Most women gain a small amount of weight prior to periods. Maybe you have lost weight but because your period was arriving early it appears you’ve not lost. Weigh again after it’s finished. I’m happy to say I no longer have the monthlies but I do remember that if I made what my body thought was drastic changes, they would be a little erratic. 🙂

Can we just start a thread for ladies of a Different Certain Age (the part where we get periods and have babies and still want to change our health habits)?

So here’s what I’ve learned about periods and diets. Fat stores estrogen, so any time you start disrupting your fat stores, you are likely to have some cycle disruption as well. I’ve tried a few of the fad diets in the last year (paleo, gluten free, alternate day fasting and now this) and with every single one I’ve had some blips – either early period, mid-cycle bleeding or totally long cycles. It’s annoying as all get out.

Mainemom, you might not have lost weight in lbs yet, but perhaps you’ve shifted some of your fat stores enough to release a big dose of estrogen into your system. I’ve also found that I start getting hot flashes and more severe PMS when I’m on these things. It will even out once your body reaches a better weight point. If you’re not on birth control and you don’t want to get pregnant, I’d be extra cautious in the romance department in case you’re ovulating at different times than normal. The lack of weight loss might also be that you were retaining water leading up to getting that early period.

Just keep track of what’s happening on your calendar. I use the an app like fertility friend or something else, where you can chart symptoms. Everyone seems to say you have to stick with this plan for at least 8 weeks. I started last Monday (today is my 4th fast day), I’ve lost 3lbs so far but that was all last week. This week I’ve been stuck in the mud so far.

If I start a thread, will you fertile ladies come and hang out? 😉

Marion – all the lovely jumpers go to the kids. 🙂

I’ve been doing HIIT too…or I think I am. 3 – 20 sec sprints of something hard (burpees, running in place, etc) 3x per week. Other days I mostly do yoga. I’ve been trying to do a few sets of jumping jacks every day (like 4 sets of 50…it’s a good way to get the wiggles out of the kids). It feels good to be moving! I love the burst of energy I’ve been getting from HIIT.

Yesterday was my 4th fast day. I ended up just below 600 cals which I am counting as totally okay because 1) I was 400 cal under my TDEE the day before and 2) My toddler is still nursing. I know they say it’s not advised for breastfeeding moms (I definitely agree for anyone breastfeeding a baby under 12 mos), but I’ve fasted before while breastfeeding and my milk supply is very well established and she’s over 2 so it’s not her main food supply any more.

I’m glad to find other moms here. I’ve always found it’s a bit harder to find support for our particular station in life. There are plenty of young women (20-somethings) and a plenty of pre-peri-post meno women who are very active. But losing weight when you’re in the middle of your child-bearing years and finding a way to do it that doesn’t involve Jessica Simpson-esque crash diets and allows you to keep up with the demands of work and mothering younger children (mine three are 8 and under)…it’s hard.

So what shall we call our thread? 🙂