Couple of questions on diet and exercise for TTC girl

I understand the LE diet to sway pink is based on reducing fertility and making the body believe that a female is best to conceive for the chance of survival in a lower nutrient environment.

1. So....does weight loss itself sway pink or only if it's achieved with a LE diet?

Reason I ask this is because being overweight myself (though had no trouble conceiving DS) I was always under the impression that weight loss actually increased fertility? A friend who is struggling to conceive has been told to lose weight and this will help her chances. How does that fit in with the idea of weight loss for the pink sway?

2. Also re exercise, I saw in the info that unless intense cardio is done everyday it's best not to worry about it but I couldnt quite understand the reasoning. I would have thought that even some cardio would deplete the body of nutrients and lower blood sugar?

And apologies if this has already been answered, I am still working through the mountains of info but haven't come across the answers to this :) Thanks in advance!

I'll re-post this in the members section.

Hi, I'm sorry this section normally doesn't get much traffic so I've only been checking it once a week or so! Never be shy about shooting me a PM and telling me to answer something if I've missed it. I did answer in the other thread but I will C and P here.

)We believe weight loss in and of itself sways pink, but not as effectively as weight loss on a lower protein diet. (Please understand that the amount of protein in the LE Diet is perfectly normal, just on the low end of normal.) Aside from reducing fertility and making the body believe that times are hard, you're also trying to lose body fat and reduce estrogen, and shrink your muscle mass and lower testosterone. Plus, eating larger amounts protein tends to keep your blood sugar higher for longer after eating and so the blood sugar stuff plays into it.

1 1/2)It depends. There is a U shaped curve where both people who are very thin and people who are very heavy both have fertility issues and seem to have more daughters that the population as a whole. I have thorough explanations in these two essays:

big girls, little girls, and baby girls (and boys!!)
Weight Loss for Pink, Weight Gain for Blue – How to

2)It's because moderate exercise helps health and fertility overall and also can grow/maintain muscle mass even as you're losing weight. You REALLY have to exercise a lot in order to get into the overtraining zone and this is esp. true for people who are carrying extra weight, because your body has tons of stored nutrients and it will take anything it needs from your body fat.

Exception - someone who has PCOS or insulin resistance (which, most people who are overweight can be somewhat insulin resistant) may be so benefitted by the effects of moderate exercise in terms of their blood sugar, that it may counteract the risks to raising testosterone and improving fertility, health, and maternal condition.

We simply don't have the data to know what strategy is right for each individual in each situation, so you have to go with your gut instinct. If you got a boy easily while overweight, then it would behoove you to lose some weight because a different approach may yield different results and that's what the data seems to indicate will sway pink for most people. Even though you may also be able to get a girl by gaining 50 lbs, that's not a feasible or healthy solution, esp. for beginning a pregnancy. Not only that, some people are able to stay very fertile even at higher weights (and may even grow muscle mass, raising testosterone) whereas everyone will shrink their muscle and shrink their body fat if they lose weight.

We've had good results with some ladies who lost weight even though they still were overweight when they got pregnant.