new and have lots of random ?

So I came over from IG so I am not new to swaying but I have a lot of lingering questions about my TTC pink sway.

First, I got cranberry supps but I see in the ingredients it contains gelatin. Is this going to totally hurt my sway as gelatin sways blue?

Aspertame--I get headaches from just drinking one glass of CL or diet coke. I love both though, so I often drink them with a lot of water. But for my sway, is the aspertame really going to do any good if I am drinking all that water with it?

AF showed yesterday, so I started the LE diet yesterday and hope to TTC in November/December. yesterday went great, but I already caved on the diet today since I felt so awful. Yesterday I skipped breakfast, had a yogurt, cucumber sandwhich and diet coke for lunch, and had rice, mushrooms, and piece of low sodium bread for dinner. Today I skipped breakfast, had a low fat cream cheese cucumber sandwhich on low sodium bread, with diet coke, but by 3 pm I had to lay down I felt so crappy. I drank a cup of OJ and had a banana and felt sooooo much better. Maybe I need to wean onto this diet?

Timing and abstaining--DS was a 5 day cut-off after BD every day for over 7 days, so to TTC pink I am thinking of doing a 14 day abstain and a O+12.... but I am afraid of missing that little eggie and/or stressing too much. Are there really any other options besides O+12 and cut-off for TTC pink?

Thanks ladies!

Are they soft gel like capsules, the cranberry ones? As that is what the capsules are made out of - gelatine. Personally I would not worry as the amount would be so minimal. Us TTC blue mummas, have to take 3 TABLESPOONS of gelatine daily, lol.

Hi carmella! I am in the process of swaying pink, and it sure isn;t much fun! I have been on the ig diet for about 3-4 months and am currently 5dpo from our 3rd attempt.
I have taken some supps over the last few months that have been gelatine caps, adn so has my dh. Mainly because I just couldn;t find an alternative. I figure the amount of gelatine that is in them is so minimal, and also gelatine is acidifying, so I'm sure it won;t hurt.
The aspatame gives me a bit of a headache aswell, but not always. But I guess it could be the diet too! I have been drinking alot of sprite zero because we can't get cl in oz, and this seems to bring down my ph pretty well. What about cranberry juice? I found the diet really hard to get used to. I felt like s*#t for the first couple of weeks, but it does get better. It's such an adjustment your body goes through, I usually eat what I want when I want, so I find that part really hard.
I am doing abstain with 0+12, as this method seems to have the best results. Dh isn't too keen on the abstaining bit, but thems the breaks !! I concieved ds#3 with a 3-4 day cutoff and pretty frequent bding, so we are trying the opposite this time....
Good luck to you !

does splenda give you headaches as well? I believe that is an alternative to aspartame just may not be quite as effective. best of luck to you!

I have not tried the splenda, does it still sway pink? I am not a big soda drinker or artificial sweetner gal, which might be how I ened up with :DS: but I have been trying CL and diet coke and putting equal in things and while the taste doesn't bother me the headaches are out of this word. I have heard people say that aspartame is a neurotoxin and now I can understand why! how do people drink 3-4 diet cokes a day (some who aren't even swaying!)

I won't worry about the gelatin in the cranberry.

I am thinking about easing into this sway diet, first cutting breakfast for a week, then the next week cutting red meat, then nutritious fruits and veggies the next week, etc. It will just take a while to adjust I guess ...

Wow I never knew gelatine was acidifying!!!??

I never knew it was either until I realised half of the supps I had been taking were gel. caps, so I looked into it and found out that it is actually acidifying. I think you would need a fair bit of it to alter testosterone.
Aspartame is the best at lowering ph, but splenda is also ok for a pink sway. Just don't have truvia or stevia, or products containing either because I believe these can raise your ph !

I used to get awful headaches from aspartame as a teen, splenda never bothered me that way. Somehow I am now able to tolerate the aspartame without any issue. I have noticed quite a few people use splenda as an alternative but as I mentioned it isn't AS effective but I think it still helps.

I can drink the aspertame if I drink a lot of water, just wondering if the water washes it all away! Does water sway? I mean like, does drinking a lot of water or drinking very little water sway at all? I drink a lot of water every day!

Hi and welcome :D

Do you have the nutritional goals for the Low Everything diet? It doesn't sound to me as though you're eating enough and the aim of the Low Everything diet was that it would sway pink but that it would also be healthy enough to stick to long term. How many calories are you eating each day and how much weight do you have to lose? I did the LE diet for 3 months and lost 42lb and I enjoyed it! I had lots of sweet treats (which are allowed!) so I didn't feel deprived.

As for the Cranberry supplements, many of us take low dosage (baby) aspirin instead because it's acidifying but doesn't provide all the nutrients that cranberry does (and we're trying to keep nutrients low when swaying pink).

If aspartame gives you headaches you could try another sweetener as others have suggested (I prefer Splenda). Most baby girls were conceived without the benefit of artificial sweeteners so I would say don't make yourself ill - if you can't tolerate it then don't worry about that aspect.

The other option besides a cut-off or an O+12 is to DTD around ovulation, which will give you a greater chance of conceiving. There have been tonnes of studies done on timing and they all contradict either other, which suggests that it probably doesn't matter at all (particularly if you're doing lots of other things to sway like acid gels/antihistimines/shallow release/JAD). The only part of 'timing' which I believe is important is that your BD pattern works to lower DH's sperm count. If you feel that frequent release (once a day for at least 7-10 days) isn't enough for you personally you could either abstain or do even more frequent release. My DH did it twice a day for around 10 days and our attempt was his 3rd release within 24 hours. He's a 'once a day' guy anyway but abstenance wasn't an option for us because he wouldn't be capable and he's 37 and I'm not comfortable with it at his age.

I was trying to stay in these ranges with the diet:
calories: 1500-1800
Protein: 40-50 g
fat: 25-35g
sodium: 700-1000 mg

The first day I skipped breakfast, for lunch I had a yoplait light, diet coke, low sodium bread with cucumber slices and low fat cream cheese. For dinner I had diet coke, 1/2 cup rice cooked with egg and sauteed mushrooms in a corn tortilla shell (sounds bad but was really good) The second day I skipped breakfast, had the same lunch as the day before, but by 3 pm I wasn't hungry per se, I just felt horrible with a pounding headache (from the aspertame no doubt) drank a glass of OJ and ate a banana and felt better. I counted everything up for the first day and I was over all my limits. I think I just need to ease into this diet. This week I focused on skipping breakfast. The first few days I felt bad but now I don't get hungry until noon, so my body has adjusted to that.

What kind of sweets are low fat? I am 5"3 and 120 pounds, so I really don't need to lose any weight. Does baby aspirin really work as well as cranberry in lowering pH? I had heard that cranberry was like the king of low pH but you are right in that it has a lot of nutrients....

I actually like diet coke, so I often drink a glass of water before and after my diet coke and I don't get headaches, but I wonder if the aspertame really has a chance to help with all the water I am drinking, KWIM?

My DS was conceived with frequent BDing, so my gut says to do an abstain. We are young so I don't think there's a chance a 10-14 day abstain will kill all his swimmers. DS was not planned, a 5 day cut off! so fertility is not a problem for us! I used to get a lot of EWCM which is why I initially thought O+12 but I have less and with this diet there will probably be very little or none so I am not going to stress about perfect timing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carmella_marie

So I came over from IG so I am not new to swaying but I have a lot of lingering questions about my TTC pink sway.

First, I got cranberry supps but I see in the ingredients it contains gelatin. Is this going to totally hurt my sway as gelatin sways blue?

Aspertame--I get headaches from just drinking one glass of CL or diet coke. I love both though, so I often drink them with a lot of water. But for my sway, is the aspertame really going to do any good if I am drinking all that water with it?

AF showed yesterday, so I started the LE diet yesterday and hope to TTC in November/December. yesterday went great, but I already caved on the diet today since I felt so awful. Yesterday I skipped breakfast, had a yogurt, cucumber sandwhich and diet coke for lunch, and had rice, mushrooms, and piece of low sodium bread for dinner. Today I skipped breakfast, had a low fat cream cheese cucumber sandwhich on low sodium bread, with diet coke, but by 3 pm I had to lay down I felt so crappy. I drank a cup of OJ and had a banana and felt sooooo much better. Maybe I need to wean onto this diet?

Timing and abstaining--DS was a 5 day cut-off after BD every day for over 7 days, so to TTC pink I am thinking of doing a 14 day abstain and a O+12.... but I am afraid of missing that little eggie and/or stressing too much. Are there really any other options besides O+12 and cut-off for TTC pink?

Thanks ladies!

---

A lot of great people already chimed in but just to give my two cents:

1)The tiny amount of gelatin in the cran caps is just fine. I do prefer baby aspirin because the cran has nutrients, but that is your choice.

2)Like the PP said, you can go with Splenda instead. I do not think the water will wash away the aspartame anyway.

3)Some people have had more luck easing into the diet rather than jumping in with both feet. Be sure you're eating 1500-1800 calories though, 40-50 g protein, and getting 2500-3500 mg potassium (you NEED this amount of potassium to survive.) You also need 700-1000 mg of sodium for survival. It is just fine to include an occasional glass of OJ or a banana to help you get your potassium. Coconut water is another great source of potassium.

4)There are a lot of other options for TTC pink - check out the following essay:http://genderdreaming.com/forum/show...3265#post83265

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carmella_marie

I was trying to stay in these ranges with the diet:
calories: 1500-1800
Protein: 40-50 g
fat: 25-35g
sodium: 700-1000 mg

The first day I skipped breakfast, for lunch I had a yoplait light, diet coke, low sodium bread with cucumber slices and low fat cream cheese. For dinner I had diet coke, 1/2 cup rice cooked with egg and sauteed mushrooms in a corn tortilla shell (sounds bad but was really good) The second day I skipped breakfast, had the same lunch as the day before, but by 3 pm I wasn't hungry per se, I just felt horrible with a pounding headache (from the aspertame no doubt) drank a glass of OJ and ate a banana and felt better. I counted everything up for the first day and I was over all my limits. I think I just need to ease into this diet. This week I focused on skipping breakfast. The first few days I felt bad but now I don't get hungry until noon, so my body has adjusted to that.

What kind of sweets are low fat? I am 5"3 and 120 pounds, so I really don't need to lose any weight. Does baby aspirin really work as well as cranberry in lowering pH? I had heard that cranberry was like the king of low pH but you are right in that it has a lot of nutrients....

I actually like diet coke, so I often drink a glass of water before and after my diet coke and I don't get headaches, but I wonder if the aspertame really has a chance to help with all the water I am drinking, KWIM?

My DS was conceived with frequent BDing, so my gut says to do an abstain. We are young so I don't think there's a chance a 10-14 day abstain will kill all his swimmers. DS was not planned, a 5 day cut off! so fertility is not a problem for us! I used to get a lot of EWCM which is why I initially thought O+12 but I have less and with this diet there will probably be very little or none so I am not going to stress about perfect timing.

---

That is just right with the diet (though you can get a bit more fat than that if you like) just be sure to get the 2500-3500 mg potassium as well. That can contribute to headaches.

Most people find that they adjust to the diet after about a week.

I have found that baby aspirin and artificial sweeteners work great for lowering pH. :agree: As well as cranberry and better in some people and you don't have to take the massive dosages that you do with the cranberry. Also, cranberry causes headaches as well so that might be contributing to your feeling sick. You can always test your pH just to be on the safe side, or reserve the cranberry for a day or two before your attempt to lower your pH really quick (one day of nutrients won't matter, it's the 6 weeks people take it prior to swaying that I don't love.)

Please PLEASE don't take this the wrong way but I do think that at 5-3 and 120 you could lose 3-5 pounds and it will only help your sway. Losing weight shrinks your muscle mass and lowers testosterone, and less fat means lower estrogen. The thinner you are, the less you need to lose. Also, losing weight also lowers blood sugar and pH. Even losing just a pound or two has a lot of benefits for swaying so I just don't want you to dismiss the idea without consideration.

If you're young, then abstaining is a fine option. O+12 is also ok for younger couples (as long as it doesn't stress you out too much to track your O that close, and inadvertently raise your testosterone) altho if you find you don't get pg, O+12 should be the first thing to go.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

Please PLEASE don't take this the wrong way but I do think that at 5-3 and 120 you could lose 3-5 pounds and it will only help your sway. Losing weight shrinks your muscle mass and lowers testosterone, and less fat means lower estrogen. The thinner you are, the less you need to lose. Also, losing weight also lowers blood sugar and pH. Even losing just a pound or two has a lot of benefits for swaying so I just don't want you to dismiss the idea without consideration.

---

Of course I don't take it the wrong way! I just mean that I am a pretty healthy size and I want to be careful not to loose too much weight, as that could prevent me from Oing altogether. So I am trying to be careful not to loose too much weight, KWIM? I also don't know how many attempts it will take to get pg, and if I lose a bunch of weight now then I won't have any to lose later. Isn't it best for TTC pink to get pg when you are actively losing weight, not a month or so after you've lost weight? I just want to make sure my losing weight coincides at the right time to maximize my pink chances.

atomic--how do you feel about licorice root to lower sperm count? Just having DH take it AF-O?

zanacal--what sweets are low fat and ok for the girl diet that you like to eat?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carmella_marie

zanacal--what sweets are low fat and ok for the girl diet that you like to eat?

---

I'm not sure I can help with specifics because I'm in the UK and I don't think you are, but I chose sweet suitable for vegetarians (no geletin) and calories but no fat/protein/sodium. I usually ate them for my 3rd 'meal'. Btw, it's fine to have 3 meals each day (I chose to have 2 bigger meals and 1 smaller one but 3 bigger meals is also ok) so long as you're not snacking the whole day through and keeping blood sugars elevated. I found it helped to have this treat to look forward to in the evening after I'd put the boys to bed :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carmella_marie

atomic--how do you feel about licorice root to lower sperm count? Just having DH take it AF-O?

---

I'm in favor of it as long as he is in good health, is relatively thin, and does not suffer from hypertension or heart disease.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carmella_marie

Of course I don't take it the wrong way! I just mean that I am a pretty healthy size and I want to be careful not to loose too much weight, as that could prevent me from Oing altogether. So I am trying to be careful not to loose too much weight, KWIM? I also don't know how many attempts it will take to get pg, and if I lose a bunch of weight now then I won't have any to lose later. Isn't it best for TTC pink to get pg when you are actively losing weight, not a month or so after you've lost weight? I just want to make sure my losing weight coincides at the right time to maximize my pink chances.

---

I totally agree about not wanting to lose too much weight, just wanted to make sure we were on the same page with that. :agree:

Re: timing weight loss...I have found that idea doesn't work in the real world. Much better to take weight off right away and keep it off, than to try and time the weight loss to coincide with conception. Originally I believed that the pH drop from the weight loss swayed "hard" and so we needed to but then I conceived what was prob. twin boys with pH of 4.5 so I no longer think that is the case. Now I believe that the drop in testosterone/estrogen and lower blood sugar levels from weight loss sways WAY harder than pH does and that's what the weight loss does for you...lowers t and e and drops your blood sugar down. So it's best to get the weight off whenever and however you can and not bother trying to time the weight loss, it's just too difficult to get that timing right (I conceived by accident in a month I had taken off to gain back a few pounds and this has happened to a couple of others too.)

thanks atomic!