Dr. Nashat Latib

Natural conception

FERTILITY

Your Daily Fertility Checklist

By Dr. Nashat Latib • April 30, 2024

11 simple to-dos from a functional fertility expert.

If you’re on the journey to conceive, then you know the importance of daily tending to your body and spirit…  now you can do it with our signature fertility-boosting checklist by making small, consistent actions snowball over time to nourish your eggs, hormones, and overall well-being.

Your Daily Fertility Checklist

1.  Track Basal Body Temperature (BBT) right when you wake up.

Taking your basal body temp at the same time each morning pinpoints ovulation to time intercourse for natural conception accurately.

The key reason to check your basal body temperature first thing when you wake up is that this provides the most accurate baseline reading before other factors start influencing your temperature throughout the day.

When you’re sleeping, your body temperature follows a natural rhythmic pattern governed by changes in hormone levels. Tracking your resting BBT when you wake up eliminates variables that skew results later, such as getting out of bed, moving around, eating/drinking, and stress levels.

Plus, when you make this a task to complete each morning at the same time, you are much more likely to do it consistently. 

This consistency is critical, as even a half-degree temperature fluctuation can indicate fertility status. 

Daily alarm clock BBT charting provides reliable data to time intercourse for the best conception chances for each cycle accurately. Inconsistencies or delays in charting muddies the signs of good cervical mucus and the temperature signals needed to achieve pregnancy.

These BBT tools we like best: 

Please note: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning we get a commission if you decide to purchase through our links at no cost to you.

2. Stay hydrated.

Aim for at least 64 ounces of purified water daily. 

Getting adequate daily fluids aids nearly all body processes tied to fertility: Promoting cellular detoxification and energy production, flushing waste from digestive tracts, carrying nutrients into blood circulation directed toward ovaries and eggs and more. 

For women, drinking adequate water is essential for cervical mucus production at different menstrual cycle stages. Adequate hydration promotes thin, clear, slippery mucus at the peak fertile time of ovulation – the conditions ideal for supporting sperm motility and conception.

Without sufficient fluids, cervical mucus dries up and becomes hostile to sperm. However, increasing the intake of clean, pure water primes the cervix for successful natural conception.

3. Practice stress relief techniques.

Stress is the enemy of conception. It creates body-wide inflammation and puts you into “fight or flight” mode, which tells your systems to funnel all resources and energy to survival—not reproduction.

Tap into the parasympathetic “rest and digest” mode for 15-20 minutes daily via meditation, prayer, gentle yoga, breathwork, or relaxing hobbies. Releasing stress helps reduce cortisol and inflammation that’s sabotaging fertility.

Actively fostering positive rituals for managing stress promotes hormone balance, sexual function, thyroid health, menstrual cycle regularity, and optimal brain chemistry.

Even taking five deep, centering breaths when stressed summons the mind-body relaxation response, signaling that shifting out of fight-or-flight and restoring operations to non-emergency processes is okay. Therefore, regularly carving out mini-breaks to calm your nerves and clear your thoughts can support your fertility efforts!

4. Move your body.

Make time for moderate daily movement, whether a YouTube yoga flow or a neighborhood walk. Exercise assists hormonal balance and metabolic health tied to fertility. 

Anything that raises your heart rate into the “fat-burning zone” shifts your thyroid and sex hormones to flow optimally. 

Shoot for 30-60 minutes daily of brisk walking, gentle jogging, dance cardio, or moderate resistance training. Moving your lymphatic system through bouncing, swaying, and pumping motions helps, too!

5. Wear blue light glasses at night

Your brain perceives light (including light from TVs, laptops, phones, and e-readers) as a cue to wake up. Therefore, it suppresses melatonin production necessary for pre-bedtime relaxation and, ultimately, restorative sleep.

What you may not know is that melatonin also regulates mood, body temperature, and fertility cycles.

Block sleep-disrupting blue light emitted from phones/devices in the evening by donning blue blockers 2-3 hours before bedtime while reading or journalling and avoid looking at screens. 

By protecting melatonin output and sleep quality, you’re actually aiding your ovarian health.

6. Take your supplements

Most of us don’t get all the vital nutrients we need. Cover nutritional gaps with supplements, like methylfolate, CoQ10, and vitamin D, for egg quality, lining thickness, and implantation success.

When choosing supplements, opt for pharmaceutical grade vs mass-produced ones you can get at big box stores or major online retailers.

Why? 

Pharmaceutical-grade supplements are made under stringent manufacturing guidelines, which means they are more reliably potent upon delivery, with increased absorption of proper doses of the key nutrients that support egg health, sperm quality, and conception—without toxic contaminants or useless fillers.

7. Have a living room dance party and move your hips

Certain exercises that elevate heart rate, such as dance, yoga, and inversions, may direct more oxygenated blood toward reproductive organs, which can be beneficial for fertility. For example, in a 2021 study, dance training showed improved artery dilation and pelvic floor muscle activation.

Additionally, yoga positions that open the hips and stretch surrounding muscles improve flexibility, range of motion, circulation, and nerve flow—all of which are incredibly important when preparing to conceive. 

Try gentle figure-8 hip circles to increase pelvic circulation and nourish reproductive organs—while having fun getting your groove on!

8.  Sleep in complete darkness  

Ambient light impedes melatonin production at night, which means it can be much harder to fall asleep without resorting to unhealthy sleep aids.

To get the best sleep, blackout your room for 7+ hours to help you fall asleep—and stay asleep—all night long. Deep, restorative sleep refuels the hormones that dictate fertility capability. 

Consider blackout curtains and an eye mask to ensure your sleep environment is as dark as possible.

9. Eat 3-5 servings of colorful veggies

The fiber, antioxidants, and nutrients from vegetables feed eggs properly. Strive for 3-5 servings spread throughout each day, emphasizing color diversity for a spectrum of vitamins and minerals.

Aim for a “fertility rainbow” across your plate.

For instance, for breakfast, an egg dish like a veggie frittata with spinach, tomatoes, and bell peppers provides deep greens, ruby reds, and bright oranges, offering a range of fertility nutrients (folate, lycopene, and vitamin A in this example). 

For lunch, a salad of mixed baby greens topped with blueberries, beets, carrots, and a ginger dressing, followed by a light vegetable stir fry dinner made with broccoli, water chestnuts, red cabbage, and carrots over brown rice are other meal ideas that add multiple colors to your plate, while actively nourishing your body.

10. Avoid processed sugars, gluten, and dairy

Minimize refined carbs, sugar, gluten, and dairy, which are prone to disrupting delicate hormonal balance. Bloating, gut irritation, inflammation, and erratic blood sugar from low-quality convenient foods provide the opposite internal environment ideal for fertility. 

Instead, nourish the body with whole food sources. Shift your diet toward more vegetables, fruits, ethically raised proteins (including fertility-friendly seafood), healthy fats, and properly prepared whole grains. 

The nutrients from these kinds of foods support reproductive health.

11. Trust the process

Creating the fertility mindset is one of the most underappreciated aspects of the conception journey. 

Release expectations around timing or outcomes. Have faith that it will happen for you—even if it’s not the way you imagine.

Tend to daily fertility habits with patience and self-care. Above all else, practice gratitude, which can increase your chances of getting pregnant.

Conclusion

The point of this checklist is to remind you that there are small actionable steps you can take each day. You don’t need to wait until you’re ready to conceive to prepare for it. In fact, the sooner you lay the proper foundation for a natural conception, the greater your chances of it happening.

Rather than extreme changes all at once, make small sustainable steps that better serve your path to motherhood. Lean into this checklist over time until it becomes second nature — awakening your body’s innate wisdom!

If you would like our support to walk through the process step by step, we are here for you! Watch our free, on-demand masterclass here and take the action step to apply to work with us. We’ve helped countless couples like you succeed in optimizing their fertility, even when they are starting a family a little later in life.
 

References

  1. Pandi-Perumal, S. R., Srinivasan, V., Maestroni, G. J., Cardinali, D. P., Poeggeler, B., & Hardeland, R. (2006). Melatonin: Nature’s most versatile biological signal?. FEBS journal, 273(13), 2813–2838. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-4658.2006.05322.x
  2. Alvarado-Aravena C, Estrada-Goic C, Núñez-Espinosa C. Sintomatología depresiva y calidad de vida en estudiantes de medicina en alta latitud sur [Depression and seasonal sensitivity among medical students residing in high southern latitudes]. Rev Med Chil. 2021 Mar;149(3):357-365. Spanish. doi: 10.4067/s0034-98872021000300357. PMID: 34479314.