day 24, very late ovulating?

[MeganR]

My last 3 cycles have been 27 days exactly, with ovulation around day 16 or 17. I'm on day 19 of my cycle and showing zero signs of ovulation. Do I need more fats? starchy carbs? We are not trying to get pregnant or anything but I do follow my body signs so I know what's going on with my cycle and this has me worried I am not eating enough of something. Any advice?

[Karen]

Is this your first Whole30?  If so, that can sometimes throw the body for a loop while it's trying to figure out if the recent changes are good or bad.  Any sort of stress on the body can prevent or delay ovulation.  Think of it this way: back in the day, if there was a famine, your body would sense that now might not be the best time to get pregnant and use up all your body's resources on baby.  Ovulation would likely be delayed until conditions were more favorable.

 

Now, with the Whole30, you may be giving your body lots of nutrition in ways that it hasn't seen before.  And that's a good thing.  But, the change in your eating habits might be enough to make your body put ovulation on pause until it's sure that the changes are indeed good.  

 

If you check out the ladies only board, you'll see tons of cycle changes.  In my observation, women that are on the pill tend to get their period sooner than normal during their Whole30 and women that aren't on the pill tend to get their period later than normal during their Whole30.  

 

I'm not trying to get pregnant, either, but I track my ovulation and cycles pretty rigorously to keep a handle on things as I have some pretty serious hormonal imbalances.  For me, I find that my body needs more carbs in order to ovulate on time.  I'm about 3 months into a modified Whole30.  Last month, I wasn't keeping close enough tabs on my carb intake and ovulation was delayed by 12 days.  This month, I'm making a point to eat enough carbs and I'm having ovulation signals right on time (day 21 for me).  Fat is important for hormones - particularly cholesterol as it's the building block of the sex hormones.  So are carbs.  It might be worth increasing both a bit to see if you notice any changes.

[MeganR]

Thanks Karen! yes it's my first whole30. I didn't even realize there was a lady's only board! thanks!