missing menstruation

Lori Asks in Category Nutrition 101:

HELP! I have a problem with food. I have a tendency to compulsively overeat at night. I am a 22 year
old girl, 5'5"/125 lbs. Lately, I have been breaking out A LOT, and have had bad gas problems, (I
thought it was cheese because I consumed TONS of cheese, but I cut it out of my diet about 3
weeks ago.) Also, I've missed my period for about 2-3 months. (There is NO chance of being
pregnant) I suspect my diet is the problem. Can you help? Here is an example of what I eat on an
average day:

Breakfast: 1 real egg and about 3/4 cups of egg scrambler + 1/2 slice of vegetable-soy cheese, 1/2
slice of fat free cheese, and red and green bell peppers... with sprinkled black ground pepper on top
and salt.... and about 3 mini frozen breakfast turkey sausages OR turkey bacon on the side.. and 1
cup of pineapple + orange juice, water, and vitamin suppliments (B complex, calcium/magnesium,
vitamin C, and iron)

Lunch: About 1.5 cups of salad with baby spinach and sun-dried tomato dressing, 1 grilled chicken
breast, 1 can of light chunk tuna fish plus spices (chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder), 1
store bought Dole fruit cup, and a glass of water.

Snack: About 10-15 Wheat Thin crackers OR about 10-15 baby carrots

Dinner: (usually BIG) about 5 more cups of salad with sun-dried tomato dressing, one main meal, like
about 5 medium sized turkey meatballs with homemade tomato sauce OR something like 5 fried
chicken cutlets, with about 2-3 cups of vegetable mix (broccoli, corn on the cob, peas, etc) and 2 tbs
real butter and dash salt, a glass of water to drink. About 2-3 cups of fresh fruit for dessert
(watermellon, canteloupe, strawberries, etc)

After Dinner Snacks: (usually when I compulsively overeat until my stomach is sore!) About 5-6 cups
of Fiber One cereal/HoneyNut Cheerios combined with skim milk, a few sugar free cookies or a sugar
free popsicle, tiny box of raisins, about 20 baby carrots, about 2 more cups of more vegetable mix or
salad + dressing, about 10 plain baked tortilla chips OR popcorn + butter, and maybe about 1-2 cups
more of fresh fruit.

Lori,

Either you took the trouble to note your daily diet for the purpose of writing me this note, or you
journal. Good for you if you journal.

There are only 2 ways there can be "no chance you are pregnant", you did a test and it came up
negative, or you were not having sex at all. Experience has been that if your 'no chance' is due to
your recollection of your protection attempts during sex, then that is not a good way to confirm 'no
chance'. People with tied tubes have gotten pregnant swearing there was 'no chance' and had to sue
their doctors later. Men who had vasectomies have fathered children - you get the point. Anyway...,
since there is "no chance", let us go to option # 2.

I don't have access to my calculator to see what all this food comes up to, but missing periods
(without pregnancy) usually means the kinds of conditions exist that encourage ammenorrhea - loss
of period. Those conditions are: Over exercising (which you did not mention your exercise program),
and insufficient nutrition to match the EXCESS demand on your body due to the over exercising.

So, if you are not pregnant, there are some bits of information missing from your note.

Without the calculator, your food APPEARS OK for the average person, and you have quite a bit of
protein. Actually, with the amount of protein you mention, I am even thinking your calorie intake
might be higher than it seems. Are you exercising more than once per day or for longer than one

hour per day? Do you have any health issues such as diabetes? If you are not sure you do not have
diabetes, it might not be a bad idea to test for that. Diabetes and thyroid contribute to weight
gain/loss regardless of your food and exercise if you ignore the conditions impact.

My only other suggestion is to see a doctor and Registered Dietician. The doctor is to rule out health
conditions and the Registered Dietician can accurately calculate your food and design a perfect diet
for you.

There was not enough information here to truly answer your question, but I hope this helps direct
your next step.

Yours in Health and Fitness

Trudy Beerman

Health Coach

www.healthcoachplus.com

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