It depends not just on how much you gain or lose but where you started from.
A typical menstrual cycle lasts between 24 and 38 days, with an average of 28 days.
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What Is a Healthy Weight?
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BMI is a quick way to estimate how much body fat you have.
BMI is a dated, flawed measure.
It does not take into account factors such asbody composition, ethnicity, sex, race, and age.
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That number then determines whether your weight is considered normal/healthy as opposed to underweight, overweight, or obesity.
How Weight Affects Your Period
Being underweight or overweight can alter your menstrual cycle.
The menstrual cycle is a result of a complex interaction between yourovariesand your brain.
Changes in certain hormone levels cause ovulation, and more hormonal changes result in your period.
Anything that interferes with this interaction can stop your body from ovulating.
If you don’t ovulate, you’ll skip a period.
Hormone levels are affected by your weight and the amount of fat on your body.
If you are underweight, with too little body fat, you may skip periods.
Too much fat can also lead to missed periods or heavy periods.
Rapid weight fluctuations can also interfere with your menstrual cycle.
Effects of Weight Gain
Gaining weight can alter your menstrual cycle in a few different ways.
If you are underweight and not getting a period, gaining weight could help regulate your cycles.
The excess estrogen associated with obesity can increase your breast and uterine cancer risk.
Losing weight will restore your regular periods and correct your estrogen excess.
A common cause of missed periods in overweight women is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
PCOS can hinder ovulation and cause you to miss periods.
It is even possible to stop bleeding altogether, a condition known assecondary amenorrhea.
Untreated heavy menstrual bleeding can lead to iron-deficiency anemia, a common blood problem that causes fatigue and weakness.
If you experience heavy periods, talk to your gynecologist.
A low BMI is typically resulting from calorie restriction, excessive exercise, or illness.
These stress your body and cause hormonal changes that interfere with ovulation.
This also causes a very low estrogen level, which is especially bad for your bone health.
When you gain weight from a low BMI, you are reducing the stress on your body.
This allows your body to ovulate again, and as a result, menstruate.
It also restores your body’s estrogen production and protects your bones.
However, losing too much weight isn’t good either.
Being underweight can cause you to not have a period.
This commonly occurs in competitive athletes and women with eating disorders.
Amenorrhea
If you lose too much weight, you may stop having periods altogether.
Being underweight causes a change in hormone levels, including a drop in estrogen.
This interrupts ovulation and causes you to miss your period.
If you do not ovulate, you cannot get pregnant.
In addition to causing infertility, lower estrogen levels are harmful to your bone health.
You should also schedule a visit if you are unable to lose weight despite your best efforts.
You could have a metabolic disorder that can be managed with medications along with diet and exercise.
Some people struggle to stick to a diet and exercise plan due to an undiagnosed eating disorder.
Women who are underweight may experience anorexia or selective eating disorder.
Women who are overweight may have bulimia, binge eating disorder, or night eating syndrome.
For more information, visit theNational Alliance for Eating Disorderswebsite.
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