I need some serious help - my periods have stopped

[womblesofwestminster]

I've been doing ADF for 2 months now and my periods have stopped. This has never happened to me before. I've always been so regular. I'm 31 so should still be having periods. I've got all the cramps and bloating and weight gain you would expect when your period is due, but it has never arrived (2 weeks late). I'm 100% not pregnant.

I work out hard 5 times a week so I spoke to my gym instructor but she said your periods don't normally stop unless you're underweight (I'm certainly not underweight!)

Despite my strict diet & exercise regime I'm gaining weight. 3lbs this week. No weight loss last week.

WTF is going on? :( I am actually losing sleep over this.

Wombles From your posts on other threads, I thought you had been ADFing for several months, not just 2.
Also, you've said you prefer zero-cal FDs, so you may have been averaging as little as little as 650 cals daily a lot of the time.

You've described your exercise details a few times, with a really tough gym program 5 days a week and maybe swimming on other days.

So, you may have negative calorie balance some days and definitely too low balance the rest of the time.

There is a danger your body is catabolising (destroying) muscle, to obtain fuel and cutting down on non-essential functions, like menstruation.

Please think of your health. We are concerned about you.

Wombles
Its not the Intermittent fasting that has stopped your periods.
Its the manic starvation.
You have an eating disorder.
Please stop fasting TODAY

I'm really glad this has come to light as I've been increasingly worried about your posts wombles. Please, please listen to BCF, TIP and others with their wealth of experience.

I don't mean to sound nagging but like has been mentioned, watch that your food/exercise relationship is not getting a bit out of hand.

I spent 2 years between 18-20 exercising for 2-3 hours a day, 6-7 days a week and was eating on average 1000-1300 a day. I was usually burning off more than I ate. It turned into a total control issue for me which unfortunately lead to a binge disorder.

Please make sure you're eating enough with 5 intense workouts a week. I don't want to scare you but as soon as I stopped working out excessively and ate a normal amount (not over eating by any means) the weight piled on because I'd messed up my metabolism so much. My periods stopped for almost 18 months. Just a word of warning. Sorry to sound so cynical! Just hate seeing people make the same mistakes because the aftermath can be horrible

Also you would be amazed and how exercise can make some people gain weight. Google "cardio and weight gain". I stopped any cardio for a month a while ago because of a knee injury and just carried on lifting weights. I dropped more weight in that month than I had in ages. As others have said, our bodies are clever things.

2

oops sorry accidental post there

Like a lot of other people have said, you aren't eating enough. Your body is now also telling you you aren't eating enough. Even without all the exercise, you still aren't eating enough. Please eat normally on NFD or you could end up ill.