Aug 17, 2020

These blog posts titled “What a BFF (Best Fertility Friend) Would Say” are a hodge-podge of random tips to give you strength and assurance as you try to get pregnant.  I hope they help!

With appreciation for inviting me on your journey,

Julie

This one word is important to your success

BELIEVE

Your success is directly correlated to your belief in your ability to get pregnant with a healthy baby.  The more you believe, the better your chances.  The less you believe, the lower your chances.  Because when was the last time you were able to accomplish anything really important to you that you didn’t believe you were capable of?

Stop faking it. Do this intead.

No, I’m not talking about faking the big O.  Did I get you on that? 🙂

I’m referring to putting on a false front – pretending to be positive.  Being positive about getting pregnant is helpful (and recommended).  But it might be challenging or even impossible at times.

Instead, what’s even more important is to pivot away from negative thoughts.   Each negative thought is like throwing a nail on your road, deflating your belief in your vision.

Learn to redirect your mind to other areas that are more pleasant. Those areas can be related to fertility or not – what matters is that they put you in a state of appreciation.

Write on a piece of paper all the people and things (big and small) you appreciate.  Use pen and paper, not an electronic device, to lock in the feelings.  Feel how good it is to be grateful.  Rinse and repeat every day.

These “healthy” snacks may not be so healthy

Nuts and nut butters are often go-tos as an easy protein or quick snack. 

As with most other things though, they’re fine in moderation but people can easily overdo it. They’re certainly a healthier snack alternative to the processed junk foods that many people indulge in. 

However, let’s make sure you’re making the right choices, ok? 

First, because peanuts are highly allergenic, I recommend other nuts which are less likely to trigger food sensitivities. 

Second, rotate through the different nuts to get different nutrients.  The ones I recommend are:

• almonds (high in fertility nutrients such as zinc and L-arginine)
• brazil nuts (selenium for proper egg maturation)
• walnuts (high in B6 – needed for ovulation)
• pumpkin seeds (loaded with magnesium for energy production of your eggs)
• Other beneficial seeds are sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and flax seeds.  

Three, try to get them raw and organic.  The fancy flavored nuts often have lots of sugar, chemicals, or other ingredients that should be avoided.  Companies tend to use nuts that are older and not of good quality because they’re cloaking them in the seasonings and chemicals. 

So, enjoy your nuts in moderation but know what you’re putting in your mouth.

If you’ve had IVF or taken birth control pill, you might need this supplement.

One of the most common and severely under-diagnosed types of hormone imbalance is estrogen dominance.

Estrogen dominance is when the body has too much estrogen compared to progesterone and can occur in both women and men, affecting fertility.

Too much estrogen is most often due to the environment and foods you eat.  It can come from hormonal medications (such as estrogen used for IVF or birth control pills), eating a lot of foods with high estrogenic activity like soy, wheat, conventional meat or dairy, being exposed to estrogenic compounds from plastics or other chemicals. 

Too much estrogen can lead to hot flashes even in women who are nowhere close to menopause, night sweats, endometriosis, cysts, fibroids, hormonal acne, low sex drive. 

In men, it’s a common cause for low sex drive or man boobs.  

One way to balance your hormones naturally is to eat more cruciferous vegetables such as  kale, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy, and arugula. 

The reason is because they have a compound called Diindolylmethane (DIM) that can clear excess estrogen. 

Since it can be difficult to get therapeutic levels of DIM from just eating cruciferous vegetables, if you have any of the conditions I mentioned, I recommend taking it as a supplement of 1 capsule a day.