Attempt #1 next week & sudden stomach issues, nervousness, anxiety!

[ABC.2606]

Hey GD-ers! So my husband and I are planning to make our first attempt next week for a girl... I've been doing LE for about 16 weeks now (mostly but not completely the PCOS version - I have possible IR issues but not full PCOS). But for the past almost 2 weeks I've just been having terrible stomach issues!! I *think* it's a big IBS flare... I have never been officially diagnosed w/ IBS but have had chronic/off & on constipation issues throughout my life (which I also had at the beginning of my sway diet). BUT, now I'm kinda getting the OPPOSITE issue!! Loose stools (and just a lot more bathroom trips in general), gas, stomach pains... What the heck is going on? I think it may be related to the fact that I've been trying to up my fiber intake more in the past few weeks. I haven't been able to be consistent throughout my sway w/ the fiber supps b/c initially they were actually worsening the constipation issues... however b/c of the whole grains/fruits/veggies for the PCOS diet I've been getting a good amount of fiber through foods on most days. But now that I'm adding supps in again I think they may be causing these new stomach issues. I also really think it may be stress-related as I'm stressing out more that we're getting ready to start trying.

And that's my other issue... rising stress/anxiety. I've been fairly relaxed about my sway for the past 16 weeks - to the point where I haven't been as strict as I could have been on the diet. I guess the benefit of that is that I have not been super control-freaky about it... As I've seen Atomic say, I've sort of just been in "auto pilot" mode in terms of the diet rather than stressing out about each little thing I eat or how strict I'm staying. But now that we're close I'm getting stressed that maybe I haven't done enough diet-wise. I've lost 23 lbs so far, done 5 days a week of cardio (60 minutes), lots of coffee and alcohol, gone full vegetarian, mostly 3 meals a day/ very very little snacking, and in tracking through MyFitnessPal I've been staying w/in my limits protein/fat/calorie-wise. Yet when I read on here about how strict others have been on their diets I feel like I haven't been nearly as strict! It's now making me all stressy and nervous which I know is NOT what my sway needs right now being just a week out from our first attempt! I also have to keep fighting these feelings of "oh maybe we should just put off trying for one more cycle so I can do the diet longer/better".

Anyways... Just looking for thoughts/advice especially from those who've been through all this before!! Anyone have any weird issues come up right when they were ready to start trying (like a stomach that goes crazy or IBS when starting TTC?!) Advice on how to calm my nerves too and let go of the "I haven't done enough" feelings? Thanks!!!

[4blue2pink]

as far as the "i haven't done enough" feeling goes it seems with pink sways that the more chilled out sways have higher success rates, the real control freak/everything but the kitchen sink style pink sways seem to produce more boys and from what youve written it seems that your diet, caffeine, alcohol and exercise are spot on! your in a good place

i hope you can get the bowel issues sorted soon im sorry i cant help with that but i do hope you get back to normal asap!

i had a very laid back pink sway last year that was successful and ive gone with the laid back approach again this time as i do think its the best way to go dont sweat about not doing enough, youve done great! good luck with your attempt and i hope you get your bfp soon!! xx

[atomic sagebrush]

Drop the fiber. I can all but guarantee that's what is doing this and if you're doing the alternate PCO diet then you are already getting plenty.

When you read about others being stricter, that is NOT you doing things wrong. The strict people are the ones doing things wrong. You are doing things right. LE Diet is MEANT by design to be an easy diet to stick with. Some people choose to further complicate matters but trust me, it's the people living on rice cakes and green beans and 7 Craisins for dessert who get opposites while those who are more laid back and eat a wider array of foods succeed. Why? Not totally sure but it's very likely either the amount of white-knuckled control freakishness it takes to stick to that restrictive of a diet, combined with the fact that starvation leads to delayed or stopped ovulation and then people end up having to practically sway blue just in order to get their cycle going again. You are 110% on the right track and please don't let it mess with your head, atomic has spoken.

[ABC.2606]

Thanks ladies!! Yea, Atomic, I really think it is the Benefiber messing me up. I've basically been doing 1 or 2 of those "On the Go" packets a day recently and yet I think my system just CAN'T handle fiber supplements!! Yesterday afternoon I was in SOOO much pain - so I didn't do the Benefiber with dinner, haven't done any today and am not feeling at all as bad today. I think I've read somewhere that some people w/ IBS are actually aggravated by extra fiber so maybe I'm one of them I really wanted to use it b/c it's such an easy sway tactic and is getting good results, but ah well, what can you do. I am - like you said - getting a decent amount through foods anyways (plus I've been eating prunes most days as a fiber source - which does not seem to cause me the same issues and helps prevent the other side of the IBS coin - the constipation!), so I'll just keep going with that.

Yea I do feel like I've been way more relaxed about my sway than I thought I would be... which is I think part of why now that we're ready to start trying I'm like "ahhhhh!! I haven't done enough!!!!". I think also it really hit me recently that this is going to be our last pregnancy (and last shot at a girl!), so that has me feeling all kinds of things too. As many things as there are about pregnancy that I DON'T like (plus I had a fairly tough 2nd pregnancy), there are things I love about being pregnant and knowing that this will be the LAST one already gets me feeling a little sad! And I'm not even pregnant yet ha!!

[atomic sagebrush]

I totally understand that feeling! Good luck and pink dust!!

[sasjjp]

What is the best protein to eat on the LE diet.

[atomic sagebrush]

sasjjp you will get more responses if you start your own, new thread. If you can't figure out how to do this, go to the main page and then click open a forum. This is the part people miss, you have to actually open one of the forums (not another person's post) and then you'll see the "start new thread" option.

There is no "best" protein. Any protein you like (even meat, in small amounts) is fine as long as you're in the limits for the day. Now, some people prefer to avoid meat entirely and eating too much meat can also make it harder to stick to the diet (because meat is high protein, lower in cals, so you quickly go over on protein and have consumed very few calories and then what do you eat for the rest of the day?? quickly devolves into starvation diets of chicken and green beans and gummy worms!!) but as long as you're in the limits that's the important thing.