tips on trying to conceiveConceiving not only requires the fertilization of the egg by sperm, but it also involves practicing healthy habits that help the body to become an environment conducive to pregnancy. When trying to conceive, you should consider a your weight, diet & nutrition, and your most fertile days.

1. How Do You Determine A Healthy Weight For Pregnancy?

The first thing that will be discussed is the optimal health environment for conceiving. You should aim to maintain or get to a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) for your height. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

Any BMI that is under or over that range can put you at risk for ovulation problems such as anovulation (cycles in which you don’t ovulate) or menstrual cycle issues such as amnoherra (no ovulation). All of these have an impact on how long it takes to conceive.

If your BMI is under 18.5, it is good to try to gain a healthy amount of weight until your BMI is within a healthy range for conceiving. This means having at least three regular meals daily that include higher calorie, healthy foods.

If your BMI is over 24.9, you should consider a plan that helps reduce body weight in a healthy manner. Your plan should include whole, organic foods and a moderate exercise program. Over exercising can cause fertility issues.

Getting Pregnant the Natural Way

While doing research for this website, I ran into a great website by Lisa Olsen. Lisa Olsen, a nutritionist and fertility consultant had struggled with infertility issues for a number of years before putting together a plan to help her conceive. She is a big proponent of natural methods to get pregnant. If you are interested in getting pregnant naturally, I recommend you read through her website also, Pregnancy Miracle.

2. Which Vitamins and Supplements Are Best?

The right vitamins and supplements can help boost fertility. Sometimes fertility is impeded by not having enough of a certain vitamin/mineral in your diet.

Some of the vitamins/essential minerals needed for conception include vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin A, zinc, calcium, and folic acid.

A multi-vitamin that is especially designed for women can help boost your fertility.

Although vitamins and supplements are helpful, it is best to get the nutrients needed through a whole foods diet that contains whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, and lean proteins. Many times taking the nutrient in vitamin form can cause a deficiency in another area.

However if you opt to use vitamins, it is best to get high quality and/or whole food based products.

3. Pregnancy Foods

The types of food you eat can also help your body to become “pregnancy friendly”. Foods that are excellent in creating a “pregnancy friendly environment” in your body should should have the following characteristics:

  • be organic (if possible, as pesticides can be harmful to the reproductive system)
  • be balanced (should have a good mixture of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins)
  • high in nutritional content (if you are eating organic, it is a lot easier to achieve this)

Foods that are rich in folic acid such as beans, leafy greens, and citrus fruits are excellent. Fish such as salmon and sardines, which are high in omega-3’s can help balance your hormones as well as nourish the reproductive organs.

If you’re not a fish eater, nuts such as almonds are a good source of Omega 3s as well. Foods rich in calcium are a good choices as well. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grain breads can help regulate hormones. You should also drink plenty of water. Water helps improve the quality of cervical fluid which is conducive to getting pregnant.

4. What to Avoid

There are also foods that should be avoided because they are not so baby friendly.

Avoid these foods at all costs:

  • foods that are highly processed
  • refined carbohydrates
  • foods high in sugar
  • nutritionally void foods (these are usually foods lurking in the inner aisles of a grocery store)
  • fish that is high in mercury
  • avoid caffeine and alcohol.

Also you should avoid foods that are high in sugar that can spike blood insulin levels, which can disrupt hormone levels in your body. So it is best to keep foods such as donuts, cakes, and pies to a minimal, or avoid them all together.

Foods that are highly processed such as margarine, donuts, and other junk foods can interfere with ovarian function, and cause anovulation or irregular ovulation cycles.

Refined carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice, white pasta, white flour have had all the essential vitamins and nutrients stripped from them during their refinement, leaving them nutritionally void. They can also cause hormonal imbalance, and ovulation issues, especially in those that have PCOS.

Fish that is in high in mercury should be avoided, such as swordfish, shark, albacore tuna, and sushi. High levels of mercury are known to cause birth defects in unborn babies.

Mercury can stay in the body for at least a year, so it is best to eliminate it when trying to conceive.

Alcohol and caffeine should be avoided as much as possible, they can cut the chances of conception in about half. This is because they may constrict the blood vessels in the uterus, making it hard for the fertilized egg to attach.

It is also important along with living a healthy lifestyle that you know when you ovulate.  This will help you know your body so that pregnancy becomes easier. It will also help in determining the best times to have sex in order to conceive.

Click here for Lisa Olson’s natural pregnancy website, Pregnancy Miracle.