HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS WHEN TRYING TO CONCEIVE
So you’re ready to start a family, but you want to make sure your health is in a great place prior. Awesome! Being in great shape prior to conceiving is a wonderful thing, as it helps ensure you've established healthy habits, and can also assist in your labor, delivery, and postpartum efforts. There’s even evidence to show that those who are “fitter" often have shorter labor times! So, what matters prior to pregnancy? What should you prioritize for both your health and your future baby’s health?
The good news is– many health related behaviors and habits you do for your SELF and things that will be great for your TTC (trying to conceive) journey. Staying active, sleeping well, eating nutrient dense foods, managing stress, resting when needed, not living in a chronic caloric deficit, and living in a state of general well-being bodes well for TTC. Ideally, we just want to take some things a few steps further to really optimize our TTC journey.
MENSTRUAL HEALTH
In order for you to be successful with conceiving, you need to have an idea of what’s going on with your menstrual cycle. That means knowing if and when you ovulate, how long your cycle is, and if you are cycling regularly at all. Many women are unfamiliar with their cycles and the ins and outs–that’s okay! But now would be a good time to learn the basics. So let’s review the phases of the menstrual cycle:
The two main phases of your menstrual cycle are the Follicular Phase and the Luteal Phase, which are broken up by ovulation. The follicular phase begins on the first day of your period, and continues until you ovulate. Then starts the luteal phase, which continues until you have a period. You may notice a change in your energy from a bit higher to a bit lower after you ovulate, or those typical PMS symptoms coming on (bloating, puffiness, hunger, fatigue). Although there is variation among individuals in menstrual cycles, this skeleton is the basis for all menstruating individuals. Some may have longer or shorter cycles, more menstruating days, or worse PMS symptoms, but a healthy cycle should still follow this pattern.
If you are already having regular cycles, which are somewhere between usually 26-32 days, and you know you are ovulating–great! You are already ahead of the game. If you are not having regular cycles, are on birth control, or are unsure if you are ovulating, now is a good time to work on that. This can be done with tracking your basal body temperature, noting when you have a period, using ovulation strips, and other tactics too like tracking cervical mucous consistency. We've linked a video HERE that can help you get started!
NUTRITION
The body is incredible in that at the end of the day, it does what is best to ensure survival. You may have noticed that when you are not eating as much or dieting, you have worse PMS symptoms, or may not have a regular menstrual cycle at all. This is due to your body not deeming it safe to conceive, and in turn stopping you from ovulating all together. As you can imagine, this isn't great for those who are TTC. One thing we can ensure we are doing in order to put our bodies in an optimal state for conception is to be eating enough food (this one more-so applies to the chronic dieters). Our body has to believe we are bringing a child into the world safely, which means being able to feed it!
It's also important to note that if we're overweight/obese, this can negatively impact our TTC journey as well. So finding the right balance for YOUR body / how much you should be eating is important to address.
To return back to menstrual health, if you are not currently having a regular menstrual cycle, one of the biggest impacts we can have on getting back to regular menstruation is a decrease in stress on the body. However, remember that managing stress doesn't just mean mental stress. Managing stress also means prioritizing nutrient density, optimizing digestion, prioritizing training recovery, focusing on sleep hygiene, eating the right amount of calories for your body, etc.
You can and should also start taking prenatal vitamins in the months leading up to TTC, which include things like folate, iron, calcium, DHA, and vitamin D to help support creating and sustaining life. Even with a “healthy” diet, we do not always get all the vitamins we need, so a prenatal vitamin is highly recommended to help “fill the gaps”. If you are already taking a multivitamin, consider this a replacement for that.
FITNESS/EXERCISE
If you are already an avid exerciser, that’s great! Exercise is incredibly beneficial for those who are TTC and truly, for everyone (unless of course we're doing TOO much relative to our recovery needs)! Prior to getting pregnant, ACSM guidelines suggest at least 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity/exercise. Keeping that in mind, we also want to include some strength training of major muscle groups at least 2x/week.
If you are not currently exercising, starting with something low impact, like walking regularly, is a great place to start (and costs nothing). Daily activity is a lower barrier to entry! Adding in some type of strength training through classes, sessions with a coach, or of course, working with Level TEN, can help you out here! It’s more important for you to start than it is to be perfect, so focus on first, just getting started.
The great news is that if you are already exercising prior to getting pregnant, it is recommended that you continue to exercise as you were previously doing. If and when you do conceive, you may have to make some adjustments to exercising, but that’s a topic for another day. The main thing is remembering that making mom a healthy fitness-er is great for baby, too!
STRESS & MENTAL HEALTH
The last factor that I think is really worth mentioning when TTC is stress and your mental health. TTC is not easy, and we know that it can come with lots of emotions when you are unsuccessful. It can also be stressful to be doing seemingly all the right things to no avail. That’s why I believe having your mental health in a great place prior to TTC is incredibly important, as well as having some great coping strategies for stress.
Here are some of my top stress coping strategies:
Mental health walks
Meditation + breath work
Yoga
Therapy
Journaling
Actively working on your mental health PRIOR to going through an incredibly stressful event can make a world of difference!
I find it is also helpful to have a great support system, in the form of your spouse or significant other, family and friends, potentially a coach or therapist, and others to be there for you as you go through this season of life! Not only is deciding to start a family a big decision, but the process of making it happen is also incredibly daunting just as much as it is exciting. So do your best to also ensure you feel that you have a good handle on this side of things too as you enter this phase of life.
We hope you find this article helpful and informative if you are trying to conceive. We know this is not an all encompassing list, and empathize with those who have been through difficult times trying to conceive. Our goal is to simply inform on topics within our scope, and bring guidance to those who need it!
UNTIL NEXT TIME - COACH SHELBY
