Whether you and your partner have just decided to start trying for a baby or you’ve been told you need help conceiving, you’ll no doubt want to ensure your lifestyle choices are benefiting your fertility as much as possible.
Thankfully, boosting your fertility by changing your diet, exercising, and being mindful of your physical and mental well-being is easy. Using the five tips below, alongside all of the help and advice of your fertility care partners, you can make those all-important changes to your life–and ones that’ll stand you in good stead for the future, too!
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1. Start by Changing Your Diet
The saying “you are what you eat” is no more true than when you’re trying to aid your fertility. That’s why starting your new lifestyle regimen with your diet is a must. As the fundamental foundation for your overall health, quick and easy changes to your diet can help boost your energy, create a positive mindset, and help you lose weight (if needed).
You’ll find plenty of tips and advice on the best fertility-friendly foods around if you search online. And you’ll probably be surprised as to what these lists include. Thankfully, it isn’t all kale, spinach, and other green leafy vegetables! Rather, you’ll find a mixture of veggies and healthy meats as well as the odd treat, like full-fat dairy.
For example, some fertility-boosting foods include oysters, beans and lentils, walnuts, sunflower seeds, cooked tomatoes, asparagus, egg yolks, mature cheese, liver, oranges, lemons, pomegranate, and pineapple.
2. Take Note of How Much Water You Are (or Are Not!) Drinking
Again, keeping well hydrated is an essential health kick for all of us. However, it’s even more imperative when you’re trying to conceive because it helps keep your reproductive organs and body in tip-top condition. It also helps flush out any toxins from your system.
If you struggle to drink the recommended daily amounts of water (about 11.5 cups), there are a few things you could try. One idea is to fill up a jug with the amount of water you need to drink in the day so you can easily monitor how much you need to get through. Or, if you find water too bland, try infusing it with some tasty natural ingredients–like those citrus fruits we mentioned before.
3. Limit the Amount of Caffeine and Alcohol in Your Diet
This is where this might get slightly less “fun.” But you don’t necessarily need to eradicate these two things from your diet completely. Just be mindful of the amount you’re consuming and how this may affect your fertility levels.
As with all of life’s “vices,” moderation is key. So, be sure to enjoy that much-needed cup of coffee first thing in the morning. And head out for a few glasses of wine with the girls on Saturday. However, try to avoid reaching for that third or fourth cup of coffee as the day goes on, and resist the temptation to over-indulge on the wine a little too much at the weekend.
4. Keep Fit and Active
Another great addition to your healthy lifestyle kick is to start exercising, especially if you’re not already very active. Not only will this help you lose weight if you need to, but it’ll also do wonders for your mental health.
Already an avid exerciser?
Then you may need to consider adjusting your fitness regime slightly. This is something you’ll want to discuss with your doctor, but too much exercise can have just as much of an impact on your fertility as not exercising. High-intensity workouts can impact your ovulation and lower progesterone levels, so it’s generally recommended that you stick to around five hours of high-intensity exercise per week.
Great examples of exercise that aid fertility include walking, jogging, or yoga.
5. Quit Smoking
Last but by no means least is one of the biggest changes you may need to make if you’re an active smoker. It’s arguably the most important step you can take toward boosting your fertility as smoking is known to reduce your chances of getting pregnant. And that goes for your partner, too!
While quitting smoking may seem like a huge challenge, it’s something you’re going to have to do when you conceive. So starting that process now will only make things easier when you do get that positive pregnancy test.
Taking Small Steps Toward Huge Changes
Introducing these new steps to your life may feel a little restrictive at first. However, like all routines, when you start to get used to them, they’ll feel “normal” and you’ll soon be reaching for a handful of walnuts, another glass of water, and a decaf coffee in no time.
Plus, after a couple of weeks, you’ll no doubt start to reap the benefits of these lifestyle hacks.
