WelcomeBaby
December 27th, 2018, 04:20 PM
…I’m back! And very sorry I went MIA last year :( I had a huge fight with DH who decided he absolutely did not want another kid (we have a special needs son already) and then found out that 2 of my postings here never materialized (?? couldn’t find them anyway) and got extremely frustrated and just dropped everything right there and then… My apologies!
In late summer of 2017, however, I decided to start swaying again, just to be ready in case DH would come around at some point. And 16 months later… here we are! Had our first attempt a few days ago and I guess I’m officially in the 2WW now! :running:
Because 16 months of swaying (and experimenting a lot along the way) allowed me to gain a lot of experience, I really want to share with you what I’ve learned. But first, I would like to give you a quick overview of what I’ve been doing and ask a few questions, then I’ll be posting my insights in a different thread, which is going to be loooong LOL.
I seem to have pretty strong PCOS tendencies (cystic acne for 25 years, BMI of 22 but a good deal of abdominal fat, bad reactive hypoglycemia / postprandial syndrome which is indicative of insulin resistance - regular menstrual cycles though). So I switched to the LE PCOS diet and that is what I have been doing for about 16 months now.
Here’s what I'm doing…
• LE PCOS diet (60grams of fat, 50grams of protein, about 1600-1900kcals / day), cut out 95% of all added sugars
• cinnamon in my coffee, 2-3 cups of coffee/day
• peppermint tea CD1-14
• 1 gram of Inositol in the morning (only for the past 10 weeks), magnesium, folate
• 1 shot of Vodka/day (only for the past 10 weeks)
• overnight fast of 12-14 hours
• no snacking, juices, dried fruits, very little nuts and fried foods, replaced oat milk with soy milk, butter with margarine
• for the attempt we had recently: 3 day cutoff, Acijel, J&D after about 10 mins (I had huge amounts of EWCM and that was my guide for the attempt, ended up ovulating 3 days after the attempt though… bummer)
Because I’ll be 39 in a few months and DH is almost 50, I’m pretty sure the cutoff, Acijel, and J&D reduced our odds of conception to zero, so I’m expecting a BFN this time (would very much welcome success stories with a 3 day cutoff though!!). Next cycle, we’ll skip the Acijel and the J&D and I’ll try to make peace with my OPKs so we can BD closer to O (bought a brand I can’t wrap my head around yet LOL).
What I eat in a day is:
• after a fast of 12-14 hours - coffee, then breakfast: 3-4 small slices of wholegrain bread with some margarine, some whole fat cheese OR deli meat (½-1 serving) OR 2-3 ts of jam, sometimes an orange or some free veg
• lunch: potatoes + free veg or starchy veg like peas or carrots, homecooked & low fat
• on most days, a green smoothie to hold me over and add some cals (made from scratch, only leafy greens and 1 piece of fresh fruit, no “superfoods” like seaweed, nut butters etc.)
• dinner: classic low-carb dinner, like chili with lots of free veg + some extra lean beef (and no beans!), or a green salad + chicken, or chicken soup… maybe starchy veg like carrots or sweet potatoes, but no grain based sides like bread or pasta; all home-cooked
This basic principle - wholegrain bread for breakfast, potatoes + veg for lunch, (very little) meat + veg for dinner - is what I like best and could actually do for the rest of my life. And I think I might have to, given my PCOS tendencies! All in all, I have cut back on bread and dairy in a major way and get my carbs from healthier sources (fruit and veg).
What this diet has done for me is incredible. I lost 13 lbs and most of the abdominal fat. My skin cleared up like never before, and my eczema is gone too. I have so much more energy. My luteal phase went from 10 days to 13 days and I generally feel more hormonally balanced. In most cycles, I even O earlier (day 14) than before (day 17), and I have more EWCM.
My questions are…
1. If the LE PCOS diet + exercise makes me ovulate earlier and with lots of EWCM and just seems to be such a huge improvement health-wise, doesn’t that mean I’m getting “too healthy” for pink instead of lowering my fertility? Could my new lifestyle be too good for my fertility, thus swaying blue? Or should I just trust the diet and its limits on fat, protein, and cals? And, on the same note: Have I been swaying for TOO long? Could it be that my body just likes this lifestyle AND adjusted to it so there’s no sway effect in it any longer?
2. How bad is cheating with sugar on the LE PCOS diet really - when you don’t have full blown PCOS, but strong tendencies? I cheated a lot recently, had chocolate bars or cookies about 5-6 times in the past 6 weeks (Christmas season!!!) and occasionally a (very) small amount of jam for breakfast. Can that alone endanger my sway, or could I afford it if, for instance, I add in more exercise?
3. Right now I don’t exercise but I’m very active with my toddler, walking briskly for 1.5-4 hours a day on most days of the week. I would however like to add in the “real” exercise, but I would need more calories to do that (can’t lose any more weight, I’m already down to a BMI of 19.5). Should I up carbs or fat or both?
4. DH thinks swaying is ridiculous and he certainly won’t help. He’s very muscular, lifts weights daily, eats Paleo (only free veg, nuts and meat, NO exeptions) and takes supps like zinc and vit D. What is the current take on DH’s influence on baby’s gender? I’m kinda worried because I know two very ambitious, influential Type A women in upper management positions with 3 daughters between them and no boys - both have very mellow house husbands… :/ Makes me wonder if I have a chance at all…
I'm sorry, this is a long post! I very much appreciate all input and if you, Atomic, could point me in the right direction, that would encourage me big time! Thank you so much in advance!
In late summer of 2017, however, I decided to start swaying again, just to be ready in case DH would come around at some point. And 16 months later… here we are! Had our first attempt a few days ago and I guess I’m officially in the 2WW now! :running:
Because 16 months of swaying (and experimenting a lot along the way) allowed me to gain a lot of experience, I really want to share with you what I’ve learned. But first, I would like to give you a quick overview of what I’ve been doing and ask a few questions, then I’ll be posting my insights in a different thread, which is going to be loooong LOL.
I seem to have pretty strong PCOS tendencies (cystic acne for 25 years, BMI of 22 but a good deal of abdominal fat, bad reactive hypoglycemia / postprandial syndrome which is indicative of insulin resistance - regular menstrual cycles though). So I switched to the LE PCOS diet and that is what I have been doing for about 16 months now.
Here’s what I'm doing…
• LE PCOS diet (60grams of fat, 50grams of protein, about 1600-1900kcals / day), cut out 95% of all added sugars
• cinnamon in my coffee, 2-3 cups of coffee/day
• peppermint tea CD1-14
• 1 gram of Inositol in the morning (only for the past 10 weeks), magnesium, folate
• 1 shot of Vodka/day (only for the past 10 weeks)
• overnight fast of 12-14 hours
• no snacking, juices, dried fruits, very little nuts and fried foods, replaced oat milk with soy milk, butter with margarine
• for the attempt we had recently: 3 day cutoff, Acijel, J&D after about 10 mins (I had huge amounts of EWCM and that was my guide for the attempt, ended up ovulating 3 days after the attempt though… bummer)
Because I’ll be 39 in a few months and DH is almost 50, I’m pretty sure the cutoff, Acijel, and J&D reduced our odds of conception to zero, so I’m expecting a BFN this time (would very much welcome success stories with a 3 day cutoff though!!). Next cycle, we’ll skip the Acijel and the J&D and I’ll try to make peace with my OPKs so we can BD closer to O (bought a brand I can’t wrap my head around yet LOL).
What I eat in a day is:
• after a fast of 12-14 hours - coffee, then breakfast: 3-4 small slices of wholegrain bread with some margarine, some whole fat cheese OR deli meat (½-1 serving) OR 2-3 ts of jam, sometimes an orange or some free veg
• lunch: potatoes + free veg or starchy veg like peas or carrots, homecooked & low fat
• on most days, a green smoothie to hold me over and add some cals (made from scratch, only leafy greens and 1 piece of fresh fruit, no “superfoods” like seaweed, nut butters etc.)
• dinner: classic low-carb dinner, like chili with lots of free veg + some extra lean beef (and no beans!), or a green salad + chicken, or chicken soup… maybe starchy veg like carrots or sweet potatoes, but no grain based sides like bread or pasta; all home-cooked
This basic principle - wholegrain bread for breakfast, potatoes + veg for lunch, (very little) meat + veg for dinner - is what I like best and could actually do for the rest of my life. And I think I might have to, given my PCOS tendencies! All in all, I have cut back on bread and dairy in a major way and get my carbs from healthier sources (fruit and veg).
What this diet has done for me is incredible. I lost 13 lbs and most of the abdominal fat. My skin cleared up like never before, and my eczema is gone too. I have so much more energy. My luteal phase went from 10 days to 13 days and I generally feel more hormonally balanced. In most cycles, I even O earlier (day 14) than before (day 17), and I have more EWCM.
My questions are…
1. If the LE PCOS diet + exercise makes me ovulate earlier and with lots of EWCM and just seems to be such a huge improvement health-wise, doesn’t that mean I’m getting “too healthy” for pink instead of lowering my fertility? Could my new lifestyle be too good for my fertility, thus swaying blue? Or should I just trust the diet and its limits on fat, protein, and cals? And, on the same note: Have I been swaying for TOO long? Could it be that my body just likes this lifestyle AND adjusted to it so there’s no sway effect in it any longer?
2. How bad is cheating with sugar on the LE PCOS diet really - when you don’t have full blown PCOS, but strong tendencies? I cheated a lot recently, had chocolate bars or cookies about 5-6 times in the past 6 weeks (Christmas season!!!) and occasionally a (very) small amount of jam for breakfast. Can that alone endanger my sway, or could I afford it if, for instance, I add in more exercise?
3. Right now I don’t exercise but I’m very active with my toddler, walking briskly for 1.5-4 hours a day on most days of the week. I would however like to add in the “real” exercise, but I would need more calories to do that (can’t lose any more weight, I’m already down to a BMI of 19.5). Should I up carbs or fat or both?
4. DH thinks swaying is ridiculous and he certainly won’t help. He’s very muscular, lifts weights daily, eats Paleo (only free veg, nuts and meat, NO exeptions) and takes supps like zinc and vit D. What is the current take on DH’s influence on baby’s gender? I’m kinda worried because I know two very ambitious, influential Type A women in upper management positions with 3 daughters between them and no boys - both have very mellow house husbands… :/ Makes me wonder if I have a chance at all…
I'm sorry, this is a long post! I very much appreciate all input and if you, Atomic, could point me in the right direction, that would encourage me big time! Thank you so much in advance!