Daily exercise and healthy eating are integral to overall health, wellness and fertility. In fact, 12% of infertility cases are due to weight issues.
Exercising too much or too little can really impact your body’s natural fertility, which can prevent you from becoming pregnant. When exercise is pursued in healthy moderation, it can actually help to increase fertility. Exercising 30 minutes a day, three to four days a week, can help you on your way to achieving pregnancy. When paired with a healthy diet and good self care, exercise can stimulate fertility and may help you conceive.
Overweight or obese women tend to have more fat in their bodies. This subcutaneous and visceral fat can actually increase the amount of estrogen inside your body because 30 percent of our estrogen comes from fat cells. Thus, women who have more fat will produce more estrogen. This can influence ovulation, menstruation and conception in a negative way. Another fact is that overweight or obese women are more resistant to insulin. Insulin resistance can force your body to produce excess levels of insulin, which can inhibit ovulation.
On the other hand, anorexic women either never get their period or their period stops due to extreme weight loss. Amenorrhea is the cessation (stop) of menstruation, can be permanent depending on how long a woman has been suffering from anorexia. The good news is most women will start to menstruate again soon after they start to gain weight. Approximately 80 percent of anorexic women who successfully treat their eating disorder will regain their ability to conceive.
By exercising on a regular basis women can really help to lower their body fat levels. Overweight or obese women need to consult their physician about an exercise regiment and this moderation of exercise will help improve their chances of conception. Low impact activities such as walking, cycling, swimming and yoga are much less stressful on the muscles and joints, which is especially good if you haven’t exercised in quite awhile.
Seek nutrition counseling for a variety of concerns, including weight control and women’s health issues, as well as for management (or prevention) of health problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes/pre-diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, eating disorders and polycystic ovary syndrome.
