Quote Originally Posted by smilingcat View Post
+1 with those questioning about needing to lose another 3-5 punds.

The study said that we tend to concentrate on our need to be lighter to perform better. Almost all female marathoners are anorexic. Few have died. Male however concentrate on building strength with little emphasis on reducing weight.

To perform at your peak, your body weight has to be within some range. Seems common sense to me. if you are too light like Karen Carpenter, who died of anorexia induce heart failure, that's not good. Then again if you went to the other extreme, at 400 pounds that's no good either. Again common sense.
At your weight, you probably can see your ribs. That's not good. And what about your period. If you stop because you are underweight, your body is telling you something. I was a mid-distance (10k runner) in my 20's and I weighed in at 105 pound. and I'm 5'4". I also biked alot back then too. I didn't have the muscle mass to sprint, and I didn't have the needed endurance to run or bike long distances because my body fat was way way too low. You stop menstrating and all sorts health issues starts up.
You are already below optimum weight for endurance sport.
I keep track of my body fat. I had a stroke in 2007 and in the fallout from that lost about 20 lbs, I think I was about 103 at some point. It was pretty horrible. Most of that was muscle, before the stroke I was 125 lbs of pure, solid muscle, I was working in a gym as a personal trainer and lifting a lot. I think my body fat was about 12 percent at 125 lbs. At 103 lbs it was 17 percent, as I was not permitted to exercise. Right now at my 115ish pounds it is probably around 13-14 percent...low, but not dangerous by any stretch.

You can't see my ribs, and I menstruate just fine (ugh). No anorexia here, but I AM controlling about it, I always have been. I admit to it. But for the smoothie thing, it was just a question about how to make my sad smoothie skills improve.