Women - menstrual cycle, weight, and fitness matters

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Replies

  • brittyb727
    brittyb727 Posts: 4 Member
    Awesome, thank you!! I have to make sure to keep up the water during my lovely week, and hide the chocolate!
  • hearts77
    hearts77 Posts: 19 Member
    Bump
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    I recommended this thread for a sticky.
  • jennnfdsjk13
    jennnfdsjk13 Posts: 4 Member
    Great thread! I used to have the Mirena IUD, and I noticed an INSANE amount of bloating and cravings the week before my period. I'm on a oral contraceptive now (Mirena was awful for me personally and contributed to ovarian cysts - not fun), and it'll be interesting to see how my cycle and my weight responds.

    Recommending for a sticky! I always feel like a whacko for noticing changes in my weight/how I feel during my cycle, it's nice to see I'm not alone.
  • RWayne48
    RWayne48 Posts: 68 Member
    great thread - but wait until perimenopause! :s and it all goes to heck in a handbag - never had problems now it's either MIA or a menstrual monsoon and the only warning are major cramps - With the better weather I'm hoping increased activity means decreased symptoms otherwise it could be another 3-6 years of this - my poor husband!!!!
  • ArcticSero
    ArcticSero Posts: 63 Member
    I just recently gained 4 pounds due to probably water weight and this helped me and made me realize I need to chill. Thank you!
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    brittyb727 wrote: »
    Awesome, thank you!! I have to make sure to keep up the water during my lovely week, and hide the chocolate!
    Watch out with the water intake. It's nuts how much I pee on my cycle. :s

  • PhoenyxHellfyre
    PhoenyxHellfyre Posts: 31 Member
    This may be a silly question but does your body recognize all these phases during the same time frame when on birth control?

    Mine is starting any day now and between that and lifting today- I just can't eat enough! I like the idea of just maintaining during those days and maybe that would have prevented the bingeing I did today. I am going to move on from it and be better tomorrow!

    For me, my body does recognize some of these phases. I get the bloating and temporary weight gain, even though I don't technically get my period anymore. (And then I add a pound from stress from the panic attack when the scale seems to zip up. *sighs*) Voracious hunger or specific cravings are more sporadic, and seem to be based more on what's going on in my life in the weeks leading up to the invisible ToM. But yeah, eating at maintenance when the body seems to demand all the foods is a good way of maneuvering through it.

  • hrsj022
    hrsj022 Posts: 41 Member
    I had a 5lb upswing right before and the first few days last few days I dropped all 5 plus my normal goal..when I saw the upswing me and the scale took a few day break til I felt the bloat fade
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Got 2/3 of the way through Lyle McDonald: Fat Loss For Females on youtube last night. Very interesting!

    Topics that are covered:

    1. Female physiology and why it is more difficult for females to lose fat compared to males.

    2. Menstrual cycle and birth control and how they effect fat loss.

    3. Hormonal profiles (PCOS) and how this effects fat loss.

    4. Metabolic adaptations and practical recommendations
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    Hey ladies!

    We get a lot of threads with titles like “TOM--gained a pound!” or “PMS and can’t stop eating!” This is my attempt to create a reference thread about those issues. Please add any info (especially good websites/resources/articles) that you may have about this subject.

    Thank you for doing this ... this is a much-needed resource on this forum. :)

  • PocketDonna
    PocketDonna Posts: 2 Member
    Very interesting post, thank you!
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    Extremely well written! Thank you!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Bump. Thanks for posting OP xx
  • walking2running
    walking2running Posts: 140 Member
    question. I'm losing about 1 pound per week and eating an average of 1300 calories per day. My period is delayed by 2 weeks. i've taken 2 pregnancy tests and both were negative. I have been regular for a few years, so it is unusual. Is it a sign that I should slow down my weight loss or is it a normal byproduct of weight loss?
  • cate320
    cate320 Posts: 130 Member
    question. I'm losing about 1 pound per week and eating an average of 1300 calories per day. My period is delayed by 2 weeks. i've taken 2 pregnancy tests and both were negative. I have been regular for a few years, so it is unusual. Is it a sign that I should slow down my weight loss or is it a normal byproduct of weight loss?

    You're not losing weight excessively fast, but stress or sickness can make your period late or cause you to skip a cycle.

    So it could be a product of your body adjusting to the lower intake of calories, or perhaps you're working out more?

    In either case, it should sort itself out, but if it's persists for more than a few months, I would see a doctor.

    Same thing happened to me a few months ago, and I freaked out too until I did some research on it. Never felt completely at ease until it finally came, lol.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    Brilliant! Thanks so much for putting all this down!
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited April 2016
    arditarose wrote: »
    I've listened to Lyle speak on this on two different podcasts. Can't wait for the book. I've always known about water retention during ovulation and TOM but hearing him break it down and also relate it to training was great.

    I don't mean to post TMI but I wanted to give a little example of just how much craziness your cycle can cause on the scale. During my last ovulation I am 99% sure I had a large cyst that burst and it was late. I was just trying to get into a deficit. I was bloated, in pain, and not losing. Now, just because I ovulated late doesn't mean I got my period late, so only a few days later I got my period. For some reason I bled for 10 days. Now here I am thinking this is a good week to get an accurate weigh in, period is over, right? But the scale was up 4 lbs this morning. Then I remembered that I bled for 10 days, so here we are back at ovulation and retaining water again. Can you imagine how frustrating this would be for someone who is new to calorie counting?! It's still frustrating for me!

    And also how frustrating it is for those women who have 10 day periods all the time :(

    Are you ok? A cyst sounds terrible!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    cate320 wrote: »
    question. I'm losing about 1 pound per week and eating an average of 1300 calories per day. My period is delayed by 2 weeks. i've taken 2 pregnancy tests and both were negative. I have been regular for a few years, so it is unusual. Is it a sign that I should slow down my weight loss or is it a normal byproduct of weight loss?

    You're not losing weight excessively fast, but stress or sickness can make your period late or cause you to skip a cycle.

    So it could be a product of your body adjusting to the lower intake of calories, or perhaps you're working out more?

    In either case, it should sort itself out, but if it's persists for more than a few months, I would see a doctor.

    Same thing happened to me a few months ago, and I freaked out too until I did some research on it. Never felt completely at ease until it finally came, lol.

    Great advice.

    My period disappears for awhile every time I started cutting my calories . I usually end up with a 60-70 day cycle and then it goes back to normal. I'd probably wait another week or two and then see a doctor just in case since this is the first you've had it happen.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I've listened to Lyle speak on this on two different podcasts. Can't wait for the book. I've always known about water retention during ovulation and TOM but hearing him break it down and also relate it to training was great.

    I don't mean to post TMI but I wanted to give a little example of just how much craziness your cycle can cause on the scale. During my last ovulation I am 99% sure I had a large cyst that burst and it was late. I was just trying to get into a deficit. I was bloated, in pain, and not losing. Now, just because I ovulated late doesn't mean I got my period late, so only a few days later I got my period. For some reason I bled for 10 days. Now here I am thinking this is a good week to get an accurate weigh in, period is over, right? But the scale was up 4 lbs this morning. Then I remembered that I bled for 10 days, so here we are back at ovulation and retaining water again. Can you imagine how frustrating this would be for someone who is new to calorie counting?! It's still frustrating for me!

    And also how frustrating it is for those women who have 10 day periods all the time :(

    Are you ok? A cyst sounds terrible!

    Aw I'm all good. Cysts are fairly common. Thanks for asking!
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    needs a bump :smile:
  • lovebirb
    lovebirb Posts: 52 Member
    Nice info! This should be stickied since this matter disrupts 1/4th or more of a woman's workout/weight loss routine.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    bump
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    I'm curious if any ladies have super regular periods.. Mine come every 25 days between the hours of 9:30-10:30am, without fail every month.

    Not any more!

    Mine were quite regular (not to the minute, but I could name the day and it was usually in the morning) up till late 2013. And then ... well, basically, all hell broke loose.

  • NadiaMayl
    NadiaMayl Posts: 496 Member
    I'm curious if any ladies have super regular periods.. Mine come every 25 days between the hours of 9:30-10:30am, without fail every month.
    Yup, every 28 days, almost always around 3:00am. .... And then on and on and on for about 10 days... Thinking about it this way, if I add ovulation and PMS, I may have 10 good days per month..... Sigh.... Bloating around both and the twinges start 2-3 days before period and then get cramps for 3-4 days... Hahaha... The miracle of life giving! :P
    I used to freak out every time the scale was up 2-3 pounds, now I analyze it better, sometimes it still gets to me and drags me down!

    Great Post, OP,
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    Nudging to the top again.
  • chalaivy
    chalaivy Posts: 101 Member
    nice post :)