Here are some more details about REDs and where things are at with me. It's been a long couple of months working through all the health things, getting everyone ready for school (teaching at ISU), moving Abby, the start of club soccer for Joshua. I am still feeling overwhelmed and frustrated at how my body continues to spite me, but more on that at the end.
Below are a
couple of great articles talking about REDs signs and symptoms and steps moving
toward recovery. IF you are feeling any
of this with your training please stop and take a look at your nutrition,
volume and recovery. Trust me you don’t want to get to a place where it is hard
to get back. Right now I don’t know if I
will ever run more than a 5k again. I don’t know if I will ever feel good
enough to try for an Ironman or if it would even be safe to do so. REDs and Perimenopause have really thrown me for
a loop.
Dr Stacy Simms has a great article linked below on how
underperforming can be one of the signs we aren't nourishing our bodies well
enough. For me the early signs were super flat runs and then swims. But unfortunately,
it went on for ten months and I didn't listen because I didn't know under
fueling and inaccurate fueling was causing it. I am wondering now if it also
triggered the significant uptick in problems with my hormones (don't get me
wrong perimenopause was coming for me but was taking its time until around when
my runs went south.)
This is a great video that talks about all the things that
impact our ability to heal and manage our weight, sleep, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmiPKftFogM
Recap from her video, but she has a lot more details in the
video - 5 Signs You Aren't Eating Enough and things need to
change (hormones can play into this so make sure you have someone helping
you keep track of your hormone levels):
- Fatigue and low energy
- Irritability and anxiety
- Bloating, constipation and digestive issues (food
sensitivities)
- Poor sleep and weak recovery
- Stalled fat loss (eating less, exercising more but
still gaining weight)
What to do about it?
- Track food - so you know what you eat, how many
calories, etc for a baseline. most of us who are active but not
necessarily training need 1800 - 2300 calories of protein, carbs, fats and
fiber a day. There are a handful of good apps that will help with this.
- Slowly increase calories (the fewer calories your
body has the more it goes into reactive mode which causes more
weight gain especially for people over 40)
- Hit your protein targets - 120 g to 150 g a day - and
need calories between 1900 and 2400 a day just doing daily activities
·
Be patient because it takes months to get the
body out of fighting mode (almost three months in and I am losing it... I am
not good at being patient so trying to find distractions like kayaking, easy
cycling, and pickleball but hard to find people to go with me.)
Above is a similar article with these key points.
1.
Balance the nutrients - The target energy
availability for recovery is above 45 kilocalories per kilogram of lean
body mass per day
2.
Carbohydrates, in this context, are a hormonal
intervention - that means 2.3 to 3.2 grams per pound of body
weight on moderate training days.
3.
Protein, protein, protein - helps repair the
damage, build muscle, kick start metabolism
4.
Pull back on all cardio activities to allow for
recovery that will eventually improve performance. I’m keeping any cardio low intensity
and under an hour for cycling, kayaking, etc. and ½ hour for swimming. No running now for three months.
5.
Carb loading pre and post workouts, and during
for me even for short swims just to not be weak and wobbly afterwards.
6.
Practical targets during active recovery
- 8 to 9 hours of sleep opportunity per night ...
Timelines for mine, which is moderate to severe, are 6-12
months. All of this is going on while also trying to wrangle my hormones,
so my perimenopause symptoms go away again as my estrogen tanked in late July. I am focusing heavily on nutrition, strength training and hormone balance right now.
With the reduction in cardio and the hormone roller coaster
I have gained 8 lbs. in the last six weeks (my body hording fat to store
estrogen unfortunately) and 25 lbs. since December. I am dealing with body issues,
mental health spiraling, inability to focus and general apathy to most things,
with REDs and Perimenopause duking it out to see which can be most annoying,
and a complete and utter disruption of my goals and schedules. But I am doing okay, trying to focus on the positive and what I can do, but allowing more space for rest and recovery. Leaving some things undone. Giving myself grace.
The goal of this post was less for sympathy, I am in a
rut and it sucks and I just need to keep working the plan, but my hope for
anyone who finds hears my call to listen to your body. If performance is a problem,
or strange injuries keep presenting themselves, it might be time for you to
listen, reset your program, factor in more rest and more calories AND if you
are a woman over 40 get a comprehensive hormone panel with someone recommended
by the menopause society.
IF we take care of our
bodies it will eventually take care of us.
As always thanks for reading.
