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

healthyandthin1
healthyandthin1 Posts: 16 Member
edited December 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I read that it has happened to certain women to have lost their period from being on a 1200cal diet.. is that true?
Can this really happen to anyone?

Replies

  • jensnewstart
    jensnewstart Posts: 97 Member
    I wish....1200 and I still get it :grumble:
  • MaggieSporleder
    MaggieSporleder Posts: 428 Member
    Dude really? That's it I'm cutting calories back down! J/K But still would be a cool side effect
  • wendybird5
    wendybird5 Posts: 577 Member
    Not from a 1200 calorie diet, but if your body fat gets too low then you will. My sister went through that and had to go on the pill to regulate her system.
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
    no
  • morielia
    morielia Posts: 169 Member
    It can happen for a lot of reasons. I'm not on a 1,200 cal a day diet and I haven't had a period in like 7 years. My hormones are all screwed up.

    Being malnourished is certainly one of the reasons someone would have amenorrhea (not saying that 1,200 a day is malnourished). Intense exercise and dramatic weight loss are causes as well (it's called hypothalamic amennorhea - usually associated with athletes).
  • melbatoast917
    melbatoast917 Posts: 370 Member
    It can happen for a lot of reasons. I'm not on a 1,200 cal a day diet and I haven't had a period in like 7 years. My hormones are all screwed up.

    Being malnourished is certainly one of the reasons someone would have amenorrhea (not saying that 1,200 a day is malnourished). Intense exercise and dramatic weight loss are causes as well (it's called hypothalamic amennorhea - usually associated with athletes).

    What smartypants said! ;-)
  • Sililily115
    Sililily115 Posts: 45
    Even when my goal was 1700 I lost my period... maybe its unrelated but when I gained weight back it eventually came back
  • crimsoncat
    crimsoncat Posts: 457 Member
    I still had mine when I was 1200 cals and I am on birth control to shorten and lighten it.
  • Km0714
    Km0714 Posts: 62 Member
    i wish!
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    Dude really? That's it I'm cutting calories back down! J/K But still would be a cool side effect

    :laugh: If that worked.....man it'd be tempting!
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Only if you are working out at professional or military levels. For most it depends on % body fat, so any factor has to be repeated over time.

    If eating under 1200 itself were enough, I would risk other half factors!!
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Just throwing this info for those that are doing the really low cals (800, 400...etc)...and then I'm stepping out because unless it is doctor approved and supervised - you should not be eating THAT low.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/81391-starvation-mode-myths-and-science
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521480-1000-calories-or-less-a-day
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
    http://www.fitwatch.com/weight-loss/3-reasons-why-eating-less-than-1000-calories-is-a-waste-of-time-3347.html
  • MegDaig
    MegDaig Posts: 17 Member
    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.
  • Rosplosion
    Rosplosion Posts: 739 Member
    Women have a higher fat percentage than men do naturally in order to maintain our lovely monthly guest.

    When you put your body into starvation mode I am guessing the body wants to preserve all the energy it can. Producing blood cells costs lots of energy.

    Please don't it your body into starvation mode -thereby ruining your chance to lose weight and maintain it healthily - just to rid yourself of your period. You're a woman that is part of the deal.
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    When i first started dieting (and not as low as 1200), I lost my period for the first month. It eventually returned on its own.
  • Kristineevans1
    Kristineevans1 Posts: 64 Member
    Yes totally if you are exercising a lot and eating little fat in your diet, it has been said above and I speak from experience but also everyone is different so one fat % might be ok for one but not for another
  • veggieluver2
    veggieluver2 Posts: 70 Member
    Around 10 years ago I lost mine for 3 years. I have no idea how much I was eating--I wasn't tracking my calories. I was a vegetarian at the time and running 6 days a week. I loved not having to deal with it. But, in the long run, I think it messed with my hormones not having a period. My body fat was 13%

    After my doctors urging, I upped my calories and cut back on the exercise and it returned.
  • marinegirl92
    marinegirl92 Posts: 184 Member
    I wish... no luck yet!
  • mathera26
    mathera26 Posts: 90 Member
    a) 800 cals? jesus....

    b) when I first got really into working out and running and logging I was on a 1200 cal diet. I lost my period in April and it didn't decide to reappear until January after I had been on a 1500 cal diet for a month. Just my experience. I'm no pro though. :)

    ETA: I don't think it's JUST the 1200 cal diet that does it though. I think it's a lot of contributing factors, especially when you greatly increase your physical activity. I went from doing NOTHING to running A LOT and cut calories drastically to get to 1200.

    It does take a drastic change, also lack of a peroid is a sign that you could be hurting your body.
  • laf0195
    laf0195 Posts: 71 Member
    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
    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
    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: 2,654 Member
    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: 79 Member
    gotta be body fat. I seem to lose mine at 12%
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
    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: 14,312 Member
    Energy availability 🤷‍♂️
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    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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