Latest / Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast / 105. How To Get Your Period Back When You Can’t Stop Training
Transcript
- 0:00If you have been listening to the Eat More Carbs podcast, you
- 0:02know that Riley and I are both in our running era.
- 0:04To make sure that we're properly fueled for training, we're using
- 0:07both carbohydrates and Tuba 4. Tuba 4 is an all natural pre
- 0:10workout designed to enhance athletic performance through the
- 0:13benefits of New Zealand blackcurrant berries.
- 0:15Studies have shown these berries to increase vasodilation and
- 0:19prime the body to kick start muscle recovery.
- 0:21These antioxidant rich berries have a sweet and tangy flavor
- 0:24and will level up your performance and recovery.
- 0:27Use code Riley for 20% off 20 packs and multi.
- 0:30We serve packs online at 2 before dot.
- 0:32Com this is the Eat more carbs podcast.
- 0:39Hello and welcome back. This is the E more carbs
- 0:41podcast. It's Jenna here with Riley.
- 0:43We are two dietitians that chat every Thursday about sports
- 0:46nutrition for the girlies. Today we're going to be doing
- 0:48our high and low. So just sharing a little bit
- 0:50about our week, the good and maybe the parts we wish have
- 0:52gone a little bit differently. We're going to be talking about
- 0:54how to get your period back when you cannot stop training.
- 0:57And then lastly, we'll give a training update.
- 0:59If you didn't know, Riley and I are both in our running era.
- 1:01So Riley just ran 1/2 marathon and I am going to be running a
- 1:05full marathon up coming here really soon.
- 1:08And so we're just going to share a little bit about what we're
- 1:10doing for training. So Riley, First off, kick us off
- 1:12high and low. What's going on with you this
- 1:13week? Welcome back.
- 1:14We're so excited to chat with you this week.
- 1:16My high for this week is I'm still running on like Cloud 9
- 1:21because I got into the New York Marathon.
- 1:23I'm so excited. I cannot believe it.
- 1:25I got into the lottery which I didn't believe it was happening.
- 1:29I think maybe I got in, fingers crossed because it was my
- 1:32birthday. So very, very excited.
- 1:34I know where I will be this year, November 2nd, 2025.
- 1:37I'm so excited for you. I know we had a full freak out
- 1:40when you found out that you got in, but I'm still so, so excited
- 1:43for you. Thank you.
- 1:45I'm. I still like.
- 1:46Don't know if I believe it. This.
- 1:48I can't. Yeah.
- 1:48I can't wrap my head around it. Unfortunately for Robbie, this
- 1:51is probably my low for the week is that I feel bad for him
- 1:55because running the New York Marathon has become my entire
- 1:58personality and it will be my entire personality for the next
- 2:028 months. So my low is by proxy through
- 2:04him. Hey, there's nothing wrong with
- 2:06that. I'm super, super excited to
- 2:08follow your New York marathon journey.
- 2:09I know you're going to be sharing a lot about it on social
- 2:11media and so everybody can follow along with your training
- 2:14updates and just how you're going to prepare for that.
- 2:16But just overall, what an exciting race to have as your
- 2:19first marathon. I know that you've been trying
- 2:21to run a marathon for a couple years now and some life events
- 2:24will say kind of prevented that from happening, but so, so
- 2:27excited for this first marathon of yours to be New York work.
- 2:30I still can't believe it. I keep joking with everybody
- 2:32that Charlie is not getting another sibling until at least
- 2:36November 3rd. Like nobody.
- 2:37Get your hopes up. Nothing's happening.
- 2:39Sorry, we're running the marathon this year.
- 2:40Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Thanks, How's your week going?
- 2:44My week is really good. My high in low is kind of the
- 2:46same story. My high is that I actually went
- 2:48on a girls trip which I haven't done in such a long time and I
- 2:51got to see my sister and two of our friends that we grew up
- 2:53with. I called them my sisters too and
- 2:55we just spent like 3 days together out in California.
- 2:57My low is that on the way back, my flight got canceled and I
- 3:00ended up spending like 6 hours in LAX.
- 3:03Thankfully I did have lounge access so I was able to get some
- 3:06food. But fueling in an airport is
- 3:08just not my favorite baseline. But it's all OK because I got
- 3:11home regardless and it was still within kind of the same day.
- 3:15I think I got home a little bit after midnight, but it wasn't
- 3:17something crazy where I had to like spend the night in the
- 3:19airport or anything like that. So that's my low.
- 3:21It's just, you know, traveling sometimes is just unpredictable.
- 3:25I feel like it's been even more unpredictable lately too.
- 3:28Yes, it really has thankful that I got home.
- 3:30I'm really thankful that I got to see my good friends and my
- 3:33sister. And it'll probably be a minute
- 3:35before I get on another plane. So I just won't think about that
- 3:38experience that I had this past time.
- 3:40What did you? Guys do in California we.
- 3:41Spent a lot of times just hanging out and relaxing,
- 3:44sitting by the pool. We had great weather over the
- 3:46weekend so it was really nice. We didn't do anything or like
- 3:48planning anything crazy like we didn't go do like the typical
- 3:51like California tourist things. We just spent time together and
- 3:54just relaxed, which was great. I love that.
- 3:56Today we're talking about how to get your period back when you
- 3:59can't stop training. We have a lot of athletes that
- 4:01come through RBSN that want to get their period back but
- 4:03somehow are unable to stop training.
- 4:06Whether that be they are a collegiate athlete and they're
- 4:08in the middle of season or they are working towards something
- 4:11like a specific goal. Stopping training is not an
- 4:14option in order to manipulate energy availability in order to
- 4:17help them regain a period. So when that happens, Riley,
- 4:19what is our first step for helping them navigate exercise
- 4:23when they can't stop training to get their period back?
- 4:25First off, I want to say that this doesn't apply to every
- 4:28single case in every single athlete.
- 4:30At RBSN. We do work with a lot of high
- 4:32level athletes that can't stop training and also like just
- 4:35recreational athletes that don't want to give up training because
- 4:37they enjoy it. But sometimes you do have to
- 4:40stop training from a medical perspective, if you are somebody
- 4:43who has an eating disorder or you are somebody that as in a
- 4:47very large deficit, you sometimes do have to stop
- 4:51training. But this doesn't apply to
- 4:52everybody and this is something that you should work on
- 4:55one-on-one with a dietitian and also address with your
- 4:58physician. I want to start off by saying
- 5:00that because this again, not medical advice and this
- 5:02situation is handled differently with every single individual.
- 5:06If you are somebody that wants to keep training, that should
- 5:09not hold you back from working on period recovery.
- 5:12I think our goal for a lot of people is even the recreational
- 5:14athletes that come through is that they're able to maintain
- 5:16some type of movement because that's a really important
- 5:19component of like their life and their like happiness And what
- 5:23helps with like stress relief and all kind of like other
- 5:25components of like working a long period recovery is not
- 5:27giving up everything that you love or like all of these
- 5:29massive changes all at once. But some of the things that like
- 5:32we can focus on when it comes to the type of exercise that we're
- 5:35doing is maybe like some quality versus quantity type of changes.
- 5:40What does that mean for an athlete?
- 5:41When? We look at quality versus
- 5:43quantity with workouts. It's how are we prioritizing the
- 5:46training that you need to advance your performance and
- 5:50continue in your sport. When we look at all of the
- 5:53activity that you're doing throughout the day, sometimes
- 5:56that activity isn't contributing to your performance.
- 5:59So if you are one of these elite level athletes, really analyzing
- 6:03what type of training that you're currently doing is going
- 6:06to help you better your sport. And then maybe what activity are
- 6:10you doing, maybe outside of your training that is just
- 6:12contributing to that energy deficit?
- 6:14In the period recovery guide that RBSN is going to be
- 6:17releasing this month, we talk a lot about how to actually
- 6:19analyze the exercise that you are doing and identify areas
- 6:22that maybe it's not quality workout.
- 6:24So taking look at everything that you are doing and then
- 6:27being able to say, OK, that is something that does actually
- 6:30enhance performance and that is something that maybe I could do
- 6:33without. Exactly.
- 6:34So a really easy example is if you're somebody who's trying to
- 6:38get in like 10,000 steps outside of your training, are the 10,000
- 6:43steps contributing to your performance, right.
- 6:46You already are very active because of the training that
- 6:50you're doing that 10,000 steps might not be the right approach
- 6:54for you and it's not really contributing to your health
- 6:56because what is healthy for you right now is overcoming that
- 6:59energy deficit. I think another big example too
- 7:02is we have a lot of collegiate athletes that tend to exercise
- 7:05in between their classes, whether that be walking or
- 7:07riding a bike, things like that, and even looking at ways we can
- 7:10change that. So is there a bus that can take
- 7:12you from one side of campus to the other?
- 7:13And just making sure that we're utilizing everything available
- 7:16to help you reduce some of that extra exercise that maybe isn't
- 7:19necessary. Oh, I love that.
- 7:22I think people really underestimate how physically
- 7:25active they are outside of their training, especially college
- 7:28athletes. You can easily be walking like
- 7:30four or five miles just getting to your classes, going to your
- 7:32dorms, going to the dining hall. That is something that people
- 7:35don't often notice or include in their exercise each day.
- 7:39And it all counts. It all counts.
- 7:42That is something that we really, really talk about in our
- 7:45period recovery program and then also in the period recovery
- 7:48guide. So we talked about quality
- 7:49versus quantity with our workouts outs.
- 7:51What else would you recommend for athletes who can't stop
- 7:54training and are working on 8 J? When we look at that, we can
- 7:57make sure that we are actually fueling those workouts and that
- 8:00incorporates both pre and post workout feeling.
- 8:03So those times that you do have to be at practice or you are
- 8:06choosing to remain active during your recovery, making sure that
- 8:09is fueled properly. So having a snack beforehand or
- 8:12having a meal and a snack beforehand, making sure that you
- 8:14do have energy available to support that training.
- 8:17And then also having a recovery snack on the other side side of
- 8:21training. So not going a long period of
- 8:23time before you do refuel. Making sure that your refueling
- 8:26snack does incorporate all of the things that we need to and
- 8:29it's not leaving out certain components.
- 8:31So making sure that not only like that does exist, but like
- 8:35that's good quality too. Definitely.
- 8:37I got a question on my fueling QA that I do on Mondays and it
- 8:41was a question about do I really need to replenish the calories
- 8:46that I burned during my workout. What would you say to that
- 8:48question? What would you say to that
- 8:49athlete? Yes, refueling is such an
- 8:52important component, not only if you are working towards HA
- 8:55recovery, but just as an athlete in general.
- 8:57Making sure that you are replenishing all of the energy
- 9:00that you just lost so that way you can recover well, but also
- 9:03making sure that you would then have the energy available for
- 9:05the remainder of your day. Because no matter what time you
- 9:07are training, your body needs energy afterwards.
- 9:11Yes. So something that has been
- 9:12really different for me now and my postpartum running era
- 9:16compared to my, I would say, post college athlete running
- 9:19error is that I'm feeling so much better during my runs and
- 9:23also before and after my runs. So really book ending the
- 9:26carbohydrates before and then carbohydrates and proteins
- 9:29afterwards. And what I've really noticed is
- 9:31that I have so much more energy now during the day, especially
- 9:35on my Saturday or Sunday long runs.
- 9:37Post college running era. Riley wasn't fueling properly
- 9:40like before and after. And I spent most of the day like
- 9:43after my run, like on the couch. Not only was not refueling bad
- 9:46for my performance, but it was also making me like kind of like
- 9:49a slug of human right. Like I wasn't enjoying my life.
- 9:51I wasn't spending time with my husband.
- 9:53But now as a mom, I don't have the option to lie on the couch
- 9:56all day and I also I don't want to.
- 9:57So really bookending my training sessions with that pre and post
- 10:01nutrition has helped not just my performance but my quality of
- 10:04life as well. This could totally go into what
- 10:06drives me bananas, but I saw a post the other day that was like
- 10:09things you don't realize during marathon training and it was
- 10:11like you're one day that's dedicated to your long run.
- 10:14The rest of the day you don't do anything.
- 10:16And I was like, well yes, you may be tired after your run.
- 10:20Like, of course you're going to be tired after you run 1618
- 10:22miles, but you shouldn't feel like the rest of your day is
- 10:25spent on the couch just trying to recover from that.
- 10:27That should be an indication that maybe we weren't even
- 10:29properly fueled at the beginning of that run and then we
- 10:32definitely didn't refuel on the other side of that run either.
- 10:35So if that is where you find yourself making sure that we
- 10:38really do fuel pre and post to help with that because that's
- 10:42not something that you should be experiencing like to the point
- 10:44where it's debilitating or you can't experience the rest of.
- 10:47Your day, and that's something that I think is a big
- 10:49misconception with athletes is that we're taught to push
- 10:53through. We're taught that it's going to
- 10:55maybe be a little painful or we have to have resiliency when it
- 10:57comes to sport. We're going to be tired, but we
- 11:00don't have to be that tired, right?
- 11:02We don't have to be that miserable.
- 11:03We don't have to have that much pain.
- 11:05There's a normal amount, and then there's amount that goes
- 11:08too far. Yes, fatigue is going to be
- 11:10inevitable when you were running 16 miles, but it shouldn't be to
- 11:13the point where you literally can't do anything for the rest.
- 11:16Of your day exactly. Any other fueling tips for
- 11:20somebody who is trying to get their period back pre and post
- 11:22workout? I think this kind of ties into
- 11:25the idea that you're fueling is going to look very different
- 11:27from potentially your teammates. But remembering that just
- 11:29because you're choosing to have a pre training snack and a post
- 11:33training refuel, that might be different from what the
- 11:36teammates around you are choosing to do or what they
- 11:38might need. They might have had their snack
- 11:40before they got to the training facility or something like that.
- 11:43So just remembering that things look really, really different.
- 11:45I think my final tip would be never doing a fasted workout.
- 11:48I think it was really popular to show up under Fuel old and
- 11:51having not had any type of pre training snack because you know,
- 11:55you might experience some GI upset or you might not like the
- 11:58way that you feel and totally valid.
- 12:00But that just might mean that we're choosing the wrong things
- 12:03at the wrong time when it comes to that pre training snack.
- 12:07And making small adjustments can make it more comfortable and
- 12:09still make sure that you are in a fed state versus a fasted
- 12:13state without experiencing some of those other like GI or
- 12:16discomfort feelings that can come along from picking the
- 12:18wrong pre workout fuel. Exactly.
- 12:20Especially with running to GI, issues are common, but they're
- 12:23not normal. Right, exactly.
- 12:26A lot of the times if you're an athlete that just choosing to do
- 12:29a fasted workout because you're avoiding some of these GI
- 12:32symptoms, it's likely probably making the problem worse.
- 12:36And there's an issue going on that we have to address.
- 12:39We can't just say my I can't eat before a workout.
- 12:41There's something going on there because you should be able to
- 12:43eat before a workout and you should be able to, you know,
- 12:46fuel your body properly. Couldn't agree with you more
- 12:48when we look at some of the other things that we can adjust.
- 12:51When you can't stop training in order to get your period back.
- 12:54What would you say to an athlete that feels apprehensive about
- 12:57fueling differently than their teammates?
- 12:58This is a conversation that I have with almost all of our
- 13:01period recovery athletes because comparison and comments from
- 13:05others can be some of the hardest challenges to navigate
- 13:09in this journey and with period recovery.
- 13:11And I honestly think just fueling your body as an athlete
- 13:14in general because your feeling is probably going to look a lot
- 13:18different than those around you. It can be really intimidating
- 13:22and overwhelming to look down at your plate of food and then look
- 13:26at others on the table and your plate look completely different
- 13:28than theirs. And this is just a reminder that
- 13:31every single athlete is going to be needing different energy
- 13:34requirements. And also everybody's on their
- 13:37own journey. So you don't know what the other
- 13:38athletes have ate throughout the day.
- 13:40They don't know what you ate throughout the day, and you also
- 13:43don't know what they're going through.
- 13:44So you might know that yourself, you have lost your period and
- 13:47you might know that others have lost their period, but there's
- 13:49other teammates who might be going going through something
- 13:52similar on their own and they just haven't publicly shared.
- 13:54Comparison can be so tricky when it comes to fueling, especially
- 13:57when you are working on a goal like recovering your period.
- 14:00Exactly. Jenna, you and I are both
- 14:02training for marathons right now.
- 14:03We're both in our running error, but our fueling looks very, very
- 14:07different, I'm sure because we're both different, you know,
- 14:10people. And that's totally OK because
- 14:12everybody's going to be different.
- 14:14And this feeling is so individualized.
- 14:16Exactly. And just like you and your
- 14:18teammate might be on the same team, you might be in different
- 14:20positions, you might might have a different specialty.
- 14:22And Riley is training for a marathon.
- 14:24I am training for a marathon, but we're at different points in
- 14:26marathon training. So while surface level, we're
- 14:28both have the same end goal, but our fueling to support that
- 14:32training for the week is going to look different based on the
- 14:34fact that like Riley's high mileage week is going to look
- 14:36different from my high mileage week.
- 14:38So all of those things combined to make what we're requiring for
- 14:41fuel that week. And the same goes for everybody
- 14:44that's on the same team, regardless of being involved in
- 14:46the same sport. And even if we were training for
- 14:49the same race, like Donna, you love Joe.
- 14:51I'm not saying you love gels, but you can tolerate gels and I
- 14:53have PTSD from gels in college. So those are really hard for me
- 14:57to, you know, fuel with and I have to navigate fueling during
- 15:01my runs a lot. Definitely than you do.
- 15:02Yep. And what works for my stomach
- 15:04isn't going to be what works for yours.
- 15:06And again, that's OK, but it just means that we have to look
- 15:08at different options because we both understand the importance
- 15:10of making sure that that run is fed, but it's going to be in a
- 15:13different way. And then this is just a quick
- 15:15reminder that, again, everybody is on their own journey.
- 15:19When people are making negative comments about your plates, this
- 15:22might be kind of harsh, but it shows more about them than it
- 15:24does about you. And this is something to
- 15:26continue to remind yourself about and continue to push
- 15:29through on that journey. We're proud of everyone working
- 15:32towards period recovery. It can be such a challenging
- 15:34journey but it is worth it. Any final tips for how to get
- 15:38your period back when you can't stop training?
- 15:40I think the. Last thing that I have to say is
- 15:42consistency on this journey is so important.
- 15:44So today we talked about having quality workouts versus just the
- 15:47quantity workouts. We talked about pre and post
- 15:50fueling and we also talked about continuing to have a positive
- 15:53mindset when plating food and when comparing yourself to
- 15:56others. We have to make sure that these
- 15:58things that we're doing are done on a consistent basis.
- 16:00If you listen to this episode and you're motivated, which
- 16:03hopefully you are, we have to make sure that you're not just
- 16:05making these changes for two to three days.
- 16:07These changes need to be something that happens
- 16:09consistently. And we also have to figure out
- 16:11how we can make them sustainable practices throughout your
- 16:14lifestyle. So whether you are, you know,
- 16:16getting your period back, have gotten your period back, or
- 16:19you're just an athlete who's trying to Max your performance,
- 16:22these changes and these implementations have to be
- 16:24consistent. Consistency really is the key.
- 16:27We talked a lot about running there at the end and how our
- 16:30fueling might look different for our training.
- 16:32We are both training for marathons now.
- 16:34You just finished your half marathon.
- 16:35We'll probably do an entire episode kind of recapping that
- 16:38because it can't just be wrapped up in a single sentence or a
- 16:41single training update. So we will do that in the
- 16:43future. But right now you are now
- 16:45officially training for your first marathon, the New York
- 16:48Marathon. We're going to provide our
- 16:49training update where we just share a little bit about what's
- 16:51going on as far as how we're preparing for our upcoming
- 16:53races. So, Riley, what's going on this
- 16:55week for you? I'm just so excited.
- 16:57Like I'm so excited I can't. I keep thinking about it.
- 17:00I've never been so excited to have to run for like 3 plus
- 17:02hours again. I shared at the beginning an
- 17:04episode that this has become my entire personality, so I'm very
- 17:07excited. I will officially begin my
- 17:09training in July. My goal right now is to find
- 17:12like a local half that I can get a time for that I can use for
- 17:17the basis of all of my training. So I have something local that
- 17:20I'm attending, something to plan at the end of June.
- 17:22I will hopefully get a nice time for that and then I will use
- 17:25that time for the basis of all of my training.
- 17:28And I actually have decided that I'm going to use the runner app.
- 17:31I just, I'm going full in. I'm just doing the thing again.
- 17:35It's become my entire personality.
- 17:36So I'm really excited to kind of play around with that over the
- 17:38next couple of months and then dive into a plan come July.
- 17:41Well, we're excited to follow you along this journey.
- 17:44Super excited that you were selected to run the New York
- 17:46City Marathon. I know that a lot of people were
- 17:49hoping to run that race and I've seen a lot of statistics on the
- 17:53acceptance rate from that rate. So congratulations on being one
- 17:56of the few that gets to run that race.
- 17:57We cannot wait to cheer you on. Thank you.
- 18:00What about you? What is training look like for
- 18:01you? I know your race is coming up in
- 18:03like a month almost. I know it's wild.
- 18:05I feel like time is just flying by, but you know, just staying
- 18:08consistent. I think the biggest thing when
- 18:09it comes to marathon training is making sure that you prioritize
- 18:12it, making sure that you are taking intentional rest days and
- 18:16fueling properly to make sure that you don't have any injuries
- 18:19and we can continue to train so that race day is successful.
- 18:22So right now a lot of my longer runs, they're hard, but hard
- 18:26today, easy on race day is kind of what I keep telling myself
- 18:28when I get into that mindset of like, why am I doing this?
- 18:31Because around now is usually kind of when I start to feel
- 18:33that feeling of this is a lot of running, which it's a good
- 18:37thing. So that's kind of where I'm at.
- 18:38I feel like a broken record where I just keep saying like
- 18:41mid distances during the week long run is on the weekend,
- 18:43making sure I'm really dialing in my fueling.
- 18:46So that way no surprises on race day either.
- 18:48So exciting. Are you running?
- 18:50You're running the race with and your husband, right?
- 18:52Yes, yes, we do run together, which is great because I don't
- 18:56run with music. So when I need some distraction
- 18:58from what's going on as far as like my feet hurting or just
- 19:00feeling like tired and things like that, we can kind of
- 19:03chitchat and it helps the time kind of go by a little bit.
- 19:05It's also great because I have a pacer because he definitely
- 19:08slows down to run on my level. So I appreciate that that I kind
- 19:11of have that built in without having to check my own watch.
- 19:14Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Eat More
- 19:16Carbs podcast. If you have questions for Riley
- 19:19and I, please feel free to reach out.
- 19:20You can find us on Instagram, you can find Riley at Easy
- 19:22Sports Nutrition, and you can find me at Jenna Fisher
- 19:25Nutrition. Thanks again for listening.
- 19:27Please make sure you rate, subscribe and review.
- 19:29And as always, remember to eat more carbs.