Need Diet Help - specifically lowering sodium

[fourunderfour]

Hello!
Day 3 of the LE diet. I've been tracking all my foods and exercise on "myfitnesspal.com" - wow! That's a good site!
Looks like I'm doing okay on calcium - right around 40... cals are between 1000-1200.
Potassium was around 1200 for 2 days, then today around 1800.
I saw somewhere suggested that it is suppose to be between 2500-3500? HOW!?
Sodium though is in the 1300-1500+ per day.
I guess I'm not coming up with the right amounts of foods to make the calories higher but the sodium lower?
Also not sure how to calculate calories from fat.
Is there a more detailed outline of what to eat in the dream members section? I will become a member if so...I'm not sure I'm getting the correct amount of food here.
Also, I've been out running 30-40 mins a day (working my way up to 60, but it is CHALLENGING!...didn't realize how much of a couch potato i was...
I'd LOVE some help!!!
Katie
wife to Tim (7 1/2 yrs)
mom to 4 boys:
Cale (5), Megersa (2 1/2), Thaddeus & Shepherd (14 mo)

[atomic sagebrush]

yes, there's much more detailed info in the Dream Members section including lists of foods, meal plans, some nutritional info, and the complete LE Diet and lots of discussion about it. I wish I could post it all publicly but some of the swaying sites have very sticky fingers unfortunately. :/ In the DM section, there's a post called "quick fixes for diet disasters" that has a list of foods that you can use for more protein, more potassium, etc. and also another thread called "100-300 cal snacks" which will help you increase your calorie intake. It can be a challenge with PCOS because some of the easy ways to get calories are simple carbs, but if you up your fruit intake, you'll get calories with fiber and your PCOS will not be aggravated.

Yeah, you do need to be getting more potassium. Coconut water and fruits and vegetables are the best way to get potassium without any other nutrients.

Sodium can be tricky - you have to choose the right foods to begin with. Some foods are so heavy in sodium that you can't have much (dairy and storebought breads chief among them.) The good news is, sodium is the best thing to go over on - I really don't think it sways much if at all.

With PCOS, the benefits of exercise to your blood sugar levels (and as a result, testosterone) is pretty substantial and even if you can't make it to the full 60 min a day, you may do so much good for lowering your blood sugar, that you counteract/exceed any risk to your muscle mass. I wish I had all the answers on that but not enough data, unfortunately.

[fourunderfour]

Glad to hear all that...especially about the sodium. I have really just been eating fruits, veggies and yogurts (among rice cakes and special K crisps for snacks...), but happened to eat homemade soup I made before the diet. REALLY low cals, but packed with sodium because it was full of beans galore! love me some beans though...so healthy!
At any rate, I have my wallet out now...going to become a dream member. I hope there is more info on PCOS diets too!
Certainly glad to hear that sodium is an okay thing to go over on...hard to believe it's in so much of our foods!!
I've actually seen results just from the few days I've been exercising - down 2.5 lbs already!
Am I starting to lose weight (to sway pink) too soon? We plan to ttc in Sept... What if I get down to a weight and have trouble losing after that..would that sway blue again?
Oh, and just read all the info about J&D. I always do that after dtd EXCEPT with my pregnancies...ha! Would you recommend it for me...doing abstain (with hubby taking licorice root)?


Regarding PCOS, would you consider taking asprin with metformin? Both cause diarrhea... I am slowly making my way to the higher doses of metformin, should I just do the same with asprin so as to give my GI tract time to recover?

Thanks so much for all the info. Excited to see what's on the members site (there's already SO much here).
Katie

[atomic sagebrush]

I need to finish the PCOS Diet stuff and get it posted, I'm sorry.

No, you're not starting too soon - I answered this in depth on your other thread but I think it's best to get the weight off and maintain rather than trying to time weight loss, that's backfired on several people.

I would prob. lay down for 5 min and then do a jump and dump with abstain and 1 attempt. Zanacal did get pg with one attempt and jump and dump right away, but most people have a bit of trouble. 5 min. is sort of a happy compromise.

Good question about the met and the aspirin. My good friend who just went HT, was told to take both met and aspirin at the same time so I know it's safe and something doctors recommend, but I would be super careful for stomach upset.

I always want everyone to ease into aspirin; because it's a blood thinner, if you start off with high doses you can have bruising or bleeding. If you start small and work up, you'll make sure that your body has time to adjust.

[fourunderfour]

I am a brusier for sure...like alot of the people in the aspirin/cranberry thread. I will most likely notice if I have too high of a level......so that's good. How many a week is ideal to "work up to?" Did I read 3 somewhere.....
No worries about the PCOS diet stuff. I appreciate your willingness to do it at all!
Quick question about exercising - what about jumping rope? Yay or nay?
Did 30 min of zumba tonight cuz it was raining outside - whoa. that's a butt kicker! ha!
And to "combine" questions from other threads:
You mentioned taking SP and Vitex for 2 weeks and then stop and see what happens. Should I pick any random day or wait for a few weeks longer to see if AF shows up on it's own and then start taking them on CD1?
You mentioned that they should not be taken with Clomid - what about Follistim?
And one last Q:
Would you suggest RePhresh for me (considering I'm HT, does that matter?)
With ttc on follistim - doing the diet, taking baby aspirin... using antihistamines (which would you suggest?)...DH taking licorice root...and doing abstain then 1 attempt - what exact time should I DTD?
I'll try to clarify if I can. When I am told to take the trigger shot, ovulation is said to occur 36 hours later. At what point in those 36 hours should we DTD? Note: the trigger is usually taken late at night...well, at least it was when I did IUI b/c they want to schedule it early in the am. So, would you suggest we wait until the morning after the trigger (24 hrs before O) or that night?....

Thanks in advance!
Katie

[atomic sagebrush]

How much aspirin to take depends on how much you can tolerate. I personally can't tolerate ANY cran or aspirin at all so I never took it. If you're in that boat, you have the option of doing Vit. C for acidity instead - I don't generally recommend that because nutrients = boys and Vit C makes EWCM for a lot of people. But, it's something to consider. I would start at 2 a week and gradually work up to no more than 5 (most peopel under 50 will have bleeding if they take aspirin every day).

Jumping rope is great if your bladder can handle it! Let's just say I had an ill-advised experiment with jumping rope that ended badly and that was after only two kids!

I've tried to look up vitex and SP on several occasions and gotten so much conflicting info that I don't know what to think. I think it would be best for you to take V and SP in the month or two before your planned attempts, then stop them both on CD 1 of that month (just like you'd do with Clomid) and go from there. That way, you'll get the benefits without the risk that they'll interfere with the Follistim.

Since you're not TTC right now, I'd go ahead and give the V and SP a try and see what happens. Take them for 2 weeks but be on the lookout in case they trigger an ovulation.

How much of a sway you want to do, depends on how many cycles you're willing to try while on the Follistim. Themore you do to sway, the less your odds of pg will be. If your doctor will panic after 1-2 BFN and start insisting on IUI, then that's not a good trade for you and you should pull out the stops from the beginning. Unfortunately, we just don't have enough data to really know which of the sway tactics are the most effective.

Giving you my gut instinct here, I would have you skip RepHresh, keep antihistamine (cetirizine) but maybe use a light hand with it (use it only the day before your attempt and not the day of) and have DH try LR and abstain (one month only and if you get BFN, drop the LR) Plus, diet and baby aspirin if you can handle it, diet and Vit. C if you can't. Vitex and SP the month before attempt and none the month of.

I would time my BD for the night of the trigger shot. DTD the day before ovulation yields much higher rates of pg than waiting until the day of ovulation. That's the timing that got me my DD.

[fourunderfour]

Thanks for all your suggestions!
I just need to clarify the V and SP - I do not get a regular period....for the months preceding, I really just wouldn't know when to take it. I've gone well over 2 months without a cycle. Longest I think was just under a year. Are you saying I should just start them the day I get them (regardless of having a cycle or not?)?

My thoughts on the RE:
Most likely I will go in and we will talk about my plan to do follistim with TI - she'll give me her checklist of things for me to do: metformin, progesterone, possibly get another HSG exam, a pap smear...and then I'll tell her when I plan to start ttc (we were thinking Sept, but maybe a month or two before). I'm almost certain she will give me a prescription for provera to start my period when I'm ready and then I'll need to come in on day 3 for bloodwork, etc..... u/s and bloodwork to follow until the eggs are ripe and ready for trigger (you know the drill....)

I dont know if I'd let them really talk me into the IUI for quite awhile...I dont see the benefits of it as long as DH is ok. They let regular fertile couples try for a yr without help.... ((And they're still getting our insurance benefits. )
I still sorta feel I'd like to try the rePhresh....or do you think that it makes more sense for someone doing FR?
If not rePhresh would you suggest Sylk or acijel? (we will most likely use some sort of lube...so what would you suggest?)
Thanks for the help.

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, start them just at a random point in your cycle, take for 2 weeks, then stop. Even if you don't get a regular period. We've seen some miracles occur with vitex in particular, and the SP also seems to really help with PCOS.

As long as you feel ok with them possibly pressuring you to do the IUI, that's fine! Go ahead with the RepHresh if you like - I just didn't want you to end up in a bad situation and them balking at continuing the Follistim unless you agreed to IUI. Better by far to get pg quick with just the Follistim and a lighter sway, than go into the IUI.

RepHresh is always good and always makes sense, but it does cut down odds of pg.

Sylk is the best lube of any of them if you need one. I was not thrilled with the lube properties of RepHresh.

[fourunderfour]

Do you think though - without using many swaying tactics I may just as well end up with a boy - like I would with IUI? I feel like I might be willing to give it a few months before pulling out ALL the stops. Has anyone swayed with just diet and exercise alone? (I mean, outside of just regular people who seem to get girls all the time. I am honestly the only one of my friends without a girl and they don't seem to do anything special - even the ones who wanted a boy got a girl w/o trying).

...I'm pretty sure this will be our last baby and I really do hope and pray for a girl.
That being said I don't want to stay on this diet longer than I need to.....

[atomic sagebrush]

The only thing I did to get my girl was I alone did diet (DH wouldn't sway), lost 3 lbs, and I took vitex, but I stopped it the month before I conceived anyway. We were BD every 4 days in perfect boy pattern and I didn't jump and dump, I laid flat after we DTD (again, sways blue). We did happen to have a lot of stress, high caffeine intake, and lack of sleep working for us and my huband had just taken up occasionally smoking a pipe but only a couple times a week. I didn't do any jelly, antihistamine, supps, or anything else.

People DO get girls all the time and I personally think that taking a relaxed approach is actually quite beneficial for a sway. It helps your T levels to stay low to just be going about your life and then get pg, vs. launching into the "Great Sway of 2012" plan and monitoring all these details. Viewing swaying as a prize to be won, or a laundry list of goals to be accomplished and if you do them all, then you'll have a guarantee, is a recipe for a failed sway. So altho I know it's difficult to believe, you can actually have a BETTER sway by letting go of some things if it helps you to keep calm, cool, and collected.