Should I loose weight before ttc?

[MountainFairy]

Hi all,

I still need to get a hang of these forums as I am relatively new here. But one thing I notice is that loosing weight seems to help some women to conceive. I am 12 st 7lb and a bmi 27.5. So overweight. Have been trying for a year now. I always thought I wasn't that majorly overweight but maybe I am just fooling myself, as obviously I am above the healthy range. Should I stop ttc before I loose weight? Can being overweight do harm to the baby if I do conceive?

I really don't think a BMI of 27 is enough to put you at serious risk of anything. Its only just into the overweight catagory. You are more at risk of developing gestational diabetes if you're very overweight, but usually that would be people with a higher BMI than you. tHough sometimes someone with a BMI of 20 can develop gestational diabetes and you are also more at risk if there is a close family history of diabetes.

If you do get pregnant just try and eat sensibly through the pregnancy and some gentle exercise such as a brisk walk every day (or more vigourus exercise if you're used to it).

www.nhs.uk/news/2009/02February/Pages/ObesityBirthProblems.aspx

Good article here which looks at obese women in pregnancy and their risks, so women with a BMI of 30 or over.

why not keep ttc and also go on a diet/exercise plan -= the better shape you're in to enter pregnancy, the better really. I got pregnant twice within a month of starting diets so it seems to work for me

Thank you all, I suppose the only thing I CAN do is go on a diet. Which I actually am on since Christmas: managed to loose 6lb of Christmas weight. A bit of me would want to be nice and fit before I get pregnant, but then I want to get pregnanat asap!

Well, thankfully, I do not have any family history of diabetes. So I'll just go on ttc and see what happens and in a way hope I won't be skinny until then.

Day 21 blood test coming up!

My fertility clinic wanted me to lose weight - I tried to explain that the last time I was at their "desired" weight my hair and nails fell out... I didn't feel this was condusive to health. As it is I conceived naturally and at my normal midwife check-up last week was told I have very low blood-pressure. In your face Daily Mail/NHS. My mother was a skinny-minny who got gestational diabetes.

Let me ask you... if you're so unlikely to fall pregnant, has your GP told you they'll not prescribe the pill for you as it's unecessary?

Weight is not the same as health.

FYI, my mum is now, and has been since that 2nd pregnancy, type I diabetes. Type I diabetes has fuck all to do with weight/obesity - it's when your pancreas simply stop producing insulin. It is not hereditary.

I decided to stop drinking when ttc and coupled that with a healthier lifestyle. We got a dog so I was doing more exercise every day walking the dog and ate better food. Not "a diet", but more fruit and veg, and less cake and biscuits. I lost about 5 kg before I fell pg and maintained the same weight throughout my first trimestre.

Could you make any similar changes to your habits to be healthier, but without "going on a diet" which can so often be restrictive and boring?

Yes, thank you Skihorse and Cies, I have just gone off the diet as it made me feel poo, and I thought, well, that can't help!
Saying that, worked late last night, felt exausted today and buckled at cake. Now I feel poo.

P.S. The idea is to be healthy and not be on a diet. Not a big fan of fruit though, but loooove vegetables.

Just to mention it for clarity, Type 1 diabetes is somewhat 'hereditary', it has a strong genetic component (I know this because I worked in a lab that found many of the genes involved). It just doesn't follow the simple pattern of 'my parent has it therefore I will get it' because it is a complex, multigenic disorder. Also, even though Type 2 diabetes is generally thought to be the more 'lifestyle' based condition of the two, recent work is revealing some genetic contribution as well.

Not sure if anyone was interested but I thought it was worth clarifying!

OP, wish you all the best in TTC.

HoneyPetal, I am! While no history in my family, my husband is type 2. So possible consequences for offspring should I conceive (fingers crossed)! Hid mum is type 2 as well, so I always had a feeling it was genetic, but then they are both quite big and like sweets so maybe that bit is genetic!

Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are known as multifactorial diseases - this means there is a genetic and environmental contribution to them.

The fact that you know already about the Type 2 status of your husband and his mother means you can begin to think about this at an early stage for any future little ones. With Type 2 diabetes (as you probably already know) there is a lot that can be done by the individual to firstly reduce the chances of it developing (the best case scenario!), and affecting some level of control of the condition. Weight and diet are obviously important, as is the amount of exercise taken, the benefits of these are well known, not just for T2D, but also heart disease etc etc. Although there is not much that can be done regarding the genetic risk factors, the individual can definitely influence the other significant risk factors.

You may already know this organisation, but here is a link to Diabetes UK www.diabetes.org.uk/ , there is a lot more information on there. There is also a section on gestational diabetes.

On a lighter note hope you get a BFP soon - although, if you have been trying for over a year, from reading what others have said on this site, I believe you can go to the docs and start asking questions.

Honeypetal Interesting, I had no idea T1 might be hereditary - we've always been told differently.

Anyway, does this mean that one day I might get my mum's slinky figure? (and crap kidneys/circulation/cataracts ). I ought to add, she's the only person on either side of the family to have any form of insulin resistance type disease.

I have to say, wrt both of my pregnancies I wish I had lost a bit of weight first. I was probably at about your bmi when both were concived, but what I didn't bank on was gettign such bad SPD that I was pretty much sofa-bound for the last 3 or 4 months, which made the weight pile on. Obviously this would have happened anyway, but it is far easier losing weight before you have a baby to look after as well, imo.

type 1 diabetes has hereditary factors. It is an autoimmune disease and there is nothing to do with lifestyle factors such as food and exercise in the risk factors for it. My husband has coeliac disease, that is the genetic link which meant that my son developed type 1 when he was 7.

There is a huge misconception that t1 and t2 are due to the same reasons, and a huge amount of judgemental twaddle spouted about kids with t1 eating too many sweets, or being given a poor diet.

Join a gym - sign up for a year ata shockingly expensive rate. Worked for me (twice!)

I was heavy for first pregnancy, and am heavier for second (current). It is harder work the heavier you are, so I wish I had tried harder to lose weight before conceiving.

Mmm, diet here we come! Now I am getting parnoid about loosing weight again, but then it would not make much sense stopping TTC.I'll just try and loose as much as possible while I can...

As for diabetes, I know that type 2 is more lifestyle based, though both are complicated diseases, and that will be one big challenge of parenthood. I am determined my kid will be sporty becase both hubby and I are quite sedentary and I want to make sure that they have better health / lifestyle than us. Having said that, it'll be interesting as I do not know a first thing about sports!