Weight loss and period

tebasile27
tebasile27 Posts: 11 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all! I'm a 5" 4' girl and I weigh around 112-115. The least I have ever weighed is 110 lbs.
Two or three years ago, I started exercising a lot and restricting calories, and of course, lost my period. I had to quit exercising, but I was still very OCD about my diet. I still managed to gain some weight (I started eating nuts) and my monthly visitor returned. As my weight settled, I lost some (got around 120?) but still got my period (I was able to start running again). Then, I lost my period for a month, but it came back the day after I graduated high school. Then, I did not get it for 3 or 4 months. Once my first quarter of college ended (literally, within a week) my monthly friend came back. At that point I was a little under 120, still fairly obsessive about eating at certain intervals, and eating very little fat.
I switched to a new nutritionist a month who has been extremely helpful with my diet (my old one was, well, that's another story). I have added a lot of PB, nuts, protein, etc to my diet. Has anyone had success in getting their monthly friend back by adding more fat to their diet? I was not eating very nutritiously before seeing my dietitian.
I guess I'm just wondering:
Could loss of my period just be due to stress? Will my dietary changes bring it back? Success stories anyone?

Replies

  • Cassidygriego
    Cassidygriego Posts: 26 Member
    I'm very interested in finding the answer as well :/ I'm 5'5, 130 lbs, and very active (I sprained my ankle last week so I haven't been doing much recently). The month after I started calorie counting(March 2012), I lost my period. I think it was because I had no idea what I was doing and my intake was strictly 1200 calories with a very active lifestyle. A few months later, I got concerned so I tried to "up" my intake, but nothing happened. I am also VERY OCD (I have a food scale and I weigh EVERYTHING lol), so I know exactly what I'm eating. Maybe it's calcium or iron? Just this week I became vegetarian and I don't eat many processed foods at all, so I'm not sure if that's good or bad for my monthly visitor.. I used to think it was stress too (still do)! I just want an answer, cause I haven't had "it" for a whole year :(
  • rosered93
    rosered93 Posts: 69 Member
    90% guarantee that for both of you it's combination of restrictive eating, insufficient dietary fat, and creating an energy deficit via exercise. All of these disrupt your endocrinology. Putting it very... loosely, you've created an internal environment that could in no way support a child, so menstruation is at the bottom of the priority list. Sure psychological stress will have physical impacts, but the major player is the actual physiological stress undereating has generated.
    Eating enough calories (think ~2000 if just passively active, upwards of 2500 if very active), consistently, without eliminating particular macronutrients should help remedy the situation. If eating this causes you to gain weight it is because your body needs that extra weight. 115 at 5'4" is quite thin--if you have a low body fat percentage your body is again, disrupted in regards to normal hormonal signalling. (I'm not sure what your weight has been historically.)
    So eat more, scale back on exercise if eating 2500 is psychologically a problem for you, eat dietary fats, throw out the food scale (honestly you're better off underestimating than overestimating at this point.)

    I'd encourage you to look up the Female Athlete Triad for some more info, second poster, in particular.

    (Of course usual disclaimer that I'm not a doctor)

Categories