Weight gain for IVF

Final7

Hi guys. Starting 1st IVF in September. Clinic said I'm what's described as petite in build. I'm 5 foot 6 and weigh 103.6 pounds so I'm coming out with a bmi of 16.7 which means I'm classed as underweight according to BMI charts . I've been told I have to try and get a least a stone on if not more as it may increase my chances of IVF working. Thing is I LOVE food, I just don't eat processed crap. Eat lots of veg/fruit/white meat and some brown carbs. I've started doing some resistance training to try and build muscle as I was a cardio bunny (stopped all cardio now) so don't have a lot of muscle on my body. I can't eat large portions it hurts my stomach so I'm eating more often through the day to try and gain weight healthy. Anyone else out there had to gain weight to improve their chances?
Thanks

Dolbert

Hi Final, I'm not TTC but I saw this thread. If you can't eat big portions, maybe try calorie-dense foods? Nuts are healthy but high calorie, as is peanut butter. Whole milk is also a good way to get calories into you. If you don't already, use full-fat rather than low-fat foods, and don't be afraid of adding olive oil etc when cooking. If you work out your maintenance calories at 12 x 103 = 1236, you need to add another 500 calories a day to gain 1lb a week. Hope that helps.

Final7

Dolbert wrote: »

Hi Final, I'm not TTC but I saw this thread. If you can't eat big portions, maybe try calorie-dense foods? Nuts are healthy but high calorie, as is peanut butter. Whole milk is also a good way to get calories into you. If you don't already, use full-fat rather than low-fat foods, and don't be afraid of adding olive oil etc when cooking. If you work out your maintenance calories at 12 x 103 = 1236, you need to add another 500 calories a day to gain 1lb a week. Hope that helps.

Hey Dolbert thanx for your reply. Yeah already eat nuts/fruit mix as part of diet so could eat more I guess. Was told to stay away from peanut butter when ttc for some reason. I eat avocados and do a lot of home cooking including pizzas topped with lots of veg and cheese. Did tend to stay away from full fat as high cholesterol runs in the family so I need to be careful but it wouldn't harm for a while to eat full fat . I drink almond milk or hazelnut milk. Can't stand cow's milk. Use rapeseed oil for cooking. Thanx for the heads up on 500 a day - did not know that . Have you had to gain weight yourself?

Dolbert

Not myself but I've been a carer for someone who had to gain weight after illness. One of the key things for her was to keep eating a little more even when full. It's a slow and steady process.

pwurple

Hey Final7,
Weight is very important for female fertility. You need some fat reserves as well as muscle for fertility. Over and under weight women often have fertility problems. I'm not sure what your reasons for needing IVF are, but weight gain may help you avoid that particular nightmare.

I have never heard of avoiding peanut butter while TTC.

When my grandmother was trying to put on weight after cancer, she had a very rigourous meal plan. Lots of snacks in between meals. She was on at least 12 meals a day. Fromage frais instead of yoghurt. Shortbread biscuits or chocolate with a cup of tea. Dessert of some kind after every meal. You can get powdered weight gain drinks in the pharmacy as well. Maybe ask them for advice.

Try eating an additional meal, snacking often, and adding calories with all your drinks. Instead of water go for whole milk, juices, smoothies, or even the drinks available from the pharmacy.

Final7

pwurple wrote: »

Hey Final7,
Weight is very important for female fertility. You need some fat reserves as well as muscle for fertility. Over and under weight women often have fertility problems. I'm not sure what your reasons for needing IVF are, but weight gain may help you avoid that particular nightmare.

I have never heard of avoiding peanut butter while TTC.

When my grandmother was trying to put on weight after cancer, she had a very rigourous meal plan. Lots of snacks in between meals. She was on at least 12 meals a day. Fromage frais instead of yoghurt. Shortbread biscuits or chocolate with a cup of tea. Dessert of some kind after every meal. You can get powdered weight gain drinks in the pharmacy as well. Maybe ask them for advice.

Try eating an additional meal, snacking often, and adding calories with all your drinks. Instead of water go for whole milk, juices, smoothies, or even the drinks available from the pharmacy.

Hi pwurple thanks for reply . Being pear shaped I carry most of my fat around my bum and thighs so it's not like I'm skinny all over but I guess my overall weight is low. We're trying ivf because of my age - I'm 42 and we've been trying nearly 3 years now so I guess it must be an egg quality issue by now. It's mad how everywhere I look on the internet for putting weight on it's all people who are recovering from illnesses like anorexia or recovering from operations. I mean some people are just petite in build but cause everyone seems to be overweight and on diets these days there's not much info out there for someone who is healthy but needs to gain a few pounds for ivf because everyone needs to loose it for ivf - lol. I've def upped the number of meals I'm having now and no low fat stuff for now. Good idea about the powdered weight gain drinks - must pay a visit to Holland and Barrett . I already drink complan. Stay away from biscuits and chocs tho as try to not have much sugar in my diet. May I ask have you been through ivf yourself?

pwurple

Final7 wrote: »

Hi pwurple thanks for reply . Being pear shaped I carry most of my fat around my bum and thighs so it's not like I'm skinny all over but I guess my overall weight is low. We're trying ivf because of my age - I'm 42 and we've been trying nearly 3 years now so I guess it must be an egg quality issue by now. It's mad how everywhere I look on the internet for putting weight on it's all people who are recovering from illnesses like anorexia or recovering from operations. I mean some people are just petite in build but cause everyone seems to be overweight and on diets these days there's not much info out there for someone who is healthy but needs to gain a few pounds for ivf because everyone needs to loose it for ivf - lol. I've def upped the number of meals I'm having now and no low fat stuff for now. Good idea about the powdered weight gain drinks - must pay a visit to Holland and Barrett . I already drink complan. Stay away from biscuits and chocs tho as try to not have much sugar in my diet. May I ask have you been through ivf yourself?

Underweight can be just as unhealthy as overweight, expecially if a doctor has advised you to gain weight. BMI of 16 is considered severely underweight, so you certainly wouldn't want to lose any more if you are at 16.7 now.

It sounds like you are on a very strict diet all the time. No sugars, no dairy or fats, no mention of meat and only very small meals. That's a lot of restrictions to contend with and still get all your basic needs. Maybe a professional dietician would be more helpful than internet advice.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

Final7

pwurple wrote: »

Underweight can be just as unhealthy as overweight, expecially if a doctor has advised you to gain weight. BMI of 16 is considered severely underweight, so you certainly wouldn't want to lose any more if you are at 16.7 now.

It sounds like you are on a very strict diet all the time. No sugars, no dairy or fats, no mention of meat and only very small meals. That's a lot of restrictions to contend with and still get all your basic needs. Maybe a professional dietician would be more helpful than internet advice.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

I agree - I def need to get at least a stone on and I do worry about osteoporosis at a later date. Don't think I restrict my diet so much. I eat tons of veg/fruit and not just the usual types found in supermarkets, I eat chicken/fish 4/5 times a week I eat brown rice, pasta in fact all grains like millet, oats, I eat chickpeas and I get my fats from lots of advocados, cheese and different nuts/seeds, I love bread and sweet potatoes. I just can not bring myself to eat all the processed rubbish sold in supermarkets today, most of which started out in a laboratory somewhere - lol. Thanks for your advice though and best wishes.:D

pwurple

Final7 wrote: »

I agree - I def need to get at least a stone on and I do worry about osteoporosis at a later date. Don't think I restrict my diet so much. I eat tons of veg/fruit and not just the usual types found in supermarkets, I eat chicken/fish 4/5 times a week I eat brown rice, pasta in fact all grains like millet, oats, I eat chickpeas and I get my fats from lots of advocados, cheese and different nuts/seeds, I love bread and sweet potatoes. I just can not bring myself to eat all the processed rubbish sold in supermarkets today, most of which started out in a laboratory somewhere - lol. Thanks for your advice though and best wishes.:D

I don't eat processed crap either, and I've a BMI of 20-21. You can bake your own things using whatever ingredients you want. Do you cook? Milk, spuds, butter, cheese and red meat are not processed crap. They are local irish food, some of the best quality produce in the world, and you'll put on plenty of weight if you eat enough of them.

IVF I avoided thank god. I became pregnant the month before we were due to start our first cycle of ICSI. One of my best friends has had 7 failed cycles. It has completely broken them, physically, mentally and financially. You should ideally be in very good shape going into it. The daily self-injections, the amount of drugs you have to take, it's a huge toll on your body.

Another friend was successful on their very first cycle though, so everyone is different.

edit, how about pasta and breads? Weight training friends carb load to bulk up.

gctest50

Final7 wrote: »

I agree - I def need to get at least a stone on and I do worry about osteoporosis at a later date. Don't think I restrict my diet so much. I eat tons of veg/fruit and not just the usual types found in supermarkets, I eat chicken/fish 4/5 times a week I eat brown rice, pasta in fact all grains like millet, oats, I eat chickpeas and I get my fats from lots of advocados, cheese and different nuts/seeds, I love bread and sweet potatoes. I just can not bring myself to eat all the processed rubbish sold in supermarkets today, most of which started out in a laboratory somewhere - lol. Thanks for your advice though and best wishes.:D

Diet n Nutrition should be a great place to get help ?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=982

I needed to put on a bit of weight before - its painful when you wander around a shop and only see a few things worth eating

pwurple wrote: »

Milk, spuds, butter, cheese and red meat are not processed crap. They are local irish food, some of the best quality produce in the world

Aaaand that's why we have a country full of athletes

I wouldn't use that cr@p in cartons to wash sewers never mind the vast amount of it pushed by the dairy nazis because they subsidise its production

Less spuds more rice doesn't do the people of China, Japan, India much harm

Lots of red meat - say hi to chemo

Final7

pwurple wrote: »

I don't eat processed crap either, and I've a BMI of 20-21. You can bake your own things using whatever ingredients you want. Do you cook? Milk, spuds, butter, cheese and red meat are not processed crap. They are local irish food, some of the best quality produce in the world, and you'll put on plenty of weight if you eat enough of them.

IVF I avoided thank god. I became pregnant the month before we were due to start our first cycle of ICSI. One of my best friends has had 7 failed cycles. It has completely broken them, physically, mentally and financially. You should ideally be in very good shape going into it. The daily self-injections, the amount of drugs you have to take, it's a huge toll on your body.

Another friend was successful on their very first cycle though, so everyone is different.

edit, how about pasta and breads? Weight training friends carb load to bulk up.

Hi again - sorry I wasn't suggesting in my post you yourself eat processed crap - I was meaning most people do - and you have to admit you only have to look in the most people's baskets to see this these days. Yep I eat sweet potatoes and moved over to real butter now and I eat cheese put don't drink cow's milk, I drink almond and hazelnut milk. Don't eat red meat because of the sodium nitrate that's put into nearly all red meat these days but eat plenty of white meat. Oh I've gained 4lb to date . Ah glad you didn't have to go down the ivf route. We only have enough money for 2 cycles so its guna be 2 try's and thats it. Which is good as we both want to move on with our own lives sooner rather than later if it's not meant to be. I do have a good idea what ivf is about already. I have been on fertility drugs for a while now including 5 months of clomid and 4 months of menopur injections taken every other day in the stomach as well as trigger injections - ovitrelle- to force me to ovulate, and lots of travelling back and forth to the clinic for scans - clinic is a 5 hour round trip for us everytime. The nurses said the only thing I've not experienced is the egg collection and transfer so they said the whole process wouldn't be as much as a shock for us as a couple. Anyway continuing to fatten meself up and cut out most of the exercise now so pretty sure that should make a difference - lol.

pwurple

Glad you are making progress! 4pounds in a few weeks is great.

What about regular spuds? People drop those to loose weight, so they must be good for putting some on. Eat the skins too if you can, that's where all the vits are.

Good to hear you eat cheese, baby will need LOADS of calcium when you get to the pregnancy. They will suck it right out of your bones and teeth if you don't get enough. People experience bone mass loss and some even loose their teeth from it.

You can get organic meat too if you want to avoid nitrates (and I think they are mostly in pork products rather than beef or lamb). A good butcher will be able to tell you anyway.

Rose35

Im not TTC, had a baby last august but was the same weight as you when I conceived J, I was so worried I was underweight but had no problems throughout my pregnancy, put on 4 stone weight during the 9 months!!!
Anyway, try eating little often if you find eating large meals in one go too much, i remember what that feeling was like, it's kind of like getting your stomach to stretch slowly by eating little often, snacking in between meals for example, good look with it all.

Final7

pwurple wrote: »

Glad you are making progress! 4pounds in a few weeks is great.

What about regular spuds? People drop those to loose weight, so they must be good for putting some on. Eat the skins too if you can, that's where all the vits are.

Good to hear you eat cheese, baby will need LOADS of calcium when you get to the pregnancy. They will suck it right out of your bones and teeth if you don't get enough. People experience bone mass loss and some even loose their teeth from it.

You can get organic meat too if you want to avoid nitrates (and I think they are mostly in pork products rather than beef or lamb). A good butcher will be able to tell you anyway.

Thanks pwurple - still need to get more on tho - our first cycle isn't till September. I've a holiday in Spain coming up in 2 wks and everyone puts weight on on holiday - lol. Yep more suds with skins, I'm taking the Pregnacare vitamins as well. The calcium is a bit of a concern. A few months ago both me and the hubby found out from doctor we were both deficient in vit D (no surprises there) which of course helps the body obtain calcium from our food but we've been on vit D for 3 months now. Yea we get our white meat from a good butcher but I should look more into the organic red.

Final7

Rose35 wrote: »

Im not TTC, had a baby last august but was the same weight as you when I conceived J, I was so worried I was underweight but had no problems throughout my pregnancy, put on 4 stone weight during the 9 months!!!
Anyway, try eating little often if you find eating large meals in one go too much, i remember what that feeling was like, it's kind of like getting your stomach to stretch slowly by eating little often, snacking in between meals for example, good look with it all.

Hi Rose - nice to hear from someone similar build to me - it hard to put the weight on in such a short space of time and it's nice to hear from someone who still got pregnant in my bmi range . Thanks for the advice. My stomach does really stick out and the pressure is uncomfortable sometimes after I've eaten a meal so the little and often seems to working better for me. If I do ever get pregnant guess I'll have to get used to having a stretched big belly - lol.

pwurple

Aaaand that's why we have a country full of athletes

Haw. Like professional athletes are a good example of anything, except how to injest drugs in huge quantities.

I wouldn't use that cr@p in cartons to wash sewers never mind the vast amount of it pushed by the dairy nazis because they subsidise its production

Quick, call Jim Corr, conspiracy theory and godwins law in the same sentence.

Less spuds more rice doesn't do the people of China, Japan, India much harm

They also eat plenty of noodles, corn, wheat etc. There are plenty of fatties in asia too. Potatoes just aren't really grown there. Spuds have potassium, calcium, phosphorus, fibre, vit C, vit B6, thiamine and riboflavin and folate and are fat free. Rice doesn't have anywhere near the nutritional value of a potato.

Lots of red meat - say hi to chemo

Pure nonsense. My grandfather lived to his nineties, a beef farmer, as was his father before him, who ate red meat twice a day, every day, his whole life. Died in an accident, never had cancer of any kind, which is some going for someone that age. Thirteen kids (no fertility issues either by the looks of it!), fed on red meat, all hitting their 60's and 70's now, no cancer between them either.

gctest50