Low Everything Diet - Nutshell Version

[atomic sagebrush]

UPDATED 12-14-17

The full Low-Everything Diet for Pink(LE Diet) is found in the Dream Members section http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...-ttc-pink.html along with a lot of other good stuff!!

If you want to understand the scientific reasoning underlying the LE Diet, read this:
Understanding the Trivers Willard Hypothesis

Before you do the LE Diet, take a sec to revise your thinking when it comes to sway diets. The LE Diet does not involve mineral balancing, pH of foods you eat, and there ARE NO forbidden foods on this diet (there are a few foods that you may want to avoid which I’ll talk about below, but even those are not make-or-break) It’s the overall totals of the day that count, not any magical food http://genderdreaming.com/forum/scie...gic-foods.html (this essay is in the Dream Members section as well)

If you can’t let go of those ideas, please follow the link for a thread that will describe how to tweak the existing sway diets to be more in line with LE principles. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...-ttc-pink.html

In short, the LE Diet is a low calorie, low protein, low fat diet, with nutrient intake kept on the low side and eating in patterns that are more likely to help keep blood sugar low (so you eat 2-3 meals a day - both are equally allowed - push breakfast back so you are fasting 12-16 hours overnight, and avoiding snacks between meals)

Basic guidelines:

1500-1800 calories a day

This is the level of caloric intake recommended by reproductive endocrinologists for safe weight loss while going HT. It is a safe level of weight loss while TTC.

If you’re very tall, are breastfeeding, want to stop weight loss or are losing massive quantities of weight too quickly, bump up to 1800-2000 cals (keeping protein and fat intake within limits and making up the difference with carbs.)

If you are very petite, typically only eat 1500-1800 cals, or have plateaued on weight loss at 1500-1800 and still have more to lose, you can bump down to 1200-1500 cals. DO NOT go any lower than that. Starvation is not an option and is not allowed on LE Diet (in fact, it may actually temporarily raise your testosterone - or whatever personality factor is swaying, since it may not be testosterone) and can undermine your pink sway.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, please try to resist the temptation to start off at 1200-1500 cals. It’s best to start on 1500-1800 and then see how you go. Cutting back more than you need will wreck your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight in the long run. You can always cut back more later on, but you can’t reset your metabolism right in the middle of your sway.

Again, the ONLY people who should be on 1200-1500 calories a day are very petite people who only eat 1500-1800 cals a day and have gotten boys doing that, and people who have plateaued at 1500-1800 and still have a lot of weight to lose. This is possibly 3-5% of swayers max. Far more people need to start off at higher calorie intake (1800-2000 cal range) instead of the lower range. So if you're asking yourself "do I need to be at 1200-1500 cals a day" the answer is almost certainly "no you do not, please eat more!"

Calories should come primarily from carbs

If you are very thin to start with or have already lost a lot of weight and are needing to hold steady, it’s good to include lots of empty carbs. (refined, white grains and sugar.)

If you have insulin resistance, PCOS, or are heavy to start out with, you should focus more on fruits, vegetables, and limit grains to 2-3 servings of whole grains a day. The fiber will slow down the rise in your blood sugar and make it easier for your body to digest the carbs. You will also need to boost protein and fat to 50-60 grams while keeping calories the same. Please read the following link about adjusting your diet if you have blood sugar issues http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...ar-issues.html

40-50 g protein

DO NOT go below this. This is the lower limit of healthy protein intake for an adult woman in her childbearing years. You need this much protein prior to conception.

If you have insulin resistance or PCOS, you should increase protein (and fat!) to 50-60 g. You may also want to increase protein (and fat) to 50-60 g if you are breastfeeding, very tall, or exercising a lot.

20-30% of your day’s calories from fat

This is the amount of fat intake advised from virtually all medical sources as ideal for good health. It’s much lower than most people eat, however.

Depending on how many cals you are eating, this typically works out to be between 30-60 g. (Update - while we originally had 25 g as our minimum intake, we found that virtually everyone's ovulation was delayed at that level) The more cals you are eating, the more fat you will be taking in.

DO NOT eat NO fat. You need fat to manufacture progesterone and estrogen that will help you get and stay pregnant. If you’ve gone on a long time without getting pregnant for no apparent reason, please start to eat the highest percent fat. If you are breastfeeding, eat the highest percent fat.

Anyone with PCOS, Insulin resistance, or other blood sugar issues needs to be getting 50-60 g of fat. Women who are very tall, breastfeeding, and/or exercising a lot should also be eating 50-60 g fat daily. Do NOT skimp on the fat. Fat is what keeps you ovulating and gives you a 14 day luteal phase. Fat helps you get and stay pregnant. Everyone, please eat fat as a part of your sway diet. No fat and very low fat diets are not allowed.

2500-3500 mg potassium MINIMUM

DO NOT go under this amount. It can be FATAL. You can get more if you would like to.

It is quite likely potassium does not even sway anyway, please don’t risk your health for a sway tactic that is utterly unproven and doesn’t even make any sense. BTW, this is the same level of potassium that is recommended on InGender and in the French Gender Diet, but neither of them are very vocal about stressing how important it is that you get that amount of potassium. YOU CAN DIE if you do not get enough potassium, and this is a real risk that can actually occur.

If you are exercising, are tall, or drinking a lot of liquid, aim for the higher range. If at any point you feel like your heart is skipping beats or otherwise weird in any way, increase potassium.

Low Nutrient, not NO nutrient

Vitamin supplements and highly fortified foods should be avoided. The exception is folic acid – you should be taking 1200-1600 mcg a day spaced out over the course of the day. Also, if you legitimately need certain supplements for your health, please take them regardless of how they sway.

Fruits and vegetables are 100% allowed on the LE Diet. If you have a choice between higher nutrient vegetables and lower nutrient vegetables, then pick the lower nutrient ones, but that does not mean you cannot eat higher-nutrient vegetables. YOU CAN!! You would have to eat a mountain of broccoli to reach the level of nutrition in one Big Mac, fries, and a chocolate shake. Even high nutrient vegetables are really low nutrient foods overall.

If you have insulin resistance or PCOS, you should focus on getting your carb needs from whole grains, fruits and vegetables.http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...ar-issues.html

Low carb vegetables are free foods meaning you can eat as much as you like, no need to count them.

High carb (sweet or starchy) veg and fruits, count calories but not protein or fat.

High protein vegetables (legumes), count calories and protein.

High fat vegetables (avocado and olives) should be limited but if you have some, count cals and fat.

700-1000 mg sodium

This is by far the least important. I do not believe sodium even sways (and high sodium intake may even sway PINK by harming overall health) but I keep it in the mix because it’s good for overall health and is relatively easy for people to include. If you have to cheat, make it on sodium.

Foods that are probably best avoided

While there are no magic foods, there are some foods that are probably best eaten sparingly or avoided all together, either because they’re somewhat blue-friendly or they make it too hard to stick within your day’s limits, or both.

Any highly fortified food like breakfast cereal.

Garlic, onions, oatmeal, and celery have compounds in them that may raise testosterone.

Fruit and vegetables juices – highly concentrated sources of nutrients

Meat and eggs, especially whole eggs, are highly concentrated sources of protein for very few calories. So after only a small serving, you exceed your protein allotment for the day and have eaten barely any calories whatsoever. Also, they are very nutrient dense foods so even just a tiny serving can give you a big burst of nutrition. They may also have fats in them that your body can use to make testosterone. You can still have these things within limits, they are not forbidden, just that you have to keep an eye on the amount you are eating.

Nuts and seeds – healthy fats and lots of nutrients and protein. A small amount is ok.

Beans and peas – high protein. A small amount is ok.

Fish and shellfish – Avoid oily fishes like tuna and salmon all together due to their healthy fat. Whitefish/shellfish are very high in protein and low cal and should be avoided, but are better than the oily fishes.

Full fat dairy – Most swayers will want to use skim products instead. However, if you need fat intake, switching to full fat dairy can be helpful for getting more fat and cals without adding protein - if you were eating skim yogurt, switch to full fat...same amount of protein, but extra fat and a few more cals. Also, those with PCOS or insulin resistance, you should - in fact you MUST use full fat dairy, particularly yogurt and cheese, because this gives you a much better insulin response than skim does. Full fat dairy ONLY for anyone with blood sugar issues or poor egg quality. Skim milk is terrible for blood sugar and may even harm your fertility if it is borderline.

[Atsaukina1]

No, not my eggs! lol. funny people say they use egg whites because I looked at those at the store and the protein was higher. maybe fat was lower? but I never have problem keeping fat down, it's protein. I haven't been having my eggs daily anymore, but I sure felt better eating them since EVERYTHING else I am eating is just simple low nutrient foods.

question
low sodium 700-1000
I was looking up low sodium and they(non-swayer) had it around 2000mgs as low. Why soo low since our fat and everything else isn't really that low? I haven't been able to get that low but am concentrating on everything else so am not stressing it at all, just curious and then maybe i will change if need be

[atomic sagebrush]

yes, their protein is higher but there is hardly any cals in them. some people have trouble getting too many cals and not enough protein so egg white is a good option for htem.

Egg yolks are chock full of nutrients and cholesterol that sway blue. It's ok to have them on occasion or to use as an ingredient, but eating them all the time is not a good idea at all and not LE.

the only reason I have sodium low is because that's the recommendation of the FGD. (basically, can't hurt, may help) I do not believe it's necessary, I think the FGD is nonsensical, and I didn't do it when I got my girl.

[Atsaukina1]

ok no eggs this is going to leave me a lot of room for more food since my 2 eggs were 12g. protein and 10g. fat. more candy for me

I haven't had any other foods on the no no list except a lil garlic/onion that's in my salsa

[fish2012]

this is a fab summary atomic thank you

[black&gold]

Can you tell us how to get more potassium? I'm at 677 calories for the day - planning on a snack tonight but am only at 98mg of potassium. I'm not aiming for low at all, just checked myfitnesspal and realized I was WAY low. Not sure what to eat to raise it and stay within the LE Diet

[black&gold]

and I will be up in calories by the end of the night for sure. I'm aiming for 1100 as I'm small to begin with so for any weightloss I need really low - only doing diet for 3 weeks too. I know that's not recommended but..

[meeks32]

Coconut water! Pulp free kind. Compare brands because some have heaps of cals and not much potassium but I found one that was super low cal and 700mg potassium per drink box size. It's in the Asian section of the normal supermarket or Asian grocers.

[atomic sagebrush]

Can you tell us how to get more potassium? I'm at 677 calories for the day - planning on a snack tonight but am only at 98mg of potassium. I'm not aiming for low at all, just checked myfitnesspal and realized I was WAY low. Not sure what to eat to raise it and stay within the LE Diet

My fitness pal is TERRIBLE for tracking potassium levels. Virtually all foods have SOME potassium in them, but it doesn't have to be legally listed on food labels and so no one ever enters it into the nutrient tracking sites, making it look like you're getting less than you actually are.

That having been said, it's just hard to get adequate potassium when eating that few calories. I don't want anyone going under 1200.

a baked potato, banana, coconut water are all good sources of potassium for not a lot of calories.

[mariposa]

is it ok to take wheat bran mixed on a yoghurt instead of fiber pills (like chitosan)? I find wheat bran more "capable" of drag the nutrients and fats in intestine than the chitosan pills.... Overmore, in a spoon you can have several gr. of fibre, while youy need take many pills to have 1 gr....
Overmore, a thing that my friends (girls mum) have in common is that they go regulary to the toilet, you know... and I´m afraid because of the LE diet, as I have to skip my all bran cereals at breakfast I lose my "regularity" too (which now I have and didn´t have before to my DS previous by the way...)