TTC and 5:2?

[Daisy17]

Hello, I'm a bit of a lurker here and have a question. I've been doing 5:2/6:1 maintaining for a year now. I really enjoy it, lost a stone and a half of baby weight and rely on it to keep me at a steady weight whilst enjoying life. However, I'm TTC#2 at the moment and am worried that doing any sort of fasting, even a mild 6:1, would not be a good idea whilst trying to get pregnant? Am also worried that if it takes a while to get pregnant (I'm 38 and have mild PCOS) then I'm going to end up gaining loads of weight! Can anyone help me in my dilemma?

[BigChocFrenzy]

Several folk have got pregnant on these 5:2 threads, even with a weekly calorie deficit in the weight loss phase.
You are maintaining with max 2 FDs per week, with no overall deficit, so there should be very little stress.

Some women lifters on 16:8 had problems with their periods, but they were typically very lean, doing very intense exercise, so IF as well was too much stress.
Other women who had problems on IF have forced their body to lose weight too quickly, with too high a calorie deficit, e.g. via ADF and long cardio sessions.

5:2 is gentler than other forms of IF, because the body has 5 days of normal eating and the weekly calorie deficit is usually only about 3000 cals.

Recent research into epigenetics indicate your baby has a better chance of avoiding weight problems if you are a healthy weight.

So long as you feel comfortable maintaining like this, I recommend you continue.
ntbo: take folic acid supplements, keep your alcohol consumption low, try to minimise junk to eat as nutritiously as possible.

[Daisy17]

Thanks, Frenzy, very informative answer. Sipping a glass of fizzy water as I type.....