This has been such a pertinent topic across my platform right now…
So many women struggle with a missing period. The most common kind of amenorrhea (no period for 3 or more months) is hypothalamic amenorrhea. This is caused by a lack of proper energy within your body.
This can be caused by excessive exercise or a lack of proper fueling or BOTH! Most often when runners struggle with this it’s due to a combination of doing too much running and not doing enough EATING. Furthermore, having appropriate rest, recovery, sleep, nutrient-dense foods, etc. can be crucial to balance your hormones.
I recently dropped a podcast episode on the Knight Fit podcast that dives deep into what Hypothalamic Amenorrhea is. You can listen HERE. It describes in detail what happens in the body, what causes HA to occur and even how to reverse it. I have also dropped several episodes that describe more about what I’m personally doing right now: taking a running break, eating more, etc. I encourage you to go listen to these episodes–they are quite informative.
Not having a period is so much more dangerous than just being infertile–there are negative effects that impact the entire body: bone health, brain health, hair health, longterm consequences, etc.
HOWEVER: just because this can happen, doesn’t mean it will. If you take care of yourself properly, you can run consistently and never have problems. What causes HA is quite complex and it can be avoided! Go give those episodes a listen to learn more.
