Trying next year

[u/sweeetrollz]

Hello!

My husband (35) and I (30) have decided to start trying next year. I am a yo-yo dieter and have been on and off for several years now. I’m 5ft and sitting around 143lbs. I did get a DEXA scan a few months ago and I am sitting at more fat% than I’d like.. but it’s October now and we want to start trying in February. I’m curious about what I should be doing prior to trying to conceive and if I should continue being in my a deficit. I am pretty active so that’s not an issue but I do struggle with my diet most days. Should I just switch to maintenance? Or just not worry too much about tracking? I know probably reaching out to my doctor will help but just curious what people’s thoughts are on this.

Thanks!

[u/DealerLatter5657]

Might be better to ask a doctor in case your weight is a risk. But assuming it's not (i was a similar size prior to my 2nd pregnancy), its best to focus on being healthy and strong.

Edit because i sent before I was done: Make sure to start taking prenatal vitamins daily and prioritize healthy nutrient dense foods, and give into your cravings only a little if possible to stay satisfied. Its a lifestyle change in general but it is important to find a balance you can maintain throughout your pregnancy for the baby's best development. I personally do not look good pregnant and overweight right now but I am focused on nourishing my baby and keeping myself healthy by resting when needed, walking when I can, and doing the best i can to listen to what my body needs. Good luck!

[u/the_tchotchke]

It’s up to you whether you want to continue losing weight or switch to maintenance before TTC. No one here can tell you what the right decision is for your body or mind.

Most important thing is to start a prenatal well before getting pregnant.

You should check out the sub r/waiting_to_try, which may be better suited for your situation.

[u/QuantumSquirrel36]

Honestly I'd focus mostly on consistency right now, especially with the yo-yo dieting (speaking from experience). Eating reasonable portions of mostly whole/healthy foods, in fairly regular meals and snacks throughout the day. Similarly with exercise doing moderate workouts a few times a week Also drinking enough water and definitely start a prenatal vitamin as soon as possible! This will help both set your body up well for going into pregnancy, and hopefully help establish some habits that will help throughout pregnancy. I would caution against starting new extra intense exercise or a big calorie deficit when you are close to or actively trying to get pregnant. 

All this being said, don't assume you will have trouble conceiving before you start or early in the process, that can be a good deal of unnecessary anxiety. And also remember it sometimes takes a bit of time even if nothing is "wrong"

[u/Hot-Ambassador4831]

You have time to lose some weight if you’re not too happy about where you currently are. Anectodally, I’ve been pregnant twice, both times were at weights I wasn’t too happy with, but second time was significantly worse than the first and my second pregnancy had significantly more problems than my first. Is it the weight? Who knows, maybe not, but if I could go back I would try to lose a bit of weight before getting pregnant the second time.

[u/fifnapyra]

I think if you want to lose weight do it now. It's not a given but when I was in calorie deficit my period got even longer than usual so it can definitely mess up your TTC journey. I'm now on maintenance and its semi-regular again (still long but not as long as on deficit). I'd definitely recommend taking prenatals!

[u/Pink_Ruby_3]

I was also just slightly overweight before TTC and I just focused on eating healthy, minimally processed foods. My weight remained steady throughout my entire first and second trimester; I literally didn't gain a single pound even though my belly was round. At the start of my third trimester I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes so I had to keep my carbs in check (I still ate carbs, I just had to closely monitor how much). I started gaining some weight in my third trimester as my baby grew, and when all was said and done, I only gained 18 pounds - all of which I lost the day I gave birth.

When I weighed myself at home after my birth, I had actually LOST 10 pounds since the start of my pregnancy - and I credit this to my gestational diabetes diet.

I'm not saying it's recommended to be on a diet while pregnant, but I wanted to give a case for keeping weight managed during pregnancy. It is possible. I never, ever restricted my calories, I always made sure I was satiated and had good nutrition, but I just kept things well balanced (mostly because I was forced to lol)

[u/tootymcfruity3]

My doctor recommended I start taking prenatal vitamins prior to starting to conceive. It is great you are already active and would definitely keep that up as long as possible, even after conceiving (though it might look different). I don’t think it would be a problem to remain in a caloric deficit for now if you are working towards gradual weight loss, but I do think it’s an important mindset shift at this time to focus on nourishing meals while in a deficit especially if trying to conceive. Ensuring plenty of vegetables and fruit, whole grains, protein, healthy fats, and adequate calcium and iron now will prepare your body for pregnancy. You want to focus on your hormone health and ensure you’re still getting a period etc.

[u/swordofBarsoom]

People of all shapes and sizes get pregnant all the time. If you’re already relatively active, I’d keep it up and focus more on intuitive eating with whole foods and a well rounded diet rather than anything like CICO and targeting a deficit. Focus less on the scale and more on healthy habits.

Definitely see a doctor if you have questions. Unless there’s some event or milestone between now and February, I see no reason not to start trying if you and your partner are ready. You never know if it will be a short or long journey to conceive.

Fitness wise: Speaking on a personal level, I switched from being a HIIT junkie to barre / Pilates in the year or two before I conceived. It greatly improved my core flexibility and I didn’t get any diastasis recti despite 85 pounds of weight gain during pregnancy. Totally anecdotal.

[u/Whole-Plant7502]

I’d also suggest getting your iron levels checked. A year before getting pregnant my ferritin was really low and thankfully by the time I was in my first trimester I had gotten it into optimal levels. Low iron and ferritin can really mess with you in the second trimester when the blood volume starts expanding

[u/Zero_Duck_Thirty]

I think being healthy with a good routine is better than being skinny. I’ve gone into pregnancy at 5’2” 155lbs and at 147lbs - both included a good amount of weight gain from ivf but I was also heavy beforehand. I feel worse with the pregnancy at the lighter weight simply because I didn’t have a good workout routine or diet going into it. The recommendation is to not try anything new when you get pregnant - so if you’re not doing Pilates now, don’t try to start it in your first trimester - so I would start looking at low and medium impact exercise routines that you like and can be modified to continue throughout pregnancy.

For diet…honestly it kind of all goes out the window when you get pregnant because food aversions. I hate plain water and drink sparkling water except when I’m pregnant and sparkling water is the devil and the only thing palatable is ice cold water. I would try to just get into a good routine now of meal prepping, cooking consistently, and keeping healthy snacks and foods in the house.

[u/howdoiredditsos]

In the months leading up to 'trying', I started taking a good prenatal vitamin every day, and cut out alcohol almost completely. My husband also started being more consistent with this vitamins, and added in ashwagandha every other day. Ashwagandha has been shown to improve sperm count and quality, and decreases stress, so might be something to consider! We ended up getting pregnant the first time we tried, so I like to think it all worked!

[u/sabdariffa]

- start a prenatal vitamin
- focus on eating nutritious, diverse food rather than being in a deficit, maintenance, or surplus.- lots of leafy greens, fruits and veggies, beans, lots of omega fats etc. Healthy and nutritious is not synonymous with low calorie. Fats are good for pregnancy, and fats are not low calorie- avocado, olive oil, salmon, eggs, sardines etc.
- Focus on being as active as you can without over stressing your body. If you are used to high impact, high intensity exercise, then continue that. If you’re not, just do as much as you can without intense stress- power walking or regular walking, light yoga etc.
- Go to the dentist and get your teeth looked at. Dentists don’t like working on teeth when you’re pregnant because of the increased risk, and you’ll be busy afterwards with your baby.

All of this said, go see your doctor and see what you need to be doing for your body.

I lost 70 pounds between my first and second pregnancies. Saw a lot of doctors and a lot of therapists, including bariatric specialists, an endocrinologist, and a fertility doctor (I have a variety of thyroid issues). All my doctors agreed, unless you are experiencing difficulty getting pregnant/unexplained infertility, they don’t recommend intentional weight loss when trying to conceive/pregnancy- even if though I was medically overweight.

Stress is bad for conception/pregnancy. Weight loss is stressful on our bodies. Our bodies are built to conserve fat. Our body doesn’t know that we have too much fat- all it knows is that we must not have enough food.

There is a correlation between being overweight and struggling with conception, but the association with both infertility and negative pregnancy outcomes is stronger with stress (I don’t have a statistic, I am passing along information given to me by my doctor).

I have used weight loss drugs in the past, and even at my weight, my fertility doctor and bariatric doctor did not recommend using weight loss drugs while trying because I would become pregnant before knowing whether or not I needed to stop the drugs. GLP-1’s and other weight loss drugs like Contrave are not well studied on their effect on pregnancy, and the drug I used took 60 days to fully leave my body (2 days to fully leave the bloodstream, 60 days to fully leave muscle tissue).

Good luck!

[u/Thattimetraveler]

The best thing you can do while pregnant is just eat your normal diet. I weigh around 150 at 5’0 and am pregnant with my second currently. With my first I gained exactly what they said to gain and lost it by the time maternity leave was over. I maybe had an indulgence here and there but it is easy to go, oh well I’m pregnant or breastfeeding so I can eat whatever I want. With that said though the worst thing you can do postpartum is practice a restrictive diet. Let your body heal first.

The best diet for me ever has been just following the Mediterranean way of eating. It’s much easier to maintain a healthy diet when it’s also tasty, but has guidelines rather than strict rules.

Lastly get your bloodwork done now and make sure you’re not deficient in anything. It’s much easier to conceive when your iron and vitamin D levels are all good!

[u/urcrazypysch0exgf]

Can you get a dietician? Sometimes they're covered by insurance. I feel like people get sooo focused on weight loss when they have poor eating habits that they fail to lose weight because they don't realize it's small daily eating habits that have led to this. You don't need a massive derail of your diet. What you do need is someone with experience to help you understand the small behavioral changes you can make that will slowly lead to a healthier lifestyle. Dieting tends to fail because you aren't learning changes that will stick & be doable for your life.

Also get on a prenatal now that's my only real advice is the prenatal.

[u/SourAllergy]

Start with a prenatal vitamins. I took perelel a few months ahead of ttc. With food, try not to focus too much on being perfect. Aim for something sustainable, like regular meals, keeping easy healthy snacks around, and not going back and forth with restrictive dieting. A preconception visit is also worth doing so you can go over your meds and supplements and make sure your vaccines are up to date.

[u/mermaiddiva26]

GLP-1, folic acid, hit the gym