My Action Plan

I finally finished Making Babies and came up with my "action plan" based on my (suspected) Chinese fertility type. However, rather than coming up with "maybe 10 or so reasonable things that I can work on achieving in the next few weeks" (as I had originally planned), I came up with about 80 things. Oops.  At least I tried to organize them by topic. Some of them are pretty obvious recommendations that probably everyone should do (fewer trans fats, anyone?), but some of them seem to have good scientific rationale for my (suspected) problems.

1. Beverages
- limit caffeine (green tea is okay)
- limit alcohol
- limit fruit juice
- drink red raspberry leaf tea
- drink red clover tincture
- consider hot water with lemon in the AM

2. Food
- eat more locally grown, organic, whole foods
- more homemade - less restaurant food
- more warming soups and stews
- limit trans fats, refined sugar, aspartame, MSG, preservatives, salt
- less dairy (sad!), soy/tofu, flaxseeds, edamame
- more lean, hormone-free animal protein
- NO swordfish, shark, tilefish, king mackerel
- more sprouts, wheatgrass, citrus, vinegar, pickles, legumes, seeds (sesame, pumpkin, sunflower)
- more brown rice, quinoa, barley, oats, and parsnips, leeks, onions
- avoid cold/frozen foods (less ice cream!) and raw foods
- eat mindfully - don't overeat or eat on the run
- lightly cook veggies (esp. broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts)
- more chiles, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, candamom, cayenne, rosemary, nutmeg, turmeric, fennel. Also thyme, basil, mint, garlic.

3. Lifestyle
- get regular, moderate exercise (30 min 3-5x/wk), but only light exercise during menstruation
- dress warm and wear slippers (really!)  :)
- keep a regular schedule
- get enough sleep
- write down goals and how to achieve them
- plan for fun in life - LAUGH
- express emotions in healthy ways (thank you, blog readers!)
- de-stress (e.g., deep breathing, yoga, meditation, limiting internet use at home)
- no long, hot baths
- avoid toxins (parabens, phthalates, and other xenoestrogens in beauty projects; also dioxins in meat)

4. Reproduction  (**Dad, please skip this section!)
- use PreSeed only
- BD every other day - stay in bed 10-15 min afterward
- use guaifenesin for a few days prior to ovulation
- continue charting

5. Supplements
- royal jelly, wheatgrassm chromium, zinc, calcium, L-arginine, B complex, evening primrose oil, omega-3, chasteberry, false unicorn root, magnesium, low-does aspirin
- NO black cohosh
- NO antihistamines

Whew! Kind of an overwhelming list - I'm going to have to print out a list to keep in the kitchen! Right now I'm focusing on the Beverages section - I just ordered a case of red raspberry leaf tea from Amazon and I'm looking for some red clover. I've been working on the Lifestyle section (exercise more, doing yoga, etc.). Next up is tackling the Foods section in greater detail. I'm still a little overwhelmed by the Supplements list, but I'll get there eventually.

(BTW, I've already decided that I'm not going to go crazy with this. I still had my favorite beer as well as potato chips and onion dip during the Superbowl. Some things are sacred!)