TTC a girl and potassium

[smllibra]

I've decided to add potatoes to my diet to get enough potassium. So I have to eat at least 2 potatoes and then maybe a yogurt to get enough. My question is, will 2 potatoes contain too much nutrients for the LE diet? If so, what foods are you ladies getting your potassium from?

[maidentomother]

There's varying amount of potassium in many foods so you shouldn't have issues getting enough on the LE or specifically need to eat certain potassium rich foods daily. Are you using MFP to track cals etc? Bc it doesn't include the potassium content of many foods, so you may think you aren't getting enough based on it, but it's not an accurate reflection. You're probably fine.

Or is there another reason you think you're low in potassium?

[smllibra]

Hi Maiden. I'm not using an MFP. The reason why I think I may not be getting enough potassium to begin with, is because most days I don't even go over 1200 calories. And one day out of the week I will usually have 1700-1800 calories while still staying within the limits of the LE diet. I didn't want to increase my calories anymore because my diet previous to this was about 1200 calories most days and one day out of the week I would binge on food all day without counting calories. I just don't want to upper my calorie intake past 1200 calories most days of the week because I don't want my body to take that as I'd have more of a "boy friendly" environment. But at the same time, I understand how important weight loss is ttc a girl. So if I'm not getting enough calories my weight might not budge too much. I'm feeling a bit tired lately. So I went to the doctor this past Thursday. I had my thyroid levels, iron, and vitamin d checked. I haven't heard back about results yet. But it may just be my potassium levels. I just don't want to overdue it with potatoes because of the nutrients. But I don't want to take the chance of becoming deficient in potassium either. By the way, you have been so helpful. I really appreciate your time and advice!

[maidentomother]

Ahh. Well, you may NEED more than 1200 cals while swaying, bc you're getting less fat and protein now, I assume, and those really help with feeling satiated, energy levels etc. If you're tired, I'd up cals to 1500. The low fat and low protein will send a stronger pink signal anyway than the exact number of cals daily, and 1500 is still plenty low. Also as you noted, you may be slowing your metabolism by eating too few cals, especially if you're feeling tired. Very few people should be on 1200 cals daily. What is your height/weight? Are doing exercise? If you are, you may need 1800+ cals.

Low potassium doesn't usually cause fatigue, so I think that is more likely due to not enough cals, and possibly, not enough protein (do you know how much you're getting daily on average?). I'm really glad you had that blood work done to rule out those factors. Do you have any reason to suspect you are low in any of those?

You can absolutely have 2 potatoes AND 1 low/non fat yogurt daily, every single day. Potatoes don't sway blue and are actually very low nutrient and pink friendly overall, as they're just simple carbs. Bananas are the same, just sugar and potassium mostly, great for pink. I don't track potassium but I always know if I'm low as I get calf cramps.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm happy to have helped.

[atomic sagebrush]

NO ONE should ever, ever, ever drop below 1200 calories. It is not open for debate, if you are doing lower than 1200 cals you are NOT DOING LE Diet and may be harming your ability to get and stay pregnant. Only a very, very few people ever need to go below 1500-1800 and that is my great preference for everyone. Of course you feel tired, you're starving. If you only eat 1200 cals normally, continue doing so. Adjust your diet in other ways like lowering protein, or switching to more vegetable fats instead of animal-based ones.

You do not need to worry about the nutrients in a potato. They are fine to eat.

[atomic sagebrush]

WEight loss is NOT that important. In fact, time on diet WITHOUT weight loss has been much more effective than weight loss, and you really shoot yourself in the foot by dieting so strictly that you can't stick with it for 12 weeks!!!!

I also would like to know the amount of protein and fat you're eating

[smllibra]

I agree with you both. I have decided, since I only intake 1200 cals most days of the week to not exercise. Plus if I get too much exercise with a low calorie diet in the past it has thrown my thyroid levels off,which makes sense with that low of a calorie intake. I have been getting about 15 grams of fat daily and around 30 grams of protein.

[maidentomother]

That's not enough fat! You need more like 30g minimum, and 40g protein. I highly recommend you DO exercise and eat 1500-2000 cals, depending on your weight.

Time on the diet is so much more important than weight loss and you won't be able to do the diet for very long if you don't eat enough. You're already tired now, you could lose O next.

[smllibra]

Thank you Maiden. You know what, You're right. I did a calculation with my height and weight and I should actually be getting an average of 1780 calories daily. But since i'm swaying I think i'll go for 1200-1400 calories most days of the week and just increase my fat intake. I still think I should leave exercise out because it might complicate things for me.

[atomic sagebrush]

You need 30-60 g fat and 40-50 g protein for your body to function. Don't drop below that, it is the safe pre-pregnancy amount.