You’re navigating a range of emotions and responsibilities when you’re trying to conceive (TTC). Because of this, a lot of things might fall by the wayside, like maintaining a nutritious diet.

But we encourage you to do your best to improve your nutrition while TTC. Doing so can have a positive impact on your body and your reproductive health, improving your ability to get pregnant.

Whether you’re struggling to maintain a nutrient-rich diet during TTC or just want to see what more you can do to prepare your body for pregnancy, these tips will help you enhance your nutrition.

Make Meal Planning and Prepping a Habit

It’s easier to consistently get the amounts and kinds of foods you need to nourish your body every day when you meal plan and prep.

You create a weekly or monthly meal menu and then prepare whole meals and snacks ahead of time, simplifying eating right. You can ensure all of your meals include the necessary nutrients and food groups. In addition, you can add fertility-boosting foods to your dishes to improve nutrition on your journey to conception.

To make meal planning seamless, implement these tips:

• Start collecting recipes so you have lots of meals to choose from
• Categorize your recipes by breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, and snacks
• Set a day to choose your meals for your menu
• Grocery shop for the ingredients with a list
• Determine what you can prepare ahead of time and in what order you should do it

Here are a few tips to simplify meal prepping as well:

• Invest in quality containers to store your meals
• Don’t meal prep on the same day you grocery shop for ingredients
• Ask for help from your partner, friends, or family to make the experience more fun
• Batch cook and use your slow cooker to ease the cooking process
• Start small, prepping one meal for each day, to begin with, and then add more as you become comfortable

Meal planning and prepping may seem like a lot of work at first. But once you get into a routine, you’ll see how much time you save and how much easier it is to eat right.

Try Nutrition-Boosting “Add-In” Ingredients

Sometimes we think being more nutritious takes these huge grand gestures, like cutting out sweets completely or only eating greens. But it can be as simple as throwing some beans into your pasta salad or nuts into your cereal.

When you are preparing your meals, try adding nutrition-boosting ingredients to the recipes you’re using. Nutrition-boosting add-in ingredients include:

• Nuts
• Fruits
• Beans
• Vegetables
• Ground flaxseeds

All of these ingredients can easily be sprinkled into or on top of nearly any meal. So, give them a try.

Consider Taking Supplements

When you can’t get the essential vitamins and nutrients you need naturally from food, consider taking supplements. Depending on the supplements you take, they contain certain vitamins, minerals, herbs, probiotics, and other substances that support overall and specific wellness goals.

In this case, there are supplements all women trying to conceive should take in addition to prenatal vitamins. They are:

• CoEnzyme Q 10 (also called Coq10– for the basic functioning of your cells
• Vitamin D3 reduces the risk of depression, diabetes, dementia, and autoimmune disorders
• Folic acid safeguards the baby’s neural tube development
• Selenium may help prevent miscarriage and protect cells from damage
• Vitamin E helps the fertilized egg stay attached to the uterine wall
• Herbs can boost fertility

Always consult your doctor before taking any supplement to ensure you’re taking what’s safe when TTC.

Boost Your Nutrient Intake With Nutrition Beverages

When you want to switch things up from solid foods, nutrition beverages are a convenient, delicious way to ensure you’re still getting the nutrients you need while TTC.

Nutrition beverages have various ingredients, like plant-based protein concentrates and isolates, no-sugar sweeteners, and prebiotic fibers that can:

• Improve your gut health
• Reduce your sugar intake
• Support your digestive health
• Better your immune system
• Be a solid source of protein
• Improve your overall health and wellness

There are many ready-to-drink or ready-to-mix nutrition beverages to choose from at your local grocery store. Or, you can do some research and find delicious fertility smoothie recipes you can make large batches of and freeze at home.

Hydrate With Food

There’s no substitute for water. Make sure you’re drinking the recommended amount based on your body weight and height. That said, if you’re bored of drinking water or are having trouble doing it consistently, you can supplement your efforts by hydrating with food.

The National Library of Medicine did a study on how different lifestyle factors affect fertility. It revealed that hydration was critical for a healthy reproductive system and, “Without enough water, men may experience poor quality erections, low seminal volume, and prostate infections. Women can develop persistent vaginal dryness and suffer greater susceptibility to a yeast infection.”

So, in addition to properly hydrating with water, you can consume more water-rich foods to help you reach your hydration goals more consistently. Add more of the following foods with high water contents to your diet:

• Dairy foods
• Root vegetables
• Red meat, fish, and poultry
• Vine fruits and vegetables
• Green leafy vegetables
• Cruciferous vegetables

Again, there is no substitute for water. We can’t stress this enough. Eat these foods in conjunction with regular water intake, not in place of it.

Get started today! You can improve nutrition while TTC.

Improving your nutrition while TTC is vital. You’ll prepare your body for pregnancy and have a chance to aid fertility. Adopt these creative ways to nourish your body and keep learning about how to better your nutrition while TTC.