Can you really lose your period from 1200cal a day?

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  • laf0195
    laf0195 Posts: 71 Member
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    Calorie restriction shouldn't affect your menstrual cycle until you are either severely malnourished or undernourished. That should not be happening at 1200 cal per day (unless you are a very large or active person, in which case you need to eat more calories because you burn more). If you are missing periods (more than one, because your body sometimes just likes to be a troll) you should probably think about talking to a doctor about that.

    Just a little anecdote, my friend was telling me the other day about how her sister will not eat anything unless it is white, yellow or deep-fried (and by what she told me, this was no exaggeration). Her sister got her period 3 times last year because she is so malnourished from her poor diet of fast-food and absolutely no fruit or veg. So it's not just the number of calories, it's the amount of nutrients you get.

    But you're probably not going to starve and start missing periods from a 1200 calorie diet.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    I lost mine eating 1800-2000 a day because due to doing a lot of cycling, I guess I dropped a lot of body fat. Usually my stop periods point is 118 (I am 5'10). I stopped them at 126 for a few months.

    To those eating 800 and less ? Ridiculous unless medically advised. Utterly ridiculous and what a waste of potential for a healthy and strong body. If I, at 37 and with hypothyroid and emphysema, can keep slim on 1700-2300 a day, i fail to see anyone needing to cut to 800 to lose. Even without exercise, no-one should be on such a dangerously restricted diet.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
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    losing a period has to do with a lot of different factors. how active you are, how much body fat percentage you have, how much you eat. i've had ednos (restricting) for years, and for a long time now i eat under 1000. i am on bc though so i don't know if that makes a difference, but i still get my period. this month it was a lot shorter and lighter though, and would get it for the day then it would dissapear and come back the next day

    That makes a HUGE difference. You don't have PERIODS on birth control, you have a withdrawal bleed during the week on inactive pills because of the lack of hormones.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    Hasn't worked for me. 49 1/2, 1200 cals for the past 6 month, and dear old TOM still going stronger than ever. Seriously, he needs to just retire!
  • EnterNihil
    EnterNihil Posts: 67 Member
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    gotta be body fat. I seem to lose mine at 12%
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
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    MegDaig wrote: »
    Usually a loss of period when low calorie dieting is because dietary fats get too low. You need your EFAs so don't skimp on them. Fat doesn't make you fat. Shoot for 0.45g of fat per pound of body weight.


    But to be honest, no one should be eating only 1200 calories a day. Most of us should be able to lose easily at 1600 calories. There is no such thing as a slow metabolism, unless you are diagnosed hypothyroid.

    👆I agree with this .
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,927 Member
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    Energy availability 🤷‍♂️
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,082 Member
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    Doesn't have to be 1200 calories - I lost my period on 1700 and it never came back.


    Admittedly I was 54 years old at the time ;)B):p

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