Atomic, help! Swaying pink while breastfeeding and on a dairy and gluten free diet

[Lillie]

Hi! I would like to TTC girl this summer, but am already on a very restrictive diet. I have been avoiding dairy and gluten (grains) for almost a year because I'm breastfeeding my now 15 month old girl who is allergic to those things. I was just wondering how to tweak the LE diet? I swayed in 2015 and did some version of the LE diet - thank you, Atomic for all your great research and excellent posts! :) Back then, I basically lived on bread, cheese and milk chocolate candies. Now that's not really possible, so I was wondering if it still can be done? I have a few specific questions:

1. Protein: I can't seem to get enough of protein without eating some animal protein (50-60g without counting protein in fruits or veggies). Is it ok if I have some chicken breast or egg white every day? (I just can't stomach lots of beans or nut/seed butters).

2. My pediatrician told me to have 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil each day to get good fats in the breast milk. Will this sway blue if I otherwise eat a low fat diet?

3. This won't be a "crash and burn" version of the LE diet because of the breastfeeding. Does this mean that I should reduce carbs overall, especially simple carbs?

Thanks so much for your help!

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes it is fine for you to up calories, protein, and fat intake and i want you to do that right away. 1800-2000 cals a day or more if needed, 50-60 g protein, 50-60 g fat minimum. Some breastfeeders have gone up to 60-70 g protein and fat (and gotten girls this way)

Yes you can add in animal protein. No worries at all.

We've had great success with gluten free diets for pink.

I have an alternate diet that is easily done gluten free and you can find that here: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/9052-swaying-under-special-circumstances-part-3-pcos.html

Re the 2T rapeseed oil, that's 28 g of fat right there. But what I'd do is use that for cooking other foods, you don't need to tack that onto your regular diet. So if you were going to have a couple eggs, cook them in oil, have it on a salad, or with veggies, etc. No worries there. Lots of new studies indicate higher intake of veg. fats (like those in rapeseed oil) sway pink anyway. By higher I mean a higher % of your overall diet (vs. % of animal-based fat) - not that you should start eating tons and tons of fat, just stick int he 70 g and under limits.

NO I don't want you to reduce carb intake!! There is no quicker way of making your milk dry up than cutting back on carbs. Keep eating carbs!!!

[Lillie]

Atomic, thank you so much for your help! I had already started some version of the crash and burn version of the LE diet, but noticed a reduction in my milk supply. Was also getting nauseous and jittery from low blood sugar (I think).

Thanks for the link to the PCOS diet. I actually have some version of PCOS (many symptoms but no cysts), but somehow the regular LE diet (vegetarian) and 2g of inositol per day helped me sway pink last time. So, I'm a bit worried about the meat and olis in my diet now. But, maybe they're fine in small amounts as "fillers" to reach the minimum fat & protein levels. I guess it's also good to do a slow burn version of the LE diet, because I don't want to lose much weight (my BMI is 19). By the way, is it ok to eat 4 times a day? With three meals, I feel like I have to stuff myself to get enough calories...

[atomic sagebrush]

Do not worry about the meat and oils in your diet. Just as you say, they are fine to meet your limits/needs. This is NOT a starvation diet, especially not for those who are breastfeeding!!

Eating 4 times a day IS actually ok. Both 2-3 meals are 100% fully LE Diet approved, and whenever people can't make it on 3 meals I WANT them to go to 4. it is still very, very different than the all day grazing that most of us do/did when we got our boys!!! Especially for someone nursing and at a low BMI 4 meals a day is a-ok.

[Lillie]

Thank you! :)) I have to say, that after doing the LE diet last time, I got to like it so much that I felt like staying on some version of it indefinitely (faster or slower burn). It's such a nice and sensible diet/lifestyle that feels good. Especially letting quite a bit of time pass between dinner and breakfast/lunch. Thanks so much for sharing your ideas!

[Lillie]

One more unrelated question: What is your take on probiotics? Do they sway at all? I stopped taking probiotic pills a while back, because I was worried that they sway blue.

[atomic sagebrush]

I believe they sway strongly blue and were the only thing in our results that were "supposed" to sway pink (according to the old-school sway gurus) but got worse than 50-50 for us. 60% of the people taking them got BOYS even with otherwise great sways. We now use them exclusively for blue sways. :)

[Lillie]

Wow! That's a big effect. Great to know. I'll steer clear of it. By the way, I checked out the sway statistics and noticed that pregnitude has had a pretty nice influence on girl sways. I think you're on to something there. I took it for my last sway because it's​ supposed to reduce PCOS symptoms - it's supposed to reduce blood sugar, testosterone and increase SHBG (should all sway pink):
https://sites.google.com/site/miscarriageresearch/supplements-and-miscarriage/d-chiro-inositol

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks!! I do want to mention that it is not right for everyone to take, so anyone reading this please don't just add it in without going over a few things with me first - and Lillie please no taking it while breastfeeding. We don't KNOW that it's bad to do, but I just don't feel quite ok about it yet.

[Lillie]

I actually asked my gynecologist about whether I could continue taking inositol while pregnant and breastfeeding, and he said that continuing to take 2g per day is fine (he first checked with a colleague who is researching inositol and fertility).

By the way, I found this on the website of Inofolic (similar to pregnitude):
"Taken during IVF treatment it has been shown to improve egg and embryo quality and reduce the risk of OHSS. It can be safely taken throughout pregnancy and reduces the incidence of gestational diabetes."
Home - Inofolic (http://inofolic.org.uk)

But I completely agree with you Atomic. We should be very careful about supplements, especially before/during pregnancy and breastfeeding. We should always check with our physicians if what we're planning to take is ok.

[Lillie]

Hi again, Atomic,
It seems like my little one is starting to tolerate wheat and milk products. So, I can probably start having them soon, too. Now I'm just wondering if it might hurt my sway to reintroduce gluten and dairy products.

I was also wondering if a vegan diet sways more than vegetarian?

I was also wondering if quinoa sways blue? I've been having quite a bit of that (daily) in lieu of couscous.

Thanks again for your help! :)

[atomic sagebrush]

Unfortunately there are just some things that are beyond my ability to know - such as if adding back gluten and dairy might help or hurt your sway. I just don't know, I'm sorry.

We speculate that is the case BUT can't prove it because vegans are often doing so many healthy, nutrient dense foods and supplements that it muddies the water in terms of results.

Foods in and of themselves don't sway individually, it's the overall nutrient content of your diet that matters. So quinoa can be a part of a boy or girl diet just in the limits of those. :)

[Lillie]

Thanks again, Atomic! I guess adding some empty (gluten containing) carbs won't hurt :). I'll just try not to go over board with quinoa - it seems to be quite nutritious. But also very tasty.

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, there is also rice, that seems ok for gluten free diets usually!

[Lillie]

Good idea! On the slow burn diet, does it matter if I go for white or brown rice? Also, would you peel potatoes to reduce nutrition? (I remember you writing somewhere that your daughter is 30% potato, heh)

[atomic sagebrush]

Weirdly, white rice is well tolerated by people with insulin issues so please use whichever you prefer - white or brown.

Re the nutrition in peelings - we started off assuming that all nutrients swayed equally but over time we've realized that the small amounts of nutrition in fruits and veg really aren't doing much, if anything. We've had excellent results even with people eating tons and tons of fruits and veg and the macronutrients like calories, protein, and fat seem to be much heavier hitters (and also the large amounts of vitamins in vitamin tablets and fortified foods) so I seriously doubt potato peels do anything at all to harm a sway. Totally up to you!

Yes my daughter was conceived on a steady diet of potatoes!! after avoiding salt and potatoes and still getting a boy the 4th time I felt like being a rebel and showing everyone that the whole idea didn't work so I did not avoid either of those things at all! :)

[Lillie]

Hehe, that's excellent! You must be right that the big picture matters more than the details. When I conceived my DD, I was eating quite a bit of junk food (boxes of Ben and Jerry's chocolate for dinner, pancakes for lunch etc.), but very little calories over all. And I didn't feel deprived :)

[atomic sagebrush]

That is the quintessential girl diet that I see again and again among my blue swayers. Salad and candy and diet coke but only eating 1000 cals a day (not recommending anyone eat like this for a pink sway, just that it's something I see come up a lot)

[Lillie]

That sounds like my kind of diet :D.

I wanted to ask if you have any advice about fertility and breastfeeding: I would like to try for another little one, but my period hasn't returned yet - probably because of breastfeeding 4-5 times a day. I've read that increasing calories (and insulin) can make the period return while breastfeeding. But, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the girl diet?

[atomic sagebrush]

Ok let me explain the reason why I think both diet and breastfeeding sway pink.

I believe that our body's natural birth control mechanisms (the exact thing that makes us stop ovulating when we exercise a lot or diet too strictly or also how we don't ovulate while breastfeeding) is what sways pink. So we are looking for a happy medium where we are ovulating and can get pregnant, but our fertility is not quite 110%. This is a sliding scale with a LOT of ground to cover between the two extremes. So it's totally possible for diet + breastfeeding to be TOO much and make it impossible for you to get pregnant (due to your body's natural birth control mechanisms). So you can relax on diet a little and then your ovulation will resume and you'll get pregnant. It STILL sways pink to do that. You actually need to turn the radio dial a little more towards the direction of "fertility" just in order to get pregnant while doing both LE Diet and while nursing, but that doesn't mean you are undoing any of your sway, you're just making it possible to conceive while still in "girl zone." :)

[Lillie]

Thanks Atomic! That makes a lot of sense :). I'm just worried that relaxing the diet will make me gain some weight and sway blue. Should I do a stricter LE diet once the period returns?

[atomic sagebrush]

Ok let me explain the reason why I think both diet and breastfeeding sway pink.

I believe that our body's natural birth control mechanisms (the exact thing that makes us stop ovulating when we exercise a lot or diet too strictly or also how we don't ovulate while breastfeeding) is what sways pink. So we are looking for a happy medium where we are ovulating and can get pregnant, but our fertility is not quite 110%. This is a sliding scale with a LOT of ground to cover between the two extremes. So it's totally possible for diet + breastfeeding to be TOO much and make it impossible for you to get pregnant (due to your body's natural birth control mechanisms). So you can relax on diet a little and then your ovulation will resume and you'll get pregnant. It STILL sways pink to do that. You actually need to turn the radio dial a little more towards the direction of "fertility" just in order to get pregnant while doing both LE Diet and while nursing, but that doesn't mean you are undoing any of your sway, you're just making it possible to conceive while still in "girl zone." :)

Just quoting myself here -

No, I don't want you to get strict on diet after your period comes back because what will happen is that your period will stop again LOL.

We are trying to hit that sweet spot between "fertile enough to get pregnant" and "so fertile you get a boy".

You aren't doing that by relaxing enough on diet for you to resume ovulating. No egg, no baby. :)

[Lillie]

Indeed. :)
Thanks Atomic!

[XXforhubby]

I have no idea how in the world I missed this!!!

I swayed for a girl while breastfeeding and am having a baby girl. I completely agree with Atomic on this one! I was too strict too soon and ended up having crazy long cycles with delayed ovulation! Stick to the upper limits of the diet, and you should be fine. Once I did that, things improved. I ended up needing Clomid because I had really high levels of prolactin (I'm an overproducer) and it needed to be normal for me to conceive. There is another medication but it would cause my milk to dry up, and I was still breastfeeding my son 6-8 (more like 6) times a day. I believe that had I not dieted and exercised so much early on, my body wouldn't have overcompensated by producing too much prolactin. I wasn't willing to increase my calories beyond the LE upper limits, so I had to have Clomid to help me.

🤞🏻for you!!


[emoji170]8/2010 [emoji170]6/2013 [emoji170]11/2015 [emoji170]
[emoji178]Baby Girl [emoji254]EDD 9/30/2017 [emoji178]

https://lmtm.lilypie.com/kIlmm5.png (https://lilypie.com)

[Lillie]

Xxforhubby, thanks for sharing! So, did you have around 1800 calories per day? I'm thinking that I might also be producing a lot of prolactin because of being on a pretty strict diet...

Atomic, my doctor prescribed iron and vitamin D supplements, because both were low. I know that they sway blue. But, quitting my vegetarian diet and having red meat for iron and fatty fish for vitamin D would sway blue even more than the supplements, right?

[XXforhubby]

Yep. I ate 1500-1900 calories depending on my appetite.

I also took 2,000IU of vitamin D daily because I was so deficient in D. You can get a girl taking it!


[emoji170]8/2010 [emoji170]6/2013 [emoji170]11/2015 [emoji170]
[emoji178]Baby Girl [emoji254]EDD 9/30/2017 [emoji178]

https://lmtm.lilypie.com/kIlmm5.png (https://lilypie.com)

[atomic sagebrush]

Take the supplements at the recommended amount for 4-6 weeks and then reduce to 3x a week (but if you start feeling poorly again, restart them, iron in particular can really make you feel bad when you're deficient) This is something I use with lots of swayers with nutrient deficiencies!

[Lillie]

Xxforhubby, so great to hear that vitamin D doesn't necessarily hurt the sway. Can I ask for more details about your sway? :) For example, did you have breakfast, did you exercise? I'm feeling so tired most of the days that I crash without breakfast and have no energy to exercise... I guess it's because of the breastfeeding plus a lack of sleep.

Atomic, thanks for the tip about the timing of supplements - I will definitely do that! :)

[XXforhubby]

Ask away! I had to have 3 meals a day, because I started swaying when my DS3 was about 3mo old. I just delayed when I had my first meal. When I got my BFP a year later, I was having my first meal between 10:30-1:00pm. Keep in mind my son was 14.5mo at that time. I started with the diet for 12 weeks and then added in the cardio. The weather warmed up allowing me to wear my DS3 and push my DS2 in a stroller.

Here is the link to my sway where I go into things in much more detail. Don't hesitate to ask me any more questions! You can also send me a private message (PM) if you prefer!

XXforhubby TTC a GIRL Sway Attempt

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=35024&share_tid=58065&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egenderdreaming%2Ecom%2Fforu m%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D58065&share_type=t


[emoji170]8/2010 [emoji170]6/2013 [emoji170]11/2015 [emoji170]
[emoji178]Baby Girl [emoji254]EDD 9/30/2017 [emoji178]

https://lmtm.lilypie.com/kIlmm5.png (https://lilypie.com)

[Lillie]

Xxforhubby, thanks for the link to your sway. Wow, it's really great. My diet isn't nearly as strict. Am using food to compensate for a lack of sleep... What did you eat for protein? I'm having tons of beans and egg white to get around 50g protein. I hope the egg whites don't sway blue.

[XXforhubby]

Awe, thanks! I ate mainly: refried beans, Quorn veggie burgers, Beyond beef veggie crumbles (put in salads or in tacos), pasta (has more protein than you realize!), eggs 2-4 times a week usually for breakfast (I loved one egg on a bagel thin with low fat cream cheese!), and whatever I made for dinner with usually the veggies and side dishes. I loved Chinese! With all the veggies and white rice, you need to have the chicken or pork to net any protein. When I craved meat, we ordered from my favorite place for take out! That's about it. Oh, my ultimate fav (besides Chinese!) was spaghetti pasta, sautéed mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, with grape Seed oil, black olives, 1T of aged balsamic vinegar, and a pinch of Parmesan cheese! I still make this! I also loved two small soft taco wraps lined with refried beans, chopped tomatoes, black olives, a pinch of Mexican cheese heated up in the microwave for 15-30sec. I had this with a small amount of tortilla chips and salsa. My other fav meal was Matzo crackers (large size) lined with my homemade marinara sauce, topped with low-fat mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses with mushrooms, black olives, diced Roma tomatoes, with either fresh chopped basil or dried basil. Pop it in the oven or toaster oven until the cheese is melted. You can have 2 of these! My go to dessert was raspberry sherbert. No fat, no protein, and 2 giant scoops only amount to 150 calories!! That's about all I can really remember, because I still eat those regularly! Oh, I made a killer low-fat veggie lasagna that only amounted to 325 calories giving a larger serving of a 3inchx3inch square!! I used ready made lasagna noodles (sometimes yolk free), part skim ricotta, low-fat mozzarella cheeses with 1 egg, parsley, basil, and garlic mixed together. Alternated with my homemade marinara sauce, and topped with low-fat Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped basil. I have some in the freezer that I still eat on! Sometimes I chopped up spinach and mixed 1.5 cups into my cheese mixture. I did this when I felt depleted or I needed a bit more iron around AF time.

That's about it!


[emoji170]8/2010 [emoji170]6/2013 [emoji170]11/2015 [emoji170]
[emoji178]Baby Girl [emoji254]EDD 9/30/2017 [emoji178]

https://lmtm.lilypie.com/kIlmm5.png (https://lilypie.com)

[atomic sagebrush]

Beans and egg whites are fine for pink sway.

[Shree1990]

I believe they sway strongly blue and were the only thing in our results that were "supposed" to sway pink (according to the old-school sway gurus) but got worse than 50-50 for us. 60% of the people taking them got BOYS even with otherwise great sways. We now use them exclusively for blue sways. :)

Thank you, I also had the same question.

[Lillie]

I'm back with a few more dumb questions :)
For a girl sway, does it matter when I eat breakfast if I fast 13-15 hours between dinner and breakfast? Also, after such a fast, do you think having porridge for breakfast (e.g oatmeal, rye or semolina) sways blue or not? I just remember seeing in some study that breakfast cereal (and high caloric intake) sway blue...

[atomic sagebrush]

No, we believe it's the fasting time and not "breakfast" itself or what specific time you eat at. People do whatever works for them, in all different patterns.

WE do believe oatmeal potentially sways blue because of a chemical in oats called avenocasides that may raise testosterone. Semolina and rye should be ok, but make sure they're not fortified. The reason we think cereal sways blue is due to the high fortification in the cereal.

[Lillie]

Thank you so much, Atomic! One more dumb question: does caloric distribution matter. For instance, does it make any difference if I eat a huge breakfast and tiny dinner vs the opposite? I haven't paid much thought to it so far. I have only checked overall daily intake of calories, proteins and fats.

[atomic sagebrush]

No and I want you guys to do what works better for YOU and to stay flexible day by day because some days will be harder to stick to than others and you may need to be able to change the meals you're eating as it goes along to better enable yourself to be happy and satisfied on the diet. :)

[Lillie]

Hi Atomic, and pink swayers!

Just wanted to let you know that my little pink bundle of loveliness was born in October. :)

I had to stop breastfeeding and take medication (Femara) to get pregnant. Continued with the gluten free pink sway diet from the last post until I got pregnant. That's almost a year. Wow, time flies. You were right, Atomic, it's the big picture that matters (calories, fasting times) and not the details. I was eating a super healthy diet too, with lots of veggies, some fruit and lots of good fats (up to 40% calories from fat some days even). That goes a bit against the pink diet, but I felt that I needed it, and the overall diet was not high in calories or sugar, so that probably kept blood sugar in check.

Atomic, XXforhubby and all, thank you so much for your support! <3

xoxoxo
Lillie

[XXforhubby]

Ahhhhh! I just saw this!!! Hugest congrats! I’m SO happy for you and your family!! When was she born? I ask because Olivian’s birthday is October 4th. I can’t believe she is 2 now [emoji30][emoji4]!!


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[Lillie]

Thank you so much!! And congratulations for your (not so little anymore) bundle!!! Hope Olivia had a nice birthday :).
Madeline was born on October 25th. The DD was in November but she decided to come early ;).

[atomic sagebrush]

WOW!!! I am so happy for you!! Thank you so very much for updating us!! Enjoy every moment!!

[Lillie]

Thank you, Atomic!! :) You are doing such an amazing job in this community!!! <3