Exercise Despite Cycle Loss? My Training Was My Biggest Source of Self-Worth

My period had gone diving, every morning I woke up more or less exhausted, and of course my first stop was the coffee machine. Would it have occurred to me that my exercise habits might have something to do with it? At least I did not want to admit it.

If your period is missing and exercise has more or less become a fixed part of your identity, you may know this blind spot.

I am Lina, a state-certified nutrition consultant, health coach for women’s health and an expert in cycle loss. In this article I explain why exercise can stand between you and your period and what you can do so that it no longer does. Because giving it up? You don’t have to.

Why exercise can stand between you and your period

Movement is basically good for your hormones. It becomes a problem when the energy from your diet is no longer enough to fuel training, everyday life and all body functions at the same time. The technical term for this is low energy availability.

Your hypothalamus, the control center of your cycle, registers this deficit and turns down the hormonal signals to your ovaries. Studies show that these signals are already disrupted as soon as available energy falls below a certain threshold. Your body saves where it costs least for survival: on reproduction.

Intense training is also a stressor. If an energy deficit, performance pressure and too little recovery come on top, stress hormones stay elevated and put an additional brake on the axis between brain and ovaries.

In sports medicine this interplay is described as the Female Athlete Triad or as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). It does not only affect elite athletes, but often also women who train ambitiously and eat very consciously at the same time.

Typical signs can be:

• Your period is missing or irregular.
• You are often exhausted despite enough sleep.
• You recover slowly or get injured more often.
• You get sick easily.
• You get cold easily.
• You have cravings.
• You have mood swings.
• You feel driven inside and find it hard to relax.
• Your thyroid hormones, estradiol and progesterone are low.

This can also happen at a normal weight.

When training turns into control

I am a little perfectionist: disciplined, structured, always with a plan. As a competitive bodybuilder I was successful, and my training was just as excessive.

I did not only track exercises, sets and reps, but also the rest between sets and the time under tension, meaning how long a muscle stays under tension during a movement. My training was control down to the last detail.

At the same time I counted calories and kept dieting. My period was missing, I had mood swings and was often exhausted. Still, for a long time I did not see the connection to my eating and exercise habits.

The diagnosis that stopped me

In the end, it took a diagnosis. I already had a chronic inflammatory bowel disease and Hashimoto’s, my period was gone, and I had been told I would never get it back naturally anyway.

Then heart problems came on top, and overnight I was told: no exercise for at least two years.

Back then I told myself: if I cannot exercise, my body will change anyway, so I will try to eat intuitively now. In practice I kept pushing my meals later, ate almost only chicken with vegetables, walked an hour to work and an hour back and did cardio in the morning.

My partner at the time put it in a nutshell: “That is not intuitive eating. You should start eating breakfast.” At first I was annoyed, but he was right. Why breakfast matters so much for your cycle is explained in my article on nutrition when your period is missing.

Why exercise was my biggest source of self-worth

I was at a normal weight and still had cycle problems. And I absolutely did not want my body to change.

Looking back, I know: exercise was largely compensation for me. The trained body brought compliments and recognition from outside, and exactly that propped up my self-worth. Yet for myself I was never good enough, no matter what the scale showed or how muscular my butt was.

Wanting to be seen → performing → recognition from outside → briefly good enough → never enough

Today I no longer need these sources, because my self-worth is stable. Exactly this work on your inner topics is often the decisive step.

What four years without exercise changed

At first I tried again every few months, went cycling, overdid it and went back to the gym. Every time my heart reacted more strongly, and I had to accept that I was harming myself more than helping.

All in all it was four years with hardly any exercise. After about three years came the realization: I feel more at home in my body than ever, regardless of what I achieve, how I look or how I eat.

My body has changed, and yet I have never received as many compliments on my radiance as I do today. During this time I finally managed to eat truly intuitively.

Balance instead of extremes

Five gym sessions a week, broccoli and protein all day long: this is often considered especially healthy. It is not healthy if at the same time you are afraid of a chocolate bar and overthink everything so much that it stresses you out.

Stress arises on several levels: physically through an energy or nutrient deficit, emotionally through suppressed feelings and mentally through performance pressure. Exercise can regulate your nervous system, but it can also put an additional burden on it.

Why “more training” in particular often does the opposite when your period is missing is also explained in the 5 cycle killers. By the way, exactly this balance is in my name: FemBaLina stands for Female Balance.

How I train intuitively today

Today I go to the gym when I feel like it. My knowledge from bodybuilding helps me train sensibly, but it no longer rules me.

• I choose the exercises and reps that feel right on that day.
• Sometimes I train heavier, sometimes lighter, sometimes I do something completely different: cycling, walking or bowling instead of leg day.
• Sometimes I plan leg day and in the end only do some yoga and go to the sauna. That is fine too.

If you lack the energy for exercise, it is worth asking why. Many women hear “all your values are fine” and are still constantly exhausted. That is why, in my coaching, we also take a closer look at lab values.

I was once told I would never have a natural cycle. Today, despite a PCOS and Hashimoto’s diagnosis, I have a regular cycle. That is my story and not a promise, but it shows what can be possible when your body gets enough energy and safety again.

Your body knows what it needs, and it is looking for a healthy balance. Feel free to tell me on Instagram what kind of exercise you do and why.