Fasting and ttc

[Lauren8642]

Evening everyone, I’m currently 10 months into TTC baby number two, I’ve had blood test done for my hormones and they’ve come back normal also an ultrasound that came back normal, I saw a gynaecologist in April but she doesn’t want to do anymore test/scans until I’ve been trying a year. I want to try and loose a little bit of weight and my partner does fasting and always saying about the health benefits but I’ve been reading that it’s not very good for women and their cycles. Is this right and if so how do I do about doing it? Or shall I completely avoid it and do something different instead?
My periods are irregular and have no idea when I’m going to start and if/when I ovulate because I don’t track (I did one cycle and I didn’t get a peak my gynaecologist that I saw in April told me not to track)

how much weight do you want to lose?

Hi OP. I was about to ask exactly the same thing. If you have more weight to lose to reach a healthy BMI, losing weight in a healthy way may help TTC. But if you’re a healthy weight, I’d try to maintain personally. Also, I’ve read/listened to a lot of fertility books/podcasts and they’ve all been pretty unanimous on saying avoid fasting and - in contrast - it’s best to eat smaller, more regular meals or three meals and two or three snacks between these. To fall pregnant, our body has to almost feel the conditions are safe enough. This is why the menstrual cycle can be suboptimal in calorie deficits/rapid weight loss. Speaking from experience, my cycle took a while to recover from a calorie deficit and I personally wouldn’t take that chance now at my age (mid thirties). But I would try to lose weight in a sustainable way if not a healthy BMI.

@Zo85 Not too much weight really it’s mainly just around my stomach area I want gone. I’m 9st 3 and 5foot 2 26 years old. So I’m not overweight just want a bit of fat gone for more confidence reasons

it really depends on what your diet is like

You’ve got a healthy BMI but I understand still wanting to lose a few pounds even when you’re already in the ‘healthy’ range. I would aim for no more than 2 pounds a week weight loss (you wouldn’t need to do this for long as you really don’t have much to lose) as this is a sustainable amount and shouldn’t have too much impact on your cycle. However, I wouldn’t try to do it through fasting personally if TTC/not overweight and needing to lose weight to help with TTC - this obviously doesn’t apply to you. FYI, I couldn’t conceive when my BMI was the low end of the healthy range - I actually needed to put on a few pounds to be in the upper part and I fell pregnant. Of course it could be a coincidence but I’ve also read we can have optimal BMIs for optimum fertility, varying from person to person. My cycle was far less regular/shorter when a lower weight too.

I've done overnight fasting for years (but only around 12-14 hours), and conceived twice within 4-5 months of trying. If you're a healthy weight BMI-wise, I'd probably focus on getting the most nutrients you can do, rather than restricting, eg. cut out ultra processed foods, focus on fruit/veg etc. As someone with irregular cycles (not massively irregular, between 29-34 days), I think ovulation testing was essential for me so I'm surprised you've been advised not to.

I imagine it can be totally fine for many/most women, esp when younger, but there are conditions like hypothalamic amenorrhea where periods will cease due to the body’s perceived ‘stress’ in a calorie deficit/lower weight. I’ve had this in the past (in my twenties) when my body and lifestyle were very athletic. Hence I said I personally wouldn’t take the risk with this knowledge about my cycle and what affects it and also my age. It is pretty common advice in fertility guidance to avoid fasting if possible too. I agree with you about how to go about losing weight eg cutting UPFs.

I conceived whilst fasting but stopped when I have a positive pregnancy test. If you don’t need to lose weight and you’re TTC I’d just eat a healthy balanced diet.

Hi all, wonder if anyone of you did do fasting whilst TTC and how you got on?
I need to lower my bmi/lose some weight, not masses, I always naturally fasted when I was younger (didn’t eat breakfast) and it helped me stay at a healthier and I think my hormones/periods were better then! I struggle with other forms of reducing food intake. Have tried to really focus on 3x meals and protein and fibre and all the nutrients which is great but haven’t lost weight and my hormones are a bit out of whack. I know a lot of the literature says fasting isn’t good when trying to conceive but wondered about peoples personally experiences