What is LEA? Is this why my period is missing?
LEA stands for low energy availability. A lot of active women really just don’t eat enough to support their exercise and recovery process which puts them in the state of low energy availability. Because of this, their health ultimately suffers, but it's so rarely talked about. We think the answer is to eat even less and train even more which puts us deeper in the situation.
Many women struggle with weight continuously throughout their lives. As we age, our bodies change in how they respond to the food we give it, the exercise we do, the amount of sleep we need, etc. With tons of variables at play, it’s easy to become frustrated with our bodies and forget about the fundamentals at play. It is not simply a “lack of willpower” in many situations.
When you cut way back on your food intake and continue to exercise in an attempt to speed up the weight loss process or “make up” for your previous day’s indulgences, your body goes into survival mode (low energy availability). This occurs when you are routinely, meaning frequently, spending more energy than you are taking in which causes your body to not have enough to support all of the functions it needs to keep your optimal health. One of the main clues that you are in this situation is that your period will disappear (unless you are in menopause which then becomes a lot more difficult to detect).
As I said before, women often put themselves into this state to speed up body composition goals or punish themselves for what they believe was a shortcoming without realizing that their actions are extremely counterproductive! I believe that knowledge is power–these facts need to be shared in order to keep women away from more heart break and wasted energy when it comes to their bodies and health.
Here’s the deal. One of the first things that your body will do when it isn’t getting the energy it needs is to begin increasing your body fat. But weren’t you just doing all those sprints on two crunchy carrots to get rid of that body fat?? After that, your endocrine system (hormones) starts making your body break down muscle and store more fat to reserve some energy in order to survive. Again, counterproductive! You’re working out in order to improve your body composition and ultimately look better. If your body is then breaking down your muscle, you will have nothing to show for your efforts. And with that muscle break down, your body then slows down your metabolism to conserve energy to keep you alive. Yikes. So now every food that you eat will now be used differently (mostly stored as more fat) because your body’s metabolism is in low power mode.
Moral of the story, continue to eat good food without restriction. Eat protein around your training and exercise to build muscle and keep it coming through recovery. Disruptions in your period are another one of your vital signs which shouldn’t be ignored. You’ll be wasting your time if you try to take the shortcut of exercising without food. While you might notice gains at first, making this a routine will backfire before you know it.
