|
I agree with the others. Even if you are eating what you think is enough, not having your period is a concern. The long term benifits can include serious things like osterperosis - so it's very important that you take it seriously. As far as body fat and performance - studies have shown that there is NO benifit for women runners to be below 14% body fat. (And the healthy range is a range - so many women's bodies probably need to be above that - healthy range is 17-26, I think). I keep my body fat around 17% until a marathon nears. At 17%, I did menstrate. For the two months before the marathon, I do let it dip as low as it wants to go. I don't worry about keeping it up. After a marathon, I make an extra effort to get mine back up. Right now, I'm a breastfeeding marathoner - so I haven't had a period in nearly 2 years myself. However, since it's mostly due to pregnancy and breastfeeding, the same issues aren't there. However, right now I know my body fat is too low - but my marathon is in 3 weeks, so I'm not overly concerned. I always have so much fun "working" to get my body fat back up!
Post a reply on the Bulletin Board
|