Need Diet Help - specifically lowering sodium

[fourunderfour]

Hello!
Day 3 of the LE diet. I've been tracking all my foods and exercise on "myfitnesspal.com" - wow! That's a good site!
Looks like I'm doing okay on calcium - right around 40... cals are between 1000-1200.
Potassium was around 1200 for 2 days, then today around 1800.
I saw somewhere suggested that it is suppose to be between 2500-3500? HOW!?
Sodium though is in the 1300-1500+ per day.
I guess I'm not coming up with the right amounts of foods to make the calories higher but the sodium lower?
Also not sure how to calculate calories from fat.
Is there a more detailed outline of what to eat in the dream members section? I will become a member if so...I'm not sure I'm getting the correct amount of food here.
Also, I've been out running 30-40 mins a day (working my way up to 60, but it is CHALLENGING!...didn't realize how much of a couch potato i was... ;)
I'd LOVE some help!!!
Katie
wife to Tim (7 1/2 yrs)
mom to 4 boys:
Cale (5), Megersa (2 1/2), Thaddeus & Shepherd (14 mo)

[atomic sagebrush]

yes, there's much more detailed info in the Dream Members section including lists of foods, meal plans, some nutritional info, and the complete LE Diet and lots of discussion about it. I wish I could post it all publicly but some of the swaying sites have very sticky fingers unfortunately. :/ In the DM section, there's a post called "quick fixes for diet disasters" that has a list of foods that you can use for more protein, more potassium, etc. and also another thread called "100-300 cal snacks" which will help you increase your calorie intake. It can be a challenge with PCOS because some of the easy ways to get calories are simple carbs, but if you up your fruit intake, you'll get calories with fiber and your PCOS will not be aggravated.

Yeah, you do need to be getting more potassium. Coconut water and fruits and vegetables are the best way to get potassium without any other nutrients.

Sodium can be tricky - you have to choose the right foods to begin with. Some foods are so heavy in sodium that you can't have much (dairy and storebought breads chief among them.) The good news is, sodium is the best thing to go over on - I really don't think it sways much if at all.

With PCOS, the benefits of exercise to your blood sugar levels (and as a result, testosterone) is pretty substantial and even if you can't make it to the full 60 min a day, you may do so much good for lowering your blood sugar, that you counteract/exceed any risk to your muscle mass. I wish I had all the answers on that but not enough data, unfortunately.

[fourunderfour]

Glad to hear all that...especially about the sodium. I have really just been eating fruits, veggies and yogurts (among rice cakes and special K crisps for snacks...), but happened to eat homemade soup I made before the diet. REALLY low cals, but packed with sodium because it was full of beans galore! love me some beans though...so healthy!
At any rate, I have my wallet out now...going to become a dream member. I hope there is more info on PCOS diets too! :)
Certainly glad to hear that sodium is an okay thing to go over on...hard to believe it's in so much of our foods!!
I've actually seen results just from the few days I've been exercising - down 2.5 lbs already! :)
Am I starting to lose weight (to sway pink) too soon? We plan to ttc in Sept... What if I get down to a weight and have trouble losing after that..would that sway blue again?
Oh, and just read all the info about J&D. I always do that after dtd EXCEPT with my pregnancies...ha! Would you recommend it for me...doing abstain (with hubby taking licorice root)?


Regarding PCOS, would you consider taking asprin with metformin? Both cause diarrhea... I am slowly making my way to the higher doses of metformin, should I just do the same with asprin so as to give my GI tract time to recover?

Thanks so much for all the info. Excited to see what's on the members site (there's already SO much here).
Katie

[atomic sagebrush]

I need to finish the PCOS Diet stuff and get it posted, I'm sorry.

No, you're not starting too soon - I answered this in depth on your other thread but I think it's best to get the weight off and maintain rather than trying to time weight loss, that's backfired on several people.

I would prob. lay down for 5 min and then do a jump and dump with abstain and 1 attempt. Zanacal did get pg with one attempt and jump and dump right away, but most people have a bit of trouble. 5 min. is sort of a happy compromise.

Good question about the met and the aspirin. My good friend who just went HT, was told to take both met and aspirin at the same time so I know it's safe and something doctors recommend, but I would be super careful for stomach upset.

I always want everyone to ease into aspirin; because it's a blood thinner, if you start off with high doses you can have bruising or bleeding. If you start small and work up, you'll make sure that your body has time to adjust.

[fourunderfour]

I am a brusier for sure...like alot of the people in the aspirin/cranberry thread. I will most likely notice if I have too high of a level......so that's good. How many a week is ideal to "work up to?" Did I read 3 somewhere.....
No worries about the PCOS diet stuff. I appreciate your willingness to do it at all!
Quick question about exercising - what about jumping rope? Yay or nay?
Did 30 min of zumba tonight cuz it was raining outside - whoa. that's a butt kicker! ha! :)
And to "combine" questions from other threads:
You mentioned taking SP and Vitex for 2 weeks and then stop and see what happens. Should I pick any random day or wait for a few weeks longer to see if AF shows up on it's own and then start taking them on CD1?
You mentioned that they should not be taken with Clomid - what about Follistim?
And one last Q:
Would you suggest RePhresh for me (considering I'm HT, does that matter?)
With ttc on follistim - doing the diet, taking baby aspirin... using antihistamines (which would you suggest?)...DH taking licorice root...and doing abstain then 1 attempt - what exact time should I DTD?
I'll try to clarify if I can. When I am told to take the trigger shot, ovulation is said to occur 36 hours later. At what point in those 36 hours should we DTD? Note: the trigger is usually taken late at night...well, at least it was when I did IUI b/c they want to schedule it early in the am. So, would you suggest we wait until the morning after the trigger (24 hrs before O) or that night?....

Thanks in advance!
Katie

[atomic sagebrush]

How much aspirin to take depends on how much you can tolerate. I personally can't tolerate ANY cran or aspirin at all so I never took it. If you're in that boat, you have the option of doing Vit. C for acidity instead - I don't generally recommend that because nutrients = boys and Vit C makes EWCM for a lot of people. But, it's something to consider. I would start at 2 a week and gradually work up to no more than 5 (most peopel under 50 will have bleeding if they take aspirin every day).

Jumping rope is great if your bladder can handle it! Let's just say I had an ill-advised experiment with jumping rope that ended badly and that was after only two kids! :)

I've tried to look up vitex and SP on several occasions and gotten so much conflicting info that I don't know what to think. I think it would be best for you to take V and SP in the month or two before your planned attempts, then stop them both on CD 1 of that month (just like you'd do with Clomid) and go from there. That way, you'll get the benefits without the risk that they'll interfere with the Follistim.

Since you're not TTC right now, I'd go ahead and give the V and SP a try and see what happens. Take them for 2 weeks but be on the lookout in case they trigger an ovulation.

How much of a sway you want to do, depends on how many cycles you're willing to try while on the Follistim. Themore you do to sway, the less your odds of pg will be. If your doctor will panic after 1-2 BFN and start insisting on IUI, then that's not a good trade for you and you should pull out the stops from the beginning. Unfortunately, we just don't have enough data to really know which of the sway tactics are the most effective.

Giving you my gut instinct here, I would have you skip RepHresh, keep antihistamine (cetirizine) but maybe use a light hand with it (use it only the day before your attempt and not the day of) and have DH try LR and abstain (one month only and if you get BFN, drop the LR) Plus, diet and baby aspirin if you can handle it, diet and Vit. C if you can't. Vitex and SP the month before attempt and none the month of.

I would time my BD for the night of the trigger shot. DTD the day before ovulation yields much higher rates of pg than waiting until the day of ovulation. That's the timing that got me my DD.

[fourunderfour]

Thanks for all your suggestions!
I just need to clarify the V and SP - I do not get a regular period....for the months preceding, I really just wouldn't know when to take it. I've gone well over 2 months without a cycle. Longest I think was just under a year. Are you saying I should just start them the day I get them (regardless of having a cycle or not?)?

My thoughts on the RE:
Most likely I will go in and we will talk about my plan to do follistim with TI - she'll give me her checklist of things for me to do: metformin, progesterone, possibly get another HSG exam, a pap smear...and then I'll tell her when I plan to start ttc (we were thinking Sept, but maybe a month or two before). I'm almost certain she will give me a prescription for provera to start my period when I'm ready and then I'll need to come in on day 3 for bloodwork, etc..... u/s and bloodwork to follow until the eggs are ripe and ready for trigger (you know the drill....)

I dont know if I'd let them really talk me into the IUI for quite awhile...I dont see the benefits of it as long as DH is ok. They let regular fertile couples try for a yr without help.... ((And they're still getting our insurance benefits. ;))
I still sorta feel I'd like to try the rePhresh....or do you think that it makes more sense for someone doing FR?
If not rePhresh would you suggest Sylk or acijel? (we will most likely use some sort of lube...so what would you suggest?)
Thanks for the help. :)

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, start them just at a random point in your cycle, take for 2 weeks, then stop. Even if you don't get a regular period. We've seen some miracles occur with vitex in particular, and the SP also seems to really help with PCOS.

As long as you feel ok with them possibly pressuring you to do the IUI, that's fine! Go ahead with the RepHresh if you like - I just didn't want you to end up in a bad situation and them balking at continuing the Follistim unless you agreed to IUI. Better by far to get pg quick with just the Follistim and a lighter sway, than go into the IUI.

RepHresh is always good and always makes sense, but it does cut down odds of pg.

Sylk is the best lube of any of them if you need one. I was not thrilled with the lube properties of RepHresh.

[fourunderfour]

Do you think though - without using many swaying tactics I may just as well end up with a boy - like I would with IUI? I feel like I might be willing to give it a few months before pulling out ALL the stops. Has anyone swayed with just diet and exercise alone? (I mean, outside of just regular people who seem to get girls all the time. I am honestly the only one of my friends without a girl and they don't seem to do anything special - even the ones who wanted a boy got a girl w/o trying).

...I'm pretty sure this will be our last baby and I really do hope and pray for a girl.
That being said I don't want to stay on this diet longer than I need to.....

[atomic sagebrush]

The only thing I did to get my girl was I alone did diet (DH wouldn't sway), lost 3 lbs, and I took vitex, but I stopped it the month before I conceived anyway. We were BD every 4 days in perfect boy pattern and I didn't jump and dump, I laid flat after we DTD (again, sways blue). We did happen to have a lot of stress, high caffeine intake, and lack of sleep working for us and my huband had just taken up occasionally smoking a pipe but only a couple times a week. I didn't do any jelly, antihistamine, supps, or anything else.

People DO get girls all the time and I personally think that taking a relaxed approach is actually quite beneficial for a sway. It helps your T levels to stay low to just be going about your life and then get pg, vs. launching into the "Great Sway of 2012" plan and monitoring all these details. Viewing swaying as a prize to be won, or a laundry list of goals to be accomplished and if you do them all, then you'll have a guarantee, is a recipe for a failed sway. So altho I know it's difficult to believe, you can actually have a BETTER sway by letting go of some things if it helps you to keep calm, cool, and collected.

[fourunderfour]

You know, that really does make a lot of sense to me.
Okay, so diet (possibly exercise - I PMed you some thoughts I was having...)
Vitex and SP for 1-2 months prior to TTC months (initially starting for 2 weeks then seeing what happens, right?)
Baby Aspirin between 2-4 a week
Metformin
Abstain, then DTD the night of trigger
DH- LR the month of TTC (from AF-O)
Cetirizine on day before attempt
(i think this could be a bit tricky - I'm can't be sure when they are going to say "yes, go ahead and trigger tonight" - maybe I'll just do it when my eggs are almost mature to the best of my estimate? Last time I went in for an u/s and my eggs were 16.9 and 17.2 - the next morning they were 17.9 and 18.2 - both mature and both released...thoughts?)
Sylk as a lube
[/B]DTD -lay for 5 min, then J&D
Maybe rePhresh after attempt? - or would I take it before? If I was just going to use it once, about when would you suggest using it?

Does this sound like a 'full' but relaxed sway?
I'm certainly not a type A person, but I just would love to give it my best shot! :)

Would you suggest anything else?
Thanks in advance.

[fourunderfour]

"We did happen to have a lot of stress, high caffeine intake, and lack of sleep working for us"

Is alot of stress good for swaying pink?
I thought stress raised testosterone.... I do remember reading something about a death in the family, or losing a miss america pagent ;)...but these things don't happen very often, right?
Lack of sleep? I feel like I read someone stating that as part of their sway, but I never got to finding the explanation of why that helps. I am a terrible sleeper, but TRY my best to get sleep all the time because I covet it!
I'd say I average about 7 hrs (though broken) a night.
How much is "high" for caffeine intake?

[atomic sagebrush]

Everything looks great!! :agree:

since you're not sure when they'll tell you to trigger and it may be hard to time the Cetirizine, you can do Benadryl instead. It works within 1-2 hours after taking it and keeps working for 4-6 hours (cetirizine takes about 6 hours to kick in and then works for 24-48 hours). So if you go with Benadryl, you can time it closer to when they trigger you.

I don't like people using anything after BD. It's pointless because the sperm flee the VJ almost right away and are soon out of reach of anything you put in your vagina, and if you use it immediately after BD you also risk killing off a lot of swimmers (and not doing any good anyway because the sperm don't have to pass thru the RepHresh on the way to the cervix. Use RepHresh 8-12 hours before your attempt - this allows time for it to spread into all the nooks and crannies, but also lets it mellow so it won't kill off everything it touches.

[atomic sagebrush]

"We did happen to have a lot of stress, high caffeine intake, and lack of sleep working for us"

Is alot of stress good for swaying pink?
I thought stress raised testosterone.... I do remember reading something about a death in the family, or losing a miss america pagent ;)...but these things don't happen very often, right?
Lack of sleep? I feel like I read someone stating that as part of their sway, but I never got to finding the explanation of why that helps. I am a terrible sleeper, but TRY my best to get sleep all the time because I covet it!
I'd say I average about 7 hrs (though broken) a night.
How much is "high" for caffeine intake?

Stress is a funny thing and one of the hardest things for me to explain to people. There is more than one type of stress. There's a kind of positive stress that you get from tackling projects you're excited about, and overcoming challenges successfully; it's usually somewhat short-lived in nature and you feel like you're in control, even when things don't always go according to plan. You feel good about yourself for taking it on and it doesn't make you unhappy deep down inside, and generally, it's NOT a matter of life and death. (Miss America pageant, Pillsbury Bake-Off, playing sports, and swaying all fit into this category.) Even if things aren't good (even if it IS a matter of life or death), you're confident that you can improve the situation somehow, by wits or by strength. This kind of stress can raise testosterone because testosterone is a kind of tool or fuel that you use to stay strong, in control, and even competitive in challenging circumstances. If you can WIN at a situation by being tougher or more competitive than the other guy, then it pays genetically speaking, to be more mentally "set" to take such a challenge on.

Then there's a kind of insidious, chronic, stress that comes from being stuck in a situation that's really, really not good and totally out of your control. Feeling hopeless and discouraged about things and that there is little or nothing you can do to make things better. This sort of stress lowers testosterone, because in nature, if your T levels stayed high in the face of circumstances out of your control (as in, your tribe was just conquered by the Visigoths) a person who stayed high in T while that was happening might be more likely to seek out confrontation. When in reality, the best survival strategy in that case would be to keep your head down and fly under the radar. Suffering losses, failures, repeated setbacks etc. can lower T in and of themselves, and also just long term chronic stress without any reprieve for months on end can kind of wear out your body and it just doesn't respond as strongly to stimuli any more. It literally can't make T because it no longer is quite sure what stimuli are worthy of response and what needs to be ignored.

Extrapolating to gender ratio, in nature, boys are much more likely to survive to reproduce when their parents are dominant in society. So cues your body receives that you are a dominant member of society (the type of stress that raises T) tends to sway blue because your genes "think" a boy has a better chance to hand down lots of genes (they may grow up bigger, stronger, richer, and better able to compete for mates). In situations where parents are NOT dominant members of society, girls are more likely to survive to reproduce because most females have at least one offspring regardless of size/dominance/social standing (even smaller, sickly females of all species, can find someone to mate with, and in all human cultures, it's easier for women to "marry up" than it is for men). This does NOT mean that girl moms are "losers" and boy moms are "winners", just that certain sets of circumstances can lower/raise testosterone accordingly because of certain factors that have been universally true for milennia.

Those things actually DO happen to us every day more than we even realize. Read my sway in the sway section if you want to see the kind of stress I was under when I conceived DD. It was not outside the norm.

Lack of sleep can sway pink because your body doesn't have time to rest and build muscle and heal. Declining maternal condition sways pink, lower fertility sways pink, and less muscle mass sways pink.

High caffeine intake is more than you normally drink.

[ThroughWithBlue]

No, you're not starting too soon - I answered this in depth on your other thread but I think it's best to get the weight off and maintain rather than trying to time weight loss, that's backfired on several people.

Hope it's ok to ask a question here for atomic.. could you clarify something for me? Is it best to not lose any weight at all before you officially start swaying? I've been trying to lose a few pounds as I've been feeling really bloated lately. I've been running a lot and my legs are getting much more toned than I like so I've been trying to get rid of that also. Is it better not to do this before starting a sway? We may be starting soon, I just need to man up at get at it lol I've been eating loosely the LE diet for a month now, like not snacking no breakfast and that has made me lose some weight I think (haven't weighed yet)

[atomic sagebrush]

It's best to lose weight when and how you can rather than trying to time weight loss. Trying to time weight loss has backfired for several people firstly because you may not have time to take the weight off before you sway, and secondly because trying to gain weight to lose, you always risk an accidental pregancy right at the worst possible moment.

Just lose the weight whenever it comes off, and then don't worry about it beyond that.

[fourunderfour]

Actually, I think I could still keep with the Cetirizine...I go in the mornings to get blood work & u/s - so they would tell me then what day to trigger - if it was that night, I could take it when I got home and there would certainly be 6 hours to spare. nice that it works for so long! How many doses do you take with it...I mean, how long would you continue it - just that once, or again in 24-48 hrs?
Same thing with the rePhresh - if I do it the morning of the day they tell me to trigger that may work perfectly!
What sort of "dosage" would you recommend? I've seen people take as little as a fingertip and as much as a half a tube!
Same question as before - should I repeat in 3 days, or would the one time be enough?

does broken sleep have sorta the same effect as little sleep -meaning less time for the body to "heal" itself. in that case I'd be swaying girl since I was a teen w/o knowing it! haha.

i usually have some caffeine each day - about 8 -12 oz. would you suggest more or to cut it completely?

...I'm not sure I'm gonna stress about the stress stuff. lol. ;)
I'll just go about my hectic days and take on whatever challenges await.
Can't worry about ever little factor can I?! :)
Thanks again Atomic!

[atomic sagebrush]

I don't want you to take Benadryl because it acts faster, I want you to take Benadryl because it doesn't last as long. Benadryl only lasts 4-6 hours after use so if you take it before your trigger, it will dry you up when you need to be dried up (drying up CM and somewhat reducing numbers of sperm that can make it to the egg) but then wear off hopefully around the time the egg has been fertilized.

The sperm needs some fluid in the uterus and Fallopian tubes, to make it to the egg, but more importantly, the egg needs fluid to move through on the way to implant in the uterus. An egg is a cell like any other and needs to be bathed in nutrient-rich fluids because that's how it's designed to be.

Use 1/2-1 tube of RepHresh 8-12 hours before ovulation. Some will come back out again and that's ok. Using a lot and then allowing the excess to come out, ensures that it gets into all the little nooks and crannies and yet is not so highly concentrated that it will kill off everything.

With both the antihistimine and RepHresh, in your circumstance, once is enough and you do not need to take either again.

Yes, broken sleep also lowers testosterone. Don't cut caff out completely, you can increase it if you want to or just hold steady. Your choice.

Good job on not stressing over stress!! :agree:

[fourunderfour]

Okay.
I actually feel "ready" even though it's not yet time.
My husband asked me the other day if I knew 100% that I would have a boy, would we still go ahead and try.
Initially I thought...well...No, I dont know. But I think it's because I have challenging pregnancies... But b/c there are no certainties with this, I'd like to just give it my best shot... If we end up with a 5th son, I would just take it as a confirmation that God has a little girl out there for us somewhere. And maybe Megersa would have another "brown" sibling! :)

Question:
I have an appt with the RE on Tuesday. What are your thoughts about taking progesterone? I know I was taking it when we attempted ttc with the twins...and took it for awhile after BFP. I did stop abruptly as with Metformin (though I understand this is a no-no), but what do you think? Does it sway...or just help - maybe specific to PCOS?
Know of anyone HT who has used it? or skipped it?

Thanks again!

[atomic sagebrush]

Okay.
I actually feel "ready" even though it's not yet time.
My husband asked me the other day if I knew 100% that I would have a boy, would we still go ahead and try.
Initially I thought...well...No, I dont know. But I think it's because I have challenging pregnancies... But b/c there are no certainties with this, I'd like to just give it my best shot... If we end up with a 5th son, I would just take it as a confirmation that God has a little girl out there for us somewhere. And maybe Megersa would have another "brown" sibling! :)

Question:
I have an appt with the RE on Tuesday. What are your thoughts about taking progesterone? I know I was taking it when we attempted ttc with the twins...and took it for awhile after BFP. I did stop abruptly as with Metformin (though I understand this is a no-no), but what do you think? Does it sway...or just help - maybe specific to PCOS?
Know of anyone HT who has used it? or skipped it?

Thanks again!

Just wanted to let people know, I never answered this thread because the poster ended up with a surprise pg.