Stressing about my pink sway PLEASE HELP

[Emdy09]

Hi, sorry for the long post

I am getting really stressed over my sway as I just cannot stay on track with the diet!

I was originally supposed to TTC in October but I knew in my heart I REALLY didn’t want a summer baby. I had my two boys in summer and really want a winter baby, I also couldn’t stick to the diet like I wanted to so kept postponing. It’s been hard but I’ve held off until now and plan to start TTC in February.
I have been doing some sort of ‘swaying’ since about February this year. My calories have been around 1600-1800 but I mostly have really bad weekends. I started with the PCOS version as per atomic recommendation in summer. I find myself often having terrible binges at times where I eat around 3000 calories and eat LOTS of sugar. This is really worrying me but I just seen to have no self control 🤦🏻*♀️

On the other hand I was training to run half a marathon in October which I did and have kept up the running since. I currently run 3x a week for 50mins-1hour then run 1x a week for 1.5-2hours and cover about 20-30 miles a week. I also walk the dog in between this so average about 5 days a week of exercise.
My diet is mostly 1600 calories a day 50g protein 50-60g fat (I struggle with this most) And I fast 14-18 hours a day. I eat mostly very healthy such as smoothies, seeds, nuts, wholes grains, legumes etc etc. I am have been vegetarian since December last year and only take folic acid and very occasionally I have 1/4 scoop of protein in a smoothie for flavour (1-4 times a month) The only dairy I eat is the occasional cheese. I’d say I’m 90% vegan/plant based and DH is the same. I am currently my lowest adult weight and have lost 12kg in total this year but have held steady really since about September, possibly lost 1kg but fluctuates. I drink ridiculous amounts of black coffee 4-5 a day. my BMI is 22

My DH has just lost a lot of weight and is the lowest weight he’s ever been too, although his habits really worry me. He is very healthy and drinks masses of fortified vegan protein and participates in MMA style exercise. He has recently started competing and I worry this will up his testosterone. He’s also signed up to the gym to gain ‘strength and muscle’ he used to ride his bike a lot but has quit that and occasionally runs, but literally for 20 mins at a time.

We have both got really into drinking red wine and have a glass most nights, I think over Christmas this will be a lot more excessive and we made a ‘pact’ to quit sugar and as much processed food as possible. DH isn’t aware I mostly want to try to sway.

I feel like I constantly keep putting TTC back so I can try and make my sway 100% prefect and it’s becoming very apparent I just can’t. I add 12 weeks and that’s when I plan to TTC but I feel like I can’t put it back any further than feb, when it was originally may! I eat so well mon-fri then slip most weekends! Some meals can sometimes be 1000 calories.

Am I ruining everything? how can I gain more self control?! I also worry maybe I’ve been on the diet too long which is why I’m finding it harder. I ate no sugar from Feb - May, then I got a new job so held off then too! And since then everything seems to have gone to pot. I keep telling myself what is meant to be will be, I could be 100% and still get a boy. But my stress won’t subside. Please can anyone reassure me?!

[atomic sagebrush]

In order to avoid binges, what you need to do is simply eat what you want sometimes. Do your best, but when you feel you're craving something, HAVE IT. All too often, people try to "be good" and never cheat, and then they end up eating and eating "good" foods. Then they realize "well, I just ate 2000 calories of rice and craisins, and I'm still craving the stuff I wanted to begin with, what I'll do is have a huge blowout and eat everything I ever wanted. Then I'll start over again tomorrow and this time I will BE PERFECT!" Then they go to the opposite extreme and cut back too far, feel deprived, and the whole cycle starts anew.

Throw that cycle away. You are never going to be "perfect" on diet. This is a huge part of why cheating is not only allowed but encouraged, because it stops this binge-purge cycle. If you want something, really truly want it, eat it. It is not a matter of self control, it's a matter of setting yourself up to succeed instead of fail. Even if you had a cheat every single day it would be better than what you're doing now! If you need to, up fat intake to more like 65 g, if you think that would be easier to stick to. Again,

People have this very mistaken idea in their heads (based on the nonsense diets on other sway sites) where if they can't do diet 110% they have failed and ruined their sway. This simply is NOT the case, and it doesn't even make SENSE. Keep in mind the 80-20 rule, you'll get 80% of the results with 20% of the effort and in order to get that last 20% of results, you have to expend 80% of the effort. And that doesn't work with swaying anyway because you have to be such a control freak to get there, you undermine your sway in other ways and end up having gained nothing. PLEASE just relax on diet to a level you can stick with, cheat when you need to, and you are going to be far better off.

The rest of your diet is looking great, as is your exercise. If all that is happening is that you're having blowouts on the weekends, try to stop being so hard on yourself, allow yourself cheats as you need them, just do your best (in the realm of sanity, I mean) most of the time and treat those cheats as a tool to get you through as you need them.

You do not need to postpone any more. You're not doing yourself any good and have simply built this up so much in your mind you're going to do more harm than good if you carry on like this. Set attainable goals and your sway will be just fine I promise.

As for DH, we have found very little of what they do really seems to matter. Vegan protein seems to sway pink anyway. We have had quite a lot of men who were big into weight training and playing sports (even some professional athletes) who had all or mostly girls so I would not let that worry you too much.

[Emdy09]

Thank you so much for this, it’s really helpful and describes exactly what I am doing. I deprive myself so much I end up binging. I think I will struggle over Christmas but I will follow what you have said and have what I want sometimes instead of nothing and BINGE. I know we have to TTC in feb now and can’t back out I think I’m about 9-11weeks out. I need something to just get it out of my head. I think I’ve put it back so much now I feel terrified to even try!

[atomic sagebrush]

Interestingly, a lot of people think they're going to have huge issues during the holidays but they end up doing just fine, largely because everything feels like a big treat and it's easy to stay in the limits while feeling satiated having a lot of fun and festive foods.

YES that's exactly what I'm saying - the more you put it off, the bigger it grows in your mind till it's consuming your every waking thought. That is the exact opposite of the mindset you want to have in your sway. Just do your best and DO NOT replace stressing over your diet with stressing over stress. By this I mean, PLEASE do not now, start freaking out and panicking over your mindset, because it's simply the same thing just that you're replacing the focus of your obsessing from diet to "reducing stress" or whatever.

Everything is fine. Your diet has likely been a-ok. You're doing a lot right and now you have the tools to stop the binge-purge cycle too. Keep up the good work.

[Emdy09]

So this week I am feeling so much better about everything. I have had the odd thing during the week and I’m now sat here on Saturday night having only had a few pieces of fudge tonight instead of full blown binging. Also AF time too so usually craving terribly. I felt the craving creeping in by Thursday so I just had a cereal bar that I was wanting. I’m feeling like I have my head back in the game now and can manage over the holidays too. I’ve kept on my head ‘have what I want sometimes and try my best’

I’m off for my 15 mile run tomorrow! Feeling ready to stop stressing having 2 more cycles and go from there. I will update when I have one, I think for now I will try and stay abway from browsing forums to help stop the obsessing 🙂 so hopefully will be updating with a BFP around feb/March time 🤞🏻

[atomic sagebrush]

Fabulous! Keep us posted!

[Emdy09]

Hello, just wanting to pop back as searching the threads I can only find old advice from like 8/9/10 years ago.

I know you advocate that there is no magic food etc. but I am curious on porridge oats/oatmeal? I went off it for almost 1 year after having covid as I couldn’t stand the smell, but that has gone now and it has always been a staple in my diet prior to this. Like I will happily eat it for lunch/dinner. Usually consists of 60g oats, unsweetened almond milk, chia seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, blueberries, raspberries, cinnamon maybe maple syrup or honey. It’s one of my favourite things to eat. On average it’s 550 calories 18g protein, 24g fat. That would be my first meal of the day and I’d only have a second meal.

I could probably eat this 5-7 times a week. It’s just an easy meal that’s filling and feels healthy, little sugar, little salt. But all the old threads say massive NO

am I better to cut down or does it seem ok to excessively eat my oat combination like this for a pink sway 🧐

[atomic sagebrush]

Oatmeal does have some components in it that allegedly "raise testosterone", although I thought then and still think now that a) you would have to take supplemental amounts of any of these things to actually sway, and since that time b) have become very unconvinced that "testosterone" is even what is swaying. I really really no longer strongly believe that testosterone in and of itself is truly swaying and I have never thought oats now and then are a big issue (in fact I'd put oats in my LE Diet cookbook for a couple times a week).

But here's the thing. Some things (avocado, oatmeal, dark chocolate) are not truly necessary and so if people are wanting to limit them, it's fine. They lift right out. But since you enjoy the oat dish, it's ok. Would I likely have it DAILY? Nah, not me personally, I'd prob. limit it to 3x a week but if it's getting you through, then that may be a choice you want to make. It is next to impossible that a serving of oats, even daily, could possibly be raising anyone's testosterone (if in fact testosterone even sways, which it likely doesn't). It's just not necessary for most people, so they choose to avoid it or limit.

I would suggest, however, limiting flaxseed to 2x a week maximum, regardless of what you decide about the oats. The reason for that is because flaxseed has been shown to cause harm in pregnancy when eaten too much (do not take flaxseed or flaxseed oil in medicinal quantities during pregnancy!) and it is best when pregnant and when TTC to use it even in dietary amounts, no more than twice a week.

[Emdy09]

Thanks for this. I think once I get back to work I will limit it, this will be next week. I just get sick of bread. My go to lunch when working tends to be whole grain sourdough with peanut butter or hummus. Sometimes falafel and salad wraps.

I took a huge break over Xmas, 3 full weeks due to covid hitting the house first and just being lazy getting take outs. I gained 4kg but within 5 days I’ve lost it all so just bloat/water retention as I managed to keep some of the running up. I feel in a good place, I know, no matter what I do I cannot control which sperm will eventually fertilise the egg. I can only try my best and what’s meant to be Will be. I’m finding it very easy after the big break and have about 7-8 weeks until we TTC. I have confidence that I have been doing something now for months despite the break.

One last thing would you recommend olive leaf extract for DH or just leave things as they are?

[Emdy09]

Also, thank you for the info on flax seeds. I do tend to use them minimally and am more a chia seed fanatic 😂 but I’m just gunna cut the oats an have them at times of convenience.

Just wanted to ask too, B12 - I haven’t eaten meat or fish now for 14 months (not swaying related) I was taking folic acid + B12 up until about April/May and since then I have been taking methyl folate liquid form only. I don’t eat much dairy at all and eggs are 1-2 times a month if that. So I’m not really getting any B12 except from the oat milk in my coffee which it is added. Should I do as you recommend and lowest dose 2-3x a week and I also want to include iodine (I’m really keen to try for a healthy baby whilst swaying) OR am I ok to skip the B12 for another 8ish weeks? Once I have officially TTC I will take a prenatal or pregnancy vitamin 3 times a week in the TWW as it will help with my anxiety I think.

[atomic sagebrush]

I don't think the OLE actually does anything, but it doesn't seem to hurt, so it's fine to add it in as long as hubby is not on any other medication and doesn't have any health issues that would contraindicate it.

I would by far rather see you take B12 (or even a prenatal) a couple times a week than go off and on and off prenatals. Going off and on vitamins like you're describing is dangerous because your body doesn't know whether to save them up or excrete them. It is by far and away best to add in a low dose of whatever you're concerned about a couple times a week than take things off and on, please don't do that.

At this point given what you're describing about your diet yes I'd recommend B12 2x weekly.

[Emdy09]

Thank you for your reply, I will research some B12 vitamins and start to take them a few times a week. I think once we do officially start TTC I will swap that for a prenatal a few times instead so thank you for this advice. I am going to head back into hibernating until I can head back with an update 😁

[Emdy09]

Hi, just wanted to pop by for a quick update. I decided to sign up for a marathon in April to make use of all the training I had managed to get up to and thought surely this can only help my sway. Anyway, wouldn’t you know it I have gotten injured in the process. I’m trying to walk the dog for 1 hour a day as much as possible and incorporating shorter runs again, so 45 mins - 1 hour slowly. Prior to this I’ve been running 25-30 miles a week. Diet wise, I find it SO hard. I can stay on track for 5-7 days and then randomly have a day where I just binge and eat junk. Usually when things are outside of my control, so a family party etc which seems everywhere at the minute! Im trying to focus on what I have been doing for months, I’m currently sat at 56- 57kg and bmi 23. Still currently my lowest ever adult weight, planning on trying to focus on weight loss and get down to 52 which takes me to BMI 21
I’ve tried upping calories slightly/extra meal/having what I want sometimes to stop the binges and it doesn’t seem to help. My willpower just fails me after a certain amount of time. I have set a date now in April and will not budge from this which gives me 6/7 weeks, considering just cutting out all dairy for now as it limits my overeating choices. I guess I’m trying my best? But am I just totally ruining any chance with these binge cycles? My good stretches I sit at 40-50g protein 50-60g fat 1600 calories, no sugar, no snacking. When I have a bad day something like 30g protein 80-100g fat 2200/500 calories. I decided not to take prenatals or B12 I guess I can survive a few more weeks without it. I take only folate and iodine. My husband also decided to start eating meat again, has quit his bike riding. His choices aren’t in my control so there’s nothing I can do really, his meat intake is still limited but he hasn’t eaten it for over 12 months prior but this has really annoyed me and I feel it will affect our sway in some way.

My stress levels have been pretty low swaying wise, but living in the U.K., the current Russia situation has got my stress levels up to 110% as I’m just so worried our country is going to end up in war 😩 is this a level of stress that is inside my control or outside?! I’m guessing inside as my husband is saying I’m over reacting and no one else seems all that worried about it!

[atomic sagebrush]

That is a huge part of why I just recommend people do walking or some other easier on the bod type of exercise. SO many people get injured running! You were quite fit though, so you're the exception since you were already running, but I don't want you to beat yourself up if you can't get back to where you were, we actually do have good results even with just walking for an hour.

If you're on track 5-7 days and then have one off day, then 5-7 more "on" days, then an off day, that's ok! That is not a failure at all. Just keep doing what you're doing. Those "off" days are not true blowouts (though i really want to see you eating more than 30 g protein!) and let's just treat this as the pattern YOU need to eat in, to stick to the diet the rest of the time. Truly, that is WAY less of a cheat than I was expecting, it's only a day here and there, no biggie at all.

I would not have you cut out dairy. The more you restrict, the more intense cravings tend to become, and it seems to me that's just another thing to set yourself up for failure. Just keep doing exactly what you're doing, and if you go over one day a week, hey, it's ok because the average is that you're still doing LE Diet, and you're also going to have that stuff mostly just move through (that's what happens in most cases with diet blowouts.) It's only when cheats last day after day that your body is able to hold on to more and more of the excess.

As for your hubby, him eating meat now and then is not a big deal either, and while I wish he was still riding the bike, we have to focus only on what we can control. It may be that there are benefits that last longer than we realize from those things so hopefully he's still experiencing those.

PLEASE don't stress about stress. Things like nations going to war are absolutely 100% out of our control. The thing you should NOT DO now is complicate worries over global affairs with stressing about stress, where you end up suddenly in a panic telling yourself you have to calm down because you're bound to ruin your sway! The latter is totally self induced, it is NOT NECESSARY. I have only ever mentioned stress in terms of sways because I don't want people launching into Swaymageddon 2022 where they're making huge complex schedules and flow charts and tracking every minute fluctuation in their pH levels. I never intended for people to then take that warning and start using it to do the exact same thing, only about stress!! So now I have people who are obsessing not over their pH, but over their stress level! BOTH are bad.

The world is what it is, you can't change that or your reaction to that. But you can just acknowledge that you're anxious about it, but that doesn't mean your sway is ruined, and you should absolutely not not NOT try to control or stop feeling that stress. Because it's the attempt to CONTROL that sways, not the stress. Whether you're attempting to control your minute by minute pH levels, or your minute by minute anxiety levels, that's the thing to avoid.

[Emdy09]

So when I say I’m injured, I mean unable to run long distances which I have grown to love. I am currently managing 6miles/10k at a time, a few times a week which is just under an hour running, I do this fasted and don’t eat after for a few hours, I just have black coffee until lunch. My concern is that I was massively over doing the exercise and now I’m not my body will think things are good again? I also worry that all these months I’ve been over eating like I think I have as my weight has held so steady despite the miles I’ve been putting in. I guess I just really wanted to hit my body hard with exercise as I was able to and now this hasn’t panned out.

Yes I get where you are coming from with dairy, I’ve tried to be vegan before and could never fully cut the dairy. I don’t eat too much anyway I suppose.

DH dropped his bike riding before Christmas now. So I think any effects will be way gone. He’s mentioned getting out as a family during the week or weekend this week so that could possibly help some. He was riding almost daily though prior. Never mind. Just got to hold out hope the sweaty 4 hours a week at BJJ in tight pants helps 😂

The protein is difficult when I’m eating ‘bad’ as I tend to eat plain junk, like crisp, sweets, toast, crumpets, cereal bars. So I binge on fat and carbs but not protein. I’ve got 6/7 weeks now and my cycles are very consistent so I just feel like I need to hit it hard and hope for the best. I’m considering trying next cycle as I really want a winter baby and looking like I’m not running the marathon I signed up to.

[atomic sagebrush]

That is plenty of exercise. You are WAY overthinking this. You need to understand that the point of all this is to still be able to get pregnant at the end of it all. Swaying is a continuum, and you can go too far in the direction of "infertile", people do it all the time, it's a constant concern, and I truly believe it causes far more opposites than being too relaxed on exercise does. Your body will not think times are good again. It will simply be maintaining. I know you think "but my cycle has stayed regular all this time" but there is no guarantee that will continue. I have clients all. the. time. who swear to me that they're simply eating and exercising the same as they always have, and their cycle has been regular for 47 years, who still see changes in their cycle eventually. Eventually, people DO run out of raw materials, eventually people DO exercise too much, and eventually you WILL see your ovulation delayed or even stopped, and your LP shortening. It happens. It happens every day on here and the majority of those people are blindsided by it, totally convinced it couldn't possibly happen to them.

We don't know how swaying works really though. It may be that whatever benefits happened when your husband was riding his bike have changed things and that is still continuing on. Sperm do take 72 days to form, and hormonal changes can last some time afterwards. Yes, if he is continuing to do exercise that heats up "the jewels" then that can still help absolutely.

Regardless of your binging preferences you cannot eat 30 g protein. That is not allowed and eating too little protein actually sets you up to eat more empty carbs because you're trying to fill a need your body has. Even if you need to forcefeed yourself a couple bites of chicken or a slice of cheese in there to get protein up, please do.

I think given everything we have discussed that you focusing on "hitting it hard" is only going to backfire. Please just aim at continuing a sustainable diet and activity level, because you're prone to falling into a binge/purge cycle. I know you're thinking right now "all I need is to have enough self control for the next few weeks" but remember the whole "stressing about stress" thing I was mentioning?? Well, THAT. The control freakishness coming through in your posts is concerning to me (nothing about the state of the world, I'm just referring to the stuff you're focused on for your SWAY! Waiting and waiting for this perfect series of events, thinking you're "failing" when really you're swaying harder than 95% of other people) I think trying to hit it hard as you say is either going to a) backfire anyway and you'll end up still in this cycle and possibly even so injured you can't continue to run at all or b) you'll be so control freakish by the end of it, needing to white knuckle your way through every minute of every day, thinking about your sway constantly, telling yourself how everything you do is of critical importance for getting a girl, how much it all matters, and how you cannot screw this up not even for a second, that will undermine your sway anyway.

I think you should absolutely go for it sooner rather than later. I think it's not going to put you in a good place mentally to try to be super strict for the next 6-8 weeks when you have already dieted long enough!

[atomic sagebrush]

This is from two months ago. It is time for you to try.




You do not need to postpone any more. You're not doing yourself any good and have simply built this up so much in your mind you're going to do more harm than good if you carry on like this. Set attainable goals and your sway will be just fine I promise.

[atomic sagebrush]

and also this. Delaying is not your friend. Delaying simply makes it build up more and more in your head to this massive, fear inducing idea that takes up untold amounts of mental energy.




YES that's exactly what I'm saying - the more you put it off, the bigger it grows in your mind till it's consuming your every waking thought. That is the exact opposite of the mindset you want to have in your sway. Just do your best and DO NOT replace stressing over your diet with stressing over stress. By this I mean, PLEASE do not now, start freaking out and panicking over your mindset, because it's simply the same thing just that you're replacing the focus of your obsessing from diet to "reducing stress" or whatever.

Everything is fine. Your diet has likely been a-ok. You're doing a lot right and now you have the tools to stop the binge-purge cycle too. Keep up the good work.

[Emdy09]

Thank you for your replies. I often need someone to give me a massive shake and tell me to stop being so ridiculous and with this I don’t have any one in real life as they would all think I was mental! I have a very obsessive/control freak personality that I know can’t change but it often doesn’t serve me well. I think I just wanted to run the marathon as I actually got really good at running, enjoyed it and knew a pregnancy would mean years until I could try it again. It was just a bonus it would possibly help swaying.

I guess you’re right about things changing, I know my cycle and know I’m still very fertile as I only need opks to confirm what I already know. I just always assume this won’t change but it is realistic with what I’m doing and doesn’t guarantee it won’t happen.

I am going to take your advice onboard and just see how things go. Thank you. I will update soon :)

[atomic sagebrush]

Great!! Keep me posted and never hesitate to touch base with me if you need someone to work this through with.

[Emdy09]

Hi! Quick update, had an ‘accidental’ first attempt. Accidental as in I wanted 1 attempt at +opk and we’ve ended up dtd about 2 days before ovulation, I have EWCM and faint line on opk so it will definitely be in a few days. I’d be happy with that but I never wanted DH to abstain, would have preferred some release or double release to not have ‘old sperm’. I’m worried about this because of quality, he is 32 and fit and healthy. He says it’s been around 7 days. I’m not sure if we should have another attempt to improve chances of better quality?

[Emdy09]

I’ve decided to leave it at the one attempt. If I get BFN this month will just go for one attempt at opk and make sure DH has released before hand. I’ve had it planned for so long and had already decided to drop release before and just do one attempt. It is what it is now, I’m just bothered about a healthy baby and worry about his sperm but I am having faith in the human body’s ability to filter out the better quality sperm…I am definitely going to ovulate today or tomorrow. I’m on day 9 and consistently get +opk day 10 and O within 24 hours of that, I’ve got O cramps, EWCM.. I didn’t want a cut off but here we are.

General update on swaying. I continued running as my injury was better and planned to go for it and run the marathon, I got covid 6 days before! I wasn’t ill but couldn’t run it as I was still testing positive. I’m still running consistently and long distance. I’ve fallen off the diet somewhat, stopped tracking and have been eating out a lot and getting some take aways. I’ve stuck to 2/3 meals, veggie and fasting, I have been snacky on the days I long run as I am just so hungry. My calories have been around 2000/2200 but I’ve been running/walking 35ish miles a week. I’ve continued to drop weight and we’re talking about 2 weeks out of the last I don’t know how many months.

What is meant to be will be. I could have given it 110% and still get another boy, I could have done nothing and got a girl. I’ve told myself this was never a sure thing and it helped my relax more. My life is totally different to the couch potato, fast food binge eater I was when I had my boys. So let’s see what happens as we finally start our TTC journey after almost a year of push backs and trying to ‘perfect’ my sway. Our baby will be loved no matter what sex they are 🙂

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, you have no way to know when O will come in relation to this attempt though.

I have no concerns about the abstain, 32 is below when I only just barely start to have concerns (35) and 7 days is on the lower end of abstain anyway.

The real concern is that you're telling me you have a faint line on OPK, you think "it" (by which I assume you mean ovulation) will come in "a few days" and you are really not going to have good chances of conception if it's anything longer than 3 days absolute max, and more like 2 is better. You're only on CD 9 and I think the odds you'll conceive with that timing are slim for most people. If you're telling me you usually O on CD 11, that's one thing and I suppose it's ok if you want to try it, but if this is a month wher the egg drops CD 12-13-14 then you're basically having another month where you really haven't "tried" just because the chances of conception are low. Your call to make as long as you understand that!

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, people who are doing that level of exercise often need additional calories. Let your weight be your guide. It sounds to me like you aren't even really off the diet if you're still vegetarian, still having the fast, etc. So I would have had you go ahead regardless. the vast majority of the time people think they're off the diet I ask more questions and they hadn 't even exceeded limits (2000-2200 is still in the cal range that many people need when swaying). You got this!

[Emdy09]

Thanks I’ll take that on board. I will keep an eye on opk and have another attempt at a + if I haven’t gotten it by tomorrow afternoon. I’m kind of just at the stage of it is what it is now. A lot of the swaying was already a part of my life before I even knew about it, but with my youngest son being almost 11 these changes have been way after I was pregnant with the boys. My problem with the diet was I was eating too little, still sticking to 1600/800 during the week and only eating more the days I’d ran longer. So eventually my body has just made me starving 24/7. I got covid and I honestly couldn’t stop eating the whole week! But I just went with it. I go over on fat all the time, it’s the cheese haha. I stopped tracking and just decided, no snacking and veggie will have to do. Thank you for getting back to me I’ll update in a few days

[atomic sagebrush]

ok so if you're having issues over time not eating enough, then please don't worry if you've gone to a higher cal intake, you likely needed it.

[Emdy09]

I have gotten a blazing +opk tonight on CD10. I’ve had a faint positive today but checked again at 9pm and it’s very dark. It’s been just over 48 hours since BD and thinking if I still get + tomorrow will have one more attempt as it will have been 3 days. I usually only get peak for 1 day and it goes. Had a look through other threads and if I was doing E4D method we’d BD again tomorrow, so will go with that. Anxious in just going to get BFN and so tempted for another attempt tonight �� this is so hard but what I get for not being careful!

[atomic sagebrush]

:agree: ok good I think you should absolutely add an attempt tomorrow. You're going to be covered that way and I just think it's for the best that you do NOT stick with the one attempt. I think that this is a good compromise between adding an attempt tonight, which you may end up regretting later on (many times people think back and wish they hadn't had an attempt before the e4d pattern) and yet still not chancing it that you aren't in with a good chance of success.

[Emdy09]

We didn’t BD the night I got +opk. So we BD sat night/tues night and I got +opk Monday night. I was getting negative opk by tues night.

So officially in the TWW. I’m not too confident of a BFP this month, but feeling confident with diet again after being wobbly with it the last few weeks. I will continue with everything except for alcohol as I’m just not comfortable with that. Will see what happens but next month will definitely be waiting for the +opk! Thanks for your input I really do appreciate it.

[atomic sagebrush]

Good luck and pink dust headed your way!

[Emdy09]

Well, as expected I’ve got a BFN and AF arrived this morning

The last 2 cycles I have noticed EWCM has been a little sparse when I normally get tons of it. I know I have been eating too little calories most of the time and much to little protein for the exercise I have been doing. It was only the few weeks leading up to trying I slipped. My plan is to just re-coop but start adding salmon in 1x a week tuna 1x a week and eggs 1x a week, all within limits to try and get protein up? Good or bad idea? I do think this was just bad timing with the abstain, 3 day cut off and I know the 2nd attempt O had passed. So I’ve brushed myself down and ready to go again this month.

This time we will be doing 1 attempt at +opk. The TWW has killed me! I’ve also been taking pregnancy vitamins as I had them in and ran out of folate and couldn’t buy more when I already had that in. So I’ve been taking them for 10 days now. I will get more folate now though as I don’t want to keep taking them

[atomic sagebrush]

People get WAY too hung up on CM. Even when there is no visible CM, you can conceive. CM amount is something people overthink constantly leading them to change course in ways that are not helpful to their sway. I myself conceived (a boy, LOL) when I had NO visible CM at all, I didn't even realize I'd ovulated, and because I was way into the pH theory at that time, I was testing my mucus with pH sticks 2-3 times a day. It did not rise till after I was already pregnant. There just wasn't anything there to test.

I agree with your assessment that it just wasn't a well timed attempt. But yes, absolutely if you are not eating enough we must take steps straight away to correct that. My typical recommendation is 1 serving full fat dairy every day, 4-6 eggs per week, and one serving salmon per week. Tuna is often quite low fat (and tinned tuna often has NO fat) so I don't consider it as good a choice, but you can absolutely have it once a week, just that I don't consider it as a fix for fertility-related issues (such as not enough CM) since there's not the fat we like to see. Protein alone is really not great at fixing fertility issues. But if you aren't getting enough protein anyway, then absolutely within limits.

I would have you wean off the prenatals after having taken them for that length of time...you don't have to do it quite as slowly as if you'd been taking them all along, but definitely space them out over the course of about 10 more days before just dropping them.

[Emdy09]

Ok thanks for the reply, I was just curious about CM as I’ve always had uncomfortable amounts! I wondered if it was the running!

I don’t have a problem with fat and struggle to stay in the limits as I tend to eat nut butter, dairy butter, some cheese, hummus, oat milk, coconut milk in Curry and I don’t like the low fat stuff etc. I know on average I get 30-50g of protein and currently covering 35-50 miles a week running and walking. I get to a point where I am ALWAYS hungry and can’t get full and I think it’s the lack of protein. I am going to keep my calories at 2000ish and fat at 65g, I’m currently 55kg with AF so will drop a few kg when it passes, which will take me to bmi of 21

I will cut to one prenatal and then one every other day I did forgot to take the 2 tablets everyday.. I have ordered more folate to come tomorrow. Any reason I can’t just drop totally? I did this last year after finding GD

One positive is I can have a glass or 2 of wine tonight

[atomic sagebrush]

Running plus diet can cause less CM (and that may be part of how it sways) but there is nearly always more up inside where you can't see, and the semen acts as a "life raft" till the sperm can make it to the cervical crypts (which have CM in them, even if not quite enough is made to come out visibly)

Ok. 30 g protein is absolutely not enough and is not allowed on LE Diet and that is in people who are NOT running. People who are exercising as much as you are need more than the 40 g minumum. You are going to cause yourself serious harm in the long term if you continue doing that level of exercise without fueling your body adequately. I think you should immediately up your limits of both protein and fat to more like 60 g since you're running.

It's not safe to go off vitamins suddenly. You were on them long enough so your body "thought" hmm I have a ready supply of this stuff coming in, no need to save it from food (and may have even been excreting extra, if you had some things in excess, which is often the case with vitamin pills) and it takes time for the system to adjust. Going from supplemental amounts to nothing coming in can basically cause a deficiency since your body gets confused. We find it is best to wean off if you've been on it for longer than a few days, even if you seemed to get away with it in the past.

[Emdy09]

Just wondering what is considered a ‘positive’ opk? I’ve had faint lines since CD10 and it has got darker today so 2 lines but the test line wasn’t as dark as the control line but clearly there. My app said it was still top end negative, but I went with my gut and have had one attempt. I’m on CD13 and almost always O day 10/11 so can’t see me being days away from it. I won’t test again now as what’s done is done. 43616

This month is done now, but just incase it’s a BFN again.

[Emdy09]

Sorry, just looking through my app and they were pretty similar yesterday so hoping I haven’t missed it! I will post CD 10, 11 and 12

43618
43617
43619

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, swaying can change cycles, so it may be you're Oing later than you expected. I'd keep testing. The test line is meant to be as dark or darker than control line, and a faint line is indeed negative. Those all are negative tests, but it is possible to have false negatives, where the hormone was higher in your blood than in your urine.

did you start testing earlier than that?? Your surge would come 24-36 hours prior so if you didn't start testing till CD 10, if you normally O on CD 10-11, that may have been too late.

You may want to continue testing OR go to e4d now to cover in case of delayed O. It's your call if you'd prefer not to do that, but I do think it's entirely possible that the egg just is coming a bit later this month.

[Emdy09]

I normally start testing from day 8 but this month I could tell I wasn’t near O at all that early in my cycle so didn’t test. I normally get a faint line one day, then the next day will be darker than control line which I class as positive too, then the day after it is faint than goes blank. I never get days of lines like this so kind of thought yesterday it mustn’t be getting darker. I did test again today and it’s the same as yesterday. I’ll probably attempt again Tuesday as It seems I’ve messed this cycle up again!

[atomic sagebrush]

Yep it may be you just missed it, but absolutely do attempt again in case of delayed O. :)

[Emdy09]

Yes we will try Tuesday too but I think O has passed. I checked back and I did opk on day 9 too and it was totally blank. So I got the high negative on Friday & Saturday dtd Saturday PM. I’m now getting very faint negative, so I just can’t see me getting a positive at all despite testing every day from CD9-14. I think next month will do e4d and forget opk. Will try CD9/CD13 - is this right? I am so over watching what I eat now! I never expected this and I know why you say don’t start before the 12 weeks!

[atomic sagebrush]

Hmm well in that case (blank OPK on CD 9) it's very likely that O is yet coming. Your strips can dance all around darker and lighter and darker and lighter, that means nothing. You absolutely still can get a positive OPK past CD 14!!

I would have you do the e4d in the 72 hour pattern, so CD 9 and 12.

[Emdy09]

I have gotten blank opk today. Tested AM and PM and creamy CM, so guessing it’s past and I’ve missed it or not Oed at all. Saturday and Sunday I had some EWCM and Saturday I went off that and my usual signs O is coming plus higher opk so had the one attempt. I guess like you said you can have a consistent cycle forever and suddenly it decides to change! Notes taken for next cycle 🙂

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, that's not the case really though. Because when you're making the hormones that can make your OPK get darker, those hormones are also what causes ovulatory symptoms, so if your test goes a bit darker and you have symptoms, then the OPK gets lighter and the symptoms go away, that doesn't necessarily mean that O has happened, it can be that your body has just decided "hmm maybe not just yet" and shut everything down. Then in a few days or a week or even longer than that, you'd get darkening OPK and symptoms all over again and in that case actually O. This can even happen 2-3-4 times before O finally occurs!! So while I trust your gut instinct, just do be aware that it can happen that way - you think you're gonna O, everything stops in its tracks, but you didn't O, and then it happens all over again a few days later, this time for reals. :)

[Emdy09]

I guess the only other option is I just missed the peak opk as I didn’t test from Saturday midday until Sunday AM. I do normally just get the one positive and it’s gone within 24 hours. Only time will tell! So maybe I’m in the TWW maybe not haha. I think we will have next month with 1 attempt again and then I will go to e4d. This is so tough, first son was a surprise after 1 attempt, second I had my IUD out, never had a period and was pregnant 4 weeks later…I’ll see the cycle 2 out and then on to cycle 3

[atomic sagebrush]

Well no, there's also an option where you just had false negatives on OPK. That does happen sometimes and we can't know for now what's actually happening. I just don't want to see you assuming that you've Oed when you may not have yet. :)

[Emdy09]

Ok will just opk each afternoon to make sure this isn’t the case. Of course my cycles would change as soon as we TTC…no lie when I say I have had a 24 day cycle no give or take for 16 months O on day 10/11 without exemption. Even after taking emergency contraception over the summer! I think this is the knock on from marathon training. Never mind hey, just got to keep plodding on. I’m probably going to stay off here now until I get a BFP as I’m finally at a point that I’m not obsessing over swaying and it’s just my lifestyle. Thanks for the clarity on e4d and all your advice 🙂 hoping it isn’t too far away

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh well that does make sense, from the extra running absolutely that can happen.

FX for BFP!

[Emdy09]

So the inevitable happened and it seems I didn’t ovulate last cycle as I never got a peak and I am now in cycle day 34 of a usually very consistent 24 day cycle. I am not pregnant and there are no signs my period is on it’s way. I have tracked my cycles for over 2 years due to heavy bleeding and short cycles with my IUD and I have not once gone over 28 days.

So not sure where to go from here now. I think I will see my GP next week if no AF still. I’m going to plan my diet more carefully to include everything I need and lessen the running. I will stay vegetarian as it’s what I was before swaying, I started to include fish but it really makes me feel sick so I don’t want it. I have started having more eggs but also funny with them. Any tips welcome :(

[atomic sagebrush]

Keep in mind, though, that you can ovulate still (or have ovulated late). If you don't want to get pregnant at this point, you'll need to use birth control.

Yes, cut back on exercise and eat a bit more and that will fix the situation. If you don't care for fish and eggs, what DO you like?? We can just make up ground with foods you like and will eat rather than having to torture yourself!

[Emdy09]

No, I want to get pregnant I am now just confused and upset over what my body is doing. I’m now worried about how I am going to even get pregnant. I have still been using opks and nothing I’d be happy to ovulate again as I really wanted a baby in winter as I have 2 summer babies and that window is now passing as I expected it to happen right away.

A few months back I was eating really well and I fell off that and went back to toast/bagels and quite a lot of non nutritious foods and eating quite low protein most of the time all whilst training for a marathon. I also started eating quite a lot of sugar again about 6 weeks ago. So I am going to go back to things like chickpeas/lentils/beans/seeds/nuts etc etc and make sure I’m getting enough protein/iron. A plant based diet and really try to stick to 2000 calories and refuel before/after runs. I have been very naive going in to this expecting to do these things and nothing will change.

Done another FRER today as a triple check and still negative. I will see the DR by Monday and ask for bloods/hormone checks if still no AF!

[atomic sagebrush]

A lot of people have the worry that they'll never be able to get pregnant again, and it's totally unfounded. We have weird cycles from time to time, happens to all of us, and exercising is definitely one of those triggers.

100% absolutely on board with your changes! Be sure you're getting enough fat as that's really quite a big trigger for disrupting cycles. If you prefer to stay plant based, coconut oil is a great way to go.

Keep me posted on what you find out at the doc!

[Kazzzz]

Hey how are you going? I'm also girl swaying. I have 3 boys and have been swaying for 2 months now but drastically changed my diet 4 months ago vegetarian low fat low protein fasting etc. Your excercise sounds great all I'm doing is walking/power walking 1hr a day still alot for me though lol I'm also trying not to boy mum stress over my sway.

[Emdy09]

Dr said it can be normal to miss a period and wasn’t concerned. Said to wait it out a few more weeks and if nothing she will send me for testing on hormones etc. not sure what is going on. Felt like I was going to come on my period all week and haven’t tested again and not pregnant. No sure what is going on, but guess I have to wait it out. Been researching and what are your thoughts on vitex to try and get my period back? Too boy friendly?

[Emdy09]

Hey, I’m good but struggling to stay motivated swaying now. I started dieting back in feb 2021 as I wanted to lose some weight before getting pregnant then found this site in April. So I’ve been swaying on and off for a long time and finally started TTC in April and now my periods have gone AWOL…not sure what is going on! I was mega stressed the first month we tried and now I don’t really think about it, probably as I’m more focused on getting my cycle back up and running now!

The things I do consistently are fasting in the morning (done this for years anyway) vegetarian, exercise.

Your sway sounds great. I am a boy friendly eater at heart and struggle to move away from this fully so do have blow outs and days I eat too much! When do you plan on TTC?

[atomic sagebrush]

Dr said it can be normal to miss a period and wasn’t concerned. Said to wait it out a few more weeks and if nothing she will send me for testing on hormones etc. not sure what is going on. Felt like I was going to come on my period all week and haven’t tested again and not pregnant. No sure what is going on, but guess I have to wait it out. Been researching and what are your thoughts on vitex to try and get my period back? Too boy friendly?

Vitex is a TERRIBLE idea. We saw drastic delays using Vitex. The only people who ever benefit from it are people with fairly severe PCOS that is not being mitigated by diet and exercise. When a cycle has been delayed due to exercise or too restrictive a diet, adding vitex is like throwing gasoline on a fire - your ovulation will go missing for months sometimes even longer. I have lots of people who show up here totally confused as to why they aren't ovulating only to find out they're on vitex, I have them drop it and their ovulation comes back again.

I do want to point out that even MORE likely than "missing a period" is that you will still ovulate, only later, and then your period will arrive 2 weeks after whenever O has occurred. So if you want to keep trying, do e4d, and if you don't, then be sure you're taking precautions.

[Kazzzz]

Thanks yeah I'm trying mostly with the stress part of it. I'm hoping to start next month but since I'm still breastfeeding so my period hasn't come back yet but my baby is 15months old an is feeding less so hopefully i don't have to wait to much longer. In terms of missing period like you are which seems random i had this happen to me also out of the blue my period was 2 wks late for no reason. I think your period will show up.

What are you eating most days? I've just started adding in a small amount of chicken once a day and it is so helpful to help me hit my targets

[Emdy09]

Right ok. Taking that on board, I have been reading a book called the period repair manual and it seems if I rewind 3 months I was running up to 40 miles a week whilst eating 1600 calories 6 days out of the week so seems my body has shut down. You warned me about this but assumed Thai would never happen to me. I’m unsure now whether to start 3 month all over again and make sure I go forward as I was at 2000 calories. I have to be honest and I haven’t been, stepped right back into 1500-800 a day again as I’ve gained a few kg after being on holidays. If I’d had my cycle as normal I’d be due on again this time next week so we will see.

Any tips going forward? I’m worried my egg quality will be very poor considering I’ve run my body down so much it’s stopped ovulation so feel 8-12 weeks over might be necessary.

[Emdy09]

My stress just really seemed to disperse after I got a BFN my first cycle trying. I had built it up SO much, kept pushing back to ‘perfect’ my sway when it hind sight it was 95% full on. I’ve been reading a book and it seems as atomic warned me, I’ve stopped ovulating as my body has gone into starvation mode.. I was running distances of up to 20 miles in one go and not refuelling properly on purpose. Some days I was having 30-40g of protein and included fruit and veg. I thought as my weight was ok and still at BMI of 22 I was ok. Seems not!

So prior to this I stuck to 2 meals a day sometimes have a smaller snack at some point and mostly eat things like this.
Lunch - almond butter and jam on sourdough, fruit. Porridge oats with almond milk, mixed seeds, cinnamon, peanut butter, blueberries, mixed beans with rice, quinoa with chickpeas, sweet potato.

Dinner - butternut squash and chickpea curry, lentil bolognese, mixed bean chilli, black bean fajitas, pizza with veg, pesto pasta with feta and spinach, beans and egg on sourdough bread, baked potato and cottage cheese, pasta with veg and tomato based chilli sauce, veggie burgers, veggie Thai curry, noodles with eggs.

Snacks - hummus and pitta bread, fruit smoothie, Greek yogurt and fruit.
What kind of things do you eat? I always find it helpful to see what others are doing too.

I drink oat milk in coffee but have recently swapped to black coffee 90% of the time. I have red wine occasionally, less often these days. I always skip breakfast and have for over 2 years as I prefer it. I’ve also been veggie on and off since 2018 and been fully veggie for 18 months bar the odd bit of fish. I’ve gone off it again after eating some weird king prawns. Hoping to get back up and running this week with diet and exercise.

[atomic sagebrush]

This doesn't affect your egg quality, please don't worry about that.

You do NOT need to start 3 months over again. Just regroup from here. Eat a bit more (1800-2000 cals is a good goal) and reduce exercise some and things will work themselves out. This is in no way permanent. Also, be sure you're hitting 50-60 g fat and dairy fat particularly is useful to getting things going again.

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh goodness, well, I'd never have recommended anyone eat 30 g protein even without swaying, and let's also be sure you are at 50-60 g protein (or even a bit more) and both protein and fat DO NOT count whatever's in fruits and veg.

I want you off cinnamon entirely. It is super effective at lowering blood sugar and you're already too far in that direction. I only use that for a small minority all of whom have a fair amount of weight to spare.

Very much the right kinds of foods, we just need more of them!

You don't need to be fully veg, if some fish and prawns help you get some more protein than you have been eating that's just fine with me!

Why did you swap to black coffee?? Any particular reason?

[Emdy09]

You advised me to eat more but I genuinely believed I’d be fine as I felt fine and better than ever energy wise. I like to track fruit as I’m really into gut health and getting enough fibre so I’m going to aim for 70g of protein to cover it.

In terms of cinnamon I genuinely only have it for flavour and when I eat oats and I normally have maple syrup too so I think that will have counteracted the low sugar effect. I will probably eat far less oats now we are hitting summer in the U.K. as i prefer not to eat hot food for lunch.

I swapped to black coffee in the mornings to start as I wanted to stay fasted fully until lunch. We then got a coffee machine at Christmas and they are like 90% milk and 180 calories so I only have one every so often, plus it was costing a small fortune with barista oat milk. I just learnt to like black coffee too.

AF finally showed up today but quite light and not convinced I have ovulated at any point. I have been off the diet about 4 weeks now, I’ve had days of being back in it but had lots of events/holidays. I think I’ve gained about 3kg and only ran twice in 2 weeks. I don’t know how my cycle is going to go now so regardless of what’s done I think I will leave the waiting and go from here as could still be months away with my cycle messing up. I will be making sure I am eating enough though

[atomic sagebrush]

Ok, then if the cinnamon is a reasonable normal dietary intake carry on.

So think of it this way - going to black coffee is simply another way for you to be unnecessarily restrictive. You do not need black coffee. If you prefer it, that's fine, but I don't like the vibe where someone who has been too restrictive on diet is STILL looking for and finding things to restrict themselves on. Add the milk back in, I think it's fine to have that, and a little milk has not disrupted the fast for people. We virtually all had some sort of whitener in our coffee.

The good news is that a light period tells us what happened LAST month, not this one. Even if this is just a breakthrough bleed, it will still act as a reset on the cycle, kicking off a new one. Let's go for June/July!!!

[Kazzzz]

My stress just really seemed to disperse after I got a BFN my first cycle trying. I had built it up SO much, kept pushing back to ‘perfect’ my sway when it hind sight it was 95% full on. I’ve been reading a book and it seems as atomic warned me, I’ve stopped ovulating as my body has gone into starvation mode.. I was running distances of up to 20 miles in one go and not refuelling properly on purpose. Some days I was having 30-40g of protein and included fruit and veg. I thought as my weight was ok and still at BMI of 22 I was ok. Seems not!

So prior to this I stuck to 2 meals a day sometimes have a smaller snack at some point and mostly eat things like this.
Lunch - almond butter and jam on sourdough, fruit. Porridge oats with almond milk, mixed seeds, cinnamon, peanut butter, blueberries, mixed beans with rice, quinoa with chickpeas, sweet potato.

Dinner - butternut squash and chickpea curry, lentil bolognese, mixed bean chilli, black bean fajitas, pizza with veg, pesto pasta with feta and spinach, beans and egg on sourdough bread, baked potato and cottage cheese, pasta with veg and tomato based chilli sauce, veggie burgers, veggie Thai curry, noodles with eggs.

Snacks - hummus and pitta bread, fruit smoothie, Greek yogurt and fruit.
What kind of things do you eat? I always find it helpful to see what others are doing too.

I drink oat milk in coffee but have recently swapped to black coffee 90% of the time. I have red wine occasionally, less often these days. I always skip breakfast and have for over 2 years as I prefer it. I’ve also been veggie on and off since 2018 and been fully veggie for 18 months bar the odd bit of fish. I’ve gone off it again after eating some weird king prawns. Hoping to get back up and running this week with diet and exercise.

Good to see you've had some type of bleeding that's a good sign i guess.
As far as what I'm eating its pretty much the same foods every day. I eat
Breakfast
Stir-fry vegetables with sour cream mixed in delicious by the way and I'll have a pitta bread or 2 and coffee with almond milk.
Lunch will be breakfast again or soup an 2 wholemeal bread again with coffee and almond milk or if I'm in a hurry i find two toasted pitta or wholemeal bread with peanut butter sooo delicious an good if your in a hurry.
Dinner is Stir-fry veg with a tin of sweet chilli chicken or tuna and brown rice an cheese or sour cream if i have protein an fat left over I'll have a cheese onion an tomato toasted sandwich with dinner aswel. I like to make dinner my biggest meal so i eat a ton for dinner. Then I'll have some sugar free ice-cream or Greek yoghurt with fruit if i have numbers to use up still. I finish my dinner with 1 or 2 vodkas or wine. Since my periods still haven't come back I'm very driven to hit 60 protein 60 fat and 2000-2200 cals everyday. My dinners have been running late not sure if thats an issue but normally start at 8pm an finish at 9pm then breakfast starts 10am or 11.30 depending how hungry i am but my little one goes for a nap at 11 i like to try wait till he's asleep to eat in peace lol.

How have you been going? I also started worrying about milk in my morning coffee and also told myself I'd just have black from now on but after reading atomics response I'll try not to stress about tiny amounts of anything lol

[Emdy09]

Good to see you've had some type of bleeding that's a good sign i guess.
As far as what I'm eating its pretty much the same foods every day. I eat
Breakfast
Stir-fry vegetables with sour cream mixed in delicious by the way and I'll have a pitta bread or 2 and coffee with almond milk.
Lunch will be breakfast again or soup an 2 wholemeal bread again with coffee and almond milk or if I'm in a hurry i find two toasted pitta or wholemeal bread with peanut butter sooo delicious an good if your in a hurry.
Dinner is Stir-fry veg with a tin of sweet chilli chicken or tuna and brown rice an cheese or sour cream if i have protein an fat left over I'll have a cheese onion an tomato toasted sandwich with dinner aswel. I like to make dinner my biggest meal so i eat a ton for dinner. Then I'll have some sugar free ice-cream or Greek yoghurt with fruit if i have numbers to use up still. I finish my dinner with 1 or 2 vodkas or wine. Since my periods still haven't come back I'm very driven to hit 60 protein 60 fat and 2000-2200 cals everyday. My dinners have been running late not sure if thats an issue but normally start at 8pm an finish at 9pm then breakfast starts 10am or 11.30 depending how hungry i am but my little one goes for a nap at 11 i like to try wait till he's asleep to eat in peace lol.

How have you been going? I also started worrying about milk in my morning coffee and also told myself I'd just have black from now on but after reading atomics response I'll try not to stress about tiny amounts of anything lol


I have to be honest and say I’ve almost all but given up swaying. I just can’t do it anymore. There are still factors that were already there before I even started. I’m exercising the least I have in 18 months and not really watching what I eat or tracking. The only things that are consistent are no breakfast/long fast, coffee and some running still but no more than 1 hour at a time. My cycle is crazy and I’m never going to get pregnant this way

[Emdy09]

Ok, then if the cinnamon is a reasonable normal dietary intake carry on.

So think of it this way - going to black coffee is simply another way for you to be unnecessarily restrictive. You do not need black coffee. If you prefer it, that's fine, but I don't like the vibe where someone who has been too restrictive on diet is STILL looking for and finding things to restrict themselves on. Add the milk back in, I think it's fine to have that, and a little milk has not disrupted the fast for people. We virtually all had some sort of whitener in our coffee.

The good news is that a light period tells us what happened LAST month, not this one. Even if this is just a breakthrough bleed, it will still act as a reset on the cycle, kicking off a new one. Let's go for June/July!!!

So I got AF bang on time this month, but after 5 days of continuous spotting. Seems proper this time but also didn’t get pos opk again or any signs of it. We dtd twice over what would have tied into ovulation. So 13/15 days before AF.

I feel I am so done swaying. 4 months in and I’m fed up and unsure where to go now, suppose it’s my own fault for not listening to advice and postponing for so long. So realistically I’m more 17 months into it. I have no chance at a girl as it seems I have no chance at a baby! So I think we are just TTC with no sway. Some factors still stay as they were my life before such as fasting, veggie, coffee, running.

I went for bloods done last week to check testosterone, b12, iron, folate, sex binding hormone, Tyroid. Still waiting on results and just finding this process very frustrating

[Emdy09]

Bloods came back and I have abnormal prolactin levels, which seems to tie in. Not ovulating no period or irregular. Everything else is fine, guess I just need to work on my health for now and hopefully don’t sway too heavily boy

[atomic sagebrush]

So I got AF bang on time this month, but after 5 days of continuous spotting. Seems proper this time but also didn’t get pos opk again or any signs of it. We dtd twice over what would have tied into ovulation. So 13/15 days before AF.

I feel I am so done swaying. 4 months in and I’m fed up and unsure where to go now, suppose it’s my own fault for not listening to advice and postponing for so long. So realistically I’m more 17 months into it. I have no chance at a girl as it seems I have no chance at a baby! So I think we are just TTC with no sway. Some factors still stay as they were my life before such as fasting, veggie, coffee, running.

I went for bloods done last week to check testosterone, b12, iron, folate, sex binding hormone, Tyroid. Still waiting on results and just finding this process very frustrating

Well, keep in mind this is not a light switch, but a radio dial. It's totally possible to have a girl still even without that overly restrictive sway you were doing. Keep me posted and let me know how I can be of help.

[Emdy09]

Hi, just wanted to get your opinion on opk this month. It is the darkest it’s been in 3 months but not quite sure it’s positive? This was last week and we didn’t dtd. I was hoping it would get darker but it faded out the next day and we were in the middle of the most horrendous heatwave in the U.K. and run off our feet finishing up for school hols, so neither of us were feeling it! Let me know your thoughts please, hopefully my cycle is trying to get back up and running!

4365243652

[Emdy09]

Also to add next month the plan is to just do e4d as previously mentioned. I wasn’t dead set on this month as potential due date would have tied in with a close friends wedding. If we are thinking the opk was leaning toward positive it ties in to my usual positive at CD10. I don’t want to get too hopeful but I’ve had nothing but faint lines since TTC in April. So thinking to get in attempts CD9/CD12/CD15 next month to try and cover all bases.

[atomic sagebrush]

I would have had attempt rather than waiting for it to get darker. The % given on the apps are really meaningless, and that darker strip may actually have been positive (and counts as a positive) if it was. Plus, if you were hot, drinking extra water, could have made a test that was actually positive register as negative.

You can get pregnant from an attempt too early, but not one that is too late. It simply doesn't pay to wait for a true pos if you think it's possibly maybe going to come, because you can often end up missing the surge.

:agree: def. go to e4d then we don't need to worry about this sort of thing.

[Emdy09]

Thank you. I think regardless it was never happening this month haha. It was 41° in our house with no air con, chaotic with the boys, it was awful. I’m just happy I’m not seeing things as haven’t had anything but faint lines since April and only 1 proper period in 3 months! I think I defo ovulated this month as also had really bad cramping around the same time. Fingers crossed for august, I’ve really laid off the running this month to try and get my period back as dr said prolactin issues can be down to over exercising. This entire month I’ve only covered what I was normally doing in a week! Thanks again for your input. Hopefully BFP soon

[atomic sagebrush]

I completely understand, it's 40C here right now and completely miserable, I don't want anything to do with my husband LOL.

FXFXFX that you ovulated and that everything is getting fixed from here on in.

[Emdy09]

Hi, thought I’d pop back and update. So after what seemed a positive opk the last time I posted, I haven’t had one since. My cycles are now very irregular. I am having 15-18 day cycles and seems to be a 19 day one this time as looks like AF is showing up again, I have NO signs of ovulation no positive OPK despite testing everyday after AF ends and trying e4d. I’ve now been totally off swaying since May/June barely running, eating whatever I like just like my old ‘boy heavy’ lifestyle.

I now have a nutritionist supporting me and my diet to try and balance my hormones and cycle. I do think it will sway boy but at the minute I have no chance of even conceiving. The only recommendation I’m not taking is multivitamins. Other than that it’s a 12 hour fast, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner. Her recommendations include only 55g protein for me, no processed food or sugar and lots of healthy fats. Im planning on staying plant based, it’s mostly veg/grains etc and I’m running again but 110% eating enough! I am giving myself 6 month now and if no BFP I am calling it a day and moving on. I think this is a fine example of how not following the advice on swaying goes heavily wrong! 5 months after TTC and I can’t even ovulate! Hopefully I have a more positive update to give soon :)

[Emdy09]

Oh also NO caffeine, alcohol and drinking herbal teas such as fennel and nettle, mint etc. any advice on how to get my cycle back and still sway a little??

[atomic sagebrush]

Please be careful with "balancing hormones". Many nutritionists are great, others suggest some things that will make your cycle stay gone for a very, very long time (the delayed cycles most nutritionists see are from PCOS, and NOT what is causing your cycles to be disrupted. What works for an overweight person with PCO will be disaster for you, so proceed with caution!) If s/he gives you herbs, please run them past me first, as some of the stuff many nutritionists recommend are worse than nothing.

I'm fine with all that, and none of that sounds like it would sway strongly blue, possibly not blue at all if you're staying plant based.

I really, really strongly suggest caution with the herb teas. Mint tea particularly, in medicinal quantities has been HUGELY disruptive to people's cycles (again, something that helps PCOSers and is a disaster for all women not eating enough and exercising too much) I would suggest having an array of herb teas, and then having any of them no more than 3x a week. So have fennel 3x a week, nettle 3x a week, mint (all mints!) ONLY 3x a week - even in blends, chamomile 3x a week, that sort of thing. At that intake, you can't end up having the herbs be acting as medicine since they can't reach that concentration.

You are still going to be swaying pink. Swaying is not a light switch, it's a radio dial. So you'll be turning the dial more towards "fertile again" but not far enough to be blue-friendly. The type of diet you're eating, even with 3 meals and a snack, is a far cry from what blue swayers eat. What we're hoping for is that your cycle will resume, and if you're in a position to try every month that passes, you'll be able to catch an egg long before you would ever have turned the dial all the way back into blue mode!

[Emdy09]

So I couldn’t get hold of most of the herbal teas so probably won’t have many. In terms of herbs no recommendations, it’s just a whole foods diet mainly. Lots of healthy fats, I have some algae oil capsules instead of omega 3.
I’m not really feeling it 3 days in but I just have to get my cycle back up and running somehow. Have taken what I like from it and won’t quit coffee and have cut to 1x. day - I guess 4-5 a day double shots was pretty excessive 😂

[Emdy09]

Hello, I finally have an update! I got a BFP about 10 days ago and will be 5 weeks this week. I honestly never thought it would happen. I have zero hope it is a girl, I hadn’t really been swaying at all since about mid May and had gained 4-5kg in that time. I would say I had a few ‘pink friendly’ things such as running, a little coffee as I really cut it down, and veggie but that’s it. We did e4d but I did do an OPK too and we dtd 2 days before it was positive then 1 day after, which I kind of wanted to skip but also wanted to get pregnant more. I Would have liked 1 attempt but after my messed up cycles I didn’t know if or when I’d ovulate.

Feeling very excited but anxious too. I’m really worried about the quality of my eggs and baby being ok as my periods stopped for so long. I think I am going to pay private for a NIPT (in U.K.) but We won’t be finding out the sex and I will add my sway/not sway soon.

[treens]

Congratulations! Wishing you a healthy baby of your dreams!

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh gosh Emdy what a fantastic update!! So happy for you!

Please keep in mind that this works like a radio dial, not a light switch. You needed to dial it back a little towards "fertile" and so it is absolutely possible, indeed likely that you were still in the "girl zone" when you conceived!

Your period stopping has absolutely nothing to do with your egg quality so you can put that worry out of your mind right now!

Keep us posted and let me know how you're getting along!