Getting Fit Before Baby

[swimmyj1]

Ursaula - I was thinking the same as IRYM that maybe you ovulated a little later than ff thought. I don't think i see anything on your tests but on my phone its hard to tell lol. My fingers are very crossed for you!

Mrs. Green - Welcome! 10% is a great goal!!!

Cupcake - My next scan is on monday I'll be 8 weeks 2 days I think. I'm not at nervous at before. This time just feels so different than with my other 2 losses. I hope I'm right. (also I totally admit I'm one of those january people who joined a gym and am using up all the machines for my new years goal haha) Instead of going to the gym yesterday I went for a short hike. It was freezing but I always just feel so good being outside.

Fern - I'm sorry they have you waiting so long for surgery I tend to really like lists so I too would make a pro con list. Also as crappy as it is to be on it if it stops it from getting worse until the surgery might not be bad in the long run??

AFM- I think I hurt my back shoveling snow yesterday. My lower back has just been so angry with me. that or I fell asleep funny on the couch again. I swear I can't stay awake for the life of me.

 

[ireadyermind]

Ursaula - Unfortunately, I don't see any lines either. :\ FXd though!

Swimmy - Oh man, you're brave. I haaaaaate cold weather! That's probably just from living in CA though. Haha. It's currently 59°F and I think that's too cold to be out in for long!

Make sure you take care of that back! I know from experience that pulling a muscle or throwing out your back is MISERY, and since you're pregnant you're kinda stuck in terms of pain meds, muscle relaxers, etc. Yikes!


AFM - OPKs and a drop in my temps are making it look like I might actually ovulate close to what a "normal" cycle should be, for the first time in years! I'm a little excited about that. Haha.

Looking at previous cycles' OPKs (I paste them to a sheet of paper for the month, snap a pic, and keep the pics for reference), I should get a +OPK in about two days. We'll see what happens! Thank goodness I decided DH and I should get an early start in BDing this month. I'll have to remember to use Preseed tomorrow, as we didn't use any last night.

Today I've been deep cleaning the bathrooms. They don't get that done as often as they should, and I broke a sweat with all the scrubbing I've been doing. That counts as today's exercise, doesn't it?

 

[Ursaula]

Swimmy: Thanks for the input! Have you tried using heated bean bags on your back? I find it helps when my s/o is having nerve pain.

IRYM: Thanks for looking at them! That's a great idea about the pictures of OPKs so you can compare them. If I ever have af somewhat normally I'd like to try out OPKs.

I'd definitely count bathroom cleaning as exercise!

AFM: If I ovulated on cd23 I'd be 16dpo. I also posted some FRER pictures of today in the pregnancy test section to see what others think. Fx'd!

 

[swimmyj1]

IRYM - 59 is cold?? lol i could be out in a t-shirt and jeans easy hahaha . Today was a high of 13 by me. really looking forward to my girls weekend trip in 2 weeks. Lots of hiking/snow shoeing

Ursaula - I did end up getting a heating pack total life saver

 

[Fern81]

Hi ladies

IRYM - Have you started with any type of exercise/eating plan yet for 2016? Scrubbing definitely counts!
Looks like both you and I might be ovulating sooner than usual! I've been having lower back pains & feels like I have been punched in the uterus... not my usual O type pains (usually I do feel the "bursting bubble" type pain on one ovary for a few hours). However my temp this morning is 36,5 and that is a post-O temp for me. What little CM I had has dried up and bbs feel sensitive. So I might have ovulated CD13. Only time will tell. If I did O yesterday our bd timing was not great but not non-existent. Hope you do O soon hun so we can be tww buddies too!

Swimmy - look after yourself!! Glad your back is feeling a bit better. FX all is still doing really well on Monday. xx

Ursaula - I went to check the pregnancy test thread, sorry hun but I see no lines at all. Sending you lots of hugs and I hope all is well! Just keep up the good work with diet and exercise - every step toward a healthier body means a step closer to a healthy pregnancy too. For all of us.

MrsGreen - how is your training so far this week? What exercise program are you doing? And what do you do for a living? Lol I hope you don't mind me being nosy. The other ladies have also been through my 10 billion questions, I'm always very interested in other people's stories. (That must be why I stalk so many other threads too - helps me feel less alone ).

My lower back is KILLING me!? Very unusual for this time of the month - either my hormones are still out of wack, and/or my endo is playing up, or it's just due to ovulation and/or planking so much during O time (I'm up to 80 seconds 3x a day). I won't stop planking though - I can't believe the difference it's made to my tummy already. We have a wedding on 20 Feb and it's my brother's wedding 2 April so I have these two events in mind to wear a beautiful and flattering dress. My diet is still going very well too. I'm hardly eating anything but not losing weight as fast as I want to. I have only lost 3 kg now in total since 29 Dec. (6,6 pounds).

I'm STILL waiting for my doctor's office to phone me back!!! I keep phoning and they are just so busy they tell me that they'll call me back and then just don't. This is not the service that I've gotten used to from them and am getting angry.

BTW everyone is from the USA except Urs and me, right?

 

[Ursaula]

Fern: What days leading up to O did you bd? There's always a chance, no matter how big or small!

Thanks for looking at my other post too. The FRER doesn't seem to be picking up much of anything but all the other tests are? Is it normal to have some tests not work and some work?

80 seconds 3x/day!? I made it to a minute yesterday and felt I couldn't move after!

Also, I think 6.6lbs/3kg is very reasonable. I find we all just want to see huge numbers but our bodies just don't work like that whereas gaining weight you see big jumps! Haha.

Can you go to your doctor office?

Canada.

 

[mrs.green2015]

Fern- don't mind the questions at all! I'm here in the U.S. As far as training it's going well. I did a little more than required last night and I'm definitely feeling the burn today! Lol I'm doing an 8 week challenge from toneitup.com. New workouts every day so it makes it not boring.

I work in media sales (I basically sell advertising to businesses) I took the job because it's very flexible and you can sort of make your own hours or leave for appointments if you need to. Plus some people make really good money. I've only been doing it 5 months so still learning though!
What about you?
80 seconds is amazing! Glad you're already seeing a difference. Are you doing anything else too?

 

[Fern81]

You all can probably see I'm not that busy at work yet lol. Posting all the time.

Ursaula - IF I did indeed ovulate CD13, then we only dtd once, the night before O. But we will see if my O date changes, not too concerned about that though, just not liking these back pains.
As for your tests - I've never taken a FRER so I can't say, sorry .
60 second plank increase from 20 seconds to start with is AWESOME! Thanks for doing this challenge with me! Geez I LOLed when I read what you wrote about us losing minute amounts when dieting, but gaining weight is so easy. Too true! (thanks again, Murphy). I wish we lived in the Victorian age when being overweight was a desirable "look" and they knew nothing about being healthy, so I could just eat what I wanted and be very lazy! How are you doing with the dietitian prescribed diet? x

MrsGreen - Oohh I'm going to google that exercise plan! As for my exercising; atm I'm doing some HIIT exercises that I google and put together. We have some gym equipment and a room @ home which we've dedicated to being our gym but so far (5 months later) I haven't trained in my own gym at all! I'm not a big exercise freak, always have to really force myself. I go running a bit now and then, swim when possible, do HIIT workouts and when I get really busy at work unfortunately I do nothing at all. I know I have to start working out more regularly...
It's nice to have a job with flexible hours. Personally I'm not good with sales at all and I'm always so impressed with people with enough self-confidence to do sales. I'm a teacher (science) and run my own business; I teach private students & present science workshops and am building a small practical lab. LOVE my job.
I see on your chart you are basically also where IRYM and I am in our cycles, (quite the coincidence lol!) I really do hope you ovulate this cycle! Will you also be sneaking in some bd around O time?

OK ladies I caved and took some pain meds for this back. Codeine and paracetamol. Am also getting a heat pack now (keep in mind we are still having very high temperatures in sunny Africa so am NOT looking forward to a heat pack). Finally spoke to my dr's receptionist. For now I'm on the waiting list for a cancellation to see the dr so that we can try and schedule surgery. The soonest it can happen is in March, but we might even have to look as far as June/July. If we have to wait any longer than the beginning of March, I will go back on bcp as dr prescribed.

Ahhhh I'm CRAVING chocolate cake right now!

 

[mrs.green2015]

Fern- so sorry about your back! How hot is it there?

I haven't ovulated since my mc in November that I know of so not sure if I will or not. I know for sure I didn't last month by tracking but the month before I fist track so not sure. We're supposed to be not trying but I may sneak in some bd this weekend just in case i ovulate. Lol

 

[ireadyermind]

Ursaula - Keeping track of the OPKs like that has helped me see that I generally don't even need to START testing until CD15 or so, unless I start seeing fertile signs like CM and CP. That saved me lots of money on OPKs, since beforehand I was starting from like CD10 as recommended by most of the manufacturers of the OPKs. Since I test 2x a day, testing 5 days later saved me 10 tests a month. haha

Swimmy - You may not think 59° is cold, but it reaches 110°+ here in summertime! By comparison, 59° is downright frigid, and we do dip below freezing here too! On those days I'm wearing so many layers of clothing, I feel like the kid on A Christmas Story.

Fern - I don't really have an exercise plan for 2016 except "get moving more". Toward the end of last year, I really stalled on working out. I hate doing stupid, mindless cardio on machines, but I am physically unable to jog/run, jump rope, etc. due to old injuries that never healed properly. So right now, the biggest thing I'm focusing on is doing more active stuff during the day, increasing the number of steps I'm taking, etc.

One thing I decided to start doing is to only use the upstairs bathroom rather than the downstairs one that's 10 feet away. That means I'm getting more exercise in just by climbing those stairs several more times a day. It's a good start.

DH and I have also gotten much better at eating home-cooked foods instead of ordering takeout. I've always cooked healthy stuff, lots of salads, lean meats, steamed veggies, etc. but I also really enjoy going out to dinner -- and who can say no to a good burger once in a while? lol

Unfortunately that got to be too much. We'd eat takeout or go out to eat several times a week, and that's not healthy at all. So we've really cut back.

But I will say this: it's only since I've stopped dieting (and I mean "severely cutting calories", and "weighing everything and obsessing over each tiny element of a meal") that my cycles seem to be straightening out. I can credit the Vitex if I really want to, but I don't consistently take it, and even when I do, it's 1/3 of the recommended dosage.

I think it has to do with consistently eating healthy foods regardless of how many calories. Now, if I could just get my weight to cooperate and start dropping off...!

 

[ireadyermind]

Also! Just popping back in to share something: Hungry Girl

This lady takes all kinds of traditional recipes and swaps out ingredients to make them healthier for folks like us, who are trying to eat better but may be feeling like we're in a rut when it comes to meals and whatnot.

I have several of her cook books and I love checking out the new stuff she comes up with!

Here's a link to a collection of recipes she's posted. There are desserts, side dishes, soups, and lots of other things. If you try any of them, let me know what you think! I might make some myself, too.

https://www.hungry-girl.com/weekly-recipes

 

[Fern81]

IRYM - what!? 110+ in summer!!??? That's insane. Normally in summer we have temperatures of about 85-95 F; this year it's been abnormally hot and dry due to El Nino with temps of 105+. In my part of the country we are not used to those temps! My poor husband is on a tennis court all day; imagine how hot it gets on those outdoor courts...

If that answers your question MrsGreen . We've been having heat waves on and off all summer. Today it's nice and cloudy though. I looked at toneitup and am LOVING all the full body exercises! I downloaded a pdf with kettlebell exercises and am looking forward to starting!

IRYM back to you... thanks for the HG link. I LOVE it when you guys share info on here! I've looked at her recipes and there are some I like but a lot that I personally won't use because they include sugar, flour, tinned ingredients, bottled sauces etc that I'm not allowing myself (eg ketchup has LOADS of sugar!). I'm being quite strict not only to slim down but also to try and limit inflammatory foods, to limit the endo inflammation. So while earlier on I mentioned that I will allow myself oats and rice; I've cut that out too (ALL grains) to try and limit inflammation. I only allow myself gem squash & sweet potato as starches now.
This happened fast but - It's going really super with my business, I got SO many bookings for the new school year so we will probably be able to save up for IVF in June/July! So I'm going to carry on eating a strict anti-inflammatory diet & taking supplements to improve egg health, in preparation for that. (IF we do decide to do it!)

Cupcakestoy - have you been hit with AF yet? I soooooo hope you get a bfp miracle before IVF!

In other news, nope it seems like I didn't ovulate after all. Temps are back down.

 

[ireadyermind]

Fern - So you can see how I'd think 59°F is cold, right!? That's 50 degrees cooler than the warmest summer temps. Now, mind you, it isn't a solid 110 all summer long. Usually just in the upper 90s and low 100s, then we get maybe a week where it hovers around 110. We've also been in the longest drought in CA's history, however, so that has something to do with it, I'm sure. I don't remember it passing 99 very often when I was a child.

Sorry to hear that there aren't many recipes that you can use in there! On the other hand, though, I'm sure you could swap out various grains for sweet potato starch -- OR look around on google to see if there are pre-made recipes that are similar to the ones that sound good to you. Have you tried flax seed meal at all? We use it to cut down the amount of carbohydrates in home made bread recipes, or pancakes or waffles. It does change the texture of the bread, but once you're used to that, I find it's a pretty good substitute.

I haven't O'd either, so it looks like we might end up being TWW buddies in the next couple of days! I give it 48hrs or less for myself, before I get a +OPK anyway. Could be another 48hrs after that before I actually ovulate. I'm hoping it's less time than that, though, because it would really be nice to have a cycle that's shorter than 35 days.

Today is CD14. Imagine if I O'd on CD16! That'd be the earliest yet! I could have a 31 day cycle. Woo! haha

 

[drjo718]

It's interesting to hear about everyone else's weather. We had a heat wave of 48 degrees yesterday, its 21 right now, and a forecasted temp of -1 on sunday with windchill values -20. This is iowa...

 

[swimmyj1]

I think I would cry with 110+ weather lol no wonder your freezing now! They are saying sense we've had a mild winter the summer is gonna be hot here this year. I really need to get a pool lol

 

[Fern81]

Drjo are those temps in F or C?

 

[Fern81]

Cd 16 for me (on the 16th ). Temps have taken a huge dip and my nips are tingling/itching/sensitive haha sounds like a weather forecast! Usually that's an indicator of O for me. Let's see. Fx for a normal cycle with minimal spotting!!
I'm very happy to report that with very strict eating & starting to exercise more this week, my weight has dropped a bit more. I weigh 57,5 today so that's a loss of 3,5kg (7,7 lbs) in about 3 weeks. Still not much but I when I lost 25kg (55 pounds) in 2010, I lost it 1 kg a week and it stayed off. Whereas crash diets and fast losses always climb back on me, and then some! So I'm happy. And am getting hundreds of compliments from dh.

Irym- thanks for the ideas, I will definitely look into sweet potato as substitute.... mmmm imagine sweet potato brownies! I won't try flaxseed (all seed oils eg soybeen, corn, sunflower etc have high omega 6 levels; again inflammatory) BUT you've made me look around a bit and our local supermarket has almond and coconut flour so I might try those!!

Hope you O soon, post a pic of your opks we need to see lines lol!!

Thinking about you all, have a slimming weekend! ♡

 

[Ursaula]

Sorry gals, I've been super stressed.

In terms of weather, I'm laughing. School here doesn't even think about closing until it's -46C (-50.8F) [When busses stop running]. As of right now it's pretty warm out -24C(-11.2F). It's the windchill that kills you though The hottest it's ever been here in the summer is 32C (89.6F) so I can't imagine anything hotter than that!

I'm very doubtful now that I'm pregnant. My lines should be showing a lot stronger and I had two negatives at the doctors office. We did a blood test but I won't get results until Monday.

Any news from Cupcake?

 

[drjo718]

Drjo are those temps in F or C?

Fahrenheit

 

[mrs.green2015]

Wow you ladies live in some cold places!! We're pretty good where I live gets up to 115f in the summer (at the most usually stays around 105f) and in the summer down to 30f in the mornings but during the day more like 45f. We don't get snow so I'd it rains it's warmer.