too low body fat percent

madammolecular

which is the lowest limit of body fat percent that couldnt bring you in some position that you start to be weak despite musclle you have.i am woman and mine is less than 12%,ofently miss my menstruation and still strugle with body image disorder despite i know how bad it can affect my riding and health.

Halcyon1

How does one measure body fat % MadameM.?
I'm all of 59kgs (male) and enjoy cycling, but really cannot afford to lose any body mass.
Halcyon1

Eden

If you search you will find a lot of opinions on this subject. Most places will tell you that for women under 21% is underfat, though female athletes regularly dip under this. In general 10% to 12% bodyfat is considered essential for life for women and female athletes fall in the 14%-20% range. As with anything else everyone is an individual and what percentage you can go under will be different from the next womans. That you are experiencing disruptions in your menstrual cycles really does indicate that you are probably at or below your lower limit and should be concerned not only about performance issues, but about the long term health risks.

There are other women dealing with this over at the TE board - don't be shy about bringing up the topic over there.

Felt_Rider

I have consulted quite a few women for bodybuilding competitions and many of them dip very low to peak the day of, but for many of them it is a very short period of weeks. As soon as competition is over they will increase food consumption to get back to a healthier body composition. Many of these women that I have worked with also seem to get into bodybuilding because of an image disorder that you mention. When I dig a bit deeper I find that some also suffer from an eating disorder as well.

As Eden stated it is the long term impact of low bodyfat and that each individual can vary slightly based on genetics. I have met some very lean female athletes that still maintain a regular M cycle. Take Eden's advice and ask on the other forum for more input.

This link might provide some answers as well.

jamesstout

yeah dont go below 20% for prolonged periods i went too low and it really does you long term harm

madammolecular

thank u girls!i had problems with eating disorder and it is behind me,nowday i am just afraid to gain weight.only bike can help me and i know it will.as i started to ride 2 weeks ago i started to eat more and i gain 2 kg,but my fat is even lower than it was.does it means i have to eat more than i spend,should i than add more charbohidrates?

jamesstout

add carbs and some fats too, try peanut butter

madammolecular

thanks,i ll try.i already eat about 50-100g peanuts per day.

jamesstout

ok try flaxseed oil almond/cashew/hazelnut butters seeds on top of museli/salad/pasta cashews in stir fries using crushed nuts to make a yummy crust on chicken breasts....

ehirsch83

Good Ideas James! I was about to tell her the same. I eat almond butter daily, sometimes right out of the jar.

Another good thing to do is to put a teaspoon of olive oil in oatmeal for breakfast. It gives you the EFAs you need. So you are getting good fats and helping fuel your body with the oatmeal- a healthy well balanced meal

jamesstout

yep or add pb here too! flax oil is good too.
can't beat ab and jam on rye and sunflower bread!

ehirsch83

so funny as i am reading this, i am sitting here eating a ab and fig jam sandwich on sunflower honey wheat bread.

jamesstout

gotta confess to oats with chocoalte powder and pb and raisins >snickers!

Bikergirl85

Yeah all nuts and oils are good - also raisins are nice and sugary.

Add lots more carbs too - pasta/bread etc...

Avacado is great in salads also