To exercise or not to exercise?

[Pretty]

Hi there!! I am hoping to catch a first (or second) egg but I don’t know when that will happen (I’m going to start weaning this month or next); is it worth it to start using a treadmill
Or am I better off staying couch potato. I’m not doing great with the diet but I am a strict vegetarian (mostly vegan). About 5 feet tall and ranging from 105-110 pounds depending on the day. I weighed less when I conceived DD and am generally feeling like this sway isn’t going as well as my last (which was successful). TIA!!

[Pretty]

Also, I’m counting down the days until
My 35th birthday

[atomic sagebrush]

Always exercise if there is any way. Exercise has gotten significantly better results than couch potato and I'm basically having everyone exercise even if they can't get all the way up to the 4-7 days a week

[atomic sagebrush]

Also, I’m counting down the days until
My 35th birthday

Happy birthday! the best is yet to come!

[Pretty]

Thank you so much!!

[Racey hoping pink]

I'm going for a long walk with my hubby and kids 4/5 evenings per week, if that might be possible for you. I'm unable to do proper cardio as I have fibromyalgia and dont want to increase my chances of inducing a pain flare. Have a lovely birthday, my 35th was 6 months ago 😊

[Pretty]

Thank you!! I wasn’t sure if age would affect the answer so I figured I’d add it!! I’m just nervous because I worked out before conceiving ds and went couch potato for DD, but I just feel like I’ve failed before starting so I want to make sure I have no regrets. But I’m definitely most nervous about adding the treadmill (well, doing anything different from last time really). I’ve only done it two days, but I’ve just walked for 60 minutes straight.

[Pretty]

Just to be super clear, I should exercise even if I’m not doing great on the diet (still vegetarian but limits are iffy)? Also, any advise to stop swaycessing? I’m really struggling. TIA!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Just to be super clear, I should exercise even if I’m not doing great on the diet (still vegetarian but limits are iffy)? Also, any advise to stop swaycessing? I’m really struggling. TIA!!

You should ESPECIALLY exercise if not doing that well on diet.

What particularly are you swaycessing about?? Sometimes I can snap you out of it by telling you guys the stuff I've seen but I need more specifics about what specifically. My standard advice is just get out and about and get busy doing other things, rather than sitting around all day thinking about swaying...but that's hard advice when we're all under quarantine still (or at least social distancing)

[Pretty]

Thank you!!
I definitely think that sitting home all day is contributing to the obsession. Last sway I was working a lot, and now I’m a stay at home mom and sit and dwell about all the things that are different about this sway compared to my last. Plus, I feel like I’ve been swaying so long now my body is “used” to it, and it may not be as effective. I’m hoping to try to get femara, but I still need to wean (which is making me sad, but still no cycle yet). I also worry about not taking the supplements I took last time. Basically, I think I wish I could replicate my last sway better and I’m getting scared/disappointed at not doing that. Whew, sorry for the vent!

[Pretty]

The return of breakouts and body hair also has me worried about hormones and testosterone too. Really feeling in a slump

[atomic sagebrush]

Why do you need to wean?

the supplements have not worked. There's nothing wrong with kicking those to the curb at all.

When you sway for a second time the important thing is not to do everything the same, but to do what WORKS. That is diet, exercise, one attempt. Dropping the stuff that doesn't work won't hurt your sway any.

[atomic sagebrush]

The return of breakouts and body hair also has me worried about hormones and testosterone too. Really feeling in a slump

I get this question all the time about breakouts and have not found anything to it. The body hair is somewhat more concerning, can you describe what's going on?

Are you on the alternate diet? If not, we can switch and that will help.

[Pretty]

Thank you! I am needing to wean to get a period back I assume (it’s been 1.5 years without a cycle) and I’m hoping to use femara again.

I have horrible hairs on my face (the thick, wiry kind) and hair on my chest. It went away while pregnant and breastfeeding but is definitely back. I’ve been doing the alternate diet and sticking with whole grains (mostly vegan, so most of my cheese and dairy isn’t the real stuff). Thank you so much for your time!

[atomic sagebrush]

Sorry if you already told me this, but are you doing vegan for your sway or for other reasons?

Vegan foods can be carby and the absent cycle coupled with the body hair makes me wonder if you're getting too many carbs, not enough protein and fat.

Personally I would have you add back in full fat dairy and eggs, keep nursing, and see if the cycle resumes without weaning.

[Pretty]

I went vegan for the sway, I’ve been pretty high in the protein and fat but haven’t paid much attention to carbs. I honestly don’t think I’ve been high on those, but I’ll keep an eye out. How much dairy would you suggest? I’ve never been a milk drinker or egg eater so this may be tricky but I’m clearly desperate lol

[Pretty]

I went back and looked, my protein and fat might be too high? Could that be it? I’m not sure if eating too much protein plus a lot of walking may increase testosterone?

[atomic sagebrush]

Please be specific about what you mean by "pretty high".

The likely explanation is that you are getting too many carbs on the vegan diet and we need to make some changes in that we need to see more protein/fat and fewer carbs with the same number of calories. But I need to know how much protein, fat, and calories you are eating to know how to advise you. Less likely, but still possible, is that you are eating too LITTLE and the body hair is a kind of thing that happens related to malnourishment so I want to rule that out too.

There is very little chance you're eating enough protein to raise your testosterone and it's typically only when T has gone up due to excess carbs we see things like increased body hair (or like I said rarely from malnutrition - I've never had a case of this on here but I do want to rule it out)

You don't need to eat eggs if you don't want. You can have ANY protein food instead (like a small amount of meat daily). And it doesn't need to be milk. You can have cheese or yogurt or sour cream instead.

[Pretty]

My totals vary quite a bit, especially the carbs. They are all over the place! My fat and protein vary a bit too, but they average to about 70-80 g a day (sometimes as low as 50 or as high as 90, but 70-80 was the mathematical averages for the weeks)

[atomic sagebrush]

Are you counting the protein and fat in fruit and veg?

70 g protein is not the kind of protein intake that could ever raise testosterone.

[atomic sagebrush]

I don't need the carbs (in fact as a general rule I don't even have you guys track them) what are the calories?

[Pretty]

I’m definitely inconsistent so the calorie range is 1600-2000 most often, and definitely closer to the 2000 mark (and sometimes over on cheat days). Again, thank you for all the time you’re taking helping me!

[Pretty]

I use the my fitness pal tracker (although I’m using it less to try to avoid obsessing) so I don’t count fruits or veggies

[atomic sagebrush]

I’m definitely inconsistent so the calorie range is 1600-2000 most often, and definitely closer to the 2000 mark (and sometimes over on cheat days). Again, thank you for all the time you’re taking helping me!

If you're eating 1600-2000 calories and 70 g protein and 50-60 g fat, it's not that likely you're having too many carbs and seeing a blood sugar rise on that basis. But if you're not counting fruits and veggies in your MFP you may be eating a lot more cals than that (since we do count cals in high carb veggies and fruits)

I am still thinking to have you cease being vegan and add in some non-veg based protein to be sure you're not getting too many carbs, in turn raising blood sugar and testosterone which is then making your cycle wacky and causing the hair growth, and may be undermining your sway.

[Pretty]

Thank you so much!!! Ok, so what kind of proteins are we talking? I’d like to try to stay vegetarian if possible (honestly it’s just kinda a confidence booster) and I feel a bit better not having meat.

[atomic sagebrush]

Dairy, nuts, legumes, small amounts of soy. My preference is dairy as nuts, legumes, and soy do all have carbs in them.

[atomic sagebrush]

^^ normally I'd say eggs but you have said you didn't like them, so I didn't mention them, but just in case anyone else is reading this

[Pretty]

PERFECT! Thank you. I will implement immediately!