TTC #5, Swaying Pink

Hi! I joined a few weeks ago and have been reading through a ton of old posts, and thought I should introduce myself. I live in Australia with my husband and our 4 children, DD 7, DS 6, DS 2, and DS 1. We thought we were done having babies, and then I surprisingly fell pregnant while on the Mirena IUD last month. That pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, and I had my IUD removed. DH and I were really sad about the whole thing, and decided maybe we would like one more, and we would love another girl. We will of course be happy either way, because our boys are absolute delights, but i'd love to give my DD a sister and balance our family a little.

Ideally, we wouldn't start TTC until mid next year, however, we are ridiculously fertile, and I would not be surprised at all if we had a surprise before then. I don't want to get caught off guard, so I'm thinking of starting to slowly make changes to my diet now. My plan is to do IF, with a 14 - 16 hour fasting window. Slowly reduce my meat intake, and my general protein intake. I have a decent amount of weight to lose (I gained 30kg with my last 2 pregnancies back to back, I really want that off), so i'm hoping I can get a good amount of before we actually do all pregnant. I exercise 5 days a week, at the moment it's Netball Mondays, Pump class Tuesday and Saturday, and Brisk walking Wed/Thurs. I know I need to cut the pump classes and add in more cardio, but I really don't want to yet, haha. Does anyone have any advice for a long lead in to TTC?

Hi and welcome!! So sorry to hear fof your loss.

Those changes in diet sound ok for now, but I do want you to be careful that in "reducing meat intake and protein intake" you don't end up dropping below 50-60 g protein for now. We have strict minimum limits on the LE Diet (honestly, the minimums are more important than the maximums) and when people are kinda winging it, oftentimes people end up cutting back more and more without realizing it till they're on a starvation diet. So do be sure you're always eating 1500-1800 cals a day, with 50-60 g protein and fat minimum evne though you're not actively TTC right now. And fruits and veg are free for protein and fat, and low carb veg are free for everything and completely unlimited, have as much as you want, no need to track.

Since you have some weight to spare I strongly recommend whole grains only, no white grains (or as limited as possible) and full fat dairy only, no skim. Skim dairy is the devil for blood sugar and can affect your sway negatively, and while it seems ironic, full fat dairy can actually help people lose weight. Limit sugar as much as possible too.

I would have you continue your exercise regimen which you enjoy and is great for helping with weight loss as well. We can revisit this much closer to your planned attempt (more like 6 weeks before). Here and now keep doing what you're doing!