• H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist

Best way to decrease body fat % and level needed to stop menstruation?

Well, to start I'm not going to lecture you, because, and no joke here, I'm 20 years old, and only 4'3" and 63" to date, and somehow still get my period, thank gods.

My question to you is, what made you decide to wish to interrupt your menstrual cycle? You seem very intelligent and it looks like you've been thinking about the pro's and con's of doing this sort of tihng for some time before coming to the decision, but I'm still not sure what the deciding interest was, short of birth control measures or just not having to deal with the mess ya know? (And believe me I know how much of a pain in the ass your period can get, I had ovarian cysts last year caused by excessive, constant menstrual bleeding for like a month due to being on the wrong form of birth control for my body type or some such)

I couldn't tell you how I keep my own body fat down (it's slim to none in most places, I have long lanky flamingo legs and arms and the only excess of fat I seem to show is on my breasts and butt, sometimes my tummy), and I do all I can to gain weight but my metabolism is too damn high for that, so it's not like I have a special diet or exercise regimen to keep my weight as is.
 
ok this is a healthy living thread. what your doing isnt healthy. i was anorexic for years and weighed about 90 lbs, and im 5'5. i still got my period. and now at a healthier weight of 110, im on a strong pill and sometimes dont get it now due to the high dosage(went on the pill for cramps at first). yet im 19 now, and due to the dieting and working out in the past, have osteoporosis. its not worth it, reevaluate what your doing. now i have a short time to reduce the damage, because walking around with a cane at 30 is not sexy
 
i'm no chick, but from what I know, you don't stop having periods because your body fat is low. You stop having periods because your testosterone levels have risen do to increases in muscle mass (which would also equal really low body fat %)

So, just do some steroids.=D =D
 
^^yay no period

... but geezis, steroids?

it's kinda late in life to be learning to shave your face (least from this chick's perspective)
 
Heya Fairy. I noted you were fed up with this discussion and might not post in here for a while. So whenever you read this, even if it doesn't help, hope I can just enlighten you in regards to my experiences.

Just to let you know my experiences with athletic amenorrhea, bad period cramps and body fat %:

At 13 I got my first period. I had horrible period cramps which prevented me from training and competing at my full potential, as I had started to train regularly (track work, hill work, cross-training sessions etc totalling apprx 3-5sessions per wk at that age) as a short distance runner/sprinter. So my coach put me on the mini pill. No more nights of not being able to sleep wishing I'd never get my period again, no more cramps. I went on to win my second state championship that yr. (I'm aware you can't take the pill or hormones, just letting you know my experience).
Two years later, the pill had caused me to put on weight, my parents and myself believed it to have brought on puberty early and I wasn't competitive at state level anymore. So I decided to go off the pill. I didn't get my period again for TWO YEARS. I was now training at least 5 times a week, including 2-3 weight sessions, 4 track sessions, and various cardio, hill and cross training sessions. My body fat was down around 12-14% the time I wasn't getting my period. My doctor diagnosed me with athletic amenorrhea, telling me that was the reason I wasn't getting my periods in the 2yr time span from when I was 15-17. Possibly true, also though having been relying on the pill from the age of 13-15 to generate my period that also probably shocked my body. So no wonder you'd be at high stroke risk going on the pill if you have high hormone levels! The pill can really play with your body, its not to be taken lightly.
Anyways I went back on the pill a mth before turning 17 when I got my period back, as once again, when I got them back the cramp pain was intolerable, so once again the pill took it away for me. I continued on the pill til I was 19 and I had a break from it again for a few mths, once again the cramps returning. So again went back on it and stayed on it til last year in September (age 22) I went off it to see how my body reacted and now I am 8mths pregnant! So just to let you know if you were worried about fertility being reduced, ha well in my case I had everyone telling me there was no way I'd get pregnant for ages with my menstrual history. My doctor said I must be very fertile lol! Still to go through all that as a teenager was surprising for me to fall pregnant so easy.
So that story was to probably just let you know that I have had my own experiences with extremely bad cramps and a rocky road on the pill to try and ease them since it proved to help while I was on it. So I know what body fat % I would have and what rate I¡¯d have to working out at to not get my own periods, still it could be different for you. And I guess my story proves that you can still be fertile after all of it! As well as I have strong bones, never broken one ever and a recent full check-up at the doctors earlier in my pregnancy showed my blood levels and bone density was at a very healthy level. (I was also shooting up speed and meth regularly for two yrs before I fell pregnant.) I can fully understand you not wanting to get your periods for the reason of having bad cramps! As I said earlier my body fat was around 12-14% when I was not getting my period. But who knows it might have to be lower for you since you have high hormone levels. I would suggest if you want to lose you body fat that bad, cardio 6 days a week and 2-3 weight sessions, depending on the intensity. Hill sessions (running up hills) are great too to work yourself aerobically and get the lactic acid working in your muscles.
I¡¯m sure if you did speak to your doctor or a specialist that they could work out something you can take to ease your cramps without it containing hormones?
Anyways hope my story may have helped in some way. Or if anything let you know I understand where you¡¯re at to some degree.
Good luck with it all! And please report back in here let us know how you go with it!!

Ky *;)

;) ;)
 
Fairnymph, I have no idea why you want to stop your mensturation, but I do know that the anticonception pill will do it just fine 'n dandy. Thing is, in every pillstrip, there are 4 pills without any working substance. If one would, however, take an active pill every day of the month, menstruation will stop. However, if you stop taking the pill, it may take up to a few months or even years to start menstruation again.
 
You said no lecture, but you will still get one to get your two feets back on Earth.

Basically I know how to get as thin as I want to be aesthetically

By any accounts you should eat more and gain 5 to 10 pounds to look healthier. Not lose them.

I've looked at your pictures, and while I cannot deny your attractive features, you are below what I consider to be "thin". Your biceps are almost the same size as your skinny forearms, and your skin seems to be almost in direct contact with your facial bones. You would fit in well with most fashion models on stage, which is not my definition of beauty, liberation, and giving your body what it needs to be healthy.

I do not see aesthetism when I look at your pictures, I see denial of the self and caloric restriction.

From a distance you look borderline anorexic, and if you only lose 5 pounds you will look like one to me.

Start eating more (do you get enough good fats? Try 300 calories of olive oil a day) and find an alternative way to go through your periods. Do not bullshit me or yourself with beeing hypomuscular. Eat 120-150g of clean proteins a day in 5 meals, take 6-10 caps of fish oil, olive oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil. Your muscles WILL grow, and you will not gain much fat, you'll be surprised. If it still doesn't work eat more to feed your muscles after the gym. At a very high 3000 calories a day you will grow and realize this "hypomuscularism" was bullshit. If it doesn't work get a ridiculous 4000 calories a day for a month, and come back here to post pics of your new strong, well fed, muscular and healthy body.

(PS: those numbers are too high for you, but you get the point. Eat twice as much as you do now and come back in a month. )




Do not impose yourself these restrictions and do not punish your body. Controling one's weigth down can quickly become an obession. You like to be strong and to attain your goals, and most of all you love the feeling of power you get from controling things, especially yourself. A lot of anorexic start by wanting to control their periods.

You could be suprised at what happens when you totally let go these feelings, which you might not even be aware of right now.

I've seen things worse than bad periods cured by a healthy (AND SUFFICIENT) diet. I think you are going the wrong way to cure your problems. Think about it.
 
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trippa_gurl,

Thanks for your very informative post. I'm definitely not worried about my fertility as I am extremely fertile -- honestly I could use a fertility reduction. :\ 12-14% isn't that much lower than 16% so that seems like an achievable goal. The amount of exercise you described is also what I was aiming for so that all sounds good. I really have nothing to lose.

Also, just so you know, my user name is FAIR NYMPH, only one 'y'.

As for my cramps, it's very difficult to get dr's to prescribe painkillers that are adequately strong, but what worries me more is that the pain has been getting worse and the painkillers (hydrocodone) seem to not be helping as much. I also get really bad nausea that wasn't as much of a problem in the past. I will be getting a non-hormonal IUD soon and the placement of my uterus plus the fact that I already have cramps means that my periods will probably be even MORE painful. So it will be ideal if I can just not have my period at all.

Furthermore, I believe that my hormonal problems are partially due to me being heavier/fatter that I normally am; thus my estrogen levels are higher. I used to be able to take the pill and my cramps were much milder when I was younger.

I haven't been exercising as much as I would like but I have been eating well, really upped my protein intake (got some great whey protein conc) and I think that is making a difference. I've lost 6 pounds, over the course of about a month, which isn't great but not bad either. I'll update again as I continue to (hopefully) make progress.

Thanks again to those who have actually READ my posts and offered HELPFUL advice; to the rest of you, don't waste your time, because I'm not even going to read your post if you can't understand what I'm asking.
 
fairnymph said:
Furthermore, I believe that my hormonal problems are partially due to me being heavier/fatter that I normally am.

The correlation is probably vice versa. Estrogen mediates fat patterns in women, and the reason you are gaining weight could have to do with abnormally high estrogen levels.

I said it before, but I just want to reiterate it again: you sound like a good candidate for being prescribed a triazole anti-estrogen agent such as letrozole or anastrazole--if I were you I would at least just ask your doctor about these in order to lower your abnormally high estrogen levels.
 
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