Welcome back to Foodbaby Fertility

On (mostly) leaving social media and why you might consider it while TTC

Welcome to Foodbaby Fertility on Substack, the new and improved fertility lifestyle newsletter by dietitian Ami.

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Hello friends

I’ve moved over to Substack because after having a bit of time away from this work, I’ve realised that while I still desperately want to share what I know about fertility nutrition (I know it can help you so much!) I am sick of scrolling on Instagram, cbf with Tiktok and can’t commit to a regular podcast right now.

I’ve always struggled with being consistent on Instagram, sure I love creating pretty graphics but it would take me literally hours to put together a perfect picture and caption… that hardly anyone would end up seeing if I didn’t also do silly dance reels and post my life on stories daily. (I can’t dance so that’s out and since starting my business I’ve had the incredible blessing of having two kids who are now obviously the centre of my life, and I know if you’re TTC you don’t need other people’s children popping up on your stories when you’re just trying to learn what to make for dinner to support your luteal phase, so sharing my life doesn’t really work either.)

I have also been questioning/unhappy with my own social media use for a while. So many times I would go to quickly check something on my phone (the time, the weather) and half an hour later realise I was somehow on Instagram, scrolling mindlessly and feeling bleh. I know so many of you feel the same way.

So I am seeing if I can go without it at least for a while. My business is 100% online so disconnecting from the main social platforms is big/risky. But I am looking after my baby full-time this year so my work is limited to naps and after bedtime anyway. The time I can work, I’d rather read scientific papers to stay up to date on the evidence, create resources for my clients and write directly to you in a newsletter. So here we are :)

Now you may be thinking this has nothing to do with fertility and you’re mostly right, except that our social media use affects our lives in so many ways.

There are four reasons I wanted to share this with you today, some of them ways social media might be affecting your fertility and some reasons to think about it now rather than later.

1. Your sleep

Beaming the bright lights of all the information in the world and everyone else’s seemingly perfect lives into your face every night before bed is affecting your sleep. We all know it yet night after night, it still happens. And sleep? Vital for decreasing inflammation which is key for egg and sperm health, vital for regular cycles, and for supporting progesterone production and implantation. So that means, sleep affects every part of fertility. Stepping back from social media has helped me and might help you spend less time on your phone before bed, which will improve your precious sleep.

2. Misinformation

There are a lot of (mostly) well-meaning people on social media who have no idea what they’re talking about. Fertility/PCOS/wellness/nutrition gurus with 100K+ followers but zero qualifications. With the way Instagram etc works, you can follow me (a qualified fertility dietitian, with 1000s of hours of experience in medical nutrition therapy) and then get recommended posts from a ‘fertility coach’ (no qualification at all) spewing nonsense as a direct result.

And how are you supposed to know which information to believe? They’re presented side by side like they carry equal weight (perhaps the coach has more followers and better engagement so you even see them more!) The system is designed to keep you on there as long as possible, not to help you as much as possible. Some of the advice I see being given out on social media will actually harm your fertility, not help it. It scares the shit out of me. Remember, no one is qualified to give out medical nutrition therapy - advice on nutrition and supplements for medical conditions - except a dietitian.

3. Your mental health

Social media makes us feel like shit a lot of the time. But when you’re trying to conceive and every time you scroll you see people’s babies/pregnancy announcements/ bump updates/book week photos… it’s like a stab in the guts, reminding you of what you don’t have. You don’t have to put yourself through that six (hundred) times a day. You’re allowed to opt-out.

4. Your baby

One of the reasons I’m addressing this in my own life now is that I want to soak up the time with my new baby (and my toddler). I realised that sometimes I would inadvertently find myself scrolling when I was with her, then I would see her big eyes watching me and realise that is not how I want to spend this time. If you’re trying to conceive you might be thinking, ‘good for you, I’m not so lucky (yet)’ but let me tell you these habits are hard to break even when you want to (when you’ve got such a good reason to!) so if you’re TTC now is the time to start working on it.

So how can you even do it?

I’m not an expert on this but here are a few resources that have helped me so far and what I’m doing right now. I imagine it’ll continue to be a WIP for me for a long time (forever?!)

This podcast episode from The Imperfects is what got me thinking about my phone use and working out how to be more purposeful about it in a way that suits my life and work. Then this episode and subsequently reading Johann Hari’s book, Stolen Focus, made me realise the importance of changing the way we interact with social media for the good of society as a whole AND how we as a society need to push back against the current model of social media. (I’m here on Substack because I think the model their model may be a better alternative.)

Practically, I’ve deleted Instagram from my phone and only download it once every few weeks or so for a little scroll. I keep my account signed out and have to type my username and use a password app to get my password and sign back in. These little steps all make me less inclined to go on and stop me from going on without really meaning to. When I first started, I re-downloaded it every night but I can see myself wanting to go on less and less the more time I’m away from it. (Side note: that’s why I don’t reply for weeks if you DM me - sorry! Email me!)

I’ve found that turning off both email and app notifications and but having the Substack app on my phone, means that I can keep up with my favourite newsletters when it suits me without them filling my inbox OR crucially, distracting me from my life.

If you’ve done something similar, quit or decreased social media/ your phone use, I’d love to hear your tips and what you’ve noticed as a result. Reply to this email or comment using the substack app.

This has been a bit different from what I usually talk about but I do feel it fits into fertility and lifestyle education in its own way. If you’ve made it this far, I hope it’s been helpful for you! I’ll be sharing more about what you can expect from these new newsletters next week. ✨

Ami xx