atomic sagebrush
November 2nd, 2012, 11:16 AM
Updated 12-20-17
The full High Everything Diet is found in the Dream Members section along with a lot of other good stuff and more to come!! http://genderdreaming.com/forum/payments.php The money earned from Dream Memberships goes to keeping the site going and allows atomic to continue answering your swaying questions as a job instead of having to work outside the home. Thank you!
If you want to understand the scientific reasoning underlying the LE and HE Diets, read this: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/12340-understanding-trivers-willard-hypothesis.html
Before you do the HE Diet, take a sec to revise your thinking when it comes to sway diets. The HE Diet does not involve mineral balancing, pH of foods you eat, and there ARE NO forbidden foods on this diet (there are a few foods that you may want to avoid or cut back on, which I’ll talk about below, but even those are not make-or-break) It’s the overall totals of the day that count, not any magical food. Also available to Dream Members we have a list of commonly eaten foods that are rated A-F for blue!
If you can’t let go of those ideas, please follow the link for a thread that will describe how to tweak the existing sway diets to be more in line with HE principles. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/trying-conceive-boy/788-ttc-blue-diet-suggestions-part-1-a.html Reminder, this is NOT HE Diet per se but just a way to blend the various diets together into one.
In short, the HE Diet is a high calorie, high protein, high fat diet, with high nutrient intake and eating in patterns that are more likely to help keep blood sugar steady (not high, because high blood sugar is not healthy, just steady and even).
Basic guidelines:
:flowerz: 2200-2500 calories a day
This will help you gain some weight. Don’t go overboard on weight gain, 3-5 pounds up to 10-15 lbs is plenty.
If you are already heavy, aim for 2000-2200 cals instead and try to hold steady with your weight rather than gaining anything. If you are thin, but super concerned about excess weight gain, stick with this lower limit of calorie intake to start with and see how you do. If you start off at 2200-2500 and find you gain 3-5 pounds fast, cut back on calorie intake to 2000-2200.
If you have a lot of weight you’d like to lose before conceiving, I advise taking a break, losing the weight in a healthy way, and then resuming swaying at that point. I strongly advise against TTC a boy while actively losing weight.
Be sure to be lifting weights while you sway, to make sure you are gaining muscle rather than just fat. Moderate cardio is also allowed while swaying blue http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/1411-exercise-enigma-both-genders.html and exercise may help prevent large weight gains while on HE.
:flowerz: Adequate intake of nutrients sways blue.
Both you and your DH need to take a good quality multivitamin and get a wide array of nutrients via diet. I like Women’s One a Day for gals, and the Men’s One a Day 50+ for men – they’re cheap, widely available, and have a good amount of many different nutrients in them. I conceived 2 of my 4 boys while taking Women’s One a Day.
Also, all blue swayers should take a minimum of 2000 mcg folic acid or folate a day, and if you have a history of unexplained miscarriages, are over 35, or have a child with a neural tube defect, increase this up to 4000 mcg. Take this throughout the entire first trimester of pregnancy and then gradually wean off by spacing doses further and further out till down to one per week, then you can drop it. Do NOT stop the higher dose
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, however. Avoid megadoses of nutrients because these things can make you ill and inadvertently sway pink. More is not better, enough is better. The levels of zinc in particular, that other sites advise are dangerous. 8-15 mg zinc for DW, no more than 25 mg for DH - do not exceed this.
:flowerz:
90 g of protein a day up to 120 max – no need to eat massive amounts of protein (and it may not be good for your health anyway.) Only people who are very tall, breastfeeding, or working out a lot need the upper limit of protein, everyone else stick with more like 90-100 g.
More is more though – if you were eating 50 g protein and can only make it up to 70 g, don’t worry, you haven’t failed at the diet, it will still sway blue for you
Do not go onto the Atkins Diet when TTC a boy. Protein alone is NOT enough. (see below)
:flowerz: Eat 3 solid meals a day and 2-5 snacks (one of which should be at bedtime.)
Don’t skip breakfast. Protein and carbs at every meal, if at all possible. The traditional “Rice Krispies and non-dairy creamer” that some other sites advise you to eat for breakfast is 100% pure quick burning carbs and about the worst thing you can eat for a boy and should be avoided.
The amount you eat should represent the amount of weight you need to gain if any, and the amount of food your stomach can hold. Some people might do best eating small amounts more frequently, while others may be satisfied eating larger meals less often. It’s all about what works for you and what you need from your sway diet.
So a person could eat a small snack upon rising, then breakfast, a midmorning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and a bedtime snack if they had a lot of weight to gain, and/or if they were eating small, light meals. Another person might eat a big breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and then a bedtime snack.
If you are trying to include a lot of things like bananas and avocados that are low in protein, but still are kinda filling, you can eat them alone, just be sure to eat again very soon afterwards. (example, a banana at 11:30 and then lunch at noon, or lunch, then avocado at 3, more substantial snack at 4, then dinner at 6:30.)
:flowerz: 9-11 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
The more colorful, the better. The more nutrient-dense, the better. Always pick the most nutritious fruit/veg that you can regardless of whether it’s “approved” on other diets. Eating iceberg lettuce is POINTLESS, eat dark leafy lettuces or spinach instead. If this sounds like a lot of fruits and veg, don't panic, serving sizes are actually a lot smaller than you might think and this is entirely doable for the average person.
Juice counts for your fruit/veg requirement. Drink 100% fruit juice without added sugar or corn syrup and avoid artificial sweeteners! Tomato, pineapple, grape, apple, pomegranate, blueberry, V-8, and orange juice are all great choices for blue. Grapefruit juice may even help to increase CM. I like Fruit2Day juices (available in the produce section) which are the equivalent of two fruits and have actual little bits of fruit in them. V-8 Fusion juices are blends of fruit and vegetable (AVOID V8 Splash which has been reformulated and now contains Splenda.) Minute Maid makes a brand of pomegranate/blueberry juice that is fortified with Omega-3 fats and is a great choice for blue. Bolthouse Farms brand makes a line of vegetable juice blends that are highly nutritious.
Coconut water and wheatgrass juice can be counted as fruit/veg.
Also, your fruit/vegetable intake can be used as the carbs in the protein + carb suggestion above. On the HE Diet, you need to eat smarter, not harder, to avoid gaining too much weight. So rather than eating meat + potato + salad + juice + banana at every meal, eat just meat + banana, or meat + juice. You’ll be a lot happier and you won’t overdo it on the weight gain, either.
Please note over the last few years we have seen quite a few opposites in people hitting it hard on wheatgrass supplements. I am not sure this trend carries through onto wheatgrass juice but I would go easy on it either way - either 2-3 times a week or daily for a week before O - not BOTH.
:flowerz: Whole grains vs. white
You may not have much room in your diet for grains (except for vegetarian blue swayers). We used to think that whole grains were best but we have had some mixed results and evidence in the years since and I now think grains in moderation are better for blue. White when you want, whole grain when you want.
If at all possible, try to fit in a serving or two of oats daily. Oats contain a compound that may help raise testosterone levels.
:flowerz: Eat plenty of healthy and saturated fat
The natural fats, both the healthy fats in olive oil, nuts, and fish, and the saturated fats in meat, dairy, coconut oil and eggs, are great for TTC a boy. Avoid “frankenfats” like margarine and transfats in baked goods.
Please be aware we have seen a LOT of opposites in people ingesting high intake of "healthy" vegetable fats (even olive oil and nuts may be problematic in too high an amount) and several animal studies have seemed to support this observation. Be very careful that you are getting a higher percentage of your day's fat intake from animal/saturated fats than vegetable based fats. It is fine to continue eating the vegetable fats, but you MUST take care to be getting more animal and saturated fat than vegetable fat. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/39013-skinny-fats-pink-blue.html
You will also need to strictly limit or avoid milk replacers which are super high in vegetable oils and we have observed a high number of opposites among the women drinking the most milk replacers. Rice and almond milk seemed particularly bad but that may have been simply because they are the most popular.
Do not eat fish more than 2 times a week due to the risks of mercury ingestion.
:flowerz: Full fat dairy and calcium are MANDATORY.
If you’re not doing calcium/magnesium, you’re not doing HE Diet. You need calcium and magnesium for maximum fertility. I used to be more flexible on this but there have been too many failed sways among people who were avoiding calcium. There is NO EVIDENCE that cal-mag sways pink. It’s the diets themselves that sway, not the mineral levels.
Full fat dairy is great for fertility and chock full of nutrients, including potassium. If you must avoid dairy, go with oat, coconut, or almond milk as a replacement. But be aware we have observed a high number of opposites among the women drinking the most milk replacers. Rice and almond milk seemed particularly bad but that may have been simply because they are the most popular. It is likely the vegetable based oils that are causing this. If you MUST limit calcium/dairy, do so without relying upon the milk replacers since they may undermine your say.
:flowerz: Get potassium from diet and not from supplements
It is totally possible to get ample potassium from diet. Taking supplementary potassium is not necessary and may even be dangerous. We have a full guide on how to get potassium via foods alone in the Dream Members section.
:flowerz: Don’t overdo it on sodium.
Humans around the world have a virtually limitless taste for salt yet the gender ratio stays right around 50-50. It is VERY unlikely that sky-high intake of sodium sways blue and it may even sway pink by harming overall health. If you’d like to increase sodium intake somewhat, that’s fine, but be SANE about this – no more than 5000 mg maximum and 3-4000 is better. If you’re eating a lot of sodium, please be sure to get plenty of potassium via diet
If you are of sub-Saharan African descent (black), you carry a gene that makes you retain higher than normal levels of sodium in your blood and you MUST NOT ingest high levels of sodium – it can KILL YOU to do so.
The full case against sodium for swaying is available in the Dream Members section.
:flowerz: Foods that are probably best avoided
:nails: Soy for both DW and DH...DW can eat tofu, soy sauce, edamame, any less-processed, more natural soy food. Avoid the highly processed soy that is in veggie burgers, protein shakes, soy milk. DH should avoid soy all together.
:nails: Diet beverages...Aspartame, sucralose, saccarhin, and many other artificial sweeteners seem to sway pink. Allegedly stevia/Truvia are ok, but I’d still use them with some care because not a lot is known about them yet.
:nails: Excessive caff intake...Moderate caff intake is ok for blue, but keep it to a minimum. Green and black tea are better than coffee.
:nails:Sugar ALONE...It’s a misconception that you cannot have sweets while swaying blue. You can, just be sure to eat protein along with your sweets. Dark chocolate is great for blue. However, if you are gaining a lot of weight quickly, sugar may not be the best way to expend your calories for the day.
:nails: Nitrates and nitrites...Regardless of what you read on other sites, cured meats like lunch meat, ham, bacon, sausage are NOT great for blue. The chemistry in them may be harmful to your health, your fertility, and the health of your soon-to-be-conceived baby. Once in a while is fine, but the massive amounts advised on the other sites are dangerous. Stick with natural, uncured meats, organic if you can. Even “naturally cured” products contain nitrates from natural sources in them – they’re still probably better, but don’t eat them in excess thinking that you’re helping your sway by doing so.
:nails: Pesticides and medication residue...It’s best to buy organic produce, dairy, and meat if you can. It is expensive, so just do what you can do in that arena.
:nails: Shellfish...Shellfish are very prone to “sucking up” chemicals from agricultural runoff. I would avoid them all together for a blue sway. Also, be sure you are limiting all fish to no more than 2 times a week due to the risks of mercury ingestion and avoid shark, albacore tuna, mackerel, and the other predatory fish that you are supposed to avoid eating during pregnancy.
The full High Everything Diet is found in the Dream Members section along with a lot of other good stuff and more to come!! http://genderdreaming.com/forum/payments.php The money earned from Dream Memberships goes to keeping the site going and allows atomic to continue answering your swaying questions as a job instead of having to work outside the home. Thank you!
If you want to understand the scientific reasoning underlying the LE and HE Diets, read this: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/12340-understanding-trivers-willard-hypothesis.html
Before you do the HE Diet, take a sec to revise your thinking when it comes to sway diets. The HE Diet does not involve mineral balancing, pH of foods you eat, and there ARE NO forbidden foods on this diet (there are a few foods that you may want to avoid or cut back on, which I’ll talk about below, but even those are not make-or-break) It’s the overall totals of the day that count, not any magical food. Also available to Dream Members we have a list of commonly eaten foods that are rated A-F for blue!
If you can’t let go of those ideas, please follow the link for a thread that will describe how to tweak the existing sway diets to be more in line with HE principles. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/trying-conceive-boy/788-ttc-blue-diet-suggestions-part-1-a.html Reminder, this is NOT HE Diet per se but just a way to blend the various diets together into one.
In short, the HE Diet is a high calorie, high protein, high fat diet, with high nutrient intake and eating in patterns that are more likely to help keep blood sugar steady (not high, because high blood sugar is not healthy, just steady and even).
Basic guidelines:
:flowerz: 2200-2500 calories a day
This will help you gain some weight. Don’t go overboard on weight gain, 3-5 pounds up to 10-15 lbs is plenty.
If you are already heavy, aim for 2000-2200 cals instead and try to hold steady with your weight rather than gaining anything. If you are thin, but super concerned about excess weight gain, stick with this lower limit of calorie intake to start with and see how you do. If you start off at 2200-2500 and find you gain 3-5 pounds fast, cut back on calorie intake to 2000-2200.
If you have a lot of weight you’d like to lose before conceiving, I advise taking a break, losing the weight in a healthy way, and then resuming swaying at that point. I strongly advise against TTC a boy while actively losing weight.
Be sure to be lifting weights while you sway, to make sure you are gaining muscle rather than just fat. Moderate cardio is also allowed while swaying blue http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/1411-exercise-enigma-both-genders.html and exercise may help prevent large weight gains while on HE.
:flowerz: Adequate intake of nutrients sways blue.
Both you and your DH need to take a good quality multivitamin and get a wide array of nutrients via diet. I like Women’s One a Day for gals, and the Men’s One a Day 50+ for men – they’re cheap, widely available, and have a good amount of many different nutrients in them. I conceived 2 of my 4 boys while taking Women’s One a Day.
Also, all blue swayers should take a minimum of 2000 mcg folic acid or folate a day, and if you have a history of unexplained miscarriages, are over 35, or have a child with a neural tube defect, increase this up to 4000 mcg. Take this throughout the entire first trimester of pregnancy and then gradually wean off by spacing doses further and further out till down to one per week, then you can drop it. Do NOT stop the higher dose
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, however. Avoid megadoses of nutrients because these things can make you ill and inadvertently sway pink. More is not better, enough is better. The levels of zinc in particular, that other sites advise are dangerous. 8-15 mg zinc for DW, no more than 25 mg for DH - do not exceed this.
:flowerz:
90 g of protein a day up to 120 max – no need to eat massive amounts of protein (and it may not be good for your health anyway.) Only people who are very tall, breastfeeding, or working out a lot need the upper limit of protein, everyone else stick with more like 90-100 g.
More is more though – if you were eating 50 g protein and can only make it up to 70 g, don’t worry, you haven’t failed at the diet, it will still sway blue for you
Do not go onto the Atkins Diet when TTC a boy. Protein alone is NOT enough. (see below)
:flowerz: Eat 3 solid meals a day and 2-5 snacks (one of which should be at bedtime.)
Don’t skip breakfast. Protein and carbs at every meal, if at all possible. The traditional “Rice Krispies and non-dairy creamer” that some other sites advise you to eat for breakfast is 100% pure quick burning carbs and about the worst thing you can eat for a boy and should be avoided.
The amount you eat should represent the amount of weight you need to gain if any, and the amount of food your stomach can hold. Some people might do best eating small amounts more frequently, while others may be satisfied eating larger meals less often. It’s all about what works for you and what you need from your sway diet.
So a person could eat a small snack upon rising, then breakfast, a midmorning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and a bedtime snack if they had a lot of weight to gain, and/or if they were eating small, light meals. Another person might eat a big breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and then a bedtime snack.
If you are trying to include a lot of things like bananas and avocados that are low in protein, but still are kinda filling, you can eat them alone, just be sure to eat again very soon afterwards. (example, a banana at 11:30 and then lunch at noon, or lunch, then avocado at 3, more substantial snack at 4, then dinner at 6:30.)
:flowerz: 9-11 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
The more colorful, the better. The more nutrient-dense, the better. Always pick the most nutritious fruit/veg that you can regardless of whether it’s “approved” on other diets. Eating iceberg lettuce is POINTLESS, eat dark leafy lettuces or spinach instead. If this sounds like a lot of fruits and veg, don't panic, serving sizes are actually a lot smaller than you might think and this is entirely doable for the average person.
Juice counts for your fruit/veg requirement. Drink 100% fruit juice without added sugar or corn syrup and avoid artificial sweeteners! Tomato, pineapple, grape, apple, pomegranate, blueberry, V-8, and orange juice are all great choices for blue. Grapefruit juice may even help to increase CM. I like Fruit2Day juices (available in the produce section) which are the equivalent of two fruits and have actual little bits of fruit in them. V-8 Fusion juices are blends of fruit and vegetable (AVOID V8 Splash which has been reformulated and now contains Splenda.) Minute Maid makes a brand of pomegranate/blueberry juice that is fortified with Omega-3 fats and is a great choice for blue. Bolthouse Farms brand makes a line of vegetable juice blends that are highly nutritious.
Coconut water and wheatgrass juice can be counted as fruit/veg.
Also, your fruit/vegetable intake can be used as the carbs in the protein + carb suggestion above. On the HE Diet, you need to eat smarter, not harder, to avoid gaining too much weight. So rather than eating meat + potato + salad + juice + banana at every meal, eat just meat + banana, or meat + juice. You’ll be a lot happier and you won’t overdo it on the weight gain, either.
Please note over the last few years we have seen quite a few opposites in people hitting it hard on wheatgrass supplements. I am not sure this trend carries through onto wheatgrass juice but I would go easy on it either way - either 2-3 times a week or daily for a week before O - not BOTH.
:flowerz: Whole grains vs. white
You may not have much room in your diet for grains (except for vegetarian blue swayers). We used to think that whole grains were best but we have had some mixed results and evidence in the years since and I now think grains in moderation are better for blue. White when you want, whole grain when you want.
If at all possible, try to fit in a serving or two of oats daily. Oats contain a compound that may help raise testosterone levels.
:flowerz: Eat plenty of healthy and saturated fat
The natural fats, both the healthy fats in olive oil, nuts, and fish, and the saturated fats in meat, dairy, coconut oil and eggs, are great for TTC a boy. Avoid “frankenfats” like margarine and transfats in baked goods.
Please be aware we have seen a LOT of opposites in people ingesting high intake of "healthy" vegetable fats (even olive oil and nuts may be problematic in too high an amount) and several animal studies have seemed to support this observation. Be very careful that you are getting a higher percentage of your day's fat intake from animal/saturated fats than vegetable based fats. It is fine to continue eating the vegetable fats, but you MUST take care to be getting more animal and saturated fat than vegetable fat. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/39013-skinny-fats-pink-blue.html
You will also need to strictly limit or avoid milk replacers which are super high in vegetable oils and we have observed a high number of opposites among the women drinking the most milk replacers. Rice and almond milk seemed particularly bad but that may have been simply because they are the most popular.
Do not eat fish more than 2 times a week due to the risks of mercury ingestion.
:flowerz: Full fat dairy and calcium are MANDATORY.
If you’re not doing calcium/magnesium, you’re not doing HE Diet. You need calcium and magnesium for maximum fertility. I used to be more flexible on this but there have been too many failed sways among people who were avoiding calcium. There is NO EVIDENCE that cal-mag sways pink. It’s the diets themselves that sway, not the mineral levels.
Full fat dairy is great for fertility and chock full of nutrients, including potassium. If you must avoid dairy, go with oat, coconut, or almond milk as a replacement. But be aware we have observed a high number of opposites among the women drinking the most milk replacers. Rice and almond milk seemed particularly bad but that may have been simply because they are the most popular. It is likely the vegetable based oils that are causing this. If you MUST limit calcium/dairy, do so without relying upon the milk replacers since they may undermine your say.
:flowerz: Get potassium from diet and not from supplements
It is totally possible to get ample potassium from diet. Taking supplementary potassium is not necessary and may even be dangerous. We have a full guide on how to get potassium via foods alone in the Dream Members section.
:flowerz: Don’t overdo it on sodium.
Humans around the world have a virtually limitless taste for salt yet the gender ratio stays right around 50-50. It is VERY unlikely that sky-high intake of sodium sways blue and it may even sway pink by harming overall health. If you’d like to increase sodium intake somewhat, that’s fine, but be SANE about this – no more than 5000 mg maximum and 3-4000 is better. If you’re eating a lot of sodium, please be sure to get plenty of potassium via diet
If you are of sub-Saharan African descent (black), you carry a gene that makes you retain higher than normal levels of sodium in your blood and you MUST NOT ingest high levels of sodium – it can KILL YOU to do so.
The full case against sodium for swaying is available in the Dream Members section.
:flowerz: Foods that are probably best avoided
:nails: Soy for both DW and DH...DW can eat tofu, soy sauce, edamame, any less-processed, more natural soy food. Avoid the highly processed soy that is in veggie burgers, protein shakes, soy milk. DH should avoid soy all together.
:nails: Diet beverages...Aspartame, sucralose, saccarhin, and many other artificial sweeteners seem to sway pink. Allegedly stevia/Truvia are ok, but I’d still use them with some care because not a lot is known about them yet.
:nails: Excessive caff intake...Moderate caff intake is ok for blue, but keep it to a minimum. Green and black tea are better than coffee.
:nails:Sugar ALONE...It’s a misconception that you cannot have sweets while swaying blue. You can, just be sure to eat protein along with your sweets. Dark chocolate is great for blue. However, if you are gaining a lot of weight quickly, sugar may not be the best way to expend your calories for the day.
:nails: Nitrates and nitrites...Regardless of what you read on other sites, cured meats like lunch meat, ham, bacon, sausage are NOT great for blue. The chemistry in them may be harmful to your health, your fertility, and the health of your soon-to-be-conceived baby. Once in a while is fine, but the massive amounts advised on the other sites are dangerous. Stick with natural, uncured meats, organic if you can. Even “naturally cured” products contain nitrates from natural sources in them – they’re still probably better, but don’t eat them in excess thinking that you’re helping your sway by doing so.
:nails: Pesticides and medication residue...It’s best to buy organic produce, dairy, and meat if you can. It is expensive, so just do what you can do in that arena.
:nails: Shellfish...Shellfish are very prone to “sucking up” chemicals from agricultural runoff. I would avoid them all together for a blue sway. Also, be sure you are limiting all fish to no more than 2 times a week due to the risks of mercury ingestion and avoid shark, albacore tuna, mackerel, and the other predatory fish that you are supposed to avoid eating during pregnancy.