Today I went ahead and gave in and had a Visalus "Go." In addition to my large mug of Cafe D' Vita Mocha Mix decaf, and my usual Daily Neuro. So at this point, I've probably had at least 200 mg. of caffeine.... and I feel GREAT.
I should mention that I got my period today (one great thing about Fertil Plus... it makes me SOOO regular! I had it last month on the 29th also). I feel like I should be disappointed that Aunty Flo showed up after all, but honestly I wasn't really expecting to get pregnant this month. I didn't take a single ovulation test, and wasn't trying nearly as hard as I did the month before. I had a little too much caffeine, didn't eat any yams, didn't have half as many veggies as I did the month before, and probably didn't drink enough water either. I still was taking vitamins and other supplements but... just wasn't burning myself out like I did in December. I just had to take it down a notch... for my own sanity!I always wonder, when is the worst time in your cycle to "overdo it" with caffeine. My guess is, it's when you're ovulating, since the dryness and the acidity you experience won't exactly help the sperm get to where they need to go. But who knows, maybe it's even worse to do it on Cycle Day 1, because that's when your eggs are just starting to develop, or get ready to be released? Maybe I'll never know. All I know is... today, I really felt like I needed the extra caffeine, and I just went with it.
I have a LOT of cleaning to do today. And I mean... A LOT. I realize excessive caffeine is not good when you're TTC, but then again, when you have as much cleaning to do as I do right now, and it's starting to depress you... in my opinion it's a lot better to do what you have to do, to get the cleaning done quickly and feel better about yourself in the process, than letting it pile up and be depressed... even though you are mostly "caffeine free."
I've started to realize, in the last year of TTC, and not having as much caffeine as I usually like to, I haven't been as productive as I usually am, when I have more than 100 mgs. of caffeine. It's not that I haven't been busy or productive at all. I have. Visalus Neuro has been great for giving me just enough of a boost, every day, to be productive. In the last year, since TTC (and also to try to avoid back problems), I've been really "good" about not having too much caffeine. I usually just have one Neuro per day (45 mg. of caffeine) and that's it. If you don't count the occasional piece of chocolate.
But when it comes to cleaning.... I realized, I really did benefit from those occasional days where I'd have, say, 3 cups of coffee, to just BLAZE through a project, like cleaning my office, in order to just GET IT DONE. And I haven't allowed myself to do this at all, in the last year.
Well, this last month I had more caffeine than usual. The biggest "caffeine day" was on Saturday night when I went all out and had a large Mocha from Starbucks (it was decaf, but still I think it must have had at LEAST 50 mg. of caffeine), plus half a Coke Slurpee I split with a friend of mine when we went to see a movie. I also had some chocolate. And a Neuro during the day. And a Cafe D' Vita Mocha (large mug of it). So, I probably had at LEAST 200 mg. of caffeine that day...But I was LOVING IT. I felt GREAT!!!
I will admit, caffeine is like a wonder drug for me. In the same way that some people are addicted to cocaine and drugs... I kind of have a thing for caffeine. It really, truly helps me from becoming depressed, which is part of the reason why I was so miserable when I was pregnant. Not only was I hormonal, but I had stopped taking caffeine AND stopped exercising, altogether!!!
When I have a really good jolt of caffeine (between 100-300 mg) I feel like, everything in life suddenly looks easy. Things that really seem hard, will suddenly seem to look easy. I look at things in a much more positive light when I'm jacked up on caffeine. It makes me feel so good!I have no idea if this is going to make any difference whatsoever, but I'm going to try to balance out the extra caffeine by taking extra Oil of Evening Primrose, Vitamin E, Vitamin B Complex, and Vitamin D, on days when I have too much caffeine.
You can read more about Caffeine and how it inhibits vitamin absorption, in this article.
I'm also going to force myself to drink an extra visalus shake (with vegetables in it) on days where I do a little overdosing of caffeine. I realize, this may not completely make up for overdoing it but... at this point, I have to just do it and pray for the best.
I will concede that EXERCISE is really the best stimulant, and if I were exercising more, I would probably be a lot more productive and not have to have the extra caffeine. I just haven't gotten back into the groove yet... but I am planning to!
OK time to get off the computer and utilize this buzz I just got from the Visalus Go, and GO CLEAN!!!
EB
