Limiting carbs prior to IVF?

[Confusedddddddd]

I had a few kgs to lose prior to starting IVF and signed up to low carb (but still some brown rice, squashes, lentils, rye, chickpeas) , high protein and exercise plan. I lost the weight I needed within 5 weeks. Now I'm wondering what to do next, I want to stay on the diet a little while longer so I'm comfortably within the bmi limit and also I surprisingly haven't found this too difficult, but I'm also wondering about the effects on fertility.

I'm now reading a lot about how low carb can actually be beneficial for egg health. I can find a lot about it on the internet specifically for pcos which I don't have.

Has anyone been recommended this by their clinic?

Before starting stims my clinic told me to follow a low carb, high protein diet as that helps with egg development. And to drink lots of water. So I would say you are on the right track and should continue with your current diet.

Thank you @bubu24 that's good to know

Gynae told me low gi foods on our fertility journey

My bmi = 29
( consistently)

I have pcos

We have ivf in our future

I do have carbs like jacket potato 4 my b12

And sweet potato fries that are good 4 my pcos

But tonsa fruit and veg.but regular protein..i also have lotsa eggs

I was told to prepare for ivf for three months and this included low carbs. They recommended the Mediterranean diet which we have really liked. I think the advice for ivf diets is slightly different to a regular ttc diet. I didn’t have pasta for several months. We switched to brown rice and stopped buying bread. We didn’t have potatoes either. That’s not to say we never had carbs but it was more like once a week/once a fortnight occurrence. We had our egg collection about a month ago and it was extremely successful. The specialist believes this is partly down to life style changes and supplements. I’m now waiting for my frozen transfer. Good luck with everything, happy to answer any questions you may have as someone who is going through and seen success in at least part of the process.

@MrsBP15 that's very reassuring thank you. It sounds very similar to the diet I've been on.
First week i cut out all carbs (other than veg), then reintroduced just sweet potatoes, butternut squash, brown rice, rye, quinoa, oats for grains , and then just berries, apples and pears for fruit. Though my weight loss slowed when I reintroduced them so I limit them to 1-2 meals a day and always make sure they are no more than a third of the meal.
I get a cheat day once a week when I eat what I want in moderation.

The weights come off easily and I rarely feel hungry, even when I've had the odd bite of something I shouldnt like having a yogurt with mango and a spoonful granola because that's all they had at the canteen. I'm just annoyed it took me this long to find a diet that worked for me, it was just out of desperation for IVF that I paid a PT to give me a diet plan.

Glad your egg collection was extremely successful

Thanks @worldwidetravel2017 me too! Who knows how much of difference it made but it certainly felt good to feel like I had some control when so much of ivf is feeling like you don’t have control. We bought quite a few recipe books that helped inspire us, happy to share if you like? I also have a bmi over 30 so needed to lose some weight and I think the no carbs thing really helped with that.

Well done @Confusedddddddd it sounds like you’ve done a smashing job! I would certainly stick with what you’re doing. The main things the specialist recommended were:

low carbs
no fried food
Mediterranean diet
Avoiding plastics
taking coq-10 for egg quality

The Mediterranean diet I can highly recommend. Can also recommend some recipe books if you like.

Thank you

Im having scrambled egg 4 lunch
( without bread)

Have been having hummus with veg etc

Eating apples , satsumas , banana every day

Snacking on carrot most days
And blue berries most days