Eating Low Amylose

Well, today starts my attempt at eating better by myself! I am not going to replace meals with shakes anymore, I am going to start being more aware of what I am eating in general. I have done research on diets that can help PCOS women lose weight and I stumbled upon the low amylose diet. It is very similar to the Atkins (low carb) diet. I am still trying to understand it all because there are very people who seem to view this diet very differently. Right now, I am not planning to track what I am eating and see if I still lose weight. I have read that if you are eating low or no amylose, you will still lose weight, not matter how much you eat. I am sure there has to be some sort of stipulation, but for now I am giving it a go. The first no brainer part of this diet is to stay away from the OBVIOUS high sugar foods! Ice Cream (CRY!), cakes, cupcakes, pies, soda, and I think you get the picture. As far as veggies, I am only eating 'above ground' veggies. No potatoes or carrots!!! Corn appears to be okay, which is good because it is one of my favorites. The majority of fruits are fine with the BIG exception of bananas. :-( I sooooo love bananas! The main rule with fruit is 'fresh or frozen' without sugars being added. Fruit juice for the most part is bad because of added sugars. I pretty much have to avoid grain products like the plague. No bread, no cereal, no wheat, rye, barley.... I think you get the picture. I am also to look at the labels CLOSELY and avoid simple sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and maltodextrin! Before this weekend, I did not even know what maltodextrin WAS!!! After grocery shopping yesterday, I realized the majority of my foods have this in it! If they don't, they have simple sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

Breakfast:
Kraft Lowfat Cottage Cheese (only one I could find without maltodextrin in ingredients)
Dannon Oikos Nonfat Strawberry Greek Yogurt (switching to Chobani after I get through what was in my fridge. Dannon has simple sugar and fructose!!! Chobani does not.)
1 Red Apple

Today in my lunch box I have the following ALL in their 'correct' proportions/servings:
1 Frigo lowfat string cheese
1 Frigo reduced fat colby jack cheese stick
4 cut-up celery sticks
1 individual pack of JIF on-the-go natural peanut butter (again, probably not a GREAT choice. Sugar is involved, but I have to get through what I have in the house.)
Cashews and raisins (made my own trail mix)
1 Red Apple
1 Dannon Oikos Nonfat Apricot Mango Greek Yogurt (see above note)
Cascadian Farms Organic Oats & Honey Granola (didn't have original box to see if this is a bad option, but I am guessing there is a chance it is! Using up what I have in the house for now.)
1 Fiber One 90-calorie chocolate brownie (not a great choice, but I have to use up what I have)
Sara Lee low sodium chicken breast (just slices, no bread to go with it!)

I am also using True Lemon packets to help sweeten my water. It really is no different than squeezing in a lemon, but better than nothing. Even using my Crystal Light Pure (with Stevia/Truvia) was not a good option. :-( I thought the Stevia/Truvia made it good, and it WOULD... if it did not also contain the DREADED Maltodextrin as well!!! *sigh*

My lunch box looks like it is filled with way more food than I should eat! It also contains my snacks as well. I like to eat a mid-morning snack and a mid-afternoon snack. I am really hoping I am doing this right, or at least getting the right idea! There are people who avoid Amylose altogether, but I am 'trying' to avoid it altogether with the assumption some is going to slip in to meals. I hope it helps! I am so lazy and I hate cooking or food prep. Processed foods and fast foods have been my best friends for FAR too long! Even my Healthy Choice or Weight Watchers meals are a bad idea! Pasta is BAD BAD BAD! Every food I really love is BAD BAD BAD! So now I must find new foods to love!


I also have purchased the OvaCue Fertility Monitor which I may have mentioned before, but I did breakdown and buy the vaginal sensor as well. It came in the mail and was not nearly as intimidating as I thought! I cannot start using the monitor until the second day of my next cycle, BUT the Pregnitude must be working because I ovulated 10 days sooner than I did last cycle! It was the earliest I have ovulated since January! That is a good start. :-) I also decided to 'try' FertilAid for women. I bought a one month supply. Basically it is the same as my prenatal vitamin, but it has 5 added supplements for fertility. I will replace my prenatal vitamins with this at the beginning of my next cycle. Then when I find out I am pregnant, I will switch back to regular prenatals since FerilAid is not recommended in pregnancy. That is why I am not starting them today, because I am HOPING for that positive pregnancy test! I don't have a 'good feeling' about getting pregnant this cycle, but I may as well start everything fresh when my new cycle begins. My breasts did start getting tender a LOT earlier than they normally do. They started with it a little bit on Saturday night, then have gradually gotten more tender since. Saturday was 2 days past ovulation, today is 4 days. My ovulation day was very obvious this cycle so I am not having doubts that I ovulated earlier. My temp also spiked up an additional .20 degrees this morning which is also not normal, but 4 days past ovulation seems too soon for implantation or for my chart to start showing triphasic signs. I guess only time will tell! I will probably test Sunday if I can hold out that long. :-) If I am not pregnant this cycle, I am okay with that. I am pretty excited to start using my new fertility monitor.

Until next time! :-)

Time flies...

Well, I guess I slacked off. It's been over a week since my last blog post, but I guess things got busy. Not much to report, but I have been in better spirits. The Pregnitude might be actually working! My Fertility Friend chart says that I might have ovulated last Thursday on CD11. That would be a 'normal' ovulation day if my cycles were 'normal.' I am still skeptical though and since I missed charting my temps this past weekend (I forgot my thermometer when we went to my sister's house), I am just not completely convinced. If I DID ovulate, then we pretty much missed our 'window' this month for conceiving a baby. I would expect a more gradual decrease in cycle length, so something else could be causing the higher temps I am currently having.

Also, I splurged last week and purchased an OvaCue Fertility Monitor that I will start using next cycle! I am excited to use it, the reviews are pretty encouraging. You are not supposed to start using it after CD5, so I was too late this month. Most women using it conceive within 3 months of using it. Very hopeful! I found one that was used only one cycle on eBay for about half the price of a new one. Hopefully it works!

I have done a little better as far as exercising goes. I got 3 days in last week, would have been 4 except I totally forgot my gym bag on Thursday. I am planning to go tonight unless my headache returns. The headaches I am getting lately are pretty wretched. I didn't go last night because of one. I woke up with the headache this morning, but one I had a cup of coffee it began to subside. My diet hasn't been great, but it could have been worse. So, I am trying to be better! *fingers crossed*