Since the embryo transfer and subsequent positive news about the Snowflake(s), I have been much more careful about what I have been putting in my body. Somehow, in this delicate time in his/her/their lives, I feel that I must do everything possible to keep them healthy. Eating has become a serious time of decision for me as of late. A time when I must fend off temptation with every ounce of will left in me. For a foodie like myself, it’s not always easy.

At the office today, the guys opted for lunch at McDonald’s. My normal order would be something along the lines of a filet o’ fish or cheeseburger, french fries, Diet Coke, and maybe an apple pie. Today, I ordered a side salad and a fruit & walnut salad. However, I did reap half the benefits of the 2 apple pies for $0.99 deal, thanks to Ted, which probably negated all of the healthy eating I did prior to that. But dang, that piece of deep fried goodness sure was tasty delicious.

Hey, I’m trying. Give me a break. Baby steps.

I haven’t had any chocolate since December, and surprisingly, I don’t miss it all that much. During chilly evenings like the past week or two, though, a hot cocoa sure is tempting. I bought some herbal tea (no caffeine) at Long’s tonight while I picked up my prescription for my Climara estrogen patches. (12 patches cost me $61.88! When you have to wear 3 patches at a time, that’s only 4 applications. Geez.)

Wow, how did we go from hot beverages to a rant about the cost of my prescriptions? Oh yeah, I am the queen of tangents.

I also seem to have kicked the Diet Pepsi habit as well. (So, Ryan is now the recipient of all of my Costco coupons for Diet Pepsi.) Prior to beginning IVF, I would drink nothing but diet soda, tea, iced tea (sweetened with Splenda), or water. Non-caloric drinks. There’s something about drinking 150 calories in a few thirsty gulps that just seems inherently wrong. But, you know, sometimes you just gotta drink something with more flavor than water. Perhaps the introduction of caloric drinks into my diet has also contributed to my weight gain, which incidentally, I am blaming completely on those hormones at the moment.

Today, I woke up less bloated than last night. My work pants fit and I was a little concerned. “Are the Snowflake(s) okay??” I have a feeling that I am going to be paranoid until I get my first ultrasound on February 1st. And, I probably still won’t completely relax in my pregnancy until I hit the end of my first trimester, which will also mark the end of my progesterone injections and climara patches. Now, that will be a day for celebration indeed!

I have been feeling pretty hefty lately, so I stepped on the bathroom scale today. Lo and behold, since I started the meds for my IVF FET (in vitro fertilization, frozen embryo transfer) on December 8, I have gained five pounds.

holidays + hormones + no exercise = weight gain

I was cautioned not to get “overheated” during the process, so I stopped training in karate except to assist with the white belts. And, I stopped walking altogether. How quickly the pounds come on — and how hard they are to lose. Oh, the irony.

Perhaps when I pick up a fresh supply of Progesterone at the doc’s tomorrow, I’ll ask if I can safely go walking without jeopardizing the Snowflakes. It’s a precarious endeavor, I tell you.

A bunch of health-conscious co-workers went for food sensitivity testing and recommended that I do the same. Basically, you give a vial of your blood, they send it off to a lab, and you get a full report of what foods are toxic to your body. Food sensitivity differs from a food allergy, as you will typically not have an immediate reaction to a food that you are sensitive to. However, food sensitivity is known to cause symptoms such as headaches, chronic sinus congestion, aching muscles and joints or feeling drained of energy. All of the above symptoms pretty much sum up a typical day for me, so I thought it would benefit me to take the test. The test was covered completely by my insurance, otherwise would have cost $1060. (Ouch!)

Yesterday, I went to obtain my results, which took a few weeks to come back. The old adage, “ignorance is bliss” definitely applies here. When I saw my list of “reactive” foods, I was saddened to see some of my staples on the list. Here’s my list of reactive foods and the rating. +1 is least reactive (bad) to +4, which is the most reactive (worst).

Beans, Lima (+1)
Cantaloupe (+1)
Cheese (+2)
Coconut (+1)
Egg (+3)
Milk, Cow’s (+2)
Milk, Goat’s (+1)
Peanut (+2)
Pepper, Green (+1)
Rice (+1)
Rye (+1)
Safflower (+1)
Tomato (+1)
Walnut (+1)
Wheat (+2)
Yeast, Baker’s (+3)
Yeast, Brewer’s (+3)

There are some challenging items to avoid on the list. For example, rice. RICE! How can you avoid eating rice in Hawaii? That’s borderline sacrilege! The unfortunate thing is that wheat and baker’s yeast is also on the list. That pretty much rules out any mainstream starches. No wheat bread or baked goods. The booklet that was provided with my results features a “food substitutions” section. For wheat, it lists “breads, baked goods, and gravy made with flours from barley, buckwheat, rye, oat, corn, teff or amaranth, or corn tortillas.” You normally don’t find that stuff in your local grocery store. I guess I’ll have to check out the nearest Down to Earth store. The last time I went in there, I was so overwhelmed by the selection of products made with ingredients that I had never heard of and could not pronounce that I left without buying anything.

Being lactose intolerant, I figured cow’s milk would make the list. However, eggs is another difficult one. I can do without eating eggs for breakfast, but just think of all of those great recipes that contain eggs. Doh!

The program says that you should eliminate your reactive foods for 12 weeks, monitoring your food intake on a food journal as well as tracking your symptoms. Eliminating the reactive foods from your diet is a detox of sorts. The doctor recommended three different herbal/enzyme pills to take in conjunction with the program. Three follow-up appointments are scheduled with the doctor to review your progress and after the 12 weeks, you begin a process of reintroducing the reactive foods into your diet, starting with the least reactive foods one by one. You can bet that the first thing to be reintegrated into my diet will be RICE! They also recommend following up with another blood test in six months to see if you are still reactive to those foods or if new ones have emerged.

Before I start the program, I wanted to talk it over with my infertility specialist since we are so close to my frozen embryo transfer (FET) procedure, scheduled for January 4, 2008. Needless to say, it probably wouldn’t hurt to start weaning myself off of the reactive foods, but I wanted to ask him about the pills first. I am very cautious about any medication, supplements or vitamins I put in my body these days. I don’t want anything to interfere with my FET.

I will definitely be tracking my progress here once I begin the program. I’m confident that there will be a lot of ranting and raving involved.

Day 27 of 30

I survived tennis tonight, but not without a little damage to my self-esteem. The full extent of my suckitude was displayed today, but regardless of that, our team of three won 2 of 3 games simply because underdogs rule. Our win was incredulous, I know, but sometimes the stars align themselves just right and strange things happen.

Sadly, next week is our last session and I have to say that I almost feel like I’m worse than when I started. At least before I started trying to do it the right way, I could hit it over the net (sometimes). Deconstructing everything: grip, stance, swing, feet position, upper body movement… it’s all so overwhelming. But, before you can start constructing the Trump Tower, you have to tear down the shanty to build a solid foundation, right? So, right now, my little grass shack is lying in a smoldering heap of destruction and the only way to get better is to continue to build. I would like to sign up for the next session, which starts in January — but January is when my embryo transfer is tentatively scheduled, so I’m thinking I will probably need to pass. There so much riding upon that singular event that I want to make sure that I’m not doing anything to jeopardize it.

There will be plenty enough time for tennis in the future. In the meantime, I’m sure Joyce won’t mind hitting the ball around with me once in a while. We may not be Venus and Serena Williams, but at least it’s good for some exercise.

I’ve been absent from the h&f blog mainly due to busyness, which has totally left me devoid of energy and exercise. And, my body feels it. The lack of exercise and being less mindful of my diet has left me feeling quite lethargic and heavy. The holidays are approaching as well, and if I’m not careful, I fear I may spiral into the indulging+vegging abyss.

I could go to karate tonight, but I am totally sapped of energy and the thought of a 2-hour intense training is not at all appealing at the moment. Tomorrow night is tennis, so hopefully that will be a good reintroduction into activity. I’m hoping to start walking again after work, but the waning sun of short winter days are somewhat of a deterrent. Perhaps I should just do my workout videos at home. Maybe I’ll start tonight. I have to shake this funk before Saturday, when Shari and Joni commence karate with me again. I have to be a good example, right?

[A cross post from the "you got to move it, move it" champuru health & fitness (h&f) group blog.]

It looks like we may actually be able to play tennis tonight. The skies are clear overhead and it looks like it will be a beautiful evening to hit some fuzzy yellow balls around the court.

Let’s hope so, anyway. My body is hurting for some physical activity.

This is a cross-post from the champuru Health & Fitness blog:

On October 1, I returned to karate after a forced hiatus due to my IVF doctor’s orders. Since I’m in waiting mode, I figure it’s a good time to get my body back in shape to get ready for the embryo transfer in January. Yesterday was our 2-hour combined training and I am certainly feeling the effects of the intense workout. Months of inactivity can make your muscles forget what they were meant to do and it’s usually a painful endeavor to refresh their memory. This was no exception. Nevertheless, despite the pain, it’s good to be back at karate. I missed a belt test, so I guess I’ll need to wait 6 months before I can test again. At least it’ll give me time to perfect my Heian Godan and Tekki Shodan.

Notably, Shari and Joni also joined karate on October 1! It’s been fun having them in the class!

I’ve also been trying to eat better — although I haven’t committed to a strict diet. I have been back on my salads-for-lunch diet at work, allowing for the occasional Oreo cookie when I need a pick-me-up at the office. I’ve also been eating a lot of champuru: mostly goya champuru and zucchini miso champuru (since I can’t seem to find hechima anywhere). Okinawans are known for their longevity, so I’m getting back to my roots. Hopefully, it’ll prove not only healthy for me, but also for Hubby who is also trying to turn over a new leaf in healthy eating.