TTC Pink Food Thread for October

[zanacal]

October already! FX for you all x

[Mochagirl]

Hi ladies - just poking in to cheer you on. Hopefully this will be the last month on the diet for all of you!!!

[rainbowflower]

I'm relaxing the diet for the next few days, I'm ill and can't be feeling like I'm going to collapse all day so trying to just eat what I need. Saying that, managed to keep it all veggie so far. It's hard when my mum is trying to force feed me everything in her cupboards!

yesterday
mid-morning: white chocolate, chocolate twist
lunch: WW white pitta + philli + grapes
mid-afternoon: saffron cake slice
tea: leek + lentil soup with croutons, apple crumble (with cornflakes not oats) and custard

[squamgirl]

I've realized that I've taken the LE diet too far. I don't think I get enough calories each day.
This could be why it's day 27 and I still haven't ovulated. My body might be freaking out a bit.
So I'm trying to eat more now.

Monday is shopping/errand day... so I had to eat breakfast to make sure I didn't get sick or pass out in any stores (I'm somewhat prone to passing out and have made a scene in a number of places. I'm not ready to have the grocery store be one of them!)....
breakfast: toast, honey bunches of oats with skim milk
lunch: small apple, grapes, raspberries
afternoon treat: swedish fish
dinner: 2 small pancakes with buttermilk syrup

I'm only at just over 800 calories today, but I don't feel like eating much more. I'm at a loss for how to get more calories without getting too much sodium or protein. Although today I've got a bit of room to spare today... sodium= 800 and protein= 14.

I hope to be able to participate in the food thread this month. It's great to have support from other pink swaying mamas :)

[Mochagirl]

squamgirl - I'm sorry the diet caused you problems - that's happened to a lot of girls around here. You DEFiNITELY need more calories than you're getting. When I was on the diet I ate lots of sweets - things like Sour Patch Kids, Skittles and Mike & Ikes to add calories. I finished every meal with something sweet. Full sugar Coke or cranberry juice would be a good idea too to quickly add calories.

[squamgirl]

Thanks mochagirl! I've been eating tons of swedish fish and I'll be happy to change it up with some skittles. :)

I'm not sure if it's the diet that's delayed O, but it's the most likely thing in my mind. Especially considering that when I was doing my usual thing in June and July, I O'd on day 14. In August, I got a stomach flu and O'd on day 18. For my September cycle, I started swaying and now there's no O in sight!

[Mochagirl]

Several girls here have had anovulatory cycles after losing too much weight, so take care to eat enough. :HH:

[squamgirl]

I made it all the way to 1129 calories today and I am so FULL!

[rainbowflower]

I have the same trouble with eating enough - hence why I'm still eating some choc/cake/sweet things. I also don't limit my portion sizes of things like pasta any more, and pasta is a good way to get calories although it does fill you up. I think you could add pasta or rice to your lunch instead of just a veggie lunch?


still at my mums, still poorly, and still BF up to my eyeballs because LO is poorly too, this is yesterdays:
breakfast: nothing
lunch: half a Cornish steak pasty (couldn't avoid this) with salad
tea: half of my philli pasta + roasted veg - I would have eaten all of this but my appetite has gone thanks to this cold. Mars bar
supper: a row of chocolate


we're going to my grandmas for lunch tomorrow and she wants to get us fish and chips for lunch.. again, can't avoid this. *sigh*

[Belle]

I'm now in the 2 week wait although I don't think I'm pregnant, I'm wanting to know where I read a few weeks back about still keeping our blood sugar levels low or eating le diet is that right? I can't find it Thanks. Sorry I didn't want to make a new thread I know it's around here somewhere. I'm also having trouble keeping up the calories yesterday I ate a corn my mums home made bread with butter and snake lollies and I drank a pepsi max and diet lemonade and peppermint tea.

[squamgirl]

Holy Moly! I hit 1268 calories today!

I wasn't able to skip breakfast (again) because I was having major acid reflux (side effect from my last pregnancy and DS turns SIX next week!) and if I don't eat it gets worse.

Anyway, here's what I ate today...

Breakfast: Archer Farms fat free raspberry yogurt
Snack: Good Earth no-salt tortilla chips and swedish fish
Lunch: pb & j sandwich
Snack: I was getting weak and in the afternoon madness, I ate five wheat crackers and a slice of cheese. I've been avoiding cheese- oh! how I love cheese!
Dinner: balsamic chicken pasta
Treat: swedish fish
I also drank a couple cups of Crystal Light throughout the day.

I feel so full again today!

I worry how I'll do tomorrow... DS1 has a morning appt with the allergist (fingers crossed for good results on his egg test!), in the afternoon, he has behavioral therapy and we'll go straight from therapy to his parent teacher conference. I hope I can maintain balance throughout the day and not a) overeat or b) under-eat. :)

[rainbowflower]

Belle you can read about it in this subforum: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?85-TTC-Girl good luck for your 2ww!

Squam, well done for eating more! it's so difficult isn't it? fingers crossed for your sons results



yesterday
mid-morning: chocolate because still a bit poorly
lunch: 1 WW pitta with philli and grapes, choc brownie
tea: risotto with leek, courgette, mushrooms

[rainbowflower]

today
no breakfast
lunch: cod and chips (at least the chips were unsalted)
mid-afternoon: 2 rows of milk choc
tea: slice of pizza with cucumber and radishes, milkybar... might have a slice of saffron cake for supper too

not the best day, but I always knew it would be and I couldn't let my grandma down, and then Mum told me she'd bought pizza just for us so I had to eat that. From tomorrow I'll be able to cook and eat what I like again as my mum is out all day, and then we travel home on Friday. :)

[squamgirl]

Hooray! My son's skin test for the egg allergy was negative!!! Next we move on to the oral challenge. If we get good results, my family can once again eat: brownies, tortellini, french toast, cheesecake. Woohoo! We're so excited!
I've been able to replace egg in most of my cooking and baking, but some things didn't have replacements. Hopefully we'll be eating them again soon :)

[Mochagirl]

I'm glad your ds got a negative test, squamgirl! It must be so tough to have a kid with allergies.

[squamgirl]

Thanks Mocha! It has been a challenge. He outgrew milk as a toddler, thank heavens! And we just about cleared on eggs. But in a way I'm grateful for the allergies because I've learned a lot as a cook :) And the allergies have made me a lot more aware- on behalf of my own kid and on behalf of other kids and their needs.

[rainbowflower]

today
breakfast: none
11am: twix (mum was nagging me to eat something)
lunch: I made a pitta to go out with... and then forgot it! so I had a choc brownie with cream instead
mid-afternoon: ice cream
tea: chunky tomato, bacon and onion soup with toast, not technically allowed but it was tasty and I had barely eaten all day and soup is always slimming

[squamgirl]

rainbowflower- how are you staying alive? It looks like you're barely eating anything.


Yesterday, I ate....
Breakfast: yogurt
Lunch: balsamic chicken with penne pasta and parm cheese
Snack: wheat crackers, cheese, crystal light, swedish fish
Snack on the way to parent teacher conferences: fiber one bar
Skipped dinner
Snack in place of dinner: cheerios with skim milk

Then I got totally sick with one of the worst stomachaches ever. I lost 1.5 pounds!

Today I've been trying to calm my stomach back down.
I had sprite and saltine's for breakfast, then toast for a snack. Today won't be good when it comes to sodium, but after yesterdays illness, I don't care.

Now... my dilemma... on Saturday, we're going out for DS2's birthday. He wants to go to Olive Garden. It will obviously be a cheat day. Seeing as I STILL haven't O'd (although it may have happened yesterday) and we're not trying again until the next cycle, this cheat should be ok. I hope. I looked up the nutritional info online. Holy-swear-word! Everything is LOADED with sodium. I usually get the pizza. I eat half and take the second half home to eat the next day. I also usually eat more than a few breadsticks and go to town on the salad. The pizza alone eats up all my calories and protein for the day and more than TRIPLES my sodium. I thought about doing the chicken parmesan and asking for no marinara on top to avoid the tomatoes, but it's almost as bad as the pizza. You don't even get great results with going for a ceasar salad. And if I'm going to Olive Garden, I don't want to waste my time on a salad. I want to enjoy my meal. Dang, this girl diet. I really want to stuff my face!

[Mochagirl]

Dinners out are tough. I take it you're following the IG diet? Tomatoes are fine on the LE diet. I found a simple pasta with tomato sauce was often my best bet. Either that or a kid's sized plain cheese pizza. You're better to cheat with sodium than protein, I think.

[squamgirl]

I'm on the LE diet. Maybe I misunderstood about tomatoes. I was thinking tonight about getting a kids portion. I wonder if my mother-in-law will think that's weird. Oh well, who cares what she thinks, right?

[carmella_marie]

Hooray! My son's skin test for the egg allergy was negative!!! Next we move on to the oral challenge. If we get good results, my family can once again eat: brownies, tortellini, french toast, cheesecake. Woohoo! We're so excited!
I've been able to replace egg in most of my cooking and baking, but some things didn't have replacements. Hopefully we'll be eating them again soon :)

I have to do this test soon. My DS might be allergic to eggs. He breaks out in hives anytime he comes into contact with anything with egg :(

[carmella_marie]

Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: decaf coffee with skim milk and equal
Lunch: low sodium bread, philly low fat cream cheese and cucumber sandwhich, diet coke
Dinner: 1/2 cup penne and 1/8 cup alfredo sauce, 4 red vines
Dessert: chocolate milk!

And yesterday:
Breakfast: decaf coffee and milk with equal
Lunch: egg over easy on low sodium bread with diet coke and yoplait light
Dinner: 1/2 cup white rice, steamed mushrooms and green beans, glass of milk
Dessert: swedish fish and skittles

[carmella_marie]

I had a really hard time starting this diet and have been trying to get a running list of things to eat. I find I stick to the diet better if I have my whole day's meals planned out before I start. I would love to hear your ideas! Other menu ideas I have come up with:

"waldorf" salad--green grapes, craisins, apples, a tiny bit of celery and a little low fat mayo

Baked apple (without the skin) with a sprinkling of cinnamon

Low sodium bread and sugar free strawberry jam

Strawberry smoothie--strawberries with low fat yogurt and cranberry juice

Rice pudding--rive cooked with splenda, milk, vanilla, and nutmeg

hard boiled eggs or egg salad with low sodium bread and low fat mayo

Low sodium tuna and low fat mayo on matzo crackers--add a little swiss and make it a tuna melt

French toast with low sodium bread and strawberries

pasta with low sodim alfredo sauce

milk with sugar free choc syrup or steamed with torani sugar free syrups

Cottage cheese with fresh strawberries and raspberries

[rainbowflower]

some nice ideas on that list! you're eating a few things I havent thought of (and how you only manage to eat half a cup of rice/pasta amazes me - that's a tiny portion)

here's what I eat:


Lunches: pitta bread with low sodium cheese, pitta bread pizza, cream crackers + cheese + apple, (some have low sodium bread with a cheese sandwich, but I don't like the WW white danish bread which is the lowest in sodium), or rice


Tea: risotto, pasta with home made tomato+veg sauce, tomato soup, philidelphia pasta with roasted veg, some of the low sodium Tesco light choices ready meals, egg fried rice with veg, some of the frozen savoury rice dishes such as Sainsburys or Birds Eye (low sodium ones), I'm having chicken twice a week - as a treat in a korma, or with a low sodium stir fry sauce such as Blue Dragon Peking Lemon ones with rice, egg+vegetable fried rice

snacks: meringue nest with cream + strawberries, cake (providing it doesn't exceed the nutrient limits), some rice crackers, fruit such as peeled apple/pear/berries/green grapes, WW choc slice bar with cream + berries (feels like a luxury!)

[Mochagirl]

I pretty much ate the same thing for lunch every day - rice mixed with plain yogurt. For supper I almost always had pasta - either with some sauteed veggies, creme fraiche and parmesan, or sometimes mixed with pureed roasted butternut squash and parmesan. I also experimented with girl friendly versions of typical family meals: pizza on homemade no-sodium crust with low sodium sauce and very little cheese, cannelloni stuffed with ricotta and spinach, vegetarian tacos/quesadillas on no-sodium corn tortillas. There are lots of options - they just take time because you have to make everything from scratch and I also weighed all the ingredients to make sure I wasn't exceeding my limits.

[squamgirl]

I have to do this test soon. My DS might be allergic to eggs. He breaks out in hives anytime he comes into contact with anything with egg :(

carmella- I hope you get the answers you need from the tests. Our lives changed for the better when we removed our sons allergens from our home. If your son is allergic, please let me know and I'll send you my tips and recipes that I've learned over the years.
Best of luck to you!

[rainbowflower]

yesterday

lunch: 1.5 choc twist
tea: (by which time I was starving!) noodles, low sodium chow mein sauce, stir fry veg inc beansprouts, mushrooms, etc.
supper: 2 WW choc slices, cream, strawberries

[squamgirl]

So on Saturday I had my major cheat... we went out to eat and I had two breadsticks, two bowls of salad and two pieces of pizza. Then at home we had cake and ice cream and I had a piece of triple chocolate cake with hazelnut frosting along with chocolate ice cream. Since I've been on this diet for weeks, this all felt like way too much food. I wanted to vomit. And yet, at 10 pm, I ate another piece of pizza.
Then on Sunday I finished my pizza and had three more breadsticks. Oh, and my mother-in-law brought Halloween candy so I had a few pieces of that too. And I felt soooo hungry! I think once my body felt the wonderful feeling of food, it just craved more and more. The next couple days will probably be rough emotionally as I try to get back on course. But when I'm hungry, I just try to think of my baby girl hoping that thinking of her will help me be strong. :)

[rainbowflower]

lol squam don't feel bad - even though you ate all that (probably delicious) pizza there still wouldn't have been that many nutrients in it...

[squamgirl]

Thanks rainbow.... I also figure that our attempt is far enough away that it will be ok.
Now it's just hard re-training my body to not crave food all the time. I seriously LOVE TO EAT!!!

[Mochagirl]

squamgirl - I definitely had a weekend or two like that while I was swaying. It's sooooo hard to stop eating again once you get a taste of real food. I also agree that pizza isn't the worst cheat - it would be far worse to eat a hamburger or steak.

[Belle]

Yummmm Squamgirl your making me feel really hungry. I'm having a pig out night I'm making a sauce with chorizo sausages in penne pasta I can't wait and choc mint ice-cream

[squamgirl]

Oh my goodness Belle! I LOVE chorizo!!!

[squamgirl]

My food from yesterday:

late breakfast: fruit leather, popcorn, crystal light
snack: ds and I both ate a mini twix BEFORE lunch to celebrate his birthday
lunch: fruit leather, pb&j, popcorn, crystal light, swedish fish
dinner: small homemade burrito, no-salt white corn tortilla chips
dessert: chocolate ice cream- again celebrating ds
night-time snacking: swedish fish, popcorn, crystal light, white chocolate truffle

Calories: 1248
Sodium: 924
Protein: 28

When DH is out of town, I have a harder time with the late-night snacking. I'll try harder to be good tonight :)

[rainbowflower]

today

lunch: pitta with philli + grapes, cucumber
afternoon snack: mars bar
tea: Mediterranean rice with some chicken and "healthy eating" korma sauce, some organic white choc

[squamgirl]

Yesterday's food:

late breakfast: toast with a smidge of butter, hot chocolate
lunch: pb&j, swedish fish
afternoon weakness: two bitty pieces of BBQ chicken, no-salt tortilla chips
dinner: small homemade burrito, no-salt tortilla chips
evening snacking: two fruit leathers, popcorn, swedish fish, crystal light

calories: 1288
sodium: 1192
protein: 29

Again, evening snacking was a weakness. At least a lot of it was popcorn, which is filling but doesn't have many calories, no sodium and not too much protein.
DH is home now, so hopefully we'll be too busy with projects for me to snack all night :)

[rainbowflower]

even with the snacking you're still very low (possibly too low) on the calories so I wouldn't necessarily stop the snacking

[Belle]

Squamgirl I hope you don't mind me asking but what is Swedish fish?

[squamgirl]

Belle- swedish fish is a candy that here in the States you can either buy from bulk bins or in bags.
Here's a wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Fish

They're a good way to get empty calories.... no fat, no sodium, no protein.
I like the mini ones, red only :)

Goodness, I never thought I would be eating empty calories on purpose. :)

[squamgirl]

Yesterday's food:

late breakfast: toast with jam
snack: wheat crackers with cheese, almonds
lunch: apple, yogurt, graham cracker
afternoon snack: fruit leather, popcorn, swedish fish, crystal light
dinner: two pancakes with buttermilk syrup, swedish fish for dessert
evening snack: popcorn, swedish fish, crystal light

calories: 1217
sodium: 1069
protein: 26

I didn't cut out the snacking and tried to get more calories because I know I've been too low. I can't seem to get my protein higher without going high on the sodium. I've got to get a better handle on eating.
My skin has broken out in a few different rashes that itch like crazy. I have to wonder if I were to eat properly again for a few days if it would help them clear up.

[rainbowflower]

Atomic mentioned that it's better to get more protein even if you go over on the sodium - sodium is the least important nutrient to watch.

I'm not having a great day today. Feeling depressed/stressed so have already pigged on 3 jam doughnuts with my lunch... I think this might be our only month swaying before we stop until after Christmas - we seem to have less money coming in since I returned from maternity leave than I thought, and I honestly don't know how we'd cope financially if we conceived now as we would need a bit more time to save up some money... so I think rather than waste my 8 weeks of dieting we'll have one go at it and if fate says now is the time we won't complain, but after this cycle I'll need to break. Also weighed myself after lunch and fully clothed I was only 100lbs so I'm slimmer than I want to be, even though my BMI is still 19.8 so not officially underweight yet.

[squamgirl]

rainbowflower- you are teeny! How tall are you?

Since I started swaying six weeks ago, I've lost ten pounds. My BMI is currently 21 and I currently weigh 126 (I'm 5' 5").

I'm definitely going to eat more today and look for ways to get more protein.

[zanacal]

squamgirl - I so thought you were eating loads of 'real' fish lol!

[Mochagirl]

Z - that's even funnier than my boiled sweets misinterpretation!:rofl:

[squamgirl]

squamgirl - I so thought you were eating loads of 'real' fish lol!

Ick no! I hate fish! I try to like it for the health benefits, but it never works. Blech!

[zanacal]

I felt a little bit sick every time I read it - now I don't have to worry about that!!

[Mochagirl]

Yes, I imagine to someone not familiar with the candy, swedish fish could make you think of pickled herring or something like that. Yuck!

[Belle]

Oh Squamgirl LOL! I also visualized some pickled fish and thinking wow fish everyday, the things we do when we are so desperate for our Gd and I was saying to myself I have to get me some of those. Too funny, I'm eating yummy Lolly empty calories all the time.

[squamgirl]

All of these swedish fish/pickled herring comments are cracking me up :rofl:

I was incorrect when I stated that swedish fish have no sodium. They have some, but not much. Regardless, they're empty calories.

For more empty calorie fun, today I bought: mentos, skittles, and jolly ranchers.

[Mochagirl]

I ate lots of Sour Patch Kids and Mike & Ikes when I was on the diet.

[littlemissnaughty7]

hi all i havent started my sway yet just looking up all the food you ladies are eating will be starting very soon, im from the uk so dont have any of those swedish fish things but have laughed as i too thought you were talking about real fish, (which im not keen on either) im going to be doing the IG diet with my hubby, its quite strict isnt it, wondered if any of you had had some of the puffed rice cereal covered in canderel, wouldnt that be a good way to get more calories ?

[squamgirl]

littlemiss- best of luck to you as you start your sway :) I haven't heard of the cereal you're asking about, but hopefully some of the other ladies can help you :)

[squamgirl]

Yesterdays' food:

breakfast: cheerios with skim milk
treat while out shopping: mini twix, mentos
lunch: tortellini with homemade marinara and parmesan cheese, french bread with a smidge of butter
treat: skittles
dinner: same as lunch, but a smaller portion

calories: 1792
sodium: 3266
protein: 54

Well, I certainly took the eating more idea very seriously- LOL!
But I had a good reason... my SIL came to visit and we had lunch together. She tried to get pregnant for four years before adopting a baby two years ago. She still hasn't gotten pregnant in the meantime and is preparing to adopt another baby. I certainly couldn't measure out my food in front of her and share with her what I was doing- trying to determine the gender of my baby, when she is overjoyed just to get a baby period. So I just pretended that everything was normal while she was here. Then at dinnertime, I ate more of the tortellini because I'm weak and tortellini was in the house and I can't resist it!
Even with going over on everything, I only gained 1/2 a pound. I'll be good today. Well, unless the job offer comes in (FX). In which case, we're going out to dinner to celebrate, make decisions and plans. :) (the company DH interviewed with said that they *may* have a decision by today or it could be two weeks.... we're hoping for a decision today)

[zanacal]

hi all i havent started my sway yet just looking up all the food you ladies are eating will be starting very soon, im from the uk so dont have any of those swedish fish things but have laughed as i too thought you were talking about real fish, (which im not keen on either) im going to be doing the IG diet with my hubby, its quite strict isnt it, wondered if any of you had had some of the puffed rice cereal covered in canderel, wouldnt that be a good way to get more calories ?

Hi littlemissnaughty7! I'm in the UK too but like most of the ladies here I did the LE diet and not the IG diet. I just looked up the Kallo Organic Puffed Rice ceral and 25g of that with 125ml semi-skimmed milk has 154kcal/6g protein/70mg sodium and of course less if you switch to skimmed milk. I actually wouldn't have eaten it because it's made from 'healthy' wholegrain rice and it's much easier for a snack to have a packet of Skittles or Tutti Fruttis to get the same amount of calories but with no protein or sodium and absolutely no nutritional benefit lol!

[rainbowflower]

today

breakfast: none
mid-morning (after long walk): choc orange "biscuit cake"
lunch: Birds Eye mushroom rice, caramel slice (my DH keeps buying me treats :( )
tea: pasta with a tomato, sweetcorn + mushroom sauce
supper: 1 WW choc slice with a little cream and some raspberries (I restrained myself, a little bit)

[squamgirl]

We're going out to dinner tonight.... He got the job offer!!!!

[Mochagirl]

Congratulations - that's great news!

[squamgirl]

Thanks Mocha!
It's really exciting (and overwhelming)... it will be a great adventure :)

[littlemissnaughty7]

hi all the puffed rice is on the IG diet so i thought it should be ok, i would have it for my dinner as i love cereal, is there a problem with it bein healty wholegrain rice zanacal hun ?

[zanacal]

I would probably not compare the IG diet to the LE diet because they don't have all the same principles. On the LE diet we're aiming for low nutrients so having wholegrain rice wouldn't have been my choice! I also think having 150 calories for dinner isn't going to be a good idea in the long term because there's no way you can keep that up - especially if you're slim already and don't have lots of weight to spare before affecting your ability to conceive.

[Mochagirl]

I agree with Z (as usual :bigsmile:), you can't compare LE and IG diets. So much of the IG diet is completely opposite of the LE one. For example, we don't take calcium supps, and since we limit protein so heavily, that means pretty much no dairy products either...this can be compared with the massive amounts of calcium supps, yogurt and milk you have on the IG diet. If the rice puffs are allowed on the IG diet, go for it, just be careful that your caloric intake isn't too low. Remember that in an ideal world you'd only be on the diet 6 weeks, but in reality it takes many of us months and months to conceive, and your body will not be able to function properly for that amount of time on such a low number of calories.

[littlemissnaughty7]

i see what you mean im a size 6-8 uk so would prob need to eat the whole box lol, i eat much more then 25g of cereal though when i eat it more like 75g lol,

[zanacal]

Yes, me too normally - but I know from experience that a big bowl of puffed rice isn't very heavy!!

[rainbowflower]

another not-great day for me today... we're having Indian for tea
William is poorly again and BF through the night. I hardly ate anything yesterday (only one proper meal) and just feeling so exhausted and drained I need a craving!

[littlemissnaughty7]

so how long have you ladies been on the diet ?

[rainbowflower]

Since end of August. In hindsight it feels like a lot to put myself through just for 1 month of ttc attempt!

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk

[besjoux]

I am new here but have a question. is oatmeal ok on the diet? Trying to expand what I can eat.

[rainbowflower]

I think that sways blue, anything that is slow release is blue-friendly and oats are

[rainbowflower]

can't believe that I've lost 10lbs overall now! nearly down to being underweight

haven't posted my food in a while, so...:

10.30am: chocolate twist pastry (I was starving having been up since 4.30am and having done a long walk to nursery)
12pm: pitta with philli + grapes, extra grapes
3pm: mars bar with my cup of tea
6pm: Birds Eye mushroom rice


REALLY hoping I OV soon now, LH is on it's way up. 6 days of "high" on CBFM and was actually hoping for a "peak" this morning. My 4am IC stick was positive in my view, in that it was very dark but not quite at the control line level. For some reason CBFM didn't pick this up.
If I OV within the next few days that would be perfect as everything would line up - Chinese gender calendar says girl from tomorrow, tomorrow is the new moon, my biorhythms say girl.... etc. Come on OV! :)

[zanacal]

Glad to see you're still posting here Rainbow and well done with the diet! I hope you O soon!

[rainbowflower]

thank you :)

[purplepoet20]

I have forgotten about the food threads... I haven't been on any diet because it is depressing to me so. I am currently 7dpo so I don't watch the diet as much during the 2ww but from AF-O I am careful to stay below 1000 cals, and I am not longer nursing :(

I am up at 5am but I don't eat until 11am...
I have 2cps of coffee with a low cal/sod powdered creamer and 4 packs of splenda, hubby has started using it this last month too. Splenda seems to better on my body then aspartame.
At 11am I eat either a bagel with a little cream cheese or an egg sandwich with only spices.
A few days a week I sometimes snack on salt-free chips and low sodium cheese dip... I am making dip today.
We eat dinner around 6pm I don't eat much protein but I do fill up on veggies and sometimes pasta.
I drink 2 diet caff-free cokes and 2 cups of crystal light. I haven't been in the mood for tons of drinks but it seems to help keep my ph low.

forgot to say I make my own salt free mini bagels... not store bought

[Mochagirl]

:cheerteam: Hey ladies - keep up the good work!

[rainbowflower]

woah 1000 cals is hardly anything! although probably easy to stick to that on any girl diet... sadly

[Out of the Blue]

Hi all...Could I join you again? I'm back and just started to sway again. We lost our last little one a bit over a wk ago at just over 16 wks. I hope my mind and body will be able to cooperate so we can TTC again soon. I figured I'd start the sway now, just incase December is a possibility for TTC. I'm hoping to lose these extra 8 lbs so I can get back down to when we concieved in July.

[Out of the Blue]

Also got a quick question for you guys...I've been looking for Chitosan and couldn't find it at Whole Foods so I'll probably get it on line. Are any of you taking it and if so, which brand do you recommend? Thx!

[Mochagirl]

I didn't take chitosan so I can't help you there, but I want to send you lots of sticky baby dust, OOtB :HH:

[zanacal]

Lots of luck Blue, I wish you the very best xx

I used a brand of Chitosan called 'Healthspan' but I suspect it's a UK brand. I did buy some other stuff first but it had added vitamins (can't remember what) so watch out for that!

[rainbowflower]

Hi all...Could I join you again? I'm back and just started to sway again. We lost our last little one a bit over a wk ago at just over 16 wks. I hope my mind and body will be able to cooperate so we can TTC again soon. I figured I'd start the sway now, just incase December is a possibility for TTC. I'm hoping to lose these extra 8 lbs so I can get back down to when we concieved in July.
:( so sorry for your loss
sending you sticky pink baby dust

[Out of the Blue]

Mocha, Kelly and rainbow, thanks so much for the kind words. Getting back in here and swaying is helping ease the pain.

Thanks for the heads-up on the added vitamins in some brands of Chitosan. I'll search on Amazon for something. I'm not sure if I'll take it every day or not...Probably just before meals which have lots of nutrients, etc. My daily fiber intake is usually over 40g so I'm doing okay there already but an extra boost of help w/Chitosan sounds great.

Here's my menu for today...Yesterday's was similar. Some of these things like the kombucha & meal replacement/100% cran sway boy but I'm weening myself off them, especially b/c I may be swaying for several mos before I actually O again. Later I'll cut the romaine w/iceberg and then just go w/iceberg completely. I'm doing breakie for now but will quit once I get my 1st AF (I hope that won't be more than a month or so away but who knows!)...

1st meal:
cran juice w/Raw Meal (meal replacement)

2nd meal:
Leeks w/white Basmati rice
Apple
Kombucha

3rd meal:
Romaine w/Drew's Caesar dressing and 2 T of Pecorino/Romano cheese
Girl Sway Fiber Drink (Frozen raspberries, 1 C. rice milk, 2 T. psyllium husks) Turns out DH and the boys love this as well so we're all pretty "regular" these days:wink:
Apple
Mini Babybel Light cheese

Drinks:
2 cups of Raspberry Leaf Tea
4 cups of Peppermint Tea

I'm actually loving my rice and leeks! Hope I don't get sick of them soon!

[Out of the Blue]

Here's yesterday's food:

1st meal:
cran juice w/Raw Meal (meal replacement)

2nd meal:
Spaghetti squash w/a smidge of pasta sauce
Air-popped popcorn
Kombucha (I know...I'm quitting it soon, lol)

3rd meal:
I ate complete garbage...DH came home w/bad food b/c he was trying to cheer me up.
Girl Sway Fiber Drink (Frozen raspberries, 1 C. rice milk, 2 T. psyllium husks)
3 mini cupcakes
1/4 cup of Ben & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide ice-cream
...sigh...Oh, well

Drinks:
H2O
2 cups of Raspberry Leaf Tea
4 cups of Peppermint Tea

[Mochagirl]

OoTB - we all need treats now and then, and nothing you ate is really that bad on the girl diet. I ate some ice cream almost every day when I was on the diet, as long as I was within my caloric limits.

[Out of the Blue]

OoTB - we all need treats now and then, and nothing you ate is really that bad on the girl diet. I ate some ice cream almost every day when I was on the diet, as long as I was within my caloric limits.

Yeah...was within my intakes except for fat. Just had plans of eating a big fat salad & apple and felt disgusted w/myself after a dinner like that. Stepped on the scale this a.m. & I'm still losing. Got about 5-6 lbs left until I'm at my lowest adult weight.

WOW!!! You're almost 9 wks! YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!! Grow, baby, grow!

[Mochagirl]

Yep - still symptom free, though, which worries me. I have my first midwife appointment in a week and a half.

[rainbowflower]

Yep - still symptom free, though, which worries me. I have my first midwife appointment in a week and a half.
Don't let that be a worry for you - you obviously have the HCG in your body, and each pregnancy is different so this is how you body is (or isn't) reacting to the hormones this time

[Out of the Blue]

Don't let that be a worry for you - you obviously have the HCG in your body, and each pregnancy is different so this is how you body is (or isn't) reacting to the hormones this time

Ditto! Hardly felt I was preg at all w/this last pregnancy...Couldn't be more opposite than my boys when I was unbelievably sick. Just think you've got a different color of bean in there than you've had before, Mocha! :wink:

[Mochagirl]

Well, I've never had bad m/s, but it was there at least. With my twins I threw up twice a day (but was fine in between) until 12 weeks, with ds3 I felt nauseous whenever I was hungry, dry heaved a lot but only threw up about twice. With this one there was only one day when I felt sick and threw up, and I had only slept 3 hours then took my prenatal on an empty stomach, so I think that caused it.

[Out of the Blue]

Halleluiah for no m/s, Mocha! :cool: Just try not to over-analyze it and be thankful you’re not sick! I know…easier said than done…I can give okay advice but I can never stick to it myself!:oops:

It’s Halloween here which means there is a LOT of candy in the house but I’m not even craving candy at all so I really hope that’ll stick so I don’t get tempted! I’m posting my food early b/c today is busy and I won’t get to post later most likely. It seems like a lot of food but it’s all under 1500 cals and in the guidelines (except for the Raw Meal…:oops:) so YAY! My plan is to keep food logging on MyFitnessPal for this week to get back into the swing of things and then just stick to what I know food/portion-wise.

1st meal
Raw meal

2nd meal
Salad w/smidge of dressing & pecorino romano cheese
French green beans and homemade hummus
Coco pops (like rice cakes, no choco in them…stupid name but great for the sway) & jam

3rd meal
Raspberry fiber smoothie
Apple
Babybel light cheese
Air-popped popcorn

Drinks:
H2O
2 C. Rasp Leaf Tea
4 C. Peppermint Tea

[purplepoet20]

So I am going to change food plan for the next few months.... Can I ask a few Q's?

Are Bran muffins ok? I am going to make cupcake size muffins for my lunch. No sodium or sugar.

I am going to try yogurt 2x's a day as my snacks with a little fresh fruit. I hate yogurt so it is going to be hard. Which would be the best one to eat that also has no fat in it?

Since we eat mostly soup during the winter would that still sway girl. I make my own broth (sod-free), add celery onion and carrots to all soups, very limited amounts of meat, and sometimes pasta. Our soup dinners always start Halloween night for some reason.

My plan
7am-puffed rice and homemade almond milk (free of everything). 10am and 4pm yogurt and fresh fruit. 1pm mini muffins with a little dairy free butter. 7pm soup. 2cp of coffee and about 8cps of water. I am still deciding on the fake sugars, diet drinks, and CL.
Is there anything I should change?

[Mochagirl]

pp - I hope someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in (maybe create a separate post so atomic will see it?), but I think bran might not be a good choice since it's very healthy and might keep your blood sugar steady for a long time. I could be wrong, though.

Yogurt's fine as long as you watch your total protein intake - they have quite a lot in them! Ones with aspartame, like Yolpait Light, are probably best.

I'm sure the soups will be fine as long as they don't bring you over your totals for sodium, protein and calories.

Is your plan to do the opposite of what you were doing before? It's just that I've noticed that you are eating in the morning and having several snacks instead of 2-3 meals with no snacking. If you're trying to shake things up, I totally understand - just curious.

[purplepoet20]

I am trying to up my chances of loosing weight. Once I stopped breakfast and ate 2 small meals and sometimes a snack I have not lost any weight at all. A million years ago when I used to race bikes I ate small snack like meals every 3hrs and I stayed skinny even when I ate a hugh dinner or the week long holiday dinners. I am trying to eat smaller even calorie meals so I can maybe speed up my matabolism and burn off 40lbs before I try again.

I can't do fake sugars because they are grossing me out and I gave them 6mths but no more. I may do some in coffee but that is because I hate black coffee.

I did ask on another thread but just wanted some extra help.

[Mochagirl]

Ok, fair enough - if you're just trying to lose weight and this type of diet has worked for you before, I say go for it. I agree about fake sugar - I tend to avoid them as well. I didn't eat a lot of yogurt on the diet, but when I did I opted for fat free stuff with regular sugar. Avoid Greek yogurt if you're watching your protein because they can burn over a quarter of your protein budget for the day with one serving! For the record, the LE diet made the weight melt off me, but probably because at first I was a little too strict and ended up with less than 1000 calories many days. Good luck with the weight loss!

[zanacal]

I think for weight loss soups are great - especially at this time of year! Calcium is proven to help with weight loss too so the yogurts could be beneficial in that respect.

[Out of the Blue]

Hey, PP, saw this earlier but I didn't get a chance to respond...

I think trying to focus on losing weight and then swaying after that will be great for you! Personally, I didn't really find I was losing a lot of weight on the girl sway diet although a lot of women do. I guess everyone is different. For me, my body really responds well to protein since it kept me full for a LONG time. Fiber is also my friend when trying to lose weight...gets everything out "down there" and also helps to keep you full. When I was losing my weight last summer, I would eat 5, sometimes 6 meals a day. I also cut out bread and pasta. Keeping your fat and sodium intakes down also helps in losing the weight. At first, I was eating 1,200 cals (sometimes only 1,000) but then I stopped losing so I bumped up my cals to 1,400 - 1,600 to keep losing. It sounds counter-intuitive but it's b/c my metab started to slow down and my body tried to hold onto the weight. I was meticulous about food logging but it really paid off. I lost over 25 lbs. in 2.5 mos this way. I hope this helps!

BTW, I used to race too! I wasn’t that great but since there weren’t that many girls my age racing, I raced in the nationals twice when I was younger. Sprinting was my specialty but since we had no velodrome nearby, I had to save it for road races. I ended up quitting b/c my Dad was our team coach and there was a lot of “teen angst” going on in my life those days. I ended up taking up lacrosse instead. I miss cycling and racing and would love to get back in it and also do triathlons…Someday after our caboose gets here, I guess…Anyway, very cool that you were a racer too!

[zanacal]

You could also try zig-zagging your calories too PP - an example would be to have 1200 calories on 4 days of the week, a couple of days have 1500 calories, then have 1800 calories on the final day. It's meant to be an effective way to lose weight because it keeps your body second guessing. If you eat the same every day you stop losing weight as effectively because your body knows what to expect and it starts to try and keep your weight the same at that level of calories.

[Out of the Blue]

You could also try zig-zagging your calories too PP - an example would be to have 1200 calories on 4 days of the week, a couple of days have 1500 calories, then have 1800 calories on the final day. It's meant to be an effective way to lose weight because it keeps your body second guessing. If you eat the same every day you stop losing weight as effectively because your body knows what to expect and it starts to try and keep your weight the same at that level of calories.

YES! Kelly is right! Ditto on the cal zig-zagging...It helped me a lot! It was nice knowing I could factor more food into certain days and still have the scale going down. It helped me stick to my diet!

[purplepoet20]

You could also try zig-zagging your calories too PP - an example would be to have 1200 calories on 4 days of the week, a couple of days have 1500 calories, then have 1800 calories on the final day. It's meant to be an effective way to lose weight because it keeps your body second guessing. If you eat the same every day you stop losing weight as effectively because your body knows what to expect and it starts to try and keep your weight the same at that level of calories.

That will be our weekends.... when we eat out. But even then I can't eat much anymore I got a really bad stomach after eating 1/2 of a grilled chicken sandwich, it was homemade but I was so full I ******. I can't eat much at all.

[dreaminginpink]

I'm sure this has been posted before, but I'm wondering...how long should we diet before TTC? I do have a good 10lbs at least that I'd love to lose, so this is good for me anyway....but just wondering what the recommended time frame was?? 1m? 6-8 weeks? Just that cycle?

[Kell]

I'm trying to figure out what i can and cant eat while on the low everything diet. I usually eat a high amount of protein so this is something completly different for and and actually quite challenging!

would this meal plan be ok?

11am Rice pops 100g + drizzle of skimmed milk
Lunch/ 2pm wafer thing chicken sandwich
Dinner- Steak and rice and veg

I dont plan to eat snacks, I'm not sure about red meat either but steak is much lower in protein than chicken/turkey/pork.
The total cals would be 1501 protein 41.3
But salt seems on the high side? 1.80g or 0.72 sodium. how do you think i could lower the salt intake?
The problem i see, calories are low! but how do you up the calories while keeping protein low? the obvious i guess would be don't eat meat, i could try vegitarien replacments but even they are pretty high.
Seems i need to eat rice and veg and thats all lol!

[angel-pink]

sorry to jump in here but i wanted someone to see if i've got the idea...... first day i ate nothing til 1 then i drank 1 glass of semi skimmed milk the ate half punnet of strawberries and for my tea had and I 130 g chiccken breast fillet pasta cheese sauce a pepper mint tea and glass of milk today i ate nothing for breakfast 1peppermint tea a pint of semi skimmed milk for lunch 1 peppermint tea and a jacket with cheese and lettuce and cucumber and 1 peppermint tea just

i am BUTCHER so usually am a total boy eater and tea belly so it's a shock to me not to eat meat and veg loaded roasters but am Idoing it right have I got the idea more calcuim no meat I've ordered crystal light and cal and mag vits Is the food ok tho

[Mochagirl]

Welcome, angel-pink. The more the merrier!

It sounds like you're doing the IG diet, right? If so, good job - sounds like you have the hang of it! I and a few others here are doing the LE diet instead, which in its strictest form doesn't allow meat at all.

[angel-pink]

the are soo many diet's i just dont know the problem i'm having is i wanted to do the le diet but i don't know what recipes etc to cook so i was starving and ended up eating any old thing to get fed can you help with this i found a page on here that had ig girl diet and recipes and that made it easier to follow for me

[Mochagirl]

If you become a dream member you'll have access to a lot more info about the LE diet in the private section. It's a far simpler diet than IG simply because of its flexibility. Basically, as long as you stay within the following limits: 40g protein, 700-1000g sodium, 1500-1800 calories and about 20-30% of your calories from fat, you're good to go. Potatoes and tomatoes are allowed on the diet, though you should still try to avoid avocados, onion, garlic and chocolate just like on the other diets (and probably other things I can't think of right now). We also try to keep our blood sugar low by eating 2-3 meals per day with no snacking in between and never eating before noon.

One big difference is the lack of focus on calcium. It's very hard to keep within the protein constraints while eating yogurt and drinking milk, so many of us avoid that. We also don't take calcium supplements since there are some studies that suggest more calcium might actually sway boy.

I know it's all confusing, but with so few taboo foods you can sometimes get creative.

Here's what a typical day of mine might look:

Breakfast: coffee (this is ok to have in the morning because it doesn't raise your blood sugar)
Lunch: 1 cup cooked white rice mixed with 2 tbsp low fat yogurt and lemon juice, low calorie cookie for dessert
Supper: 1 serving pasta mixed with unsalted butter and parmesan (or low sodium tomato sauce, or creme fraiche, or pureed squash, or sauteed vegetables), low fat ice cream/frozen yogurt for dessert
Snack (I found it easier to have a mid-evening snack and call it my 3rd meal - otherwise I never got enough calories): fresh raspberries and Sour Patch Kids

As you can see, we're allowed sweets on this diet. I found it a lot easier to keep to a diet that allows treats like that. There really are tons of meal options, provided you prepare them yourself so you can control sodium, etc. Some things I've made: cannelloni with ricotta and spinach, vegetarian quesadillas with black beans, homemade pizza with salt-free crust, etc.

For lots of tips and ideas, look through the previous months' TTC Pink Food threads - particularly ones from the summer. There was a small group of us who used to post the food we ate every day - I even always included my totals for protein, calories and sodium.

Good luck, and any questions, just ask!

[angel-pink]

thanks hun I hate milk etc so glad that isn't something to focus on Ican even live without meat but potatoes now that is something else all together lol i gotta have me spuds sounds like a slimming world green day only liminting the amount of food and no b choices i'll try to stick within calories etc...... bth you only have to blow on me and i've got a bum in oven lol my bmi is something like 35 so hopefully loosing weight and trying girl foods will help me sway. i may join up but it will have to be after christmas now also i'm not a sweet person no sugar in drinks no sweets for me I got fat from eating sausage rolls lmao also if i start eating early i and starving all day so not eating is better for me but do you have to eat 3 meals and wouldn't it be better to eat fruit of something light to get you starving to make your blood sugars drop iykwim cheers for amswering and thanks for your help