Dieting while trying to conceive

Research has shown that if you reach your ideal weight six months before you plan to conceive, you can improve your chances of conception.

This is because there are important links between body fat and the reproductive hormones, but more importantly, if you are overweight or underweight you can cause a hormone imbalance that disrupts your body’s ability to ovulate. Crash diets, therefore, are a bad idea – your best option is to try to lose weight slowly. This may mean modifying your diet to include fruit, vegetables and drinking lots of water. When you become pregnant you will have to cut down on the alcohol you drink (perhaps even cut it out for good) so it’s a good idea to start now.

Will I put much weight on during pregnancy?

Gaining weight is as much part of pregnancy as cravings or needing the bathroom more often. It’s inevitable that you will put on weight although the amount varies from woman to woman. Some women stay slim and just have a huge bump, while others seem to pile on the pounds as soon as they see a positive pregnancy test. A good guide to weight gain during pregnancy is to look at what happened to your mom during her pregnancies – your experience is likely to be similar. Some research points to a theory called the one-two-three rule which is that if you’re overweight you’ll put on a stone during pregnancy; if you’re a normal weight you'll put on two stone; and if you’re underweight you'll put on three stone! The good news is that most women lose their 'baby weight' within the first year of their baby's life as long as they follow a sensible well-balanced diet.

Remember the essentials

Try to drink around six to eight glasses of water a day and eat five portions of fruit and vegetables (raw, frozen, cooked or canned; and fruit juice counts as one portion).Starchy foods such as potatoes are important because they contain vitamin B, fiber, calcium and iron. Try to eat at least two portions of fish a week, including oily fish such as salmon. Meat is a great source of protein but try to choose the leaner cuts or cut off any fat you can see before cooking and don't add too much more oil – meat will produce its own oil

Try to drink a glass of milk a few times a week, or have milk with your cereal so that you get a healthy supply of calcium. You can also get calcium from cheese, yogurt and fromage frais. Eating saturated fats isn't great (think cakes, cookies, cheese and pastries) but unsaturated fats are good for you because they provide essential fatty acids. Stick to oily fish, avocados, sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil.

See also our articles on a healthy diet for pregnancy, vegetarian diet for the mom-to-be and breastfeeding and your diet. See our pregnancy weight gain calculator, which uses your BMI (body mass index), which is a weight range based on your body mass determined by your height and current weight.

The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.