Weight Loss & Wellness Wednesday: Let’s Talk Nutrition – Attain Fertility Blog

Weight Loss & Wellness Wednesday: Let’s Talk Nutrition

By: Stephanie Himel-Nelson Wednesday Mar. 2nd
Filed in: Fertility Focus, Medical Conditions, Planning & Trying, Stephanie Himel-Nelson, Weight Loss and Wellness Wednesdays

I may have mentioned my love for Double Stuff Oreos last week.

Ahem. No judgment please.

Anyway, I bring up my deep and abiding love for that creamy, sugary goodness surrounded by crispy, crumbly chocolate, simply to point out that we all have things we love to eat that aren’t good for us. It’s pretty obvious that a cookie isn’t the best choice nutritionally, even if you aren’t trying to lose a few pounds.

But what about the stuff that isn’t necessarily bad for us, but should only be eaten in moderation? Yes, bread and cheese, I’m talking about you! Personally, I’ve rarely encountered a carb I didn’t like. That’s my weakness. Aside from the occasional affair with a bag of Oreos, sweets are not really my problem. It’s those darn tasty carbs!

Enter, the PCOS diet. In people with PCOS (or diabetes) the body becomes resistant to insulin, the substance in your body that naturally breaks down sugar in the blood. Basically, the PCOS diet is about maintaining a more stable blood sugar level by knowing what foods can cause your blood sugar to spike. Unfortunately, it isn’t just cake, cookies and ice cream. Carbs “ grains, fruit, potatoes “ these can all do it too.

The key for me is to watch the carbs I eat and replace them with healthier carbs. I eat whole grain bread instead of white, brown rice instead of white, a cup of strawberries instead of a banana, broccoli instead of carrots. I also watch my fat intake and eat leaner cuts of meat. I go for healthier fats like canola oil and avocado (mmmmm, avocado!) And I read food labels religiously.

Now, I’m diabetic, so I’ve been counting carbs and fat automatically and unconsciously for ages. But it’s not that easy for everyone, so here’s a little help and guidance from the American Diabetes Association:

Carb Counting

I also love the Diabetes Pilot application for my iPhone. It helps me track what I eat and gives me carb counts on other nutritional information on a wide range of foods.

Next week I promise to do a recap of all the healthy changes I’ve written about so far and see how I’m doing so far!

Weight loss for this week: 1.2 lbs
Total weight loss: 9.0 lbs

How did you do this week? What One Thing did you do to make your life healthier?

Weight Loss and Wellness Wednesday is Stephanie’s journey to make her life healthier through weight loss and life style changes. To follow Weight Loss and Wellness Wednesday from the beginning, click here.

  • Brittany

    I’m looking into doing a gluten-free diet. While it’s not necessarily specifically for infertility, I have heard wonderful things about it making you feel better all around. It’s one of those things that you have to commit to completely to make it work, and I’m not sure my fridge can handle that kind of committment just yet. But the next shopping trip will definitely have this in mind a little more.

    I’ll miss the carbs the most.