Cycle Decoded

Mediterranean-style eating is the pattern most often linked with better outcomes in fertility research, for both partners. It is a way of filling a plate, not a list of banned foods. Most days, not perfect days. What to change and what to keep: free guide,: https://cycledecoded.com/what-did-you-give-up-for-ivf/?utm_source=facebook

Lifestyle preparation alongside your clinic care.

Dr. Lejla, Cycle Decoded

Music: Felicity by Scott Buckley (CC BY 4.0)

Caffeine during IVF: most people do not need to quit. ACOG's limit for pregnancy is under 200 mg a day, about one 12-ounce cup of coffee, and many clinics use the same number while you prepare. Keep your coffee. Count the rest. Your clinic has the final word for your cycle. The full list of what you can keep: free guide,: https://cycledecoded.com/what-did-you-give-up-for-ivf/?utm_source=facebook

Lifestyle preparation alongside your clinic care.

Dr. Lejla, Cycle Decoded

Music: Felicity by Scott Buckley (CC BY 4.0)

Can you still go to the birthday dinner before IVF? Yes. Go.

With alcohol, the dose matters. Heavier, regular drinking is linked to lower IVF success. An occasional drink is not the same as a habit.

How to adjust at the table:
🥂 One drink, not three, and keep it occasional
🥂 Make round two sparkling water or a mocktail
🥂 His drinks count too: big nights out matter for s***m

During stimulation and transfer, follow your clinic's rules. That window is short. The 90 days before it are where you adjust.

Don't give it up. Adjust it.

Send this to the friend who keeps asking if you're coming. 💛

Free guide, What to Avoid Before IVF, and What You Can Keep: https://cycledecoded.com/what-did-you-give-up-for-ivf/?utm_source=facebook

— Dr. Lejla, 15 years preparing couples for IVF

Do you have to give up coffee before IVF? No. Keep it.

In large studies, moderate coffee wasn't linked to lower IVF success. The adjustment is the amount, not the cup.

☕ Stay around 200 mg a day, about two regular cups
☕ Watch the size: one large café coffee can be 300 mg on its own
☕ Energy drinks, tea and soda count too
☕ Have it before noon, so it doesn't cost you sleep

Don't give it up. Adjust it.

Save this for your next coffee run, and follow the page for #2: the birthday dinner.

Free guide, What Did You Give Up for IVF?: https://cycledecoded.com/what-did-you-give-up-for-ivf/?utm_source=facebook

— Dr. Lejla, 15 years preparing couples for IVF

You can live your life before IVF. Here's how.

Most couples are handed a list: no coffee, no dinners out, no weekends away. As if the next 3 months have to be on hold.

The research doesn't ask for that. It asks you to adjust a few things, for both of you, across the 90 days before your cycle.

Don't give it up. Adjust it.

This series shows you how, one real-life moment at a time: coffee, the birthday dinner, his gym, work trips, late nights. Follow the page so you don't miss the next one.

Free guide, What Did You Give Up for IVF?: https://cycledecoded.com/what-did-you-give-up-for-ivf/?utm_source=facebook

— Dr. Lejla, 15 years preparing couples for IVF

The Missing Link · Episode 3: Sleep

Repair happens on a schedule you are not awake to see. When the lights go off, hormone signals reset and oxidative stress is reduced. A short night is a shift that never happened.

What the research suggests: sleeping under 8 hours has been associated with poorer s***m motility, and when poor sleep quality meets rotating night shifts, the association is stronger still — over three times the risk (Li et al., 2022). Sleep loss has also been associated with lower testosterone, roughly 5.9 ng/dL per hour lost (Sindhwani et al., 2025).

If your work decides your nights, that is not a failure. You work with the nights you have.

And here is the honest part. The link from sleep to hormones and oxidative stress is well documented. The link from sleep to DNA fragmentation is not settled — and no study has shown that better sleep changes an IVF outcome. The repair crew works while you are not watching. Nobody has measured how much of the damage it undoes.

What is known: s***m take roughly 74 days to build, and every one of those nights is part of the build. You do not need perfect sleep. You need most of your nights back, for about 3.5 months. That is all the biology asks.

Free guide — What Did You Give Up for IVF?: https://cycledecoded.com/what-did-you-give-up-for-ivf/