I'm really struggling with food. I love food and I've been trying to eat super healthy for many months now in order to give my egg quality all the help it can get. I managed to give up coffee 6 months ago, and now only occasionally have a decaf (naturally decaffeinated too). I only have an occasional very small glass of wine. I take a ton of vitamins, drink lots of water, eat way more veggies and fruit than ever before. However sugar is my downfall. I love sweets - cookies, cake, ice cream etc. I love to bake. I have cut down my sugar intake tremendously, but I can't seem to get to zero. For example right now I am really hungry and craving a piece of cake (which I have in the freezer). I am going to resist it, however I also want to make an orange cake since I have leftover pulp from my juicer and it would make such a lovely cake. I also have all the ingredients to make the chocolate pound cake that I got off of Erin at Just Off Magazine's blog. I just hear so many bad things about sugar sometimes I don't know what is true and what is not (ie. sugar causes cancer, sugar causes wrinkles, etc.). I know that Super Ovum is 41 and gave up sugar and is now newly pregnant with her own eggs. That inspires me to keep trying to quit the sugar, but it's just so gosh darn difficult.
Then there is the whole controversy with soy - I have been cutting down on my dairy since it is harder to digest and therefore takes blood flow away from the uterus/ovaries. I've been drinking soy milk for a couple of months, but now I read that soy is bad for you and full of poisonous chemicals. Ugh, what's a person to do? I want to be healthy and that's why I'm trying to eat better, but gosh it's such a struggle to know what is healthy and what is not. Any thoughts out there?
10 comments:
I like to think that "balance" in all regards is what makes for health and happiness. That cake did make me happy, but eating the whole thing did not! I wouldn't give up anything totally (with the exception of anything artificial). I too was trying to give up coffee because of the caffeine but there's so much to be said for green tea which has a large helping of caffeine. So, I've settled on just trying to be balanced.
And I've got to follow that with...I'm sorry. I'm sure you're looking for a more definitive answer to solve it all, but unfortunately I don't have any and really wonder if there are any.
No go bake that cake! Deprivation doesn't do anyone any good.
All this food talk is making me confused...but more than anything hungry! What's a girl to do? It's good to think of all those things, even if there is no easy answer. Just think of how far ahead you already are than the average person who doesn't pay attention to anything. I say have the piece of cake and enjoy! But I do admire your willpower!
I think everything is fine in moderation. We could drive ourselves nutso trying to keep up with what is good for us and what is bad for us.
I read somewhere that Gwen Stefani allows herself one treat per day (like a cookie or a brownie), and you've seen her abs! I like that. Good policy.
It's funny, you ask the questions I'm thinking about.
I stopped by the book store this evening to check out the pitiful IVF selection. I ended up skimming a book about foods that help fertility instead.
Of course it offered the usual, no caffeine or alcohol and to definitely exercise. This author is a strong believer in controlling insulin. He advocates eating frequent small meals and consuming few carbs. There was a whole list of good/bad foods and even a few recipes.
I didn't see anywhere that sugar should be eliminated completely though.
I'm gonna give it a try, what could it hurt?
Good luck with your food war!
It's so hard when everything seems to contradict itself. But I agree with Erin that balance is important.
I agree with the whole "balance" argument BUT i do think it's worth giving up caffeine and alcohol if you can.
Some Dr's say nothing's out of bounds and others do recommend cutting down on certain things. This cycle, our Doc had told Mr G to drink less alcohol (which he did) and his count was the best ever.
I do think sugar's really bad for you but I can't give it up either. I think cutting down is good enough.
I also read about SuperOvum and was telling a friend about her yesterday as I was so impressed with her results. The friend I was telling has given up alchohol, caffeine, sugar etc etc for much of the last two years and got nowhere. Go figure.
Go with Erin's suggestion. A little bit of everything - be happy. (Dr Alice Domar - MindBody person - talks of the 80/20 rule - 80 good, 20 of what you fancy)
Sorry for long answer. Hope it helps! xx
IVFMeds.com rocks! The only weird thing is that since the drugs come from Europe, you are likely to get your drugs under a different name/language. Frex, my Follistim came as the Italian brand, Fostimon. Same thing, different name. Still, it's the cheapest place I've found so far. There's also CanadaPharmacy.com, but they take ages to arrive, even when you prepay for the fastest shipping.
As for soy, well, now that I've found it gives me heart palpitations I avoid it as much as possible. Not a possibility when you eat processed foods, because it's in everything from salad dressing to bread to deli meats to ice cream.
I think if you eat it as Asians do, in very small amounts (like 2 tbs), usually fermented, you'll be fine.
There is so much contradicting info about what is good and bad for you! It sucks. I like what the others have said, about moderation being best. I do think giving up caffeine is key (for me, anyway--caffeine gave me palpitations if I had too much).
Have you considered honey for a sweetener? It is sweeter than sugar so you use less of it and it isn't an empty calorie in that it contains minerals and is all natural. Try to get some from a local beekeeper and avoid (like everything) the stuff from China. You will need to adjust ingredients if baking with honey, but I forget the proportions, but you put in less liquids and not the same cup amount the recipe calls for with sugar. Maybe there is something online -- baking recipies with honey.
re: food and fertility I'm sure it's the wacky hormones in non-organic milk and meats that can mess you up. Food intolerances should also be looked at. But I don't think food in general is the enemy. Just make sure it's healthy and pesticide/hormone free. And yet how will we be ever be sure of that???
Kudos for giving up caffeine. It just wears you out. I have been off it for 8 years -- great for your skin and energy levels.
Don't be too hard on yourself though. You probably saw it in Spain, but Europeans eat large amounts at mealtimes and are healthy and not (usually) fat. the secret is they don't snack and don't drink gassy sodas or sugar-free crap. It's just 3 square meals a day with healthy ingredients. I've seen some overweight or chubby Brits/Americans come to Italy and lose a lot of weight just by doing as the Romans do. pretty nice!
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