Exercise advice

Hi, IÂ’m new to the forum. WeÂ’re hoping to conceive a girl after 2 boys (7 & 5). Prior to trying for #3 I was doing a lot of running & biking & have run 2 marathons in the last year. I eased it off at the start of summer as felt like I needed a break, then had a few weeks of no exercise as we were traveling in Asia. During this time we conceived and because I was tired & feeling a bit rough I didnÂ’t run again, just did a few gentle pregnancy dvds. Unfortunately, I have just miscarried at 9 weeks. We are keen to try again soon, but not sure whether it is best to get back into the cardio 5 times a week or to leave it as too late to have an effect?
We did 2 attempts at o-4 (7 day abstain) and o+12 before but am thinking e4d as donÂ’t really know when iÂ’ll Ovulate. Am nervous about cranberry/aspirin/abstain because of the mc and our ages. I am 39, dh is 38.
I have been on pregnacare & dh has been taking berocca but will stop these and I will just take folate. Am considering cal-mag but not sure if this sways?
Also considering Sudafed 2hrs before?
We’re both happy to drink coffee & alcohol ��
IÂ’ve put on a bit of weight the last few month so am going to try and skip breakfast & keep cals under 1800, but still feel like I need iron & protein as pretty drained after the mc.
Any advice on the exercise, or general tips on a gentle sway after miscarrying would be appreciated.

So sorry to hear of your loss. :heart:

Since you are hoping for pink, I would absolutely recommend doing the exercise. Exercise has been such great results I now recommend it even if you plan to TTC soon, because the benefits are so huge.

e4d is fine, I'd have you start off in the "every 96 hours" pattern (or Monday/Friday if that is easier to understand, not those days per se but that's how you count hte days) This will be slightly lower odds of conception at first but possibly better chances of pink. Then next month if you don't get pregnant you will ahve longer on exercise and can move this up to the every 72 hours or Monday/Thursday method of e4d.

I would not recommend cranberry, aspirin, abstain for you anyway.

Please wean off your pregnacare instead of just dropping it cold turkey. Stopping vitamins sudeenly is not good for your health.

Cal-mag is at your discretion. Many of us, myself included, got boys while taking this and gave it up to get our girls. But you need to do what you feel is best for you. Just be sure you don't take the kind with added Vit. D as that may sway strongly blue.

Please no Sudafed, it's not safe and has caused strokes in younger women taking it. I never use this for men over 35 either.

If you are worried about egg quality I have a diet that will be better for that here while still swaying pink: https://www.genderdreaming.com/forum...ar-issues.html This diet has more protein and fat than the standard LE Diet and will also be better for recovering from the loss.

If worried about iron I would add in an iron supplement 18-60 mg daily for 2 weeks and then go to 3x a week instead. If your bleeding was very heavy or you have some other reeason for thinking you are anemic then take daily for 6 weeks before reducing to 3x a week.

Thanks so much for your response Atomic. That all makes sense, and will try elements of that diet so that my body gets more nutrients in the interim.
I will start with the exercise but am conscious it might take a while to build up to that intensity. My commute to work is 55 minutes on a road bike, so that should help, and will try to increase runs to 60+. If I only manage this 3/4 days a week is this ok? My one concern is that I conceived both my boys when I was very fit. With DS1 I was cycling to work twice a week, running once & going to the gym twice. With DS2 I had run a half marathon 2 weeks before. I was 9 stone (5ft 6) and quite muscular. When I exercise I do tend to build muscle quite quickly, and my calves and thighs increase in size. IÂ’m not sure how to exercise whilst losing muscle mass? Should I bit limiting calories before or after a workout, or should I be reducing protein? When training for the marathons I carb loaded before & had protein shakes after, so will not be doing this or aiming for that duration of workout.
On a side note, IÂ’m not a great sleeper & struggle to drop off after a long/intense workout. After lots of reading up I have attributed this to raised cortisol levels. I am blood group A, which has a predisposition to this. I was taking ashwaghanda before my recent pregnancy to try and stabilise cortisol & am not sure whether to start taking this again. Is there any evidence about cortisol or ashwaganda swaying either way?

55 minutes is close enough to 60 for me.

4 we have seen to be ok. 3 is much less proven and I don't have as much confidence in that.

There's a difference between muscle appearing larger and actually being larger. When you first start exercising it's normal to lose a little of the fat padding over the muscle so it appears more cut (and is more toned) but you ahven't actually build muscle in the way that sways. It's actually extremely difficult for women to build muscle and takes a huge amount of calories and protein to do so.

I think it's ok to eat before OR after exercise, just not both.

We don't have enough info about blood type or cortisol to know how those things affect swaying. I have an enormously hard time believing blood type matters since some blood types are more prevalent among certain genetic groups of people and yet the gender ratio is 50-50 everywhere so it's unlikley to me that it matters at all.

I do not recommend ashwaganda or any herbs for swaying unless I've seen many people taking them and have a good feel for how they sway, how they work/interact with other things, and safety. I have only seen a handful of people taking that and none on them conceived while doing so, so it's not something I can sign off on.