Spotting and no ovulation since starting girl diet - HELP!

[Jodles1987]

Hello,

Thanks for reading! I changed my diet about 2 weeks ago in preparation to ttc a girl in possible feb or march next year. I have two children already that I conceived very easily and although I do not usual track my cycles I have a pretty regular normal period etc.

About a week into the girl diet I started spotting mid cycle which is very unusual for me (definitely not pregnant). I am also sure that I have not ovulated yet (been checking bbt, microscope, opk, CM etc) and no sign of O. I am now at cd20 so it's very late!!

I am starting to worry that the diet and supplements have messed up my cycle. I am currently only taking cranberry and magnesium but the diet change has been quite drastic. I went from eating very healthy with loads of green smoothies, nuts, beans, lentils, salads, veggies, fruit, dates and also some treats like chocolate, cake, cookies etc and regular snacking to skipping breakfast (not eating until 12pm) and living off raspberry muffins, strawberry smoothies, plain pasta, cottage cheese, white rice, cucumber and green beans etc. I have sort of been trying to combine the principles of both the LE and IG diet (low sodium, low potassium, low blood sugar, low nutrient, low protein, low fat, high calcium, high magnesium etc)

I think my calories were a bit low for the first few days so I tried to increase and am now getting about 1500 calories a day, but I am very slim already and seem to have lost a little bit of weight. Could this be the reason for the sudden spotting and no ovulation? Or is it more likely to be coincidence? I don't want to go off the diet in case my body gets used to the lifestyle change and goes back to normal, but I also don't want to risk doing any lasting damage to my reproductive health!

Any insight or help will be much appreciated!

[ksmom]

Two weeks on diet won't affect your cycle. It's why we recommend 12+ weeks on diet because it takes that long for changes in the body to happen. Even though it might seem like it, CD20 is not late for ovulation. I would wean off the cranberry because 1) it doesn't sway and 2) it increases bleeding risks. I would drop the magnesium as well but it's up to you if you want to stay on it (as long as it's a reasonable amount). We have found though that women seem to get more boys taking in lots of calcium and magnesium.

If you're already thin with no weight to lose, then up calories until weight loss stops because you risk ovulation stopping altogether. I think your ovulation being late for you this cycle is a coincidence because like I said, it takes awhile for diet to make changes. That being said, if you're really not eating enough I suppose your body could go into basically crisis mode and think ovulating is not a good idea.

The diet you're eating is NOT LE. It's an old school sway diet where people live off cucumbers and low fat dairy. All the foods you were eating before are perfectly fine to eat on LE within limits (1500-1800 cals, 30-60g fat, 40-60g protein). ALL foods are allowed. LE is not a low nutrient diet. Atomic has said before she wishes she could go back and omit that part. It's not necessarily about choosing low nutrient foods, it's just that by eating within the fat, protein, and calorie limits, you're already getting less nutrients than you would if you're snacking all day long and eating high fat, high protein foods at each meal. I would NOT eat a low sodium, low potassium diet because you are risking your health. Our bodies NEED those things for survival and without enough of them, we could die. The IG diet just isn't safe.

[atomic sagebrush]

If you were really, really cutting back hard and you were already thin, it's possible that you may have delayed O even after only a week. So I think you need to aim higher on cal, protein, and fat intake to be sure that you're getting 1500-1800 cals, 40-50 g protein, and 30-60 g fat. And be sure you are NOT counting the protein and fat in fruits and vegetables (they are free for protein and fat) and low carb vegetables like cucumbers and green beans are FREE totally free and unlimited - you don't count anything in them. So if a chunk of your cal, pro, fat intake was coming from those things, you need to eat even more to get and stay pregnant.

You cannot cause any lasting harm to your body by dieting. The problem is that you'll stop ovulating and we'll have to eat somewhat blue friendly to get things working again. We want to avoid having to do that and the key is not cutting back too far at the start. It's better to start off eating more than you think you want to in the long run and then GRADUALLY over time cut back. Diving into the deep end only causes problems and you have a long time to go between now and Feb/March, we need to pace ourselves or you'll waste away to nothing. I'd actually strongly consider eating 1800-2000 cals right now to get things to normalize and then we can see where we are at next month, possibly cutting back more.

This is an old thread about blending the diets together - I'll update it for you right now since I"m updating all my essays this month anwyay. You may find it helpful. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...-for-TTC-Pink=

[atomic sagebrush]

Two weeks on diet won't affect your cycle. It's why we recommend 12+ weeks on diet because it takes that long for changes in the body to happen. Even though it might seem like it, CD20 is not late for ovulation. I would wean off the cranberry because 1) it doesn't sway and 2) it increases bleeding risks. I would drop the magnesium as well but it's up to you if you want to stay on it (as long as it's a reasonable amount). We have found though that women seem to get more boys taking in lots of calcium and magnesium.

If you're already thin with no weight to lose, then up calories until weight loss stops because you risk ovulation stopping altogether. I think your ovulation being late for you this cycle is a coincidence because like I said, it takes awhile for diet to make changes. That being said, if you're really not eating enough I suppose your body could go into basically crisis mode and think ovulating is not a good idea.

The diet you're eating is NOT LE. It's an old school sway diet where people live off cucumbers and low fat dairy. All the foods you were eating before are perfectly fine to eat on LE within limits (1500-1800 cals, 30-60g fat, 40-60g protein). ALL foods are allowed. LE is not a low nutrient diet. Atomic has said before she wishes she could go back and omit that part. It's not necessarily about choosing low nutrient foods, it's just that by eating within the fat, protein, and calorie limits, you're already getting less nutrients than you would if you're snacking all day long and eating high fat, high protein foods at each meal. I would NOT eat a low sodium, low potassium diet because you are risking your health. Our bodies NEED those things for survival and without enough of them, we could die. The IG diet just isn't safe.

If someone is really thin to start with and does a really low cal/low fat diet, they can actually trigger this kind of thing (same reason why I hate to see people get super strict right before O anyway. Usually I totally agree, most of the people who are on diet a week and then think it's affected their cycles it's coincidence but I think this it probably the real deal this time.

[Jodles1987]

Thank you ladies so much for your responses!

I do feel like I may have rushed into it a bit too full on. I think my cycles are quite sensitive to dietary change. I started a strict vegan diet a year or so ago and completely missed my period for a month but then it seemed to go back to normal the following month once I adjusted. Hopefully its just the same happening this time round but will still try and up my calories and make sure I'm getting enough fat and protein etc. I might also start my first meal an hour earlier at 11 or so...

Having said all this, I have been doing opks everyday this cycle and so far no test line has shown up. Today I did one and got a faint test line for the first time, so maybe this means something is starting to happen? I know a faint line is still a negative but maybe LH is slowly building up? I am very new to all this as I have never tracked anything before so am a little clueless :/

Thanks for sharing that info Atomic, I will have a proper read through. I've read through quite a few of your posts and they are all very informative! Really appreciate you sharing your expertise!!

[atomic sagebrush]

It's possible although as it sounds like you know already - faint lines don't mean anything and even your hubby can get those faint lines sometimes!

I think with a small adjustment here and there things will get back on track. Do up cals and especially fat and I think we'll be back in business very soon!

And I'm glad you found the site! Hit me with whatever q's you have!