Just Hit 12 Months of Trying to Conceive? Here's Exactly Where to Start With Fertility Nutrition
A year of trying carries a particular weight. It's twelve months of paying close attention to your body, of timing and waiting and hoping. Somewhere along the way, that one-year mark started to feel significant, not just as a measure of time, but as a kind of threshold. The point where "we're trying" quietly shifts into "maybe we should look into this.”
But the fact that you're here, still looking for answers and still trying to figure out what you need shows you're still moving forward and your instincts are right. Being here is a great starting point to finally getting to the root of what is going on. This is a great place to begin learning about the steps that could actually help. I’m sure you have information overload on all the things that you could be considering on this fertility journey. I work with people where you are right now so I am going to break down simple steps and try to cut through all the noise.
First, let’s talk about what 12 months actually means
The 12 month mark can be seen as a significant moment in your journey to conceive. The invisible marker that can make you feel ‘something is wrong here’ or ‘something is broken’. Let’s reframe that to the idea that your body’s needs just haven't been understood yet.
Your body is communicating to you through your energy levels, cycle, response to foods and symptoms and now is the time to listen to it. By looking at symptoms and things that you might not consider to be connected to fertility we can start getting to the root of what is going on.
Why Nutrition Belongs in This Conversation (And Why Nobody Led With It)
Maybe you've had many appointments, consults, lab work, maybe tried some other things like acupuncture. Maybe nutrition was mentioned but very briefly along the lines of ‘eat better’ or ‘lose weight’. The medical approach is extremely important but it does not cover the nutritional side of things which we now know has an effect on fertility outcomes, time to conception and pregnancy success. One example is research shows that folate status in the months before conception can directly influence chromosomal segregation during egg development. [1] Even chromosome status can be affected by diet.
The good news, when it comes to nutrition, is that you don't have to understand everything to start making positive changes. You just need a place to start and that's exactly what we're going to talk about.
Before you change anything - do this first
Start by simply getting curious about where you are right now. No judgment or no grading yourself. Just honest reflection. Take a moment to answer these questions in your head.
How you're eating:
What does a typical week of eating actually look like for you, not the ideal version, the real one?
Are you regularly skipping meals or eating on the go?
How food is making you feel:
Do you feel satisfied between meals, or are you hungry again quickly?
How are your energy and mood through the day, steady, or do they swing?
Does the idea of changing how you eat feel doable right now, or does it feel like one more thing on an already full plate?
This is not meant to create shame or be a negative experience. Approach it with curiosity. It's important to meet you where you're at. If you are eating mostly take out lunches because you don't have time to prepare anything at home that’s totally understandable.
When I work with my clients I see each person as an individual, every person has to be treated differently. Goals that we set for your fertility should match where you currently are and take into consideration your life and constraints including mental capacity for taking on new things. If your first step in your new nutrition focused path to pregnancy is just drinking more water then that is a great first step! It lays the foundation for more small steps.
If part of you feels like you've already tried a lot of things and something still feels like it's missing, I hear that. I made a free guide called The Missing Piece for people exactly where you are. I explain one thing that often gets overlooked in simple terms.
Click here to get it and I'll send it straight to your inbox.
Where to actually start
Instead of starting with what to avoid, let’s focus on what you can add.
If you're skipping meals, or eating smaller meals than you need you're missing out on opportunities for nourishment. Nourishment that supports healthy hormone levels, egg and sperm health, menstrual cycles and lowers inflammation (the enemy of conceiving) Try to reframe every meal as an opportunity for getting the nutrients you need. If you skip breakfast that's ⅓ of your opportunity missed everyday!
First step:
If you're a breakfast skipper or tend to work through lunch try adding a small meal this week. Something simple like boiled eggs already done in the fridge. Or maybe you start making a little extra dinner and saving some for your lunch the next day.
2. Inflammation = Why Your Body Might Not Feel Safe Enough to Conceive
Your body's response to continued stressors like processed foods, mental stress, unstable blood sugar, poor sleep etc. Chronic inflammation is systemic and shifts our bodies priorities. The body understands it's not a safe environment right now and conception and maintaining pregnancy are not a priority.
First step:
Start with just one factor you feel could be contributing to inflammation in your body. Pick up a stress management technique, or focus on getting a little more sleep, one change at a time is enough.
3. Take a closer look at your prenatal
Not all prenatal vitamins are created equal. One of the most important distinctions is folate versus folic acid. Many women, particularly those who have been trying for a while, have a genetic variation that makes it harder to convert folic acid into a usable form, which is where methylated B vitamins (like methylfolate) come in. A prenatal that simply checks the box may look complete on the label but still fall short of what your body actually needs at this stage. The quality of ingredients, their forms, and how well your body can absorb and use them all matter.
First step:
Bring this up at your next appointment, or consider connecting with a fertility nutrition professional who can assess your specific needs and help you find a prenatal that's actually working for you.
4. Support your blood sugar (even if you think it’s fine)
Blood sugar dysregulation is more common than most people realize, and it's a sneaky underlying factor even for people who think they're eating well. You could be eating a lot of salads, smoothies, oat based breakfasts and low fat products thinking it's great as each individual ingredient is healthy. However, if you're eating like this and still noticing you get hungry soon after or have fluctuating energy or that ‘hangry’ feeling then these meals could be contributing to unstable blood sugar. This is always one of the first things I work on with clients as blood sugar issues are directly linked to inflammation.
First step:
Add a protein to every meal (especially breakfast). If you like to have oatmeal then stir in some yogurt, add some nuts and seeds. Protein powders can be a good option. Are they processed? Yes but protein powder is better than no protein and again it's all about meeting you where you're at. Protein powder can be a convenient way to add protein without changing too much else.
5. Give Your Body a 90-Day Commitment Before Judging the Results
When changing up some of these things you can notice some immediate benefits like better mood, energy and sleep. However, changes to your fertility health take a little longer. Improvements to your cycle, the lowering of inflammation can take time. The window of time to improve egg and sperm health is also 3 months as their development cycles are around a 3 month window. [2] It's also not a coincidence that my one-on-one packages run for 3 months because that's how long meaningful fertility nutrition changes take to show up where it counts.
First steps:
Enjoy the immediate changes you feel, like more energy in the morning after a protein breakfast and stay confident in the knowledge that the other changes are happening internally.
You don't have to figure this out alone
I hope that I’ve given you some small steps to get started and cut through the noise and overwhelm. I became a fertility nutrition specialist because I kept meeting people who were smart, motivated, and doing everything they could find to do and still felt like they were missing something. My job is to help you find what that is, and to make the path forward feel a lot less overwhelming than it probably does right now.
Before you go down another rabbit hole of fertility diet research, there's something I want you to read first. It's a free guide called The Missing Piece and it covers the one area of fertility nutrition that rarely comes up, even in medical consultations. It's a 10 minute read and it might reframe everything.
I want to know what I'm missing
Whether you're just starting to think about nutrition or you've been trying for a while but still looking for answers you're in the right place. This blog, my guides, and my one-on-one work all exist for one reason: to give you the support and clarity that most people never get. You deserve to have someone in your corner who knows this stuff. I'm glad you found me.
References
Gomes-Correia et al. (2015). Genetic Polymorphisms Involved in Folate Metabolism and Maternal Risk for Down Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in Genetics. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4269293/
Fett, R. (2023). It Starts with the Egg: The Science of Egg Quality for Fertility, Miscarriage, and IVF (3rd ed.). Franklin Fox Publishing.
