Full disclosure, I still feel like it’s an absolute miracle that I was able to get pregnant so quickly at 36 years old. However, I can’t ignore the fact that I did do some very deliberate prep in order to prepare for that important moment. Maybe someday this can help other “advanced maternal age” (ugh) women. It is a true shame that simple things can make such a big difference but are not widely known.

Here are the top 3 threes that I did to help jumpstart my fertility. Listed from easiest to most challenging for me to implement into my daily life.

#1 Start taking a prenatal vitamin BEFORE I started trying.

For extra credit I also added a daily CoQ10 supplement for at least 3 months prior to trying.

A few things to think about when selecting a prenatal: The folate in the prenatal is the most critical supplement that the prenatal provides. Folate is super critical right in the early stages of conception so you don’t want to miss out on those days. Unless you have already been tested for the MTHFR gene, it’s best to just ensure that your prenatal has folate and not folic acid. Those with the MTHFR gene cannot process folic acid, so if you don’t know, just err on the side of caution and take folate instead. Make sure your prenatal is third party tested and uses the most bioavailable forms of the vitamins and minerals it contains. You are often best off with the companies that readily provide transparency into bioavailability and if/how they third party test their vitamins.

I say CoQ10 is extra credit because it is great for egg quality. The catch is that you have to take it 3 months before you plan to conceive because that’s about how long it takes for your eggs to mature. Once you have ovulated, you have lost the opportunity to gain those benefits.

#2 Seed cycling

This one you only need to do if your period is irregular or painful (so, basically most women). Side note: if you have a regular and non-painful period, I would love to know your secret. Unless your secret is birth control pills. That does not count.

I could go on and on about seed cycling, but for the purpose here, the gist is:

Days 1–14 take pumpkin and flaxseeds

Days 15–28 take sesame and sunflower seeds

Preferably about a tablespoon of each and freshly ground (I just use an old coffee grinder). Take them however you want; on top of yogurt, in a smoothie, make protein balls, eat it off of a spoon. You can be creative. The idea is that the different nutrients that these seeds offer help your hormones in the first half and then second half of your cycle. If your cycle is not regular, you want to try to nudge it into regularity by just cycling back and forth between these seed blends every 14 days.

#3 Hormone balancing diet

OK, this is admittedly the hardest, but probably had the biggest impact. Again, I could go on and on about this topic (and I am sure I will), but for now, it came down to this: metabolic flexibility. Combining a hormone-friendly ketogenic style diet along with smartly timed intermittent fasting, will get you there. There’s no better place to start than getting rid of ultra-processed foods and sugar, but if you have a big goal in mind (like getting pregnant) you may have to push it a step further and being very deliberate about what you are eating a when.

My diet was very low carb with weekly intermittent fasting days and monthly 24 hour fasting days. This combination helped me lose weight and feel very good and energized. Women have to be very intentional about fasting which Dr. Mindy Pelz spells out very clearly in her book “Fast Like a Girl” because our hormones fluctuate so dramatically throughout our cycle. This is a must read if you are interested in implementing fasting into your diet.