Anyone try to lose weight before TTC?

rainafire77 · February 2016

I'm a little heavy but eat healthy. (No fast food, no junk, no processed food, mostly organic veggies/fruit & no hormone meat. Also no soda.) I go for walks regularly but I just can't lose weight. My partner says I'm fine but I've been reading that women over 35 need to lose any extra weight before TTC. I was looking at yoga/pilates as something I could begin and continue with even after I get my BFP. My question is did anyone who possibly needed to lose weight try to do so before TTC or did you just eat healthy, exercise and see what happens? Just curious. My doctor says I'm fine though she feels I would find it easier to lose weight post-birth if I lost 20 pounds now. (Yeah...easier said than done it seems like!!)

PoeMasque · February 2016

Anecdotally I haven't noticed overweight women having a harder time conceiving (I work with 5 pregnant women right now and 3 of them are significantly overweight and all three said it happened within 3 mos). They will be at higher risk for gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, and other complications, but it didn't seem to hinder their ability to conceive.

how much sleep do you get? Poor quality or too little sleep will cause weight gain for anyone, regardless of diet/exercise (according to the new sleep science).

You should add interval training and weights. walking is great, but short, high intensity workouts are better for weight loss and weights will help your body retain/store calcium (super important for any woman over 30).

contact sports are not recommended for pregnant women, but you shouldn't have to stick to low impact or low intensity just because you might be pregnant.

KLake42 · February 2016

Studies suggest that women with very high or very low BMI may have trouble conceiving, but it's hard to get good data on exactly what sort of weight might cause a problem, and what sort of problems it causes. The most data we have is from IVF, and it seems like women who are very obese may not always respond well to IVF drugs. This makes sense, since body fat generates hormones, and if you have too many of your own hormones, the injections may do less. However, studies on moderately obese women aren't definitive (they go different ways).

Also, women with PCOS have their own metabolic thing happening, and being overweight with PCOS may make your PCOS worse, and you have more problems ovulating.

If you don't have PCOS, and you're not using fertility drugs, then it's still possible that carrying a lot of body fat might impair your fertility, but it's hard to find a study that isn't on IVF, and that focuses on non-PCOS women. I've done a lot of reading on this, and I do think that it probably impacts fertility, but it's really hard to quantify the degree.

Another thing that makes this difficult to measure is that BMI is such a nebulous calculation. If you're heavy and active, then you know that you probably have more muscle mass, less fat, than someone who is the same height, same weight, but is inactive. In fact, if you're really active, you may have less body fat than an inactive person who weighs less. So unless you calculate your BMI using a water displacement test (getting dunked in a tank), you don't really know your body fat percentage.

Personally, I am taking a few months off TTC before my final IVF using my own eggs (after this, we'll try reciprocal IVF using my wife's eggs), and I'm trying to lose weight. What's more, I'm trying to lose slowly and sanely, so I don't screw up my metabolism, so I'm doing Weight Watchers. So far, in about a month, BMI is down from 34.4 to 32.9, for whatever that's worth (8 pound loss, though I was bloated at my high weight). I'm hoping to get my BMI down to a hair under 30, but I won't stress about the number, so long as I stick to the eating plan and keep up the exercise regimen.

My last IVF was canceled for poor response, so I think a little weight loss might help next time.

And for what it's worth, I ate healthy before starting Weight Watchers. Only, I ate a *lot* of healthy food, and a healthy high calorie diet is still high calorie. (If I'd been marathon training instead of sitting at my desk all day, I'd have been fine!) So now I'm learning all about portion control.

happyktmom · February 2016

I don't have anything as smart as the PP's but I will say that my RE has recommended a BMI of less than 34 if at all possible. There are also Fertility Diet's all over the internet but most importantly, you should ensure you have a well balanced diet with little to no alcohol, processed food, caffeine, etc.

chloe97 · February 2016

TW loss mentioned*****

My weight creeped back up after MC. My doctor hasn't made a thing of it, so I'm trying not to let it upset me. I work out and eat healthy, but I'm not trying to lose weight per se for fear that it will mess up my cycles if I do any sort of intense workout plan. I actually lost weight in my 10 week pregnancy even though I ate constantly. I still have no idea why.

Ive been running/walking and using the elliptical and doing a few workout classes at the gym with the idea that I can continue this routine going forward...

thistle8677 · February 2016

***children and losses mentioned***

I was younger when I had my children, and at that time I was always at a healthy BMI and conceived easily. Since my two back to back losses last year, I've put on a few extra pounds. My BMI is at 25.6, so not really a major contributing factor in my mind; however, I do have many PCOS symptoms and I do think my weight affects my hormone balance.

My fiance and I just started the Autoimmune Protocol Diet (we are on day 3), which is a stricter version of Paleo. We are under supervision with his naturopath, so I have been encouraged to have some extra fats like kerrygold butter and/or ghee.

Like @happyktmom has suggested, there are lots of fertility diets out there, and I would encourage you to take a look and maybe even discuss them with your dr or RE (if you're seeing one.)

A lot of women that were previously on this board had much success with acupuncture and have gone on to conceive. They also frequently were prescribed herbs and a diet to follow, so definitely something to consider!

Good luck

ksgsmu · February 2016

Have you had your thyroid checked?

rainafire77 · February 2016

***children warning***

Thanks everyone! I haven't had my thyroid checked so if we don't get pregnant and I don't lose the weight, I will have that checked. I need to get into a good exercise program but with a 30 minute commute each way plus driving my 13yo to school and skating practices 5 days a week, all while dealing with her twice weekly evening visits with her dad it always seems like we're leaving the house too early or getting home too late. (Thankfully my partner works from home so when we do finally have our baby, he'll be a happy stay at home dad.) Excuses for not working out...I know. I'm not considered obese by my doctor who said if I weighed what the BMI chart said I should, I would be too skinny. I know some women who run marathons, do P90X, Zumba and Crossfit while in their second and third trimester and all I can remember is barely having the energy to waddle from my office to the car! LOL
I'll definitely stick with the eating healthy, watching portions and moving more. And work on losing the 20 pounds!

SLGILL1978 · March 2016

I think every woman is different. I have a friend who is overweight and she got pregnant easily. Her kids are about 14-15 months apart. Both of her pregnancies were healthy, low risk. Does it help? Yes, I agree it does. For me personally, I am a diabetic so my doctor did want me at a certain weight before TTC but at the same token I got the go ahead since my sugars were in control. I was in the middle of losing weight when I got pregnant with my daughter. I had about 25 lbs left to go to reach my goal weight. I had a little help with Metformin and Victorza though. This time around, I am only on Metformin and between January and today, I have lost ten lbs. If you're overweight when you're pregnant, they just monitor your weight more closely. I walk everyday after work. My daughter and I will walk the trails at a couple of parks or just walk around the neighborhood. Good luck to you!

Anyone try to lose weight before TTC?

Re: Anyone try to lose weight before TTC?

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