need to lose weight for ivf - anyone in a similar position?

[AdoraDreams]

Hi, my wife and I want to have another baby, but my GP has informed me that I need to lose 4 stone or they won't even consider giving me treatment.

this is difficult, as most of my weight gain is related to the medication I take and how disabled I am - I cannot walk and I'm on the physio waiting list, and until I see a physio I'm not allowed to undertake exercise myself as I might really hurt myself. I've been doing really well with my eating and I'm enjoying feeling healthier, but my weight doesn't seem to budge. I'm beginning to feel like I'll never have another baby. does anyone have any motivation, tips or good ways to shed some weight without exercise? xxx

I was in a similar position a year ago, and am now 8.1 weeks pregnant following a successful IVF cycle. I had to lose 2 stone, and managed it by using My Fitness Pal, so effectively calorie counting; trying to keep to a most depressing 1200kcal per day. It was hard and took longer than I wanted, but it worked.

I'd never managed to lose weight before, but having the IVF goal made it possible to stick to.

I didn't really make any changes to my exercise levels - a half-hour walk each day is pretty much all I did. I think the food was really the important thing for me. Not sure if it'll be the same for you; might depend on what medication you're on. (Plus I had my own issues with PCOS which is part of why I ballooned up in the first place, and haven't really been great at keeping it off throughout my treatment)

congratulations, BK :) I'm on a lot of different medication (atm I take ~50 tablets a day) and the ones that carry a large weight gain risk are mental health ones, so my doctor isn't keen to change them and I agree. I'm using lifesum, which I've found is much friendlier than myfitnesspal. I'm eating about 1300kcal a day at the moment, so hopefully I'll get somewhere..

Gosh, 50ish is a lot.

I think the main thing with low cal dieting is getting through the second and third weeks/months. It's ok at first when the weight seems to be coming off, but then there is this plateau where you don't lose anything for a while and that feels horrid because you're hungry and it seems all useless, but that bit passes.

Good luck to you, and I hope it doesn't take too long for you to reach your target weight. If there's anything that makes the dieting worth it, it's the hope of a baby at the other side.