Girls only - tons of missed periods?

soliddreams: you're not wrong about that body fat percentage thing, amenorrhea is a thing that can happen if a woman's BF% drops below a certain threshold. However, if OP's avatar is her, BF% is not her problem.

OP, see your doctor or OB/GYN as soon as you can. If there's no chance at all that you're pregnant, then you should definitely get that checked out. You're an adult woman, your cycle should have stabilized by now.

If you lose increased amounts of weight in a short period of time you will generally lose your period, it'll come back when your weight levels out a little more.

Hey everyone,

So I should have probably been more concerned about this than I have.. but I began losing weight back in July and thus far have dropped about 30 lbs all together. Overall, I've been losing about 6 lbs/month.. I've been doing it VERY healthily I have virtually never even went below 1300 and usually am much higher in calories. My exercise is intense when I do it but I only do it a few times a week so it's not like I exhaust myself. Despite all of this.. I haven't had my period since last August! That is almost 4 months! I am not sexually active, nor am I on any kind of medications, and I'm in perfect health. What could this possibly be? Has anyone else experienced something similar??

I've never ever experienced missing out on my menses because of physical exertion - from when I'd first had my menses until now. I've lost a whole lot of poundage - and my period was on the dot and healthy. And I've lost over 90lb.

I am so sorry.

See your OB/GYN for sure. I missed my period just once (except during pregnancies) and that was when I first went vegan. I figured it was the sudden absence of all the hormone-laden foods (meat/dairy etc) that I had been eating. It picked back up the next month right on schedule though. It was not calorie or exercise- related at all and I took 2 pregnancy tests- both negative. But if you continue to have missed periods, it definitely warrants a look-see by someone who knows more than us armchair specialists

Who cares who the advice comes from whether its a male or female.

Anyway, low energy availability is usually the cause. I only read Sunday's and Monday's entries but noticed this:

Sunday: Ate 1639 Exercised 1171 = 468 net
Monday (planned): Ate 1117 Exercised 508 = 609 net

That's pretty low energy availability if you ask me.

Read this study about calorie restriction affecting LH pulsatility and ovarian disruption and do the math using the included formulas to see if you are perhaps crossing the threshold:

http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/88/1/297.full

I did the math for you below:

Weight: 158
Body fat %: I estimated you at 29%, thus, you have a lean body mass of 112 lbs (51 kg).
TDEE: I'll state 2100 although many calculators put you at 2270.

30 cal x LBM kg ( 51 kg) x 1 = 1530 calories eaten
15 cal x LBM kg (51 kg) x 1 = 765 exercise calories

Thus, 2100 - 1530 = 570 calorie deficit
570 + 765 = 1335 total deficit
2100 - 1335 = 765 calorie net threshold

According to both Sunday and Monday, your nets have been 468 and 609 calories, which are below the projected threshold of 765 calories. The above study mentioned that disruption didn't occur at said threshold, but going below at some point will.

Thus, if your actual TDEE is really about 2100 calories and you are 29% bf and you established a net lower than 765 calories over 5 consecutive days, then you risk disruption of ovarian function and LH pulsatitlity.

I heard you can work out excessively, like an athlete, you can miss it.

What geeky jock said.

Although I would add that twice I have switched to intermittent fasting (keeping the same calorie deficit) and both times I've missed at least one period. Other women report into this with fasting as well.

Also, losing 6 lb a month is a lot if you don't have much to lose. Might want to add 250 or so cals a day?

I haven't had a period in 4 years. It's been awesome!

Isn't it bad news to lose your periods at the age of 18? Or are you just trolling?

I haven't had a period in 4 years. It's been awesome!

Isn't it bad news to lose your periods at the age of 18? Or are you just trolling?

Srsly.

Not trolling. And I am actually really happy about it, I thought I lost it due to my birth control, but I went off it a couple months ago and haven't gotten them back yet, thankfully.

Has anyone else experienced something similar??

I haven't missed a single period since Christmas '89 and I was really sporty. In my lifetime, I've only had the sedentary phase for about 2 years, where I'd prioritised work and studies over training and healthy eating. I usually averaged about 4hrs of strenuous workouts per day. It was normal to start a training session with 100 laps every stroke - before sprints. Then in my adulthood - road running, trekking and the more meditative options became a thing for me.

As of September this year, I have lost a large amount of my weight and my menses are still regular. Having read various articles about training, weight loss and its effects, I psyched myself just in case it happened to me. I anticipated it happening in September, October and November - NO. It flowed as it should, with my usual degrees of 2 heavy days, one medium and the 4th being the lightest. My OB/Gyn simply told me that it happens to "SOME" women and not all.

I'm really sorry. Have you been stressing about it? Sometimes it helps to relax and spend time with other women who've comfortably shared their flow patterns with you, for some believe that menses love company which is why sisters, women in the same family including the mums, friends and sometimes work peers who spend a lot of time together are in sync.

EDITED: I would even qualify under what would be termed as starving for about 2 years - I still had my periods.