HE or IG diet - newbie!

Hi all!

This is my first time posting! I will try to keep this brief...

I've been in the IG forums for a while and planning to TTC a blue bundle next month, following two DDs (3 and 1). I'm pretty confident that I know what I'm doing with my supplements etc, and I was (happily?!) following my IG diet, but I'm now wondering whether the HE diet would be better for me. I am naturally very slim (just under 50kgs) and struggle to maintain my weight, so am concerned about losing weight in IG diet and finding it hard to find things to bulk it out with, other than tons of potato!

I also usually have 35-40 cycles and am today on day 36 with no sign of ovulation so far!!! I am wondering if the supplement are to blame (vit e, fertile cm, Tribulus, folic acid, fish oil, royal jelly/bee pollen) and have been advised to try false unicorn to sort this out.

I'm basically looking for any advice on supplement changes and also particularly would love to hear from anyone who has tried one diet (HE/IG) and had a failed sway, and then subsequently switched to the other and had a successful sway!

Many thanks in advance.

Hi! I'm swaying blue next month as well! I'm taking prenatals, dha, vit d, and probiotics..... To me the HE diet made the most sense and was a lot more simple then the IG diet.... Have you read through all the complete index? GL!!

We had several notable IG swayers who had opposites, get blue on HE Diet, including flava, sunnyinfla, and hobbermittens.

I cannot advise against the IG diet strongly enough. WE kept stats from our first year and the IG diet got absolutely abysmal results (less than 50-50) and we have gotten 75-80% on HE diet since.

YES YES the supps you are on can delay O. The Fertile CM in particular is notorious for that. I'd wean off right away. The Tribulus also may be contributing and I am NOT a fan of that anyway as there is conflicting info about how it works, and it may even sway pink!

I would have you replace the supps you're on, particularly the Vit. E and the royal jelly bee pollen with a good prenatal that has about 100% DMV of lots of different nutrients. Take 2000 mcg folic and then 1000 IU Vit D total (including the amount in prenatal) and continue the fish oil, we're getting great results with WAY WAY less miscarriage than the other site.

DO NOT take false unicorn. it is an endangered species that has really gotten very hard to get and the vast majority of what is presently being sold as FUR is totally phony or diluted so far with fillers that it does nothing. some of this may even sway pink.

oh yeah and the probiotics! We got such great results with that for blue (and terrible for pink) we don't even use it for pink any more. Def. add probiotics!

Thanks so much, atomic!! It is so flipping confusing having two sites that say such different things, but I reckon for me with low body weight issues, the HE diet makes more sense.

I have stopped the fertile cm and tribulus. I am also taking a pregnacare multivit, so will keep going with that, and will look into vitD and probiotics! I'm already taking 2000-2400 FA per day.

I'm now on day 39 and still no sign of ovulation, despite almost positive opks for about three weeks! Maybe this will be an anovulatory cycle? I haven't had one before. Any advise on how I can kickstart the next cycle as I feel I am stuck in a bit of a rut!

Thanks so much for your advice :bigsmile:

Welcome and good luck!

Tell me everything you're doing and taking, and also what diet is looking like (specifically)

I suspect that it's just a matter of time to O now that you stopped Fertile CM and trib and O will be along. I suspect you'll still O so be on the lookout. :)

Thanks so much, Atomic!

Supps are currently - pregnacare multivit, royal jelly / bee pollen in honey, fish oil, vit e, folic acid. I've now stopped fertile cm and tribulus. Vit d, probiotics, epo and coq-10 have been ordered and should arrive today. I also take a green powder drink every morning and have been for ages so I know that's not doing it.

Diet (go gentle, I'm still a bit in the IG mindset having only just found you!)

8am - porridge made with coconut milk, handful of almonds / walnuts / pecans, banana

11am - egg white omelette with tomatoes, mushroom. Glass of V8. Avocado.

1:30pm - lunch - leftovers (meat, veg, potatoes) or sandwich (nut butter or ham) and salad, packet of crisps. Or soup (canned or homemade, usually tomato based).

4pm - another banana, handful of nuts, homemade sweet potato wedges, glass of V8

7pm - dinner. Spag Bol/ cottage pie / shepherds pie / steak and chips / jacket pots etc with veg. Usually made from scratch. Salmon Maybe once a week.

10pm - toast and nut butter, or oats, coconut milk and handful of nuts.

Drinks - green tea with whole milk, coconut water, lemon water, pineapple juice. Also fruit through out day (pears, blueberries, pineapple, in addition to the banana).

That's pretty much it! I was planning to do Ural and Robitussin (sp?!) in week prior to ov. Oh, and geletin drink in pineapple juice.

Let me know what you think! Had a slight temp rise thee days ago so wondering if that was a pitiful attempt at o. I'm basically looking forward to AF arriving so I can write off this month and get started on the next!

Ok between the Pregnacare and the RJBP, you are taking a MASSIVE dose of B vitamins and that can also delay ovulation. I would drop RJBP right away and I'd consider weaning off the Pregancare to something that is closer to 100% DRV of the nutrients. Aside from folic and D, there is no need for those megadoses and they can really fudge up the cycle.

RE the Vit. E, I know they advise this on IG but taking more than 100% DRV of E may be harmful to your health and can inhibit cell division (which is not what you want to have in your system when trying to grow a rapidly dividing ball of baby cells). I would wean off this by spacing doses till down to one per week and then you can just drop.

Meals are looking ok, I want to see whole eggs. When you eat soup, do you have that with meat?? You need protein + carbs at every meal and snack.

I would skip the Ural, we are getting great results without it http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...ph-pickle.html

if you post a chart, we can take a look and see if we think you ovulated.

Ok, hopefully this link will work...temps are showing I ovulated (I stopped doing opks and recording results a few days ago since it was getting pretty expensive!). Did an opk this morning And, finally, it was a definite negative.

My Ovulation Chart

I've ordered some new, 100% RDA, prenatals - hadn't even thought about the megadoses in pregnacare, why on earth would they do that?!

And yes, if I have soup, there is always something protein based alongside ��

Thanks so much for all your help - when I asked the question re delayed o and supplements on the IG site I was told things were just delayed because I was stressed!!!!

Vits have arrived! Also, I ordered some coq10 for myself as I was sure I had seen it on list of supps to take, but I now can't find info on how much or when to take! Have I got this totally wrong?!

Thanks atomic! I'm think I'm finally almost there with my supplements...!

Ooo yeah it does look promising, now let's see those temps go up and up! :)

I don't know why they put the megadoses in there. I find it very confusing why any company would do that when those B vitamins can mess with people's cycles like they do and it's kind of an unknown in terms of safety. More is not always better. When you get the new ones, gradually switch from one to the other though - start off by alternating days and then just take the 100% ones more and more often till the pregnacare is just once a week, then you can drop them. Dropping them suddenly may be interpreted by your body as a sudden decline in nutrients that could sway pink (and is not good for you, either, because your body is probably excreting a lot of B's in your urine right now and it will continue to do that for at least a few days after you drop them)

Coq10 is good - if you have the 30's take 30 or 60 a day, if you have the 50's, take 50 or 100 a day, and if it's 100, take 100 a day.

YOu don't want to get too much (you will be getting some via diet anyway) but just enough to make up for any deficits. :)

Thanks atomic!

So, here is a link to my final chart for last cycle :drama:

<a href="http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/363487">My Ovulation Chart</a>

what a disaster!!! Low testosterone?! My luteal phases is normally 12 days and I have no idea what the bizarre spotting was all about.... At least AF is here now so I can get cracking with the cycle in which we will TTC!

Whoops, try this instead

My Ovulation Chart

You can't tell low testosterone from your cycle. I think the supps messed with your estrogen/progesterone levels and made for a kooky chart and the spotting. I hope things are on the mend now - your body will be working to fix it!

I meant progesterone, not testosterone, sorry! Will let you know how I get on...

(Although, speaking of testosterone, I am very glad to have stopped the tribulus - it made me really, really short tempered and aggressive! Now I know how it feels to be a man, haha! And if it was doing that to me, I'm fairly unsurprised that it has thrown my cycles)

I just think it was a weird cycle and while it is indicative of low prog, I think it was caused instead by the supps and will fix itself.