Help with girl sway and diet in UK please!

Hi,

I'm fairly new here, been stalking the forums for tips for a couple of months as I haven't bought a plan just yet 🙈

I have 2 boys and a girl and I'm hoping for another girl. I am about 10-12kgs heavier than before I conceived my third and I'm really struggling for motivation to lose it. I've been trying to lose weight just by being healthier and I was running 3 times a week until an injury but due to start again this week! I am also breastfeeding a 19 month old who probably nurses upto 10/12 times in 24 hours. Prior to having my girl I was following a healthy choices and low GI meal plan and was exercising 3 or 4 times a week so I know I need to get back to exercise, its fitting it in with our jobs that's proving hard to balance!

I'm really struggling with the LE diet as I'm naturally a snacker!
I was wondering if anyone could link me to a list of what is considered "free" fruit and veg? I'm thinking I need to eat more of those at meals to be really full or I'm literally sabotaging myself! I've switched from porridge to cereal for breakfast as its much lower in cals and I am trying to delay breakfast but I can't necessarily go without, particularly on days I work as I don't get lunch those days. I have just switched to sweetener in my coffee instead of sugar apart from my first one of the day and I have sugar fee squash (juice you dilute) and diet coke at other points. Oh and I have a small chocolate bar on an evening once the kiddos are asleep, its my staying sane treat!

We were already not preventing pregnancy prior to me trying to change my diet and hubs is keen to get ttc, we don't want a huge age gap between 3 and 4 and actually its already going to be bigger than we had hoped! We went for one attempt this cycle, although I ovulated a little different to what I thought so there was a J+D on what is considered my first fertile day and one attempt the day before poaitove opk! I know I'm doing a LOT wrong, I just can't seem to get it right!

Sorry for so much info! Any help massively appreciated! ❤

Hi and welcome! [emoji16]

I know atomic will be along to give you help and guidance and answer all of your questions, but I can def help you out with the list of low carb/free veg! I had the same question as I’ve literally never “dieted” in my life before starting the LE diet LOL.

Fruit is not free unfortunately, BUT you only need to count cals in fruit. When I started LE in May, I really relied on fruit and the free veg to help fill me up — I too was a horrible 24/7 snacker, so that was the hardest part, sticking to only three meals! I have eaten 3 meals from the beginning, so technically delaying rather than skipping breakfast, but the fasting part is more important anyway. 12-16hrs is the recommended fasting time. Most days I average 12-14hrs. And like I said in the beginning, the extra fruit and veg really helped! Sometimes I would have as many as three servings of fruit with a meal, just to fill up and not be hungry and tempted to snack in between meals. Since you only count cals in fruit, it’s also a good way to get in some extra cals and “save” the fat/protein for other things! I would also have really big salads loaded with the free/low carb veg to help fill me up!

Which brings me to my main point — the list! I found a really great, long list with examples detailing what is considered free/low carb veg, what is high carb veg (count cals only), legumes (count cals and protein), etc.

I found this list buried in a post way back when I was first doing research on the site. It has been SO HELPFUL! I actually copied and pasted the post into the notes on my phone so I could refer back to it as needed. I’m going to copy and paste it into another reply on this thread so that you can do the same, if you would like [emoji4]


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Veg/fruit

Low carb vegetables are any vegetables that are low in carbs/high in indigestible fiber. They're low cal, low pro, low fat, and are free foods that do not need to be counted.

•Sprouts (bean, alfalfa, etc.)
•Greens – lettuce, spinach, chard, etc.
•Hearty Greens - collards, mustard greens, kale, etc.
•Radicchio and endive count as greens
•Herbs - parsley, cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme, etc.
•Bok Choy
•Bamboo Shoots
•Celery
•Radishes
•Sea Vegetables (Nori, etc)
•Mushrooms
•Cabbage (or sauerkraut)
•Jicama
•Avocado (NOTE - THIS IS NOT TYPICALLY EATEN ON LE DIET DUE TO HIGH FAT CONTENT, BUT CAN BE A GREAT RESCUE ON A DAY WHEN YOU'VE MAXED OUT ON PROTEIN AND ARE IN DIRE NEED OF FAT, CALS, AND POTASSIUM)
•Asparagus
•Okra
•Cucumbers (or pickles without added sugars)
•Green Beans and Wax Beans
Fava beans
•Fennel
•Cauliflower
•Broccoli
•Peppers
•Green Bell Peppers
•Red Bell Peppers
•Jalapeno Peppers
•Summer Squash
•Zuchinni (courgette)
•Brussels Sprouts
•Scallions or green onions
•Snow Peas/Snap Peas/Pea Pods
•Tomatoes
•Eggplant (Aubergine)
•Tomatillos (these are the tiny green tomato-looking things in paper husks)
•Artichokes
•Spaghetti Squash
•Celery Root (Celeriac)
•Onions
•Leeks

Higher carb veg are ones that taste sweet or starchy. All fruits are sweet tasting and fall into this category. Count cals but not protein or fat.

•Carrots
•Beets
•Peas
•Winter Squashes, such as acorn and butternut and pumpkin puree
•Water Chestnuts
•Parsnips
•Potatoes in all forms
•Sweet Potatoes
•Corn
Hominy
Yams
•Plantains

All fruits

High protein vegetables - count cals and protein but not fat (unless you have added fat)

Field beans (kidney, pinto, white, black, navy beans)
Peas
Split peas
Lentils
Chickpeas
Black eyed peas

High fat vegetables - count cals and fat, not protein

Avocado (see note above)
Olives (ok to use 1-2 as a flavoring agent on top of a salad but don't go overboard)

Count EVERYTHING:

Edamame/soybeans
Products made from soybeans like tofu.


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Thank you so much hotlikemexico! That's really helpful and I'm definitely going to save it to my phone! I'm trying to delay breakfast where I can which will hopefully make a difference, but if I have dinner at a reasonable time or with the kids then 12-14 hours is absolutely achievable even on the days I need breakfast before work! I have a morning coffee with a sugar regardless so I may be undoing the work there ��
I have seen your posts on the sway buddies thread and you're doing so well! Sending lots of pink baby dust your way ��

Hi and welcome!

My advice re the running injury is just do walking. Walking works just as well for your sway and additionally it will prevent you from getting injured again.

only low carb veg are free and thanks to hotlikemexico for posting that.

Can you tell me what you're eating in terms of fat, protein, and cals? A lot of times when people are struggling they're not eating enough and I can help with that. Some people on the Internet will tell you wrong info about LE - saying you can barely eat anything - but it is my diet, I invented it, so I am the font of all knowledge on that :)

What kind of cereal?? Cereal is heavily fortified in most cases and is the only food ever shown in a legitimate scientific study to sway. LE Diet is NOT always about eating the lowest calorie option ever.

If the one attempt isn't working we do have good results with the every 4 day method - which is just having regular unprotected sex every four days. We do this e4d in either an every 72 hour pattern (better chance of conception) or an every 96 hour pattern (better chance of pink). Might be something that could help.

Thank you so much for your reply atomic!

I walk quite a bit anyway so going to try and add in an extra walk some days and maybe a run once or twice a week as my friend keeps asking if I want to go! Once our schools are back in September the drop offs and collections add a good few more steps on too!

I don't think I'm following the diet correctly at all to be honest, I've never been a diet person. I've used the my fitness pal app on and off since April anyway as I was trying to watch what I was eating as I gained back some weight during lockdown, like most people did. I changed the settings to be inline with what I'd seen you recommend other people who are nursing but I don't necessarily hit the limits, if that makes sense. Generally we all eat together, lunches are something I'm particularly struggling with but then I always do anyway! So I was having porridge every day and swapped to having shreddies or toast some days. The shreddies are probably too fortified, it was just a swap I made to take in less breakfast cals prior to seeing the info on this site. I hope that makes sense!
So the 3 days I work, I don't get a lunch break so I need something before I go, I have a cereal bar at lunchtime, probably too sugary really, and sometimes an apple those days! Work is hard anyway as there's usually chocolates about that patients leave for us! I think I need to reread it all and see if i can find some meal inspiration that will keep me full and away from snacking as right now I think my sway would count as an opposite 😔
Am I able to have a coffee when I get up with sugar in if I'm delaying breakfast or is it better to just have a sweetener?

We've done the one attempt for two months, my husband feels we need to do more to get pregnant so I think we'll go for the 96 hours as then he'll feel like we're doing more. With our daughter we literally were about once a week and she was a one attempt on the day of a positive opk!

It took us a long time to conceive 2/3 of our kiddos, so while I know you're meant to have a lot of this in place 12 weeks before you start ttc we're going to do it alongside as I have longish cycles and it feels like we'd be waiting too long. Does my husband need to do anything? He has a semi manual labour type job but is also a runner/gym goer anyway. I assume his diet doesn't matter?

I feel like I had another question but I can't remember it now 🙈 I really appreciate any help, thank you!

You need to hit the minimum limits. Eating MORE than the limits is up to you but don't drop below them. The minimum limits are more important because that is what enables you to get and stay pregnant!

Ditch the shreddies even if they're lower cal. You need SOME cals coming in or you will stop ovulating. The fortification in them seems to sway strongly blue and fortified cereal is the only food ever shown in a study to sway.

On the days you need to eat for work, go right ahead and eat. It sounds to me like you are not eating anywhere near enough.

it is best to have sugar with meals only, so on the days you're getting up and heading to work you can have sugar since you're eating breakfast those days. If you're not eating breakfast I'd stick with no sweetener or artificial.

:agree: going to e4d now that's just fine, would be my recommendation anyway

Hub does not need to do diet but if he goes vegetarian or just cuts back it may help. His exercise pattern sounds great!

Ahhh OK, so I feel like I've misunderstood somewhere along the way! I was aiming for 1800 cals, 50-60g of protein and fat but those were maximums of these things.
Consider the cereal ditched, it tastes awful anyway! To be fair i do generally hit 1800-2000 cals a day, I did try and lower my intake to around 1500 briefly before finding your site and seeing other stuff elsewhere, but it left me utterly miserable! I'm going to plan in our meals for next week tonight and try and come up with more filling lunches as thats my downfall! We do eat vegetarian meals 3 or 4 days a week, I'm not a huge meat eater and I'm not particularly a red meat fan so we generally have chicken with stuff or veggie mince!

Oooh so I've been using a sodium saccharin sweetener, is that no good? 🤦*♀️

You're amazing for taking the time to reply, thank you 🙂

Well, they are maximums for the sake of your sway, but a lot of people think the minimums are no biggie and it's ok to eat less than that. It's NOT OK to eat less than that. The minimums are MORE important than sticking to the maximums.

1800 cals, 50-60 g protein and fat is just dandy as long as you aren't losing too much weight and are ovulating regularly.

Sodium saccarine is artificial and is ok in the morning.

Definitely feel like I'm getting on with it better this last week or so, fasting on average 12 hours, delaying breakfast when I can for longer, definitely not snacking as much and I lost 1.1kg last week! Whoop! My average prior to that was about 0.5kg a week.

Quick question about the every 4 days for dtd, is dh allowed to release inbetween? He's complaining about it 🙄😂 and he thinks that while we're ttc we should be doing it more, although I've explained that to him! In his head though more is more chance so I get his logic, we were aiming for more when we had the boys! I actually think he's more eager for baby 4 than I initially thought

Excellent!

He CAN release in between if he wants. That is totally fine. Some people even combine e4d with daily release (so they have their hubs release daily in between). This does cut odds of conception by quite a lot though.

Men do always assume that more sex is always better but even for odds of conception, it isn't. What can happen (and actually DOES happen a lot) is when people start TTC they have gobs of sex, but they often start it too soon. So the batches of sperm that the man makes get smaller and smaller, and by the time the fertile window opens he's basically shooting dust. And thus many times even for just better chances of conception the idea is regular but not TOO regular releases! :)

But you guys are more than welcome to have him release in between in the "do what he does" style of swaying.

Just wanted to let you know that the E4D worked! I got my BFP last weekend 😊 Just hoping we have done enough for our pink sway 🤞 It worked out as 1 dtd in the fertile window, 2 days before ov! I'm shocked its happened so quickly!

Thank you for all your help 🙏

Excellent! Good luck and pink dust headed your way!