Rough First Day

Today was NOT easy, let me tell you. As someone who eats out most of the time and makes choices like pizza, chicken fingers, fries, and such, eating only fruits and veggies is not only a shock to my system, it's a shock to my psyche. I did it though. Well, it's 9:45 at night and I'm snacking on broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, so I'm almost done with Day 1. I'm hoping it gets easier as it goes. I've pretty much been hungry all day even though I've also been eating all day. It doesn't seem to make sense, but when you add up all my calories, I'm still way under my 1500/day allotment.

I also worked out for an hour and a half this morning, which took a lot out of me. I know in the end, it will be worth it. Food has had control over me for far too long. If I didn't have PCOS, I might not be as concerned about eating the wrong kinds of food, but eventually what I eat is going to be a matter of life and death for me. I'd rather start now before the death part feels any closer! I definitely don't want to get diabetes or heart disease and the only way to really avoid those things is by eating right.

Can you tell I'm trying to pump myself up here? I'm going to need a lot of positive self-talk over the next 39 days. I might honestly come out of this a brand new person. Just 39 more days. I can do this.

Fruits and Veggies

I have made a very important decision. I have decided to go on a 40 day fruit and veggie fast. For me, this is a HUGE deal, lol. Food is my comfort and my stress-reliever and has been for years. Unfortunately, the foods I crave and want are things like chicken fingers, fries, cakes, candy, doughnuts, soda. These are all things that are bad, bad, bad. They are particularly bad for me because I have PCOS. All of those foods cause crazy spikes in my blood glucose levels and my body has a hard time regulating those levels and bringing them back down, which in turn causes all types of hormonal issues within my body. With only about 60 days remaining until my IVF cycle, I have decided to go through a detox program to both clean my body of toxins and to reset my cravings.

Am I terrified? Yes. Oh God, yes! I've never done anything like this in my life except when I was first diagnosed with PCOS and a nutritionist suggested I become vegetarian. I did it for several months before my then-boyfriend made fun of me for not eating steak and it was all over. Oh, how weak I was back then, haha. Now, I am hoping to be very strong and stick to this program that I know will make me healthier, help me detox and get rid of all the negative things in my digestive system, and hopefully help me jumpstart some weight loss. The weight loss will definitely help come IVF time, when the meds will surely put some weight back on. Ha!

So what is a fruit and veggie fast? This was my question when my personal trainer first suggested it to me. Basically, it's exactly what you would think it is. For 40 days, all I eat are fruit and veggies. No nuts, beans, meats, absolutely no animal products whatsoever - so no cheese, milk, eggs or anything like that. I am going to supplement my smoothies with protein powder (no artificial sweeteners! thank you Jay Robb Whey protein) and I have already told myself I am allowed on special occasions to put some peanut butter on my celery. But only rarely.

My acupuncturist told me to back off the caffeine anyway, so that was on the plan regardless. I imagine I'll be experiencing a few headaches in the days coming up as my body goes through some caffeine withdrawal. I haven't been having a lot of caffeine lately though, just some sodas here and there, so it shouldn't be too awful. Also, my trainer's wife told me that as your colon becomes cleaner, you do start to get some pretty serious gas pains. Great, lol. Not looking forward to that one, haha.

So what all did I buy today? I made a trip to whole foods with my trainer and his wife (amazingly sweet of them to take me under their wing) and bought all organic fruits and berries like raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas, apples, oranges and grapefruit. I also bought tomatoes, japanese sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery and kale. Another non-fruit and veggie cheat I'll be using is almond milk for the smoothies, by the way. Oh, and I bought a huge bottle of pomegranate juice, which I've heard is great for boosting fertility.

I officially started the fast tonight at dinner. I made a banana, raspberry, strawberry smoothie with almond milk, ice and protein powder. It was delicious! I am also drinking lots and lots of water and plan to go tomorrow to stock up on San Pelligrino sparkling water that I can drink with lemon and pretend it's sprite, LOL. I'm hoping to use a cute new notebook I bought to record all of my foods every day.

Overall, my plan now includes a 40 day fast, regular exercise, acupuncture, chinese herbs, metformin, prenatal vitamins, vitamin D supplements and lots and lots of water. I want to spend some time before IVF begins also working on stress-management techniques like meditation. In my heart, I know that I am doing all I can to make our dream of having a baby come true. I want to be my best self and I want to be healthy so that when I do get pregnant, my body will be a great, snuggly home for a little one to grow. I'll let you know how it goes!