How to get pregnant: one reason why the hCG diet helps
We all think we know how to get pregnant – until it doesn’t happen. I had just turned 40 when my partner and I decided to try for a baby. I’d had my first son at 33, so I knew there was nothing wrong with my plumbing.
But I didn’t know if my fertility had decreased between the ages of 33 and 40. I was still ovulating like clockwork, so I assumed it would be easy.
Wrong. After six months of trying, my partner and I were getting a little worried. That’s when I heard about the amazing results a naturopath in my local area was having with women falling pregnant on the hCG diet.
I interviewed Rochelle for a blog post I was writing about the hCG diet for weight loss. During our conversation, she mentioned that many of her clients had fallen pregnant while on the diet, or soon after finishing it. It was all anecdotal evidence, but it was enough of an incentive for me to want to give it a go.
I felt like I needed to lose about six kilos at the time and thought, if I fall pregnant, it will be a bonus. I did the short program (three weeks on phase 2) and to my absolutely surprise and delight, I fell pregnant with my second son two months after finishing the diet.
After six months of trying with no success, I did the diet and bam! I fell pregnant. I don’t think it was a coincidence.
I had an exceptionally healthy pregnancy and gave birth to a beautiful boy at the age of 41 and after consulting more with Rochelle, I now know why doing the hcg diet helped balance out my hormones and put my body in an optimal state for conception.
“The hCG diet is very anti-inflammatory and it allows the woman’s body to become hormonally balanced again. It’s a great detox and it can also help with fertility.”
How to alter your program if you get pregnant while doing the hCG diet
Rochelle advises women who are doing the hCG diet and fall pregnant to stop taking the hCG diet drops and go straight onto the maintenance program. The 500-calorie diet from phase 2 of the program doesn’t provide sufficient calories for pregnancy, so it’s important to eat all the good fats of the maintenance phase (phase 3) and increase calorie intake straight away. 1500 -2000 calories is needed for women in general when not on a low calorie program and when pregnant, a woman needs more. Therefore maintenance itself will need to be monitored for correct calorie intake for a pregnant woman as the calorie intake will need to be increased. Most times a pregnant woman would need to step out of maintenance to obtain her requirements.
You need to continue phase 3 of the program for the same amount of time you did phase 2, but consume larger amounts (and as specified above).
For women who want to get pregnant but have some weight to lose, Rochelle suggests doing the diet to shed the weight before becoming pregnant, deal with the genetic influences first to give your little one the best chance.
“It’s far better for the baby’s health if you lose the weight first, to help the body know it’s new ‘normal’ weight,” says Rochelle. “This will then send that balanced signal to the baby’s constitution.”
Rochelle isn’t just a naturopath, she’s also a fertility expert, so she can help advise you on the best diet to follow after completing the hCG diet, to ensure a healthy pregnancy. But it doesn’t stop there.
“I’m also very good at helping people learn about which foods they should incorporate into the baby’s diet to help look after the baby’s health for now and into the future,” she says. “This will help them maintain their weight throughout their life.”