Meal Plan & Progress

So we ended up not even getting to the meals Wednesday to Friday of last week. Even though I should be doing Luteal phase meals now I'm going to still do those plans from last week.

I think that I might have a totally normal cycle this time! I'm on day 22 and yesterday I felt deeply sad for no reason plus I have a little tiny bit of acne developing. These things suggest to me that I'm in PMS, which would be just about right for a "normal" 28 day cycle!

This cycle I tried to use ovulation sticks but I can never seem to get a clear understanding of what's happening with those things. I really need to go back to taking my temperature. I did it this morning so that's a start. I just feel frustrated that I can't instantly have the temperature history to know what this morning's number means but that's entirely my own fault.

I still feel my hope and my fear swinging wildly back and forth. One moment I feel full of hope that we're are finally close to getting pregnant and I'm fixing all our issues. Another moment I feel the familiar despair that it's never going to happen and it's too late for me. (It's not. I'm 33, which is old but not too old).

It's Mother's Day tomorrow and it feels like a punch in the gut. My customers want to wish me a happy Mother's Day and so are more likely to ask if I have children.

But anyway, if I do get a period next week that will be pretty amazing and a great sign that I am probably ovulating.

From last week:
Wednesday  Sunday
Breakfast: graham cracker
Lunch: rajma and brown rice
Snack: lara bar
Dinner: grilled asparagus

Thursday Monday
Breakfast: graham cracker with nut butter, applesauce, and strawberries
Lunch: quinoa kale bowl with mushroom and asparagus
Snack: trail mix
Dinner: asparagus leek and green onion soup

Friday Tuesday
Breakfast: graham cracker
Lunch: breakfast for lunch: sweet potato hash browns and coconut "bacon" flakes, vegan pancakes topped with strawberries
Snack: lara bar
Dinner: Savory Asparagus Crepes with Easy Vegan Hollandaise Sauce

New meals (Luteal)

Wednesday

Breakfast: pumpkin pie parfait

Lunch: orange cauliflower and brown rice

Snack: oven baked onion rings with chia seed breading 

Dinner: Sanctuary Salad (ranch style) (afr book)

Thursday

Breakfast:

Lunch: lettuce wrap tacos with fake beef crumbles

Snack: girl scout cookie lara bar

Dinner: carrot soup

Friday 

Breakfast:

Lunch: stir fry with whatever veggies are left and brown rice

Snack: vegan cookie dough blizzard

Dinner: yam and blackbean soup with orange (afr book)

Grocery List:

pumpkin puree

walnuts

molasses?

romaine lettuce

boca crumbles

peanuts

vegan chocolate chips?

cauliflower

radishes

sunflower sprouts

cherry tomatoes

extra firm silken tofu

dill

vegetable broth powder

onion flakes

orange juice

A nice short grocery list means I have the chance to buy some extras that I have good deals for. Like claritin and nature valley bars. Maybe I can even buy that raspberry bush this week!

Also with a few more pet purchases I should get the $7 back coupon that's advertised at Weis this month.

How Will I Know?

So now I'm in the follicular phase and planning my meals around that but the next phase is ovulatory and I have no idea how I'll know when it's time to switch to that.

There are a few methods for telling when you are ovulating...

1. taking your temperature (as explained beautifully in Taking Charge of Your Fertility)
2. using ovulation test strips (I'm super tempted to get a fancy ovulation tester like this one!)
3. checking your cervical mucus

Taking my temperature has not worked for me in the past (probably because I have not been ovulating at all). It makes me stressed out to see a number I don't want on the thermometer. I also have trouble doing this one because as soon as I wake up I need to take the dog out. There's no time to lie in bed waiting for the thermometer.

I have some ovulation test strips that a friend sent me. She got a box of, like, 500 and didn't want that many so she sent me half. I may try those again this cycle after about ten days of follicular. Those also stress me out because I've never seen a positive on one.

There are fancy fertility monitors that I'm really tempted to get. It's not that expensive when compared to infertility treatments. I just don't know if I would get any kind of response on them either, though.

I should keep an eye on discharge too and see if I can recognize cervical mucus.

I should also make some meal plans for ovulatory and try to have the ingredients on hand so I can leap at it. My husband also says the ovulatory foods will be good for him and his body too around that time. How about salmon crusted in walnuts, he suggests, for maximum Omega-3.