FAT

Day 6

This morning I had another blood draw and ultrasound. After a blood & ultra, the nurse always calls in the afternoon to go over the next instructions. Tonight will be the same shot but tomorrow I get to add a second one in the morning, yay! The medications I have been taking are stimulating my ovaries to produce more eggs than I would usually. Tomorrow’s shot, Cetrotide, blocks the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which would cause me to release those eggs on my own. Eventually, I will take a precisely-timed shot of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) so that the eggs will be released at the right moment for the doctor to remove them.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that conception isn’t a miracle.

But today was really about FOOD.

I didn’t sleep well last night, so I went back to bed after my tests. When I woke up, the Mr. and I did some yoga, being careful not to get my huge ovaries twisted up (that’s a real thing!). By the time that was over it was after noon, and I was Ravenous (with a capital Raar)! I went way too long without a meal and, for me, that means the usual go-to foods will never satisfy. This led to a BLT with mayo and a scrambled an over easy egg on top… plus a side of corn-on-the cob. (Sourced mostly from the farm, of course!)

Bacon.

Mayo.

Egg yolk.

Gimme that fat!! My only regret is that I forgot to put avocado on there too.

My journey has led me to a lot of research on fat, and I have to say that the things I’ve read in favor of saturated fats have been enlightening. My favorite research comes from Weston Price, a dentist from the early 20th century that studied the relationship between nutrition and dental and physical health. You can check out his website at http://www.westonaprice.org/press/saturated-fat-phobia-lacks-scientific-basis/

For me I feel better when I eat fatty foods. But I’m not talking about fried foods or highly processed foods. Even the mayo I ate earlier is not on my recommendation list, but I eat it rarely enough that I’m not going to beat myself up about it. Mayo has oils like canola and soybean which are highly processed and usually from GMOs. These types of oils have been made to sound healthy beacuse they are “low-fat” but if you do some research, you’ll find compelling evidence in favor of better fats that have been stigmatized. I’m talking about eggs, butter, whole milk. Avocado, coconut, salmon. I’m also not talking about eating only fatty foods like some Atkins diet. I think moderation is the best thing we can do for ourselves, and everyone is different so while coconut might be life-giving to my husband, I can’t eat it because I’m allergic. Some people thrive on a vegan diet while other vegans look like they haven’t seen the sun since their last Happy Meal.

I don’t know that we should say everyone ought to eat high-fat or paleo or vegetarian or gluten-free. I do think we should be eating what is good for our individual bodies. If gluten makes your stomach look like you’re carrying twins, then it may not be for you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean bread is killing us all and that no one should eat it. For me, I feel better when I limit my daily wheat, eat more bread made from sprouted grains, and incorporate new grains like millet. Frequently, it doesn’t happen that way. And that’s okay! I try my best.

Sometimes it may not be exactly what we’re eating that’s causing problems but how it was made and how much of it we’re trying to digest. Maybe you can eat gluten but you can’t eat six slices of Wonderbread in one day. That’s a lot of highly processed “bread product”. Quality matters. Quantity matters.

Of course, these are just my opinions. I thought about these opinions as I ate my sloppy, incredible sandwich this morning (afternoon), and then when I talked about fat with my lovely friend over dinner tonight at a restaurant (where I had another over-the-top feast). It’s always funny to me when things that I’m thinking about suddenly come out of a friend’s mouth on the same day. But what was even more fun was when we stopped to use the ladies’ room on our way out and we saw the wise words of Julia Child written on the wall:

“Girls, if we don’t eat our butter and fat, our hair will be dull and our breasts will be flat.”