So, I'm not really a newbie, but I did just recommit to eating clean about a week and a half ago after going somewhat off the rails for the early summer.

Imagine my surprise this morning when my period came a full week early! I am usually verrrry regular, so this was out of the ordinary and I was wondering if anyone else has had changes in their cycles from LCing? Or is this some correlation-does-not-equal-causation thing? Thoughts?

Many people with irregular cycles, and especially those who suffer with PCOS, often find that low carb eating makes their cycles regular but I've never heard of it going the other way so I'd hesitate to assume LC has caused this for you based on one month. Could it be that regular for you was every 5 weeks and now you might be 4? Also, keep in mind that losing weight can cause some hormonal changes (good and bad) in the beginning, so this might be happening to you.

I was past menopause when I started LCing, so it's not exactly my cycle that changed, but something did. Out of nowhere, I had a few weeks of spotting, and then it disappeared, and then a year or so later, I had it again. That was a couple of years ago. Also, suddenly in my sixties, my boobs are growing. Maybe all these changes are our new normal.

Meg

The way I understand this is that estrogen is stored in fat and when we lose fat, estrogen is released. This can explain an early period for you.

This happened to me when I started out 8 yrs ago but have been in menopause since then.

It was similar for me, Megs! I had a couple of episodes of spotting about 6 months into my Atkins journey then nothing. 8 years later I still have in the bathroom cabinet the half packet of tampons I had to unexpectedly go out and buy back then

May I ask advice on behalf of my wife. She has a Mirena IUD...she's now started to spot for a few weeks. Could it be the LC WOE? She is 39

I know low-carb isn't really about calorie counting, but since I'm using fitday to track my carbs, the calories are counted.

I'm five foot six and 42 years old. How many calories are most of you eating? My carbs are between 25-30 (I'm a vegetarian and therefore in-taking a bit higher due to nuts) and my calories are between 1000-1200. If I go higher than that it's because of butter or oil.

This calorie range would be normal for me on a calorie restriction diet but I know from experience that this level of low calories won't last for me for a lifetime. I'm more of a 1600 to 1700 calorie a day eater when I'm being healthy (higher when I'm not, obviously).

Many of my fortysomething friends who are thin eat almost nothing. My sister lives on 500 calories a day with the once a month splurge. I can't relate to this kind of eating. But is that the reality of middle age? If you aren't extremely athletic that is. Obviously women doing 100 mile bike races are in a different category.

So what are your calorie ranges? The long term LC people and short term. Men obviously have a different range.

I am 5'7 and 32 - I average between 1600 and 1800 most days, but can go as low as 1200 or above 2000 depending on what the day is like. I am also moderately active, biking and walking everywhere and practicing yoga for an hour to 90 minutes daily. Carbs are below 20 for now, but after this week I'm going to start adding in 5 at a time and see how that goes.

I am hoping fat loss triggered the early cycle and that this is my new norm - that it doesn't shorten to a 21-day cycle or something. Thanks for the answers everyone!

Bookish, I would call you active if you exercise more than an hour each day. Yoga burns calories! That's impressive. Thanks for the info.