The YoYo Effect

Ok, for weeks, actually almost the entire time I've been doing WW, I have been yoyoing back and forth, losing one week then gaining it and more back the next. Last week, when I started the provera I gained 2.2 pounds, this week when I'm off of the provera, I lost 0.8 pounds. The first time I did WW, I didn't have this issue. Most weeks I would lose and I'd have a rare gain one week then lose it the next. I have the feeling my hormones and the provera are what's causing this.

I'm not saying that I always eat 100% healthy but I do well enough that I shouldn't be having this struggle week after week. I always drink at least 6 cups of water per day, I take my vitamins daily, the only thing I really don't do consistently is get all of my fruits and veggies in each day. I try, but it doesn't always happen. I'm just not a veggie lover and they recommend getting in more veggies than fruits.

The reason I say I think my hormones are affecting this is because it's always worse in the weeks after I don't O and that I start provera. I think all of the excess estrogen in my system just makes my body hold onto the fat instead of getting rid of it the way it should. It's very frustrating to put up with the ups and downs every week. I could handle it better if it were every once in awhile but not every week. I have been doing WW for 3 months and haven't even averaged 6 pounds per month. I'm keeping most of what I've lost off but my body is really fighting me on this and this is what I've put up with for years. I think my body really just doesn't want to let go of the fat because that's what estrogen does.

I am starting a new regimen called the Fertility Shutdown. It was originated by Dr. John Lee, world renown expert in bioidentical medicines, and it's done in order to help women with an-ovulatory cycles O on their own. Basically what it is is using a bioidentical progesterone cream (example: Emerita Pro-Gest) with USP progesterone in it to temporarily turn off the ovaries' attempts to O each month. For 2-3 months/cycles you follow an organic diet with little to no red meats and limit your exposure to xenoestrogens (can be from plastics, dairy products, shampoo, toothpaste, body wash, etc) to limit how much man made estrogen is entering your system. Twice a day from cd-5 to cd-26 you use 1/4 tsp of the progesterone cream rubbing it into areas where the skin is thin like your wrists, hands, feet, upper chest, neck, and face (basically any areas where you can clearly see blue veins under your skin).

You should be monitoring your BBT this entire time because some women do O during the first month/cycle of the shutdown because until then the estrogen in their system has been pretty much unopposed, so by progesterone loading the body does what it is supposed to do. If you choose, you can try to catch that egg or if not continue for at least one more cycle repeating with the progesterone cream on cd-5 to cd-26. Three months would be ideal, but if you monitor your BBT you can tell if the progesterone is having the right effect. Once you stop on CD-26 you should have a normal AF soon after.

Once the 3 months are up, you only do the progesterone cream once daily on cd-15 to cd-28 or if you're charting your BBT, you start it the day after O for 14 days. Basically, what this is supposed to do is kind of recondition your ovaries to function normally, so you can have normal cycles again and O without the use of pharmaceuticals. I've read a lot of testimonies about this working for many, many women. I'm just waiting for AF to start and CD5 to get here, so I can start this. I don't know how well I'll do on a strictly organic diet/lifestyle for 3 months but I'm hoping regardless it will work.