Menstrual Cycle All Messed Up

Sylvian66

I'm a 20 year old girl of average weight, but I've been semi-casually, semi-diligently counting my calories using myfitnesspal for a few months now, using the "pound a week" method (though admittedly sometimes eating less than I'm supposed to, but I've had a cheat WEEK at times). I've also been lifting weights and being a lot more physically active. I have not lost much weight, much less than a pound a week, which I am happy for as I don't think it's necessary and I want to gain muscle weight, though I have lost an inch off my waist and hips. I just want to be a more fit person, instead of average but soft.

However, the past two months or so, my period has been coming a lot later than it should be. And as of now, it's been around 40 days since my last cycle, which is really unusual for me, and I still haven't started and felt like I'm going to start. It's making me nervous. I know that I'm not preggers (very single right now!). As a young teenager I had anorexia and lost my menstrual cycle completely as a result. I really don't feel like I've been eating so little for that to be the case: Especially recently, I've been easing back into a less restricted diet, both calorie-wise and food-wise. But I can't think of what else the problem could be. I don't want to forgo what I'm doing completely, but I had serious health issues before by not eating enough and I don't want to head down that route.

mjudd1990

Someone else had a similar question recently. Amenorrhea/oligomennorhea are definitely not normal at your age. Go see your OB/gyn. Could be as simple as too much physical activity or too low of a BMI but you definitely want to be sure it's not something more insidious like PCOS, pituitary adenomas, etc.

aliakynes

Hormonal imbalance is one of the consequences of not having enough fat in your diet (or on your body). You could be cutting too much fat out of your diet even if your net calories are in order. It's not the only risk so have some blood work done, either by your gp or gyn.

In the mean time, switch to maintenance and eat back your exercise. To gain muscle weight, you need to eat more than maintenance and focus on strength training.

healingnurtrer

Given your history you may want to talk to a doctor/ dietician/ counselor team with experience in eating disorders to make sure you're not going back to old habits.

meatpuppet999

Since I lost weight my period has been starting on saturday rather than monday. It still lasts 4 days and comes on the hour like clockwork, just 2 days earlier. I chalked it up to the fact that fat contains/creates estrogen so losing some fat altered my hormones a little. *shrug*
If you feel nervous than you need to go to your doctor to ease your mind and figure out what's going on with your body!

kur0shiro

I think visiting a doctor would be the best! Before I started exercising, I could go on for months and even almost an entire year without getting my period. But when I started dieting and exercising, it became regular. I guess our bodies reaaally respond differently.

Hope it all turns out well