New Diet, Early Periods and Mood Swings
 

Hi everyone. Bit of an icky topic, I'm sorry, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced the same thing as I'm going through now.

I'm 22 and usually have regular periods. I never get PMS or "mood swings" and I assumed they were just an excuse grumpy people gave. :P But I started a diet plan 3 weeks ago, where I eat about 1200 HEALTHY calories a day. My body is getting far more goodness than it's ever gotten before. And I'm still having a bit of chocolate most days. But I have to admit the last 4 days I've been super irritable. I have such a short temper and I have snapped at people over ridiculous things a couple of times - something I wouldn't normally do! And then yesterday, out of nowhere, I started my period nearly 2 weeks early! So obviously my hormone levels are going a bit weird. Could this be due to the change in my diet? I assume it will go back to normal after some time, when my body gets used to my diet. I'm just surprised: I thought my body would like it? I'm not losing weight dramatically or anything, just 3/4 of a pound last week, and I can feel myself getting fitter. I'm eating carbs, healthy fats and protein. The only thing that's dramatically changed is my calorie count, as usually I'd eat very calorie dense foods. Anyone else had this when they first started?

Personally I think 1200 is a little low of a calorie intake. Do you feel hungry? Do you feel tired or a bit sluggish? Your changes in mood do sound like it's down to your diet, but I'm not expert.

Do you exercise? If you added a good workout routine then the endorphins will perk up your mood. I always feel happier when I've been exercising.

I'm not that hungry because I eat quite frequently. And yea I've been exercising 3/4 times a week. And on those days I usually eat back the calories that I burnt. But I think I'm going to increase my calories a bit anyway, to see if that has an effect. I don't like being in a mood! :P

Then yeah, you might need to be eating more! What kind of exercise are you doing? Are you eating enough protein? Protein is important! Bump it up to 1400/1500 and see how you feel. If you were losing weight before on a certain calorie amount then maybe stick to that amount but with the healthy food.

You might even want to see the GP about this though, the period thing and the hormone level change is a bit strange. I always find I'm in a better mood after exercising and eating right not the opposite!

I had that happen when I first started losing. I was eating around 1300 calories and I bled for 2 weeks straight. I increased my calories to 1450 for a week and the bleeding stopped. Then I slowly decreased them back to 1350 and everything has been fine since. I can now vary my calories anywhere from 1200 to 1450 with no problems. I think I just shocked my body by dropping my calories too low too quickly.

Thanks for the advice. I'll leave the GP for now and increase the calories to see if it goes away.

You bled for two weeks Angie? Wow. I have noticed that this is a "strange" period also. (TMI but..) I'm normally lucky with my periods and tend to be fairly light... but I've found this time I'm really heavy. So my body really isn't having fun this week is it!? Ha ha.

So I'll just increase my calories and see how that goes. I also had a look on myfitnesspal calorie counter and I've not eaten that many fats at all lately. And fats go a long way towards making hormones so that might be why! I must have been subconsciously avoiding them because I see them as bad, but it may be that I need some healthy ones in my diet! Best find some good fats then! :)

Yeah, that was slightly annoying. lol. Every time I thought it was about to stop it would come right back.

I hope you get everything figured out. I bet it's just a simple diet adjustment like mine was, though. :)