eatin normally.

[michelem]

letsride89,

I'm around shootingstar's size, having gained around 10 pounds in the last year or so. Growing up, I was always at the bottom of the percentile charts in both height and weight. Ballet and competitive ice skating in my younger years, and in the past couple of years I've taken to cycling and running (I'm now nearing the big 4-oh -- yikes!). Last year, when cycling and 1/2 marathon training, even though my weight stayed the same, I believe my bodyfat percentage must have dipped below the safe level because I lost my periods for a couple of months. This is especially not good for me as I have osteopenia (runs in my family). I became embarassed of my "stick arms" and would wear long sleeves even in the heat of summer. In the past year, I've been seeing a doctor that specializes in nutrition and she has helped me with digestive issues that were causing malabsorption (basically, a lot of my calories were going right through me). She also got me doing weight training. I've gained muscle, but I believe also fat (which I needed). I still fit in the same size clothes I fit in 10 pounds ago, but I no longer feel embarassed to wear running shorts or t-shirts to the gym (don't get me wrong -- I'm kind of "prudish" and don't like to wear revealing stuff!).

So, today, I got my bodyfat tested for the first time. I don't know how accurate it is because it was the underwater weighing and I got all panicky being under water and having to blow all my air out and stay under. But, here's what I think you may find helpful: along with my bodyfat and lean muscle measurements, I was given info on my base caloric needs and my caloric needs with exercise. This was based on my particular age, total wieght, bodyfat percentage, and lean muscle percentage, but at least it will give you an idea. My BASE caloric needs (if I'm just lying in bed) are 1379 calories per day! Just to function throughout the day at a moderate activity level (not including "exercise"), I need about 2000 calories per day! Add exercise to that and I need even more (for my particular stats, cycling at 14-16mph burns approx 450 cal. per hour, running an 8 minute mile burns approx. 570 cal. per hour).

Anyway, I hope you get the picture that your body is probably starving for nutrition at this point. My dr. told me that even if I ate the amount of protein my body needs to build muscle, if I wasn't getting enough calories (either through eating or through absorbing them) then the protein wouldn't go toward building muscle, but rather just toward keeping me alive.

I really don't know how many calories I eat per day, but I'm in the midst of keeping a 10-day food diary for my doc and will be sending it to her for analysis, along with these test results. I certainly don't want to end up like my aunt and break a bone just by rolling over in bed! My period has been regular for at least 10 months or more now . . .

Okay, so hope this helps a bit. I highly encourage you to seek out a dr. who can give you some guidance on this stuff. Be very honest about your activity level and intake. I'm suspecting that your body is probably shocked by the rapid increase in activity level and lack of parallel increase in calories and that is why things are out of whack with your periods, temperature regulation, and hair.

Oh, one more thing: I'm wondering what has changed from a few months ago when you posted that you wanted to gain back about 10 pounds of muscle? Now you are saying you don't want to gain any weight? I do have to say that I really enjoy feeling stronger. I'm doing the 100 push-up challenge and my last go-round of "big-girl" push-ups was week 4 day 3: 29-33-29-29-40 (okay, so I had to stop a couple times during the last set and rest at the top, but I still eeked out all 40)! I still take ballet, and, while I may not be as thin as the adolescents, I am not an adolescent!

Good luck to you! By the way, what college do you go to?