Pre-Conception Planning: For More Than Just Preparing for Baby
We all know that prenatal nutrition is important for both mom and baby to get adequate macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals, but what about preconception nutrition? The time before you start trying to conceive.
This is a concept that doesn’t have much buzz around it, even in my nutrition circles. I started researching preconception nutrition when my husband and I started talking about when we would start trying to build our family. We were both excited and anxious to have kids, and we decided that once we were married we would start trying right away.
In February 2018, 6 months before our wedding, I started implementing some pre-conception wellness strategies such as, starting a prenatal vitamin, following nutrition guidelines for cycle syncing to optimize my menstrual cycle and eliminate pms symptoms (which is essentially eliminating hormone imbalances), getting adequate exercise, and making sure I was managing my stress.
Not only did I feel great, but I looked great. Managing my weight was a non-issue, my skin was the clearest it had ever been, and my periods were perfectly on time every month, with minimal to no symptoms. All of my pre-conception planning was actually just giving my body everything it needed to function happily and healthily, baby on the way or not!
So often in my coaching practice I meet women who are searching far and wide for the miracle that’s finally going to get them in the body they want. The problem is that most of these methods result in short-term solutions that lead to increased hormonal imbalances, body dysmorphia, and disordered eating patterns that are extremely difficult to break. Many of these women develop the mentality that satisfaction with their physical bodies cannot be aligned with emotional or psychological wellness…it’s either one or the other, and the physical usually wins.
When I was competing in bodybuilding I was constantly complimented on how good I looked. What most people didn’t know was that inside I was a disaster. I meticulously tracked every calorie that went into my body. I was doing hours of weight training and cardio every week. My diet eliminated most social activities, and so my emotional health deteriorated as I spent more and more time alone and lost some of my closest friends. I was physically strong and lean, but trumped by insecurity, fatigue, and fear of food and my future. I thought that the only way I could be pleased with my body was to spend hours a day in the gym and travel with my food scale. The thought of intuitively eating brought on anxiety and feelings of not being able to trust myself to eat what I wanted when I wanted without making “bad” choices and gaining a ton of weight. Skipping a workout seemed like a death sentence.
I envied the days when I naturally chose a healthy, balanced, colorful diet. When I exercised because it felt good and reminded me how strong I was, rather than reminding me how much further I had to go. This unhealthy obsession with my body led me down a rabbit hole of overexercising, under-eating, and a true abandonment of what self care should look like.
I found healing from this vicious cycle long before I started trying to get pregnant, but my journey to pregnancy revealed so much about women’s health to me and I knew I needed to structure this into my coaching programs. Why was preparing my body for pregnancy revealing my healthiest and happiest body? Why hadn’t I been able to achieve this before, even when I was intuitively eating and exercising appropriately? The truth…because it wasn’t just about me anymore. The sad reality for many women is that we think we need to kill ourselves to achieve the body we want, but when our actions are causing harm to someone we love, it’s so much easier to change those bad habits rather than change them because they are hurting us. How much anxiety, depression, and self harm will we inflict on ourselves for the sake of seeing a specific number on the scale or fitting into clothes from 5 years ago? Would we even think about inflicting this torture on our friends, sisters, husbands, daughters? Never! So why do we do it to ourselves?
Planning for pregnancy opened me up to the realization that I was going to have to be flexible about my body. That I may need to put on some body fat. *This is not true for all women. I am the woman who starts a diet and loses her period immediately. My hormones are extremely sensitive to what I eat, or don’t eat. Meaning: I knew I was not going to be my leanest or smallest on my wedding day (because of when we planned on starting to try to conceive).
When I started implementing these changes, specifically managing my stress and letting go of societal norms of what my body should look like, I started to feel true peace in my body for the first time. I appreciated my body for all of the amazing things it does for me, instead of what it looked like.
This is why I believe preconception nutrition is important for ALL women, regardless of when/if you plan on having children. Of course there are a few specific things I’m going to mention particularly for women who plan on trying to conceive soon, but the majority of these health tips apply to all women!
My Preconception Nutrition Tips: (note: these tips are relevant for dads to be as well!)
LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR STRESS. This is huge! Stress wreaks havoc on our hormones and hormones play a major role in conceiving (obviously). If you have a high stress job, work on ways to bring your cortisol levels down throughout the day by taking a walk on your lunch break. (Read more about how walking is great for managing stress here.) Practice breathing exercises that promote a calm state of mind. (I like the Happy Not Perfect app). Journal, pray, and practice regular self care. The better you become at managing your stress levels, the less likely you will struggle with hormone imbalances that can cause infertility. Stress increases cortisol levels, which burns out your adrenal glands and disrupts ovulation. If your hormones aren’t telling your brain that it’s a safe and healthy environment for a baby to live in, your body will respond by eliminating a chance for pregnancy.
EAT A HEALTHY & BALANCED DIET. Depending on where you’re getting nutrition information, you may be avoiding certain food groups in an effort to lose weight or attain better health. Low carb diets are extremely popular right now, as are extremely high fat and high protein diets like keto and paleo. The problem with restrictive diets when you are trying to conceive is that you’re eliminating micronutrients and macronutrients that your body needs. The goal of preconception nutrition is to flood your body with nutrients in preparation for pregnancy. When you become pregnant, your body will first and foremost meet the nutritional needs of your growing baby, and whatever is left will go to you. When you have stores of nutrients available, neither you or your baby will have to worry about nutritional deficiencies no matter how wild those first trimester cravings and aversions are. Pre-pregnancy is also not a time to be dieting, unless you are obese or your doctor has advised you otherwise.
Fill your diet with a variety of fruits, veggies, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Be sure to drink plenty of water. Do not fast or practice intermittent fasting as this can affect hormones necessary for ovulation.
DO THE RIGHT KIND OF EXERCISE. Doing too much high intensity exercise can make getting pregnant difficult because it affects the hormones responsible for your period and can cause irregular or missed periods. This doesn’t mean you need to quit your favorite HIIT class, but keep it to a minimum of 1-2x a week. Start incorporating more gentle kinds of exercise like walking, low intensity cardio, and yoga or pilates. Strength training is also a great addition to your workout routine when prepping for pregnancy as it will help strengthen your muscles and make carrying your baby easier.
START ELIMINATING OR CUTTING BACK ON CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL. Caffeine and alcohol can affect your fertility so I recommend cutting back BEFORE trying to get pregnant rather than waiting until you are pregnant. Coffee is known to cause fibroids, heavy periods, and cyst formations in the breasts and ovaries, as well as higher rates of miscarriage. Coffee depletes vital vitamins and minerals needed for ovulation and healthy fertility, and the acidity causes gut health problems. You can read all about how caffeine affects your hormones here and my personal reasons for quitting despite my love for it!
A Danish study was done to test the impact of alcohol on conception and found that there was an 18% decrease in the probability of conceiving when women were consuming 14 or more drinks per week versus women who drank no alcohol. The authors did note that there weren’t significant differences in fertility between moderate drinking and non-drinkers, but for me personally, I decided to completely abstain from alcohol to increase my chances at conception.
GET ADEQUATE SLEEP. We all know that sleep is important for optimal health, but getting enough sleep while trying to conceive is even more important. Sleep-wake patterns are tied to the hormones that affect ovulation (in women) and sperm maturation (in men), so not getting enough sleep, or waking frequently throughout the night, can make getting pregnant a challenge. I was working very early mornings during the time we were trying to get pregnant so we decided to make sure we were getting in bed early every night. Setting a bedtime and creating a bedtime routine can help ensure you get enough sleep, and that you get a good nights sleep.
TAKE A GOOD PRENATAL VITAMIN. Yes, start taking your prenatal vitamin 6-12 months before you start trying to conceive! Remember what I said earlier about flooding your body with nutrients? One of the most important vitamins you need in the beginning of pregnancy is B9, also known as folate. Folate is responsible for neural tube development and preventing defects to the spinal chord, spine, skull and brain. This phase of development occurs through days 17-30 after conception, so 4-6 weeks after the first day of your last period. Many women don’t even know they’re pregnant at this time. Starting your prenatal vitamin early ensures that your body is storing up plenty of nutrients for you and baby so that in those early weeks of pregnancy you don’t have to wonder if your developing baby is lacking anything he or she needs.
Many prenatal vitamins use folic acid, which is a synthetic form of folate. The problem with folic acid is that around 40% of women have the MTHFR gene that makes converting folic acid into a usable form very difficult. This is why I searched for a prenatal vitamin that used folate instead of folic acid. I ended up choosing the Ritual Prenatal, and I have continued taking it after Phoebe was born as I am breastfeeding still. One of my favorite things about this prenatal is that it’s lemon-scented which was a huge nausea reliever during my first trimester. *Note: They also have a regular multivitamin and a 50+ multivitamin for those not trying to conceive. You can get $15 off your first order here.
CORRECT HORMONE IMBALANCES. Many women are completely unaware of hormone imbalances they have and believe that feeling a little off or unwell is just part of life. This could not be further from the truth. PMS symptoms such as bloating, cramping, headaches, breakouts and heavy, irregular, or missing periods are all signs of a hormone imbalance. Sometimes you will need to work with your doctor to correct these issues, but other times you may need to make simple adjustments to your diet and/or lifestyle to correct these imbalances. If you follow all of the tips above, the majority of your hormone imbalances will be adjusted in your favor. I also highly recommend reading Alisa Vitti’s book, Woman Code. I ask all of my clients to read this book and I have used her Cycle Syncing strategies not only for myself when trying to conceive, but with my clients when working to get rid of PMS symptoms, fix period problems, lose weight, and get pregnant.