This week marks the 1 year anniversary of Real Food for Fertility going to print.
Lisa (my co-author) and I worked our tails off to write the most comprehensive — yet approachable — book on fertility, combining our individual areas of expertise: nutrition and fertility awareness.
We knew this book would change lives, but we didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.
After all, fertility is a reflection of your overall health and it takes TIME for our physiology to respond to lifestyle changes. But we’ve been absolutely blown away by the response. I’m sharing a handful of these stories here because some of them truly are too miraculous to believe.
Real Food for Fertility Success Stories
My intention with sharing these is to give you hope and motivation. Even when the odds seem stacked against you, miracles can — and do — happen.
If you have a success story of your own, drop it in the comments section below this post.
Pregnant at 38 (with a parter who’s 54) on their first try!
After a previous conception journey of over 8 months to conceive their first child, this couple implemented the advice in Real Food for Fertility and conceived the first month that they started trying for a baby. Amazing!
Pregnant after nearly a decade of trying to conceive (recovering vegetarian)
I hear from A LOT of former vegetarians and vegans who have completely transformed their health after dietary changes. This couple is no different. After nearly a decade of trying to conceive, they got pregnant after incorporating animal foods into their diet. I got this particular message within 6 months of publishing Real Food for Fertility.
IVF success with better egg and embryo quality
Take a close look at the egg collection and embryo quality stats in this incredible success story. If you’ve been told that your diet has nothing to do with egg quality (or that you can’t change your egg quality), please read this article and also the egg quality chapter of Real Food for Fertility. We cover so much fascinating research in that chapter. It will truly blow your mind to learn the truth about AMH, nutrition for improving egg quality, research-backed supplementation, and more.
Pregnant after $10,000 of failed fertility treatments & a PCOS diagnosis
Polycystic ovarian syndrome is the most common reproductive disorder in women — and the good news, is there’s a LOT you can do to optimize your fertility despite this diagnosis. We cover it all in chapter 11 of Real Food for Fertility and this women’s success story speaks to what’s truly possible when you optimize your nutrition and lifestyle choices. Imagine implementing this life changing information before spending tens of thousands of dollars. Those resources are always available, but what if it became the norm to try food first?!
She healed her primary amenorrhea in one month!
This particular woman has left a detailed Amazon review outlining more of her story and what she changed if you want additional details (the Amazon review is from Renee Elliot on June 30, 2024). Primary amenorrhea can have many causes, but in this case, it was primary hypothalamic amenorrhea. This means her food and exercise habits played a direct role in the condition — and were also the key for healing.
Yet another amenorrhea success story!
Some women who have not had a cycle in years feel like they won’t ever restore their fertility. But when the conventional dietary approach fails (as it often does), know that there are plenty of other shifts you could make to bring back your period. We cover it all in the hypothalamic amenorrhea chapter of Real Food for Fertility. I also teach a detailed practitioner webinar on hypothalamic amenorrhea if you really want to dive into specifics on nutrient calculations and data.
Pregnant quickly & also helped her friend with PCOS to conceive
This woman is living proof that sometimes a shift in nutrition works quite quickly to improve your hormones and fertility. We certainly don’t expect it to happen this fast, which is why we recommend a 3-6 month minimum amount of time to implement changes before conceiving (and provide more specific timeline goals based on health history; see chapter 17 of Real Food for Fertility , but sometimes our physiology responds fast. As you can see, her friend with PCOS also benefitted and got pregnant!
Hypothalamic amenorrhea healed within 2 months!
The hypothalamic amenorrhea success stories truly never get old. For a condition that affects so many women, I hope it brings you reassurance that you, too, can get your cycle back, no matter how long you’ve had a missing period.
Better preconception health can mean easier pregnancies
When it comes to fertility, we’re not only thinking about how quickly you can get pregnant, but how we can optimize your health so that your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum are all easier as well.
Pregnant despite irregular cycles & feeling great
In Real Food for Fertility, we dispel the myth that you need to have a picture “perfect” menstrual cycle to conceive and this message is proof. Sometimes the shifts we see in our health are reflected in other areas — like better energy and stress resilience that she mentions — and these are signs that your body is healing. Pregnancy is a lot easier to weather when we start in good health. Our goal is to help you feel your best not only before pregnancy, but during and after as well.
There are so many more stories I’ve received in this past year and I look forward to many more. If you have a success story related to improved health or fertility, drop it in the comments below. You never know if someone else reading this blog will be inspired and find hope with your share.
A little word of encouragement to anyone working on their fertility…
I want to reiterate that health changes often do not happen overnight, and sometimes conception takes a lot longer than we’d like.
That said, if any of the changes you’ve implemented so far have improved your symptoms or well-being, you’re on the right track. So maybe you’re not pregnant yet or maybe you’re recovering from a loss, but… if your energy levels are improving, if your menstrual cycle is easier, if your hair and nails are thicker… these are all signs that your body is healing. Keep at it. You’re doing important work for yourself and very likely the next generation as well.
Thank you for your support
On a separate note, I want to give a BIG thank you to everyone who has read the book and left an Amazon review. Taking just a few minutes to post your thoughts (as a review) helps tremendously. The more reviews, the more the Amazon search algorithm suggests our book to people searching for help with their fertility.
If you have yet to pick up a copy, you can do so here. It’s available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook (we narrate the audiobook ourselves).
Until next time,
Lily
PS — If you’re not quite sure you want a copy yet, but are curious about how we approach the topic of fertility nutrition, you can download the first chapter for free right here.
I read Real Food for Fertility last year and started implementing all that I learned for about 8-12 months prior to conception. Once we were ready to start trying to conceive, we ended up pregnant on our second try! Absolutely loved the book & recommend it to everyone I know hoping to have a baby. Thank you Lily!
Amazing. Congrats, Dakota!
I wrote my thesis on nutrition’s role in fertility, and have worked with several couples to help them achieve pregnancy before moving on to more invasive methods. Nutrition is powerful enough that until last year, 100% of my clients were able to get pregnant using nutrition alone. The couple who weren’t able to found out there was cancer involved in their situation. It’s a *very* small sample size, but I’m convinced nutrition is paramount. I was thrilled when you announced your book on fertility and nutrition! I was recommending Real Food for Pregnancy to couples, but now we have this book geared directly toward fertility. It’s such a gift to the world. Thank you!
Yes, I agree that nutrition is often a huge missing piece of the fertility puzzle (obviously, haha). Thank you for recommending Real Food for Fertility to your clients! We really felt a resource specific to fertility nutrition and addressing all the most prevalent fertility concerns more specifically (including male fertility) was necessary.
I bought Real Food Fertility (here in South Africa) just before getting married at 42 yrs old (both husband and I) and started tracking my cycles and following the nutritional advice and recipes straight away to prepare my body for pregnancy. After 5 months we fell pregnant and I am now 23 weeks pregnant. I have read and followed Real Food for Pregnancy throughout our pregnancy journey, and according to our latest scan, our baby daughter is by all indicators “perfectly healthy” and developing beautifully. I am grateful for the data-informed guidelines and practical advice from both books as I had irregular periods (or long cycles) for most of my life and this changed to a regular 30-day cycle when focussing on real foods rather than on “low-fat eating”. I also have enjoyed making the recipes in the accompanying recipe book! Thank you for your hard work and expertise through these books!
Incredible. Thank you for sharing your story, Colleen!