Hello, fabulous.
It's Dr. Stephanie Fein here with weight loss for fertility. And I have a
bit of a cold. It's very mild.
I feel very lucky.
Oh, it's day two.
I'm talking about it today because I.
First noticed I was sick by how my hunger was different.
Yesterday I didn't have like, now
I have a bit of a runny nose.
But yesterday I did not.
I first noticed it because of my hunger. That was my first
clue.
I'm so used to having an open channel with my body signals because I.
Use the hunger scale. I love the hunger scale
and the open channel. This dialogue I have with
my body was honed because of using the hunger scale.
Right.
If you're constantly checking in with your body, then that
channel is open.
You're used to it.
It's a habit.
You're constantly talking back and forth.
And because my hunger was different than it normally is, that was my tip off
to the potential start of a cold.
And that's such useful information. I went to
bed a little earlier.
I started washing my hands even more and I ate
very intentionally because I was less hungry
and I wanted to make sure I had fuel to mount the attack that I
needed. So when there's a cold we have to
help ourselves, support ourselves.
I had to check in more than.
Usual to find my hunger. That was the main thing that
I am going to point out today
is.
That my hunger signals were very different, but I still was
hungry. Not as much as I normally
am, but it was definitely still there.
At first glance I'd say I wasn't really hungry very
much yesterday, but if.
I dug a little deeper, my signals.
Which usually are like annoying in my.
Stomach, my stomach is usually the thing.
That tells me, but also I'll get.
Mental fuzziness and a mood change.
And yesterday I didn't have any stomach signals.
I had a little bit of the fuzziest.
But more I noticed that I was.
Weaker and a little light headed.
And that was my negative two yesterday. And this
experience reminded me to talk.
To you about changes in your hunger signals.
When there are changes in our health status and that includes colds,
periods and IVF cycles. And then the combo of
those things. I have a whole episode on
periods and the hunger scale, the period protocol, and that's episode
116. We'll link it up in the show notes. I'll point you over there for
that. So then we're left with colds and IVF cycles,
whether retrievals or transfers.
And first I want to say if.
You are Actively in a cycle, and.
You feel cold symptoms, call your REI.
Immediately, your reproductive endocrinologist, your clinic.
They will tell you what they want you to do.
They'll support you as they can, they'll.
Give you next steps.
But if anything's going on, it's always should be. The
first thing is to call there to keep everyone in the loop,
keep communication open so everyone knows what's
happening. That's really important. So if you have a combo of.
A cold and you're going through a.
Cycle, let your clinic know for sure. And now I'm
gonna talk about colds and cycles and I've sort of lumped them because
we're talking about the hunger scale and
sort of that we can.
Expect alterations in the way we feel.
Our hunger in both those scenarios, going through cycles
and having a cold, and then those are the main ones we're
going to encounter. Following the hunger scale in general
is, in my humble opinion, the best way to go through life. That's
how we're going to lose weight when we retrain ourselves to use the hunger
scale. And by the way, hunger scale
is from negative 5 empty all
the way to positive 5 so full. You have to lie down and under your
pants. We never want to get there. We eat when we're at negative two.
Which is just hungry, we stop at.
Positive two satisfied, not full.
You see, I have a little cold.
Because I normally say that in my sleep. Positive two
is satisfied, not full full.
And we will also link that episode.
Up in the show notes so that.
You could dive deeper if this is.
Your first hearing of the hunger scale.
And enjoy, because we talk about the hunger scale a lot.
So following the hunger scale is such a wonderful way to go through
life because it helps you not only lose weight, we bring
the signal of how to eat back internally.
Literally listening to our body's request for food. Rather than
the time, the reservation, the vacation, anything
else. It's internal. When we
replace that, when we go back to
using our internal signals, we lose weight and
then we easily keep it off because we're
back in tune with our body. As kids, that's the only way we
ate. But then we very quickly got out of that. Babies do
this and then, well meaning
people in our society shifts that when we're
using the hunger scale, we learn when our body needs support
and when it doesn't. Right when we're hungry, when we're not,
when we are good at it,
we have that open channel.
And then when our body is going.
Through something, we find that there's
changes in the signals our body gives us.
Before we're using the hunger scale or.
If we're just, you know, typical in our
brains kind of surviving, which is most
people.
Most of the time, we will hear our body's
needs, but they'll have to be very, very loud. Our
body sort of has to yell.
At us in order for us to hear things. That's when we can talk about
over hunger. But that's also when you can
feel, like, terrible back pain or a lot
of weight gain or really bad headaches
or terrible nausea.
All these things are treated much easier if they're caught early.
Now, if we can, it's so much.
Better to treat it then, and we.
Want to start learning how to tune
in.
Now.
This is not perfect for every single.
Thing, but if we could get even.
A day, like, the fact that I.
Had a day's notice that I might be getting a cold was really helpful. I
really did go to bed earlier.
And I'll tell you, I'm positive that that helped me. Now it
didn't.
I'm still getting a cold. Who knows?
Maybe it would have been worse, maybe it wouldn't have. But I can do what
I can.
Do.
And I really do think it makes a difference, so.
And I also know that catching a headache quickly
and taking the medication that works for you when it's small
is so much easier to treat than the headache that's at its peak
worst. And those of you with migraines know this.
Oh, it's terrible.
Those are so painful. So anytime we can
catch something early, all the better. And we can do
that as we're learning about our
body's signals.
As we learn to use the hunger scale, we get better and better at.
Hearing the signals, and then we get.
Even better at hearing the. The subtle cues our body is giving us.
And we can become the expert of our bodies. Our body
is giving us useful information all the time.
And when we can translate it, when we can use it,
all the better to support ourselves when we're healthy,
like.
When we don't have a cold or.
We'Re not going through a cycle. I mean, not that you're not healthy with a
cycle, but you know what I mean. When you're your usual self,
you can learn what your baseline is, and that's what we want.
Right? Try learning what a negative two is.
For you and what a positive two is.
That is our baseline of using hunger.
Scale, and that's on a normal basis.
Yes.
You may be having your periods, and we have A period protocol.
There's things to do there, but in.
General, we're learning what our baseline is.
And so when things are different, you.
Know what's different and you know what to
do. Because your body is giving you information
signals, you can notice what they are and
respond to them. It's about becoming your body's
biggest supporter, its best partner and
caretaker. And when we do that, we're creating a
really beneficial mutual admiration society between ourselves and our
bodies. We're just giving information,
responding appropriately,
having energy.
You're just supporting your body.
And your body can do its best.
Which is always good for us.
We always love it when our body's doing the best that it can in the
moment that it is.
This way of checking in with the.
Hunger scale and with the even more subtle cues of our
body is a great way to develop.
I was calling it intuition. It can be intuition, but it's sort.
Of like that gut feeling, like, oh, I know what this means.
When we're practicing hearing our body's signals.
We can tap in and there's
a.
Bunch of things we can notice.
We definitely notice physical symptoms, but we.
Can start to notice sort of that.
Gut feeling, like intuitions, thoughts that come into our head and we
notice our feelings. And that is
really important certainly for our life, when
we can notice when we're sad, mad, glad, any of those sorts of things.
But also if we're tending to emotionally eat. When
we know what the feelings are.
We can deal with them directly rather than feeding them or stuffing them.
When we know our body signals, when we feel confident that we know
them, we also feel confident taking action
from that information. And that
is just a win win for ourselves and our bodies.
Okay, so episode 85 and 81 deal.
With sickness and hunger scale, including sort.
Of nausea of early pregnancy and getting back to eating normally
after an illness.
So I'm going to point you there.
If that's what's going on for you now. But today I want to discuss the
more subtle signs of hunger that we experience when our body's
distracted by other things going on, like a
cold or a IVF cycle.
When we have a cold, the body.
Is fighting it off. You'll have fever inflammation.
Hopefully you don't have fever, but definitely you'll have inflammation going on
because your immune system has been turned on.
And these processes take a lot of energy.
And they create a different environment in your body
than usual. Of course, if you're having inflammation, if your immune system is turned
on, your body feels and acts differently.
So hunger Signals are going to feel different.
Look for them and if you're not hungry, don't eat.
We always say that. But at the same time, look
for more subtle signs of hunger. It may not be your
usual sign.
And when you notice them, like I had mentioned at the beginning,
mine were different brain ones. Like I felt weaker and more
lightheaded.
That's not my usual sign.
But I knew in that that's that gut feeling intuition that
I was talking about. Now I didn't know it meant hunger. It could have been
a symptom, although it certainly could have been from cold medicine. But
I hadn't taken cold medicine, so I just knew that that was my
hunger. Also it had been hours since I'd eaten. You know, that sort of thing.
You could take all the other c. So
I knew that that meant hunger. And so I got myself up
and had something to eat.
So look for the more subtle signs.
Even if you may not be hungry.
In the traditional way that you usually are. And when you notice the subtle signs.
Eat to fuel the fight your body's putting up.
And we do that by focusing on whole foods.
This is not the time for Cheetos.
Not that there's anything wrong with Cheetos now and then there's no problem. But this
isn't the best time for.
Them because your body needs good materials to work with.
Sometimes when we're sick, we want to.
Comfort ourselves and we will think of like childhood
foods.
And there are some childhood foods that are perfectly fine. A peanut butter and jelly
sandwich would be great.
Mac and cheese could work. But ultra
processed foods are not going to be your best bet
if we're not going to be eating a lot in the day. We want to
get good stuff in.
There and it likely won't take much.
To hit the positive two mark. And that is okay. It's okay to
eat less if you're not feeling hungry and you're feeling sick. The
things you may want to focus on, things like maybe orange juice or.
Soups or toast with eggs.
Eggs is a good one, especially like scrambled eggs. Maybe
dairy, maybe not. It depends how you're feeling.
Cooked vegetables rather than raw ones may feel better.
This is the type of foods you may be interested in and
that are good whole foods for you to have.
Rice.
Like stews, you know that that sort of stuff is great.
And then we want to add more rest and
more non caloric fluids to your day.
And I say non caloric fluids because I'm thinking like soda's not a great.
Thing to have when you're sick, we want to focus on water if you want
electrolyte water, herbal tea, that sort of thing. And
that way we're supporting our body when it has a cold and it's.
Fighting off the cold when it comes.
To an IVF cycle, not an
IVF cycle and a cold. Remember, you're going to call your REI if that's happening.
But if you're in a cycle, you may very well have different hunger
signals.
And you may notice some one week and then they change the next
week. And this is why checking in even.
More often will help you support your.
Body through this period of time.
Remember, with a cycle, you're eating when.
You'Re hungry, you stop when you're satisfied.
And you're looking for different symptoms if.
They'Re different from your normal, and you're.
Focusing on nutritious foods.
Again, the reason we're doing that is not because we can't
have Doritos whenever we want, we absolutely can.
But if we're having limited food, we're.
Gonna wanna focus on the good stuff.
That supports our body in a cycle.
There's a lot going on. Your body is working
for you and you want to support it as much as you possibly can.
And my go to is to say whole foods.
And what I mean by that is not the ultra processed foods.
So foods with sort of one ingredient.
Well, I say that and I'm like toast. Toast is one ingredient.
Of course, it's not one ingredient, but
things like, you know, any rice, any vegetables, any proteins,
whole foods, things that grow on the ground, fruit,
vegetables, that sort of thing.
And then plan for rest and drinking plenty of fluids.
Now, the rest that your body may.
Need when you're going through a cycle, you'll know right.
Often, reproductive endocrinologists will recommend
not doing vigorous exercise.
Amazing. That's a good rest right there.
If you're used to doing it, that's.
Definitely resting your body.
And you may want to sleep longer, go to
bed earlier, you may want a nap, you may want to just.
At least be horizontal some of the day.
You know, you're listening to your body and you're doing what it needs.
The key here, in terms of IVF cycles,
and this can be the same for colds too, is to plan for comfort.
Because we can tire more easily when our body is going through something
and.
Our defenses can be down and we.
Can be hit with more emotions more easily
when we're having hormone spikes and
troughs and all the rest of that. So we want to plan for
it.
It'S not a surprise that this is a challenging time.
You are very aware of that and we
want to plan for that.
So what are some non food ways to feel comforted?
This is where a comfort list comes in really handy. That's episode 10. Comfort
lists are so useful. Have them available, we
know you're going to need it. Warm blankets, fuzzy slippers,
baths, cuddles, friends.
And family on speed dial, favorite TV shows, what you know,
puzzles, crafts, whatever it is that you love to do.
And that feels comforting.
Plan for that.
When we're used to paying attention to.
Our body and its needs, we'll also get better at noticing our feelings.
Being able to identify a feeling and then address it directly.
So for sad, we may need a cuddle.
For lonely, we talk to a friend. For mad, we may
journal. You know, instead of food.
Handling the.
Situation because food doesn't handle sad,
connection does.
Food doesn't handle loneliness. Talking to a friend does.
When we notice our feelings and handle them
directly instead of with food, it.
Means we are taking good care of ourselves.
And by the way, we also get to stay at our
natural weight more easily.
We get to get to our natural.
Weight and stay there more easily when we're not eating.
Our emotions and
hunger scale getting connected.
To the subtle signs inside really help
us with this. Colds and IVF
cycles can be similar in terms of
looking for different signals from hunger scale.
Giving ourselves nutritious food, supporting ourselves,
rest, fluids
and then comfort.
I think the biggest difference between a.
Cold and an IVF cycle and just.
In terms of this that we're talking.
About is the level of comfort that.
Is needed with a cycle.
I think there might be more comfort needed.
There absolutely can be with a cold too.
But I think focusing on the comfort part for
a cycle is really important.
So in summary, we eat when we're.
Hungry, we stop when we're satisfied, not full. That's always the baseline.
That may look different when we have.
A cold or during an IVF cycle with a cold.
Respond to the altered signals and give yourself good food to support your
body's healing process. It's okay if you're eating less as.
Long as you're aware of what your body needs.
Rest as much as possible. Take over the counter medications to help with
symptoms as you're able to.
This is why this is separate than when you're doing the IVF cycle and you
have a cold. Remember that situation you're calling your reproductive
endocrinologist. Drink plenty of fluids
because mama was right.
That's what helps a cold. This is generally the same when it.
Comes to cycles, retrievals or transfer protocols.
Notice any changes in hunger signals and respond to what your body needs.
Be aware of eating when not hungry and plan for lots of
comfort activities.
Rest and fluids are great here too. Your body is
working hard and we want to support it as best we can.
Listening and responding will go a long way to getting you and your body.
Through this finite time. This particular time.
If you ever have any questions about this, I'm always happy to answer them.
I'm on social media, Stephanie Fein MD, Instagram and
LinkedIn. You can always find
me at www.weightlossforfertility.com and you.
Can lose weight with me there too.
If you're interested in doing that.
I am sending you so much love.
Especially if you're in one of these tender times. Until
next week.
