always assumed that post partum you're naturally v fertile.
Don't know this time I've read loads of stuff that says it can be s problem and I'm loads older than I was back then! How old are you?

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, it can, but 19 days is beyond the pale and I think we may be pushing it too hard here. I do not think htat's true AF, it's breakthrough bleeding.

I STRONGLY recommend that except for like 3-5% of people, you guys are on 1500-1800 cals a day. Especially with exercise. Unless you are like 4 ft 11, only eat 1500 cals a day normally and have weight to spare, have moderate to severe PCOS with weight to spare, or have more than 30-50 lbs to lose, I suggest starting off MUCH higher.

My advice is to drop back to 4 days a week exercise, up cals to 1800 (I know a big jump here but you're STARVING) with one serv. full fat dairy a day, 4-6 eggs a week, and 1 serv. salmon or red meat per week, and drop fiber. Things may snap right back to normal.

[atomic sagebrush]

I don't know tbh. With my first, I had a chemical preg the month before and I convinced myself it was due to my luteal phase so the next month I used a progesterone cream until week 12 and had a totally normal pregnancy. Don't know if it was related! My second, the month before I had a 3 day LP (I was breastfeeding and it was the first month i ovulated post partum), had an oopsie and another normal pregnancy (no prog cream). I always assumed that post partum you're naturally v fertile.
Don't know this time I've read loads of stuff that says it can be s problem and I'm loads older than I was back then! How old are you?

Don't use OTC progesterone creams gals. They are not designed to help people get or stay pregnant and are meant for postmenopausal women and have a fraction of normal LP progesterone. Your body was able to sustain the pregnancy on its own and the prog cream did nothing (even prescription prog creams have been proven to do nothing to help people get or stay pregnant) It is also very normal to have very short LP that first month or three when you get your cycle back postpartum.

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks so much for your replies ladies xx honeybee, I'm just so worried to up calories in case I gain weight. You were brave to force yourself to eat more. Can I ask how you increased and what types of foods you added in? Or was it just more of the same?

You are starving now. Your body is making you incapable of conceiving because it's so "scared" that you are in a famine and cannot risk a pregnancy. If you can't get pregnant you have NO chance of a baby.

[atomic sagebrush]

28 days on average but when I started swaying last year they got shorter. Then even shorter when I started again this year, but never as short as this month. I am a geriatric though!

21 days is still in normal range. It's also not unusual to get shorter cycles as we get older.

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh honeybee I'm the same. My luteal phase this month was 8 days. It is a total nightmare knowing what to do I agree. Has your luteal phase always been short? Mine has and I did manage to easily conceive my two boys. Is short lutal phase linked to having boys? I always feel that that could be the reason I only have boys iykwim?? I really hope I'm way off the mark with that!

NO shorter LP is NOT linked to having boys and I have many, many blue swayers who have short LP. My LP has never been short (with the exception of a handful of times postpartum or whatever) and I have 4 boys.

You guys need to up calories and I need to know what EXACTLY you mean when you say getting in the limits of protein and fat. People seem to not get the message about what the limits even ARE on these things (I suspect that a certain website is giving out bad info since everyone tells ME what the limits are, and it is my diet that I invented and I know exactly what they are haha) and I need to know what you are getting.

[atomic sagebrush]

You need 1500-1800 cals MINIMUM when doing daily cardio. I recommend not increasing fat at all, increasing protein up to 50g, and getting the rest/most of the extra cals from carbs. If you don't have PCOS, empty carbs like white bread, soda, fat free candy etc is ideal. Otherwise more complex carbs, white rice, and fruit are good sources of carbs only for PCOS ladies.

Some of these gals are eating like 5 g of fat though. I think that too low fat in the diet can absolutely stop ovulation so I want to be sure what she's eating.

You guys can up protein to 50-60 g range and STILL be in the alt. LE Diet range.

[atomic sagebrush]

The other thing to consider is that with PCO-tendencies, eating a lot of white carbs can make the syndrome kick into gear and could possibly delay O, make LP super short, but USUALLY (not always, but usually) this is in combination with either no weight loss or actually gaining. I'm not saying that is necessarily going on here just that I want to make sure, because just upping empty carbs, if this is a PCO situation, will be throwing gas on a fire

[honeybee37]

That is really interesting because I have been massively upping the white carbs and my ov has got later and LP shorter. I think I'm going to try gf this month and alternative carb sources.