Lost my periods! Help!!

I am a 19 year old female that weighs 117lbs and is 5'8'' I have lost my periods since June 2007 and now I am getting more and more worried and scared! I also exercise for 60minutes per day 6-7 days a week on the elliptical. I eat healthy but my food diary indicate about 1600 calories per day. The machine says I burn 600...which I do not think is right. So even if say 400, then I eat a net of 1200 calories. Maybe this is not enough for my body...that it has shut down the ability to reproduce. I have been to obgyn and all the tests came back normal... the doctor said "gain some weight" but the thing is, there are people who are way thinner than me who have their periods AND I used to have my period at the weight that I am now..actually, even LOWER... 114lbs. I really do NOT want to gain weight and I feel very healthy. I do not look starved...I have heard of athletes having ammenorrhea because they do not eat enough for their training...maybe this is the case for me. Also, I try to eat more but after doing so, I feel really full and bloated and I just do not feel good. :( I think 1600 cal/day feels the best but then maybe I need to reduce my exercise/? But I heard 60 minutes a day is really good. I am so confused. Can anyone give me good advice?? If I eat more but exercise the same, would I gain weight? If I exercise less but eat the same, would I gain weight? So this problem basically started after about 3 months of daily exercise...please help!!

Hy everyone,

I have the same 'problem with food' like almost all of you and I lost my period, too, after a hard and restrictive diet.

I understood that I have to increase my protein and fat intake (and calories ), but I have some troubles: I really don't know how it looks A REAL MEAL from the life of a normal person.

Now I eat 1700 calories/day but most of all are from low-calorie dense food.

For example, what should contain a normal lunch? I usually have a serving of bread (or starchy vegetables) + 1/2 chicken breast (or tuna canned in water) + a big salad (made with lots of veggies and 1 teaspoon of oilve oil). I'm quite bored. I don't know what to eat and, being honest, I'm quite scared of other foods.

Any sugestions, please? Like a meal plan for a day, just to understand what really means the word <NORMAL> 

Thanks. Hope you all have a beautiful day!

teddy_bear,

I'd suggest browsing/posting in the recipe forum for the best results.  A standard meal depends very much on the person and their likes or dislikes, but my basic meal growing up was oatmeal or poptarts for breakfast.  A school lunch with a sandwhich (PB&J or tuna or turkey), a drink, a granola bar, a fruit roll up, and a piece of fruit.  Dinner would be a serving of protein, a serving of rice, a generous serving of vegetables.  Snacks would generally be fruit or cheese and then a dessert of cookies or ice cream.

Now days I'm much more picky and aware of what I eat, but my mom did a pretty darn good job.  Breakfast is usually a smoothie or a piece of fruit.  Lunch (I often have 2 due to my activity level) is typically something with a serving of protein, a serving of starch/carb and as many veggies as I can fit (today is a pasta salad with pasta, chicken breast, artichoke hearts, olives, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and a drizzle of olive oil).  I have snacks of coffee with soy milk, chips, crackers with mustard dip.  Dinner will probably be a frozen cheese pizza (single size) with diced onions, pineapple, bell pepper, accompanied by a pound of broccoli.  I may go for a snack of a haagen daz dark chocolate ice cream bar since I did a light gym workout  and have both a BJJ and a dance class later tonight.

Not sure if you need anything else, but I'm 17 and i rarely have my periods too.  I run or play tennis almost everyday and i'm on target with my weight (5'3" 120lbs). I used to have them normally but then i skipped about a year and when i went to the doctor, she said that my hormones were basically just out of wack and my body wasn't producing the progestine that is necessary to start your cycle. She gave me a pill of progestine for a week and it helped me start again. That was like a month and a half ago though and i haven't had another one. My doctor said if it still hasn't come in three months then i'll have to do the same thing again. She never said anything about gaining weight though and i eat really healthy already.

Original Post by rachel2o09:

Not sure if you need anything else, but I'm 17 and i rarely have my periods too.  I run or play tennis almost everyday and i'm on target with my weight (5'3" 120lbs). I used to have them normally but then i skipped about a year and when i went to the doctor, she said that my hormones were basically just out of wack and my body wasn't producing the progestine that is necessary to start your cycle. She gave me a pill of progestine for a week and it helped me start again. That was like a month and a half ago though and i haven't had another one. My doctor said if it still hasn't come in three months then i'll have to do the same thing again. She never said anything about gaining weight though and i eat really healthy already.

From the BMI calculator (it's just math so a computer is perfectly capable of doing it as long as you feed it accurate information):

5'3", 17, and 120 lbs - Based upon your current Body Mass Index (BMI) of 21.3, you are currently classed as at a healthy weight.  A healthy BMI for your gender and age is between 20 and 24.

5'8", 19, and 117 lbs - Based upon your current Body Mass Index (BMI) of 17.8, you are currently classed as underweight. A healthy BMI for your gender and age is between 20 and 24.

There is a distinct difference in height here and weight based on that height, BMI helps to point that out.

Teddy_Bear The easiest way to inc calories(for me anyway) was to eat olive oil by dipping it into olive oil. I try to eat about 300 cals from olive oils now~ :-) dunno whether it is helping but I have increased my calories ...and it's 1800-2000 now. I weighed myself and surprisingly, I was back to 117lbs. (strange).

I am also skeptical about BMI because it doesn't even consider whether you are male or female, muscular fit or skinnyfat... you know?? Doesn't consider your fitness levels, just your weight. I don't think it's a good indicator of health...unless of course you are SEVERLY underweight...like 110lbs for 6ft.

Ok, is 99 lbs for 5'3 underweight? Yeah I think so.

Im just mad because I lost my period in april and I was around 110. And I hear the only way your gonna get it back is at 115 at bmi of 20. Im up for eating and **** but I just dont wanna look huge again and maybe thats why I LOST THE WEIGHT IN THE FRIGGIN FIRST PLACE.

Now people say Im too skinny but how about when I'm 115 again? I was 125 at once, I'd gain up to half of my original weight, what if my period doesnt come back?!

Quest, I'm a 5'8" 114-116 pound long distance runner, training for a half marathon in October. So I run a lot!

And after my halfer, I'm gonna stop!

Why? Because some bodies aren't meant to be this athletic. Some bodies are meant to have a little more weight, whether or not you feel bloated, in order to function properly.

I haven't had a period on my own since april 6, 2005. I've had two babies since then, but I didn't menstruate after the birth of my first, had to take drugs to get pregnant with my second (AFTER gaining 20 pounds or they wouldn't have helped me), and she was born March 1, 2008. Me = no period. The answer? eat more, eat more FAT, exercise less.

If you don't have a period, you put yourself at risk. For infertility, for thyroid and hypothalamic disorders, for osteoperosis. EVEN TAKING  BIRTH CONTROL WON'T PROTECT YOUR BONES and it certainly won't restore your period.

Up your calories by 400 per day at least if you're not "Crazy for gaining" and make them mostly fat. If you really want to have a chance at getting your period back, cut down the exercise by 10 minutes per day and cut out a day a week. Make compromise with which your body can work.

whats weird is that i get spotting so now i have secondary amnorehea and spotting...idk whats up, HELP.