Recently started 1200 cals a day or under, period has been weird ever since.
pagophagia
Posts: 24 Member
Just for reference, I am not looking to lose, I'm looking to maintain my weight, I'm 5'2 and 110lbs.
Backstory: For the past few months I have gotten really bad anxiety over weight gain... and since turning 20 last year I have gotten this fear that I am going to randomly gain weight out of nowhere, even though I rarely do gain. The last time I ever noticed that I was a bit more was when I was going through puberty (even then I wasn't overweight, I just had more meat on my bones), I thinned out for unknown reasons in January of 2017 and stood basically the same ever since. At first, I really hated it but I started to appreciate my small frame a lot more. Now I wanna keep it like that. I used to never count calories either and I would just stay the same, I wish I could go back to that but I'm too afraid....
Anywho, my new thing now is OMAD/1200 cals a day, I eat one meal a day, and then I will have some snacks on the side like vegetables or whole wheat toast/healthy granola bars or something. I have also been working out basically almost every day (usually just cardio and walking), even if its just walking , I will walk a couple or even several miles now. I've been doing OMAD for a while now, but I have also incorporated the 1200 calorie thing fairly recently. Ever since doing that I've noticed that my menstrual cycles have been shorter (they now average on 22-25 days). I know that isn't bad but what is really bugging me is I finished my period literally 9 DAYS AGO and today I check on myself and all of a sudden I'm flowing blood! wtf is going on? Do you think this could be due to overexertion or the diet change? Anybody have anything similar? I'm just really worried. I went to the doctor today and all they did was blood so I just have to wait I guess..
Backstory: For the past few months I have gotten really bad anxiety over weight gain... and since turning 20 last year I have gotten this fear that I am going to randomly gain weight out of nowhere, even though I rarely do gain. The last time I ever noticed that I was a bit more was when I was going through puberty (even then I wasn't overweight, I just had more meat on my bones), I thinned out for unknown reasons in January of 2017 and stood basically the same ever since. At first, I really hated it but I started to appreciate my small frame a lot more. Now I wanna keep it like that. I used to never count calories either and I would just stay the same, I wish I could go back to that but I'm too afraid....
Anywho, my new thing now is OMAD/1200 cals a day, I eat one meal a day, and then I will have some snacks on the side like vegetables or whole wheat toast/healthy granola bars or something. I have also been working out basically almost every day (usually just cardio and walking), even if its just walking , I will walk a couple or even several miles now. I've been doing OMAD for a while now, but I have also incorporated the 1200 calorie thing fairly recently. Ever since doing that I've noticed that my menstrual cycles have been shorter (they now average on 22-25 days). I know that isn't bad but what is really bugging me is I finished my period literally 9 DAYS AGO and today I check on myself and all of a sudden I'm flowing blood! wtf is going on? Do you think this could be due to overexertion or the diet change? Anybody have anything similar? I'm just really worried. I went to the doctor today and all they did was blood so I just have to wait I guess..
6
Replies
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You are undereating for your height, weight, age, and activity level. This could disrupt your hormones.
Put your stats into MFP for maintenance. Eat those calories, and the ones you have earned through exercise.
If you can’t eat more through fear of gaining please talk to your doctor and get a referral to a therapist, councillor, or registered dietitian.
You can eat more without gaining. Though there may be a small bump on the scale initially, it is only water weight and more food transiting your body.
I too am small (5’1, 102lbs) and maintain on more than 1200 cals, close to 1800 with exercise.
Cheers, h.
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At 5’2 110, under 1200 calories is still a deficit. Set MFP to maintain, your TDEE should be around 1400-1500 at this weight and you should be eating around there, not less. Period issues stem from eating issues.5
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On MFP it actually does say more, its more around 1600 and I used to go by that, but for some reason I got hooked on that 1200 cal a day reddit, I guess I'm just being silly \: Also, on a daily basis its usually 1288-1350, still under but yeah4
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r/1200isplenty ?
Most of the people are dieting on there to lose weight, and some don’t eat 1200 calories (I forum there and eat 1500). It’s a really nice reddit for meal recipe ideas, but every person will vary on their caloric needs based on what their stats and goals are. You should follow the guide for maintenance MFP gives you; you shouldn’t be losing any more weight.6 -
yeh thats the one, those recipes sure are delicious tho haha0
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middlehaitch wrote: »You are undereating for your height, weight, age, and activity level. This could disrupt your hormones.
Put your stats into MFP for maintenance. Eat those calories, and the ones you have earned through exercise.
If you can’t eat more through fear of gaining please talk to your doctor and get a referral to a therapist, councillor, or registered dietitian.
You can eat more without gaining. Though there may be a small bump on the scale initially, it is only water weight and more food transiting your body.
I too am small (5’1, 102lbs) and maintain on more than 1200 cals, close to 1800 with exercise.
Cheers, h.
Thanks for the reply, and for being so nice, I talked about this on another site and everyone was really nasty so you think its this diet thats making it irregular?1 -
pagophagia wrote: »yeh thats the one, those recipes sure are delicious tho haha
You can still eat the recipes, but you need to eat more of the servings.
If it triggers you to think you *can't* get more than 1,200 and be OK, you have two choices if you want to make a *good* choice: Stop reading that group, or talk to a therapist about why you need the validation that undereating is OK.10 -
Why are you eating 1200 if you want to maintain? I am not understanding that... I am similar to you and maintain on 2100-2600 per day (I am active, but still)
1200 is weight loss for your stats, not maintenance. Of course it can cause hormone issues. A lot of people can easily lose their periods when undereating. Your body is saying it needs more calories to function properly and is shutting down hormone production in order to conserve energy. I really think you should tell the doctor you have been eating OMAD of 1200 calories and about the period issues.11 -
There's also some research that suggests that intermittent fasting can be particularly disruptive to SOME women's hormones. So you may want to rethink OMAD as well.
(obviously, everyone's milage varies. Some women do really well with various forms of time-restricted eating. But the research on it is almost all on men, and the research on women is almost all NOT on young, normal-weight women, and some women report responding really poorly to versions of IF).
http://paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/#
Some of the biggest names in IF promotion don't recommend normal-weight women engage in time-restricted eating:
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/women-and-intermittent-fasting/"I would also caution against the already lean, already calorie-restricted woman jumping headfirst into IF. I mean, fasting is ultimately sending a message of scarcity to your body. That’s a powerful message that can get a powerful response from our bodies. If you’re already lean (which, depending on the degree of leanness, arguably sends a message of scarcity) and restricting calories (which definitely sends a message of scarcity), the response to fasting can be a little too powerful."
(he goes on to say that what you're doing, with DAILY fasting, is particularly stressful)3 -
pagophagia wrote: »middlehaitch wrote: »You are undereating for your height, weight, age, and activity level. This could disrupt your hormones.
Put your stats into MFP for maintenance. Eat those calories, and the ones you have earned through exercise.
If you can’t eat more through fear of gaining please talk to your doctor and get a referral to a therapist, councillor, or registered dietitian.
You can eat more without gaining. Though there may be a small bump on the scale initially, it is only water weight and more food transiting your body.
I too am small (5’1, 102lbs) and maintain on more than 1200 cals, close to 1800 with exercise.
Cheers, h.
Thanks for the reply, and for being so nice, I talked about this on another site and everyone was really nasty so you think its this diet thats making it irregular?
Only your doctor can answer this.
But, upping your calories to maintenance, and making sure you are hitting your nutritional goals, especially fat and protein would probably help.
If I were you I would up my calories immediately, and make an appointment with my doc.
Cheers, h.10 -
Have you seen a mental health professional about your fear and anxiety about gaining weight? And have you seen your regular doctor about the “unknown reasons” why you lost weight? Both of these are things that a professional can help you with, and both are particularly concerning to me.12
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middlehaitch wrote: »I too am small (5’1, 102lbs) and maintain on more than 1200 cals, close to 1800 with exercise.
Gosh, I’m 5’1, 115lbs and I gain on anything consistently over 1500/day. How do you eat 1800 and maintain 102? (not trying to be rude; I’m genuinely asking)4 -
MrsDan1667 wrote: »middlehaitch wrote: »I too am small (5’1, 102lbs) and maintain on more than 1200 cals, close to 1800 with exercise.
Gosh, I’m 5’1, 115lbs and I gain on anything consistently over 1500/day. How do you eat 1800 and maintain 102?
Slowly and subtly increased my NEAT and getting 5x60 of purposeful exercise.
It didn’t happen overnight. I’m talking about 2-3 years of maintenance going from a 1200 maintenance with 200 for each hour of exercise to this point.
(I’ve been maintaining 9yr and wish I had started pushing the envelope earlier)
The simple explanation is - slightly moving more gave me more calories. More calories gave me more energy, more energy meant I moved a bit more again, etc.
I’m not talking about rushing about all day, I’m Mrs Sloth personifies, just more up and down, fidgeting, not putting something off- getting up and doing it. Simple silly things that don’t get done at a lower energy level.
The same can be said for exercise in a way. Being well fuelled means I perform better. This in turn means I am burning a few more cals, which means I need a few more cals to maintain my weight.
I worked it going from NEAT 1200 + 200 exercise cals to 1400 TDEE, then the same for 1600. I’m just this year doing the 1800 after doing 1600 + 200 last year.
If you do TDEE for maintenance try adding a handful of cals every few weeks.
Cheers, h.9 -
pagophagia wrote: »yeh thats the one, those recipes sure are delicious tho haha
Eat 1.5 servings then, instead of 1. Getting hooked on depriving your body of adequate nutrients and calories is just as bad as getting “hooked” on other things that lead you down an unhealthy road. Please take care of yourself.10 -
Have you seen a mental health professional about your fear and anxiety about gaining weight? And have you seen your regular doctor about the “unknown reasons” why you lost weight? Both of these are things that a professional can help you with, and both are particularly concerning to me.
I think that loss of weight was just me growing into my body, like I said I gained when I was going through puberty and then slimmed out in early 2017. In 2017 is when I kind of started eating a bit less, but it still wasn’t OMAD. I’ve talked to my doc about it a couple of times when it first happened and we did some tests and I’m alright, theres no underlying issue with why I lost weight.1 -
pagophagia wrote: »Have you seen a mental health professional about your fear and anxiety about gaining weight? And have you seen your regular doctor about the “unknown reasons” why you lost weight? Both of these are things that a professional can help you with, and both are particularly concerning to me.
I think that loss of weight was just me growing into my body, like I said I gained when I was going through puberty and then slimmed out in early 2017. In 2017 is when I kind of started eating a bit less, but it still wasn’t OMAD. I’ve talked to my doc about it a couple of times when it first happened and we did some tests and I’m alright, theres no underlying issue with why I lost weight.
ice cubes don't have calories. people need calories to function!
unless of course the "pago" in your name means feeling frozen about eating or freezing your eating... both of which would also not be great approaches to life!
if your hamsters get sick... you visit a hamster doctor!
Some of the thoughts/dialogue/concerns you've raised... sound concerning to an outside person such as myself. And more likely to lead to self harm than self improvement.
Self improvement and a great life are what you *should* be after... so dealing with things that hinder you is a MUCH more meaningful project than reading Reddit!
Take care of yourself.8 -
So you were maintaining well on 1600 and don't want to gain or lose but you have cut your calories to 1200 and increased exersize? If you cannot see that the maths on this won't work then it's likely you are heading towards an eating disorder. Please seek help and stop this cycle before it gets worse . There are a lot of good pieces of advice already posted so I won't repeat but suggest you ask your self if it was working before why change it? If you want yo exersize more for health you need more calories for it not less. Period problems are one symptom of your body not being happy but there are likely to be other unnoticed issues as well. X9
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There's also some research that suggests that intermittent fasting can be particularly disruptive to SOME women's hormones. So you may want to rethink OMAD as well.
(obviously, everyone's milage varies. Some women do really well with various forms of time-restricted eating. But the research on it is almost all on men, and the research on women is almost all NOT on young, normal-weight women, and some women report responding really poorly to versions of IF).
http://paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/#
Some of the biggest names in IF promotion don't recommend normal-weight women engage in time-restricted eating:
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/women-and-intermittent-fasting/"I would also caution against the already lean, already calorie-restricted woman jumping headfirst into IF. I mean, fasting is ultimately sending a message of scarcity to your body. That’s a powerful message that can get a powerful response from our bodies. If you’re already lean (which, depending on the degree of leanness, arguably sends a message of scarcity) and restricting calories (which definitely sends a message of scarcity), the response to fasting can be a little too powerful."
(he goes on to say that what you're doing, with DAILY fasting, is particularly stressful)
I am SO glad you linked this. I see such IF hype around here as of late and I'll admit that I used to do it a few years ago but after months of it, it really screwed me up big time. I lost my period and my mood changed completely. I wasn't sure if it was due to IF but after I made the connection it became clear. It took almost a year for my body to go back to normal. I personally feel that IF works better for women who are overweight/obese, have excess body fat, and/or have insulin issues. I'm not sure it's suitable for lean women who want to get leaner.
Anyway OP, I'm 5'3" and 112 pounds. I eat between 2000 to 2400 per day to maintain and I'm active. Even if you aren't as active, 1200 calories is still not maintenance for you. I am aware of 1200isplenty and it is great for recipes and all, but I feel like some people take their headline "Food for small bodies" too literally. I am small bodied and I'd gnaw my arms off if I ate 1200 calories per day. It should say "Food for small bodies (that are also quite sedentary, older, and/or have a medical condition)" and even then, as stated above, @middlehaitch fits part of that criteria and maintains on far more than 1200 calories!
I don't blame you for having that number in your head; 1200 calories for women is something that's perpetuated far too often in the weight loss community. Few women need to eat that little to lose weight and even fewer need to eat such a small amount to maintain their weight.7 -
Maxematics wrote: »There's also some research that suggests that intermittent fasting can be particularly disruptive to SOME women's hormones. So you may want to rethink OMAD as well.
(obviously, everyone's milage varies. Some women do really well with various forms of time-restricted eating. But the research on it is almost all on men, and the research on women is almost all NOT on young, normal-weight women, and some women report responding really poorly to versions of IF).
http://paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/#
Some of the biggest names in IF promotion don't recommend normal-weight women engage in time-restricted eating:
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/women-and-intermittent-fasting/"I would also caution against the already lean, already calorie-restricted woman jumping headfirst into IF. I mean, fasting is ultimately sending a message of scarcity to your body. That’s a powerful message that can get a powerful response from our bodies. If you’re already lean (which, depending on the degree of leanness, arguably sends a message of scarcity) and restricting calories (which definitely sends a message of scarcity), the response to fasting can be a little too powerful."
(he goes on to say that what you're doing, with DAILY fasting, is particularly stressful)
I am SO glad you linked this. I see such IF hype around here as of late and I'll admit that I used to do it a few years ago but after months of it, it really screwed me up big time. I lost my period and my mood changed completely. I wasn't sure if it was due to IF but after I made the connection it became clear. It took almost a year for my body to go back to normal. I personally feel that IF works better for women who are overweight/obese, have excess body fat, and/or have insulin issues. I'm not sure it's suitable for lean women who want to get leaner.
Anyway OP, I'm 5'3" and 112 pounds. I eat between 2000 to 2400 per day to maintain and I'm active. Even if you aren't as active, 1200 calories is still not maintenance for you. I am aware of 1200isplenty and it is great for recipes and all, but I feel like some people take their headline "Food for small bodies" too literally. I am small bodied and I'd gnaw my arms off if I ate 1200 calories per day. It should say "Food for small bodies (that are also quite sedentary, older, and/or have a medical condition)" and even then, as stated above, @middlehaitch fits part of that criteria and maintains on far more than 1200 calories!
I don't blame you for having that number in your head; 1200 calories for women is something that's perpetuated far too often in the weight loss community. Few women need to eat that little to lose weight and even fewer need to eat such a small amount to maintain their weight.
Trust me, most days I wish I could gnaw my own arms off... I tracked my TDEE (which is actually 1600-1800 a day, which makes my brain rattle. Because when I first started out I only consumed maybe close to 14 or 1500) and my BMR (1222 cals) is literally the amount I'm eating, I mean I kind of go over it but not too much. what even is your BMR anyways? I'm really really new to the whole counting cals thing /
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Your BMR is the amount you burn simply by existing. In other words, if you were in a coma, immobile, doing nothing but breathing, that's how many calories you'd need to stay alive. TDEE is the amount you burn during your normal daily activities.
For weight loss, you should be eating below TDEE but above BMR.4 -
if you know you will maintain your weight at 1500-1600, but you are obsessed with 1200, you need to see a mental health professional to address your severe anxiety. are you eating back the calories you burn from your long walks? if not, you're averaging lower than 1200.5
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Why are you counting?
Why are you restricting?
You are behaving as if you need to lose weight; yet, your own narrative states that you don't.
There is an obvious incongruity there that is affecting the quality of your life.
Which makes it something eminently worth tackling.6 -
Any idea how many calories you're burning per day with cardio? Women losing their period seems to be associated with their "energy flux" - yes low calories can do it, but even at moderate calories, large amounts of cardio can do it too. Being on a low end calories, even a relatively moderate amount of cardio could push the energy scales that your body is running hormones as if starving.3
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Everyone here has given you the same (intelligent) response, and you continue arguing and making excuses. I apologize for making assumptions, but that is a bit of a red flag to me. Your menstrual cycle is very likely affected by you restricting your calories more than what your body can handle.
There is absolutely NO reason for you to be in a 1,200 calorie WEIGHT LOSS group if you're maintaining your weight. Get. Out. Of. There.
Also I just want to reiterate that if you find it hard to mentally handle more than 1,200 calories a day without food anxiety or related issues, please talk to a mental health professional. Not your regular doctor - a counselor, therapist, whoever you have access to. It is possible you could be dealing with disordered eating, even if you don't realize it. Trust me, it is very subtle in the beginning.9 -
If you're experiencing unusual bleeding you need to see a doctor. It may be nothing to do with your diet. Better to get checked out.0
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