Swaying pink and irregular cycles

[SummerHope]

I've been tracking my cycles with an app for about 5 years now and typically have a fairly regular 28-31 day cycle.
I started LE in September and Im wondering if that messed up my periods... in October I had a 38 day cycle, November I was doing a trial run with OPKs and never got a positive but had a 30 day cycle (so am assuming I ovulated), and now I am currently a week late for my period on cycle day 37 waiting for af and having no symptoms so I feel like it won't come anytime soon.

We just started actually "trying" in December (did 1 attempt when I got a solid smiley on a CB digital opk which was on day 15 but again never got a positive on the standard pink dye opk) and I've had two bfn's so I know I'm not pregnant. Also does this mean the opk was a false positive because wouldn't I expect a 29 or 30 day cycle if I had a positive opk on day 15?

My doctor didn't think much of it when I asked about it in October as my blood work has been normal and he said the only way to regulate was birth control which obviously I don't want!

I'm just wondering if it could be the diet making my cycle weird, is this a common side effect? I dropped weight fast when I first got on the LE diet but after upping cals, fat, and protein my weight has been steady for the couple months and my BMI is normal (19) even after adding 60min exercise 5-6 days a week (which I started mid november).

Are there any herbs or supps I should try to regulate my cycle or should I further alter the diet in any way to help?
I know Im only a month into TTC so its silly to be discouraged so soon but I'm just feeling frustrated because I feel like I won't be able to get pregnant if I don't have a somewhat normal cycle

[atomic sagebrush]

How much calories, protein, and fat are you eating?

It's very common with LE Diet, particularly if you cut back too far at ANY point(even if you later try to relax on diet) to see delayed ovulation. It will correct over time if you're eating enough, so please give me your macros when u have a chance

NO HERBS. The herbs do not work for wacky cyccles caused by diet and in fact usually make matters worse. The herbs that are said to "regulate cycles' only work for people whose cycles go weird from PCOS. You have the opposite problem and so taking herbs will be like tossing gas onto a fire.

You don't need supplements, we need to be sure your'e eating enough!

[SummerHope]

Thank you for your reply!

I have been eating 50-60 grams of both fat and protein, sometimes even a little over for at least the past couple months, I haven't really been counting calories just because Im trying not to get too obsessed but I'd estimate I've probably been eating 1800 to 2000 each day because the past couple days I've been tracking just to see and that's where I've been. I've been trying to eat more calorie and fat/protein dense foods since adding in exercise.

My period finally started this morning, so it ended up a 40 day cycle! Hopefully it will regulate itself like you mentioned, when I started the diet I was eating a lot more low cal and low fat foods and was probably only getting 30grams daily and I was struggling to meet the minimum calories, so maybe things are still wacky from the time when my nutrients were too low?

That being said since I got the positive clear blue OPK on day 15 this past cycle I'm assuming that was a false positive, because It doesnt make sense I would have ovulated at a normal time and then had a 40 day cycle right?

So I'm feeling really confused about going forward this cycle now since things have been inconsistent the past few months. Would you recommend I continue testing with the CB even after I get a positive this cycle if it's around day 15 again just in case it's not accurate and I'm actually ovulating later? And if I did that, would we just BD once anytime it is a solid smiley on the test? I've tried the OPK pink dye strips and it seems I can never get a positive on those, so I plan to stick with the CB tests... but I am confused how to figure out when we should have our attempt and am wondering what you would advise.

[atomic sagebrush]

Are you counting the small amounts of protein and fat in fruits and vegetables, and anything in low carb veg?? Sometimes people are getting much les thn they realise.

I also find that sometimes after people stop counting, they inadvertently start cutting back without realizing it so I'd add up an average day just to be sure you're getting enough.

Yes it can sometimes take a few months to work it all out if you had time where you were cutting back too far. (this is actually ok, while frustrating, because it may mean you're more pink friendly) Your body sometimes gets mixed up and takes a while to sort things out even when you've upped nutrient intake.

Yes the Clearblue on CD 15 was a false pos. You may have surged and then your body, for some reason "decided" to hold onto the egg a little longer. Or it may be that the Clearblue (which it does sometimes) mistook an increase in hormones for the surge and then you actually surged later on.

My advice from here on in is to go to every 4 days. Unprotected sex every 4 days starting after AF ends and going all the way thru till you're sure you've ovualted, even if it means going all the way through to your next cycle starting.

If you want a possibly better chance of pink with slightly lower chance of conception, do the "every 96 hour" way of counting the 4 days, and then if you prefer possibly slightly lower chance of pink with better chance of conception count it in the "every 72 hours" pattern of e4d. (there is no magic to the number of hours, that's just how you count the days.

[SummerHope]

Thanks so much for your quick reply!
I haven't been counting fat/protein/calories in really any fruits or veggies, I've been trying to be pretty relaxed about the diet and just keep track of the more nutrient dense foods for my totals. I will track more closely the next couple days to make sure I'm in the right range though because I know sometimes I have a tendency to get too restrictive with diets but I've really been trying not to.
We will plan to go to e4d this cycle. So with doing e4d is there any need to continue doing ovulation tests or is it OK to drop them at this point?

[atomic sagebrush]

Ok perfect. Just have to be sure because sometimes people DO count that stuff and when we recalculate they're eating barely anythign other than broccoli.

Totally fine to drop opk with e4d and in fact I prefer it.