Advice, please: What to do *before* doing the girl diet 100%?

[dramabird]

Okay, first some background on my general plan for TTC pink in early 2012:

My husband and I are going on vacation to Paris in mid to late Sept. I will be on the pill through that time and eating whatever I'd like (it's Paris, after all!). I then intend to go off the pill and chart my cycles (avoiding or using barrier to not get pregnant) for October, November and December. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons: 1) to have an overall idea of my cycle lengths and general ovulation dates, and 2) I want to be able to eat normally for Thanksgiving, birthdays (mine is Dec. 8 and my older DS is Dec. 1) and Christmas, as I'm not broadcasting my sway to relatives.

Starting Dec. 26, I would start the girl diet 100% and start TTC around or after late February (it depends on where my cycles will fall once I'm off the pill a few months ... I want to make sure I have at least 6 weeks on the diet).

So, now my question: How should I eat in October, November and December? I know that some folks have said the "shock" of switching to a girl diet can be important in success. Also, I'm starting at a rather low weight (around 104 lbs., at 5'2") and I thought I might want to *gain* some weight before the end of December, so that I have some weight to lose without dropping into any non-ovulatory ranges.

Does that mean I should indulge in salt and protein and high calories up until Dec. 26 and then make a big turnaround? Or am I risking making my body too boy-friendly ahead of time and creating an insurmountable obstacle for the girl diet?

I know this will be the first of many questions I ask ... but I'm a planner. ;) Thank you all so much!!!

[mindyjean]

Dramabird, I could have written this post almost word for word because I have thought most of the same things. Even the timeline is the same. :) I am a planner as well, so I will be really interested in replies. (BTW, have a great time in Paris!!)

[atomic sagebrush]

Okay, first some background on my general plan for TTC pink in early 2012:

My husband and I are going on vacation to Paris in mid to late Sept. I will be on the pill through that time and eating whatever I'd like (it's Paris, after all!). I then intend to go off the pill and chart my cycles (avoiding or using barrier to not get pregnant) for October, November and December. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons: 1) to have an overall idea of my cycle lengths and general ovulation dates, and 2) I want to be able to eat normally for Thanksgiving, birthdays (mine is Dec. 8 and my older DS is Dec. 1) and Christmas, as I'm not broadcasting my sway to relatives.

Starting Dec. 26, I would start the girl diet 100% and start TTC around or after late February (it depends on where my cycles will fall once I'm off the pill a few months ... I want to make sure I have at least 6 weeks on the diet).

So, now my question: How should I eat in October, November and December? I know that some folks have said the "shock" of switching to a girl diet can be important in success. Also, I'm starting at a rather low weight (around 104 lbs., at 5'2") and I thought I might want to *gain* some weight before the end of December, so that I have some weight to lose without dropping into any non-ovulatory ranges.

Does that mean I should indulge in salt and protein and high calories up until Dec. 26 and then make a big turnaround? Or am I risking making my body too boy-friendly ahead of time and creating an insurmountable obstacle for the girl diet?

I know this will be the first of many questions I ask ... but I'm a planner. ;) Thank you all so much!!!

The "shock your body" idea is just speculation, we have no evidence that is the best way to sway. TBH we don't totally know what is best. I got burned by doing something very similar - I was swaying but had lost a lot of weight so I took a month off to try and gain some back and had an accident - hello boy #4.

Since that happened I have changed my thinking on that a bit obviously, now I think it's just so risky to try and time swaying to shock your body. It also feels risky to me to gain weight in order to lose it because you run the risk of raising your testosterone and testosterone seems a little bit tricky to lower sometimes - as you put it so well, I fear the "risk of making your body too boy-friendly and creating an insurmountable obstacle for the girl diet".

In your scenario, I would simply try to reduce my protein intake as much as possible, even to the point of going vegetarian most of the time. Don't worry about the weight loss as long as you're eating less calories than you were before - at that size and weight you're probably not eating a ton of cals to begin with. A pound for you will sway "harder" than it does for a larger person because it's a larger % of your body weight so even if you only lose a single pound, it's still sending a message to your body.