Late periods and over exercising?

samairablack
samairablack Posts: 33 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am almost a week late and have a negative pregnancy test and read somewhere that overtraining causes late periods. Is that true?
I train for 60-90 minutes a day with cardio and strength every 5-6 days a week. Been doing that for 2 months regularly now. Is that enough to cause a delay in my periods?
Plus I dont take any pills or hormonal stuff as well so I am really confused. I dont want to be pregnant!!!! and I have no symptom as such. so there...

Replies

  • MysteriousDreamer
    MysteriousDreamer Posts: 96 Member
    I was wondering the same. I am 3 days late. I haven't lost a lot of weight the past month only 2 kilos. Hurry up period!!!
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    I highly doubt you're over training. How much dietary fat are you consuming every day? Dietary fat is responsible for hormone production so many women who diet and eat low fat see it cause problems with their period...
  • samairablack
    samairablack Posts: 33 Member
    my dietary fat is real low, yes. I don't know if that's whats causing the problem/
  • KaterinaTerese
    KaterinaTerese Posts: 345 Member
    How many calories are you eating? That's an awful lot of cardio if you're also dieting. Some women lose their periods completely when they're not netting enough calories.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    my dietary fat is real low, yes. I don't know if that's whats causing the problem/

    Eat more fat, it WILL NOT make you fat. If you're consuming less calories a day then you're burning, then you will lose body fat, no matter how much dietary fat you're eating. Low fat diets are not healthy, we know that, it's no 1992 anymore. Eat plenty of dietary fat, at least 0.4 grams per pound of body weight every day. It will keep you healthy.
  • samairablack
    samairablack Posts: 33 Member
    I get around 1200 calories day and as such i am 5'1" and 128 pounds so i feel that's enough for my frame
  • BusyBirdMommy
    BusyBirdMommy Posts: 22
    This happened to a girl I was friends with many moons ago (high school). Between weight training and cardio, her periods stopped coming altogether. I would recommend talking to your doc just to be on the safe side.
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    How many calories are you eating? That's an awful lot of cardio if you're also dieting. Some women lose their periods completely when they're not netting enough calories.

    I was going to say I doubt it's that but...

    OP, are you eating 1200 calories before or after exercise? Are you eating back exercise calories? How long have you been dieting? All this needs to be considered.

    Changes in exercise routine can cause changes in menstrual cycle. As can changes in diet. Many things can cause it, though. I've had athletic friends who would, occasionally, skip a few months in a row. That was just normal to them. I've had overweight friends who would do the same, too, because of dietary reasons.

    I doubt it's Amenorrhoea (the thing that often makes people not netting enough calories lose theirs). Although if the exercise and/or dieting become too extreme, it could turn into it. (I had it at my lowest weight, at the height of my ED, had no period whatsoever for most of the year, actually... and it's still inconsistent). Amenorrhoea is a horrible thing, and you'd know if it got that far. The loss didn't bother me as much as it should have (gender identity and all), but the dryness gets unbearable. Might be TMI, but it helps to know symptoms... just in case.

    The questions asked up there are things you need to consider... if you're netting less than 1200, it very well could be related to over exercising and/or under eating.
  • drewmmm
    drewmmm Posts: 130 Member
    Happened to me when I started losing weight! One month, 7 days late, the next, 7 days early! I figured it has to do something with weight loss, so I started taking pills and everything is ok now!
  • feedmedonuts
    feedmedonuts Posts: 241 Member
    With lots of exercise and not meeting my dietary needs my period would skip several months at a time to once almost a year. Doc even put me on some kinda pill that was supposed to kickstart it but that didn't work. I figured my girl system was broken or something. As someone mentioned...at the time, I was VERY afraid of fat and sugar. It was fat free sugar free everything. Also I was eating but probably not enough to compensate for the calories lost from exercise.

    Now I've learned, I get healthy amounts of fat and eat a healthy, well balanced diet. I was still exercising and doing HIIT training and weights. Period came back on the regular without any treatments...and well now I am pregnant lol. Also not sure what kinda test you took....but perhaps try another in a couple days juuuuust in case. My first test the line was so freaking faint I thought I was making it up in my head....x_x
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    I read journal articles on this when I was at uni - it's undereating not overtraining that causes this. You can carry on with the same training, just eat more. Loss of your period is a sign that either you're undereating, or your body fat percentage is too low, or both.

    If you're only doing that much training for weight loss, then cutting back on training would have the same effect as eating more. It's the calorie deficit that's the problem... i.e. your deficit is too big. So you can fix it either by doing less exercise, or eating more. Either way the deficit gets smaller.

    Note that loss of period due to undereating also causes loss of bone density, increasing your risk of osteoporosis, so really you need to sort this issue out. It may be a good idea to have a week or two of eating at maintenance before returning to eating at a deficit... and stick to moderate deficit. The less fat you have already, the greater the risk of problems due to undereating. So bear that in mind.
  • KaterinaTerese
    KaterinaTerese Posts: 345 Member
    This happened to a girl I was friends with many moons ago (high school). Between weight training and cardio, her periods stopped coming altogether. I would recommend talking to your doc just to be on the safe side.
    Just to clarify with what others are saying: your friend and OP probably NOT overtraining, but simply not eating enough to support her activity. From what I understand, you can have a caloric deficit whilst being active (weights, cardio), but it must be in line with how much training you're doing. I agree on the doctor, especially if the issue doesn't resolve itself.

    For example, I currently eat 2,000 calories for weight loss. If I were to start doing that much cardio everyday, I would up those calories to 2,500 and probably still lose weight (deficits are king. Calories in, calories out).

    OP, exercise should enhance your life, not damage your body. My personal suggestions are:

    Eat your dietary fat, and don't be scared of it. 25%-35% is NOT too high.
    Be careful to support your body with enough calories (saying "I THINK that's enough for me" is dumb. Figure out your actual BMR, TDEE, etc. here: http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/ )
    Maybe scale back on some of the cardio. You need less than you think to lose weight if you have a solid diet plan.

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