Are You Undereating?

It’s been called the female athlete triad: Hard-training women who have very little body fat may suffer from low-bone density, menstrual irregularities and disordered eating. When it comes to the latter, many women who train at very high levels simply aren’t eating enough to meet their active body’s needs. In fact, preliminary results from an ongoing study from Penn State University show that up to 50 percent of active women are undernourished enough to have hormonal disruptions that can negatively affect their long-term health (weak bones, compromised fertility) and short-term workout goals (slow results due to a slow metabolism). The scary thing is that most women don’t realize they’re undereating since they’re following a diet that consists of five to six small meals a day. If you’re not seeing the workout results you’re used to, you may be an undereater. Here’s how one Oxygen reader put it:

Talk about frustration! Here I am working out, doing cardio and weights and not leaning out. Sure, I got stronger, but my weight just stayed the same. Then I sat down with Fred, the owner of my gym. We talked about how much I wasn’t eating and that was the key. I had cleaned up my diet too much and wasn’t eating enough or often enough. So I started eating six times a day and I had to up my calories. It was very scary at first. Then, I started to see results: I have a lot more energy now. I am training for a marathon and have recently started doing yoga. Now that I have the fuel for my workouts, the possibilities are endless! - Shelly Campbell