Word to Your Mother Nature

I’m going to preface this blog by saying if you don’t enjoying reading the following words, you may want to skip todays babble;
- Uterus
- Period
- Cramps
- Tampons

When it comes to dieting and training, especially competition training, women tend to have a harder time than men do at losing fat because, let’s face it, genetically we are just baby making factories.  Our bodies LIKE to be fat because regardless of whether we’ve closed down the factory or the factory simply came with the property; our bodies are prepping for opening day.  It has a check list and at the top in bold letters is FAT.  Ok well maybe UTERUS is at the top but fat is a close second.

In my experience (as well as talking with friends and other competitors) dear old Mother Nature and her factory get right pissed when competition training starts. Especially for Figure competitors and Bodybuilders because their body fat percentage is required to be A LOT less than us bikini girls.  With fat being high on the list for production, without it there’s no use in keeping the wheels turning.  That’s right ladies, no fat usually equals no period for months at a time.  Now I know you’re doing a happy dance at the thought of this and though I’ve never experienced a “cease and desist” on my period I have friends who have. I’ve been told of things like phantom periods where you still get all the cravings, cramps, bloating and general crabbiness but there’s no need to stock up on tampons.  Saving money? Yes.  Saving sanity, not so sure…..

As I mentioned I have not “been so lucky” to have the factory shut down during prep but my symptoms do become lessened, that is until I stop training so hard and a certain amount of fat settles back in and the factory is firing on all cylinders again.  For me the first post competition period is the worst.  I’m coming up to my second period post comp so I’ll see how this one goes compared to the previous one.  If it’s anything like last month’s you’ll find me on the floor curled up in a fetal position clutching a bottle of Advil. That or on the side of the road in the same position because driving was too painful. True story.

So why am I telling you all of this nonsense? Because some ladies aren’t aware and I am all about awareness on ALL subjects.  Plus it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog that makes people uncomfortable. J Listen, I’m not a pro and I’m certainly not a doctor but I have had some pretty great conversations with fellow competitors about their post-show period experiences.  It’s not something to worry about is what I’m trying to say. It’s just as common as constipation is with prep and well we all know I have enough experience on that subject to write a pretty good book. ;) 

The more you know about contest prep before jumping in, the better off you are in my opinion and the most honest information is usually the best information.  Anyone out there have experiences with disappearing periods? Feel free to share!