Female Athlete Triad in not-underweight athletes?

SillyC2

Wow - read this blog post this week:

http://skepchick.org/2014/02/the-female-athlete-triad-not-as-fun-as-it-sounds/

And I have to say I'm a bit scared. I'm set at 1400!

jennalink807

I've been netting around 1700 for a couple of years now while training for half and full marathons and have never gotten injured. *knock on wood!* I was always afraid that if I didn't eat enough my muscles wouldn't repair themselves quickly enough to keep pace with my training and I would get injured. Most running days I'm eating around 2000-2200.

Interesting read, agrees with my assumptions. I'm sure the pace of a person's training has a lot to do with injuries as well. I run most of my training runs at an easy pace, so that's more likely the reason I've avoided injury.

I would think 1400 would be okay though if you eat back your exercise calories.

That being said, my sample size is one (me) so, grain of salt

SillyC2

Thanks! That's really helpful.

I'm new to calorie logging. I've been steadily gaining weight since taking up ultrarunning. Not a lot, 3 or 4 lbs a year. I want to take it off and keep it from coming back, but I'm also pretty aware that if I go too fast with the weight loss, I could end up with Female Athlete Triad. I started out here (on Jan 5) at 125 and 5'2", and am now down to about 118 or 119.

runningcat76

great article - thanks for sharing. I suffer with disordered eating, so my calorie intake tends to be lower than it should be for the amount of running I do. (roughly 1600 per day but tends to be more at weekend due to BED) I haven't suffered any injuries but I have amenorrhoea. I am seeking professional help so hoping to be able to sort this all out before I get to the osteo stage!
Good food for thought

rduhlir

I am trying to lose weight...so I intake 1800 daily. On long run days if I am still hungry then I will eat some yogurt with fruit and slivered almonds for an extra 200 calories. I haven't had any injuries either...and I really watch my weight loss. If I start losing more than 2 lbs a week I eat more, though I only shoot for an average of 1 lb.

jturnerx

I think as long as you are maintaining a regular period you should be okay. That's the biggest red flag to me. In 2009 went from 140 to 108 in about 6 months. I had kept my calories to around 1400 and at the time was trained up to do half marathons, certainly not the sort of volume I do now. I'm 5'-0" and 108 put me well within a healthy weight range. But when I dropped below 113 I lost my period.

It was one of those things that just happened and I didn't think too much about it until one missed period turned into another until almost a year went by. At this point I was now maintaining calorie wise and training for my first marathon. But still no period. I developed a growing list of nagging little injuries after the marathon until finally I had hip pain so bad it was excruciating to run. An ortho visit, a x-ray and a MRI later I get diagnosed with a hip stress fracture. That was my 2011.

At no point during this time was I ever under weight. So now I weigh around 115-118, have a regular period and can maintain a training schedule needed for the ultras that I do. I haven't had a serious injury since that hip stress fracture. Everyone's threshold is different. Lots of women can be my height and weigh a lot less than me without any health issues. YMMV.

beeblebrox82

This is why you log exercise calories. SMH

SillyC2

This is why you log exercise calories. SMH

Have you ever missed a period beeblebrox82?

SillyC2

I think as long as you are maintaining a regular period you should be okay. That's the biggest red flag to me. In 2009 went from 140 to 108 in about 6 months. I had kept my calories to around 1400 and at the time was trained up to do half marathons, certainly not the sort of volume I do now. I'm 5'-0" and 108 put me well within a healthy weight range. But when I dropped below 113 I lost my period.

jturnerx, is that 1400 total or 1400 net?

What I'm worried about is that by the time I start missing a period, the damage has already started, right? Also, I'm getting on in years and might start to expect missing a period due to that.

SillyC2

great article - thanks for sharing. I suffer with disordered eating, so my calorie intake tends to be lower than it should be for the amount of running I do. (roughly 1600 per day but tends to be more at weekend due to BED) I haven't suffered any injuries but I have amenorrhoea. I am seeking professional help so hoping to be able to sort this all out before I get to the osteo stage!
Good food for thought

What's BED?

beeblebrox82

This is why you log exercise calories. SMH

Have you ever missed a period beeblebrox82?

....not sure if serious....

runningcat76

great article - thanks for sharing. I suffer with disordered eating, so my calorie intake tends to be lower than it should be for the amount of running I do. (roughly 1600 per day but tends to be more at weekend due to BED) I haven't suffered any injuries but I have amenorrhoea. I am seeking professional help so hoping to be able to sort this all out before I get to the osteo stage!
Good food for thought

What's BED?

BED - Binge Eating Disorder

SillyC2

great article - thanks for sharing. I suffer with disordered eating, so my calorie intake tends to be lower than it should be for the amount of running I do. (roughly 1600 per day but tends to be more at weekend due to BED) I haven't suffered any injuries but I have amenorrhoea. I am seeking professional help so hoping to be able to sort this all out before I get to the osteo stage!
Good food for thought

What's BED?

BED - Binge Eating Disorder

Thanks! Best wishes with your recovery.