To think I don’t need to eat like a rabbit to be fertile?

[Limeandlemon]

Have been trying to conceive for one year. Dh results are normal, mine too. Progesterone levels aren’t at optimal level but I’m ovulating.
I’m four stone overweight, I have been told to lose weight.
I started doing slimming world, which I know will work with shedding the pounds but I’ve been told by a fertility coach that slimming world won’t help me prepare my
Body for pregnancy.
She recommends cutting out gluten and dairy, only have organic meats. No sugar, just water and herbal teas only.
To me that is very restrictive and not compatible with family life, as someone who works full time, very busy and prepares meals for the family.
With slimming world I am eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and still have a little treat within the limits and don’t feel so deprived. Surely weight loss will help balance the hormone levels?
Would really appreciate opinions or experiences to help me decide what route to go.
Such conflicting advice all over the internet and by medical professionals.

Where did you find this fertility coach? What are her credentials?

Fertility treatment veteran - I've never heard of a fertility coach.

There is so much nonsense around trying to conceive, l think the best thing to do is eat healthily and all things in moderation. Gluten free and diary is quite extreme. News flash: people eat terribly, drink alcohol, do drugs etc and still get pregnant. I’ve been trying for 2.5 years and it’s never happened for me, no matter how healthy l have been. No doctor has said to me go gluten or diary free, in all honesty they have never really known what the issue is

Cutting put those things completely seems a bit extreme. I also don't understand why cutting out gluten or dairy would help prepare your body for pregnancy. That seems more for a solution to lose weight.

I think being more active would be a huge help in fertility and preparing your body for pregnancy. Did the fertility coach mention excercise?

"Fertility coach"?
Wouldn't it be better to talk to a qualified dietician instead?

There are loads of resources online listing best diets for getting pregnant.

They have to tell you something to justify charging you money for something they can't really actually help with.

Did you find the fertility coach on Instagram or instascam?

Personally, I would ignore that tbh and use common sense.
Plenty of people get pregnant drinking tea and coffee, eating gluten and sugar. In fact if we all cut out alcohol I bet the birth rate would dip significantly!
You are told to increase dairy / calcium when you are pregnant as the baby needs it for their bones.

Losing the weight will be the most beneficial thing. Stressing about your diet won't help you.
If you were happy with your weight then maybe I could see you trying other things but more out of desperation than anything else. Have you read It Starts With The Egg?

Fertility Coach sounds like one of those unregulated unqualified occupations made up to enable charlatans to rip vulnerable and/or desperate women off for hundreds if not thousands of pounds.

As you’ve already gathered, their advice is probably going to be extreme, or just plain old nonsense.

I'm a bit overweight atm and I'm trying to conceive. Could do with losing about two stone- DS was born sleeping in June and I just all motivation. But now I'm doing intermittent fasting and I swear by it.
So basically I eat my first meal at 1 and don't eat after 9. You choose any eight hour slot for meals. It doesn't restrict what you eat, just the times. I'm sort of calorie counting too, and going for walks. Don't know why I didn't start earlier.

Some people are very fertile - can be obese, drinkers, unfit and get pregnant with zero issue after having sex once (me). Others do everything right, follow healthy diets and exercise and stop drinking and shag like mad and don’t (my best friend).

It makes sense to try to be as healthy as you can but an actual fertility doctor will be more helpful than a fertility coach.

I know low carb can help those with PCOS but that’s more to do with the link between insulin resistance and PCOS.

@Hhusky I’m just about to start IF! Are you finding it’s working already?

OP, you’re “fertility coach” is talking shite. Yes lose the weight but no to fad diets.

Cut out dairy?!
I am neither a fertility coach nor a dietician but that sounds daft.

You would need strong bones for carrying a pg.
You would need to be able to pass along calcium to the baby for developing bones.

There is nothing particularly wrong with dairy as part of a healthy balanced diet.

Only organic meat?

It's impossible to totally cut out sugar as it naturally occurs in things like fruit - which are important for other nutrients and vitamins etc.

TBH, it sounds a bit faddy to me....eat a decent range of healthy food, keep well hydrated, move more - all to help the weight loss but also to help with the pg when that comes along.

If you can afford organic meat, organic dairy, free range eggs, GYO veggies etc - great. But if not, go as high quality as you can, don't go mad on sweet stuff and fatty stuff. But everything should be balanced. Even the treats. You need some.

And there are some things that you may have to cut out while pg - like soft unpasteurised cheeses and all blue cheeses, shellfish, deli counter coleslaw etc. But that list is surprisingly short when you actually look at the reasons for each rather than a "the internet/my Grannie's 2nd cousin twice removed/(add non-trusted sources here)...say you shouldn't eat those in pregnancy".

The fertility coach sounds like a quack. You don't need to cut all that out. Sw is fine

She is a registered nutritionist and also a herbalist. She thinks my excess weight is causing me to produce or store more oestrogen which is knocking my hormone levels off. The dr has also told me to lose weight. I’m so bloody confused.

Registered nutritionist means nothing. Dietician is the protected profession. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist.

What the fuck is a herbalist?

I would say that she sounds like a quack as well - except that I know a lady personally who swears by this. She’d had fertility problems for years and was on the list for IVF. Someone recommended a practitioner to her - who told her to cut out all sugar. And she got pregnant. Tried the same thing when trying for number 2....and got pregnant again. So she told everyone she could control her fertility through sugar. Huge caveat here that I’m not claiming any scientific basis for this, but she was convinced that it worked for her.

And do the blood tests your doctor has ordered support her theory?

@Merryoldgoat

Registered nutritionist means nothing. Dietician is the protected profession. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist.

What the fuck is a herbalist?

Was literally about to say the same thing.

Normally I’d say bollocks but after 8 years of trying to conceive and nothing working, my friend got pregnant within 7 weeks of starting the Fast 800 and Intermittent Fasting (cutting out all sugar and massively reducing carbs). She did absolutely nothing different except change her diet very radically. When I was reading the book myself it said a lot of women with PCOS and long term unexplained infertility found themselves quite quickly pregnant after starting the diet. 10 days later she broke the news to me!

@oldscrappyandhungry absolutely. For example, at the weekends I still stick to my times but I am not nearly as strict with what I eat. Even with cheat meals at the weekend I'm still seeing results. For me I think it's as much to do with nothing being off the table so to speak, so you're not depriving yourself of your favourite meals.

The coach is a bit of a fraud.
Do not give up gluten unless you are a coeliac.
Do not give up dairy unless you really have to.
WTF is a herbalist?

@Crosstrainer cutting sugar isn’t the same as what this person has recommended though. And your friend’s experience is anecdotal - my friend tried the same and didn’t get pregnant.

@Hhusky I can’t fast because I have a really physical job, I would pass out if I didn’t eat until 1pm. I definitely need to eat breakfast.

I have read it starts with the egg and that also recommends to cut out sugar, gluten and dairy. Eat lots of green leafy veg, a whole host of supplements and organic meats. Paraben free beauty products and toxic free cleaning products, no drinking from plastic or heating things up in plastic. Cast iron pans for cooking only.
My head is absolutely wrecked.