Bad Body Odour since starting MFP? - Help Please

Hi all,

I've never had body odour problems before. I could workout all day without getting any BO. However, lately I've been smelling a little BO. Nothing too bad that others can smell, but I'm starting to worry. I think it started around the time I started my diet and fitness lifestyle.

I'm just wondering, has anyone had the same issue? Is it because of a change in my diet? What can I do to fix the situation? I hate that I smell like BO!

Thanks in advance!
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Replies

  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Haven't had this issue, but maybe invest in some body spray and some good deodorant? Don't go for the froo froo, go for the sports kinds?
  • baybeejulia
    baybeejulia Posts: 218 Member
    I've been using the Rexona body spray but I think I might try a new one..
  • grentea
    grentea Posts: 96 Member
    How do you know if you have Bo? Did you ask someone? Some foods like garlic and onions are known to make people smell. Have you been eating anything particularly smelly?
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    In to see if someone tells her it's because she's detoxing, and the resulting melee. ;p

    But seriously - what are you eating differently, OP?
  • james6998
    james6998 Posts: 743 Member
    How do you know if you have Bo? Did you ask someone? Some foods like garlic and onions are known to make people smell. Have you been eating anything particularly smelly?
    Bingo, today at the gym i was sweating garlic. My mistake when i was cooking i used garlic salt instead of garlic powder.
  • degree motion sense
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    Big changes in protein intake can also change your natural BO (maybe because of the byproducts of metabolizing protein?), not necessarily bad or good, just different and you might be sensitive to that. And obviously increasing veggies with volatile compounds (eg aliums = garlic and onions, or cabbagey things) can do this pretty directly.

    Since OP's diary isn't open, it's hard to be specific.

    But if there's not an underlying health problem behind it, and if you're not on any medication, you might want to look into eating dietary activated charcoal tablets or capsules, which you can often get at health food stores. They also help with the ahem fragrance associated with flatulence.
  • MaryJane_8810002
    MaryJane_8810002 Posts: 2,082 Member
    Eat more greens and drink more water.
  • Matt24442
    Matt24442 Posts: 324
    Have you showered since you started using mfp?
  • mnxl
    mnxl Posts: 48 Member
    yes, I have it really bad, my shirts reek even after i wash them i can still smell it.
  • Iron_Lotus
    Iron_Lotus Posts: 2,295 Member
    How do you know if you have Bo? Did you ask someone? Some foods like garlic and onions are known to make people smell. Have you been eating anything particularly smelly?
    Bingo, today at the gym i was sweating garlic. My mistake when i was cooking i used garlic salt instead of garlic powder.

    Oh *kitten*! I cook with garlic salt, may have to switch to garlic powder. Luckily I have not experienced any unpleasant smells.
  • baybeejulia
    baybeejulia Posts: 218 Member
    Yes I have showered lol.

    I actually eat less onion and garlic since I started my diet than I did before, a lot less. I can't seem to see any reason why in my diet. I drink lots of water and eat plenty of salads and vegetables.

    I'm opening my diary now, but please dont look at the end of last week, it was my fall out period, anything beyond that is a true reflection of what I have been eating.
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    I looked at your diary and agree it's not your diet. My next guess is that it's just laundry related. The synthetic fibers used in workout wear tend to resist laundering.

    1. Pre soak in water + baking soda. 15 minutes will do, and you can't harm by oversoaking.
    2. For really stubborn smells, add 1 cup white vinegar to the soap section during laundering. I promise, this will NOT make you smell like salad dressing.
    3. Do NOT use fabric softener with workout clothes. It tends to make them less able to get clean the next time they're laundered. Something to do with repelling water (in addition to the fact that modern activewear is usually made of water repellant fabric).
    4. If it's at all an option, air dry in sunlight. Sunlight is a natural deoderizer.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    degree motion sense

    X2
  • Aviendha_RJ
    Aviendha_RJ Posts: 600 Member
    I started using an OTC anti-perspirant called "Drysol"... I'm in Canada though. It's SERIOUSLY hardcore. I use it twice a week before bed, and I have ZERO ability to sweat under my arms anymore. Probably bad for me... but I don't sweat/smell anymore.
  • Are you sure it's you and not your clothes? Bacteria *love* to eat our sweat which leads to some smelly clothes. If you're not washing them well enough and then putting them back on then the bacteria is still there and will make your clothes smelly. I doubt it's your food, but that's just my 2c.
  • XTSH
    XTSH Posts: 129 Member
    I switched to Dove Roll-on deodorant as the spray type don't work for me at all. Working pretty well.
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
    How often do you wash your hair? I don't like to wash mine more than 2 or 3 times per week, but since I work out a lot now, my hair would smell a little. I bought some dry shampoo and it helped a lot.
  • baybeejulia
    baybeejulia Posts: 218 Member
    Thanks everyone!

    I think I'm going to try soaking all my bras in baking soda, lets see how that goes.
  • recoveryjunky
    recoveryjunky Posts: 162 Member
    Honestly, I use degree for men lol I think it smells AMAZING and, in my opinion, "man" deodorant smells mesh better with my body scents making them seem less, I don't know, artificial (?) than "woman" deodorant smells. A thing of deodorant isn't more than $5 usually so just try out a few over a couple months :)
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    Diet changes body chemistry, so agree with the plenty of greens (due to the chlorophyll) and water statement. Also, everyone's body chemistry is a little different. That's why there are so many perfumes and colognes to choose from. I know I can wear things like Drakkar and Acqua Di Gio and be fine, but colognes like Polo and Obsession, smells bad on me after it mixes with my natural sweat. I was also using an Old Spice deodorant, but at the end of the day...whew! Wife got me some natural roll-on and now even after a long sweaty day, no smell that I can detect and she has not complained any to me.
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    Speaking as someone whose sense of smell borders on having a superpower, here is a PSA. Please do not use perfume to cover up BO.

    I'm not saying this as someone who hates perfume, or claims that it irritates my sinuses or allergies. I'm saying it smells very different when applied to a bad smelling person than when applied to a neutral or good smelling person.

    Modern perfumes are chemically composed of a combination of two types of chemical agents:

    1. agents that have a nice smell
    2. agents that attach to smelly molecules and cause them to disperse (this is why cheaper perfumes have alcohol in them; more expensive perfumes have something similar but more odor neutral). This is actually what's mostly in the bottle.

    This second agent will pick up not just the good smells in the perfume bottle but also your BO smells and your stale bad laundry smells and your bad breath and your stale cigarette smoke blend them together in a witches brew and CARRY THEM LONGER DISTANCES IN A CLOUD AROUND YOUR BODY. It is seriously gagworthy.

    PLEASE do not use perfume to try to cover up BO; it will only make it more noticeable and more vile to everyone around you. If you cannot correct a BO problem at its source and must "cover up" the smell, don't use perfume. Use sweet-smelling sachets in your laundry or use essential oils that have not been formulated into an actual perfume including that sneaky second agent.

    If you are a neutral to good smelling person, perfume away. Just please don't add it to funk.
  • RosannaElizabethL
    RosannaElizabethL Posts: 25 Member
    Stress hormones can increase sweat production. There's stress involved in changing your diet, so that could be it.
    Otherwise, drink a lot of water and use maximum strength deodorant.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    confused....
    so like, did MFP cause this???????
    ha ha ha ha
  • hopefaithlove24
    hopefaithlove24 Posts: 454 Member
    Have you showered since you started using mfp?


    Haha you made my day!!!
  • brendadale1
    brendadale1 Posts: 90 Member
    I think just like our hair..the PH can get unbalanced..Id say try some different deodorants:) something our body can adjust to...Best of luck to ya:)
  • Have you showered since you started using mfp?

    well, there went my question.
  • Bankman1989
    Bankman1989 Posts: 1,116 Member
    I wash my *kitten* regularly so I don't have this problem. I suggest you start doing the same.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,282 Member
    I was my *kitten* regularly......

    Sorry to hear that.
  • Bankman1989
    Bankman1989 Posts: 1,116 Member
    I was my *kitten* regularly......

    Sorry to hear that.

    lol..wash!