Some people may find that after they recovered from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, they don't know how they should eat.
To recover from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, we need to eat a lot of food and put on weight. That’s the most important step that we cannot skip. It's also recommended to not make any big dietary or exercise changes until you've had at least 3 periods under your belt (read more about this recommendation in this book).
But what happens later? How do we find balance with eating – stop under eating like we did before, but also stop eating allllthetime when we no longer need it?
This is what we're talking about the #10PercentSolution Challenge.
It's Okay To Want To Stop Gaining Weight When It's No Longer Needed.
I want to preface what I'm going to say next, by making sure you know: No, you don’t have to try to lose any weight after HA.
But if you feel like you might be eating more than you need, or if you don’t need and want to gain any more weight, it may be useful to see if you may have lost touch with what and how much you really need to eat.
This is exactly what happened to me too. I had lost touch with my body a bit. I found myself eating more than I truly needed and I wanted to change that.
While I had completely learned to accept my body, I also had continued to gain weight. I know that this is not a popular thing to say in the body positive community, but I'm honest and say: it did start to bother me a bit.
It had nothing to do with my self worth. I like, love and respect myself exactly the way I am. But I didn't want to gain anymore and there was no reason for me to, because my cycle was back and things were running well.
Re-Learning Awareness
The key back to balance was AWARENESS.
I simply started paying attention to what and how much I was eating.
Here are some some examples of how I used to eat (which was all cool and necessary while recovering) and how I eat now (I've had my period back for 2 years and I don't need to gain more weight):
BEFORE: I used fill up the whole Menchies fro-yo cup with ALL the goodness. Good for recovery, for sure!
NOW: I know that I don’t actually need that much, and 1/2 cup is enough. At the same time, I don’t restrict it.
BEFORE: I used to eat an entire chocolate bar without thinking twice… Again, great for recovery!
NOW: I have a few squares most days, but usually no more than that. Again, it’s totally enough but at the same time, not too much.
Find The Middle Ground Between Depriving and Over Indulging
You can find that balance too once you stop restricting, stop dieting and start paying attention to your hunger and fullness.
You never want to make a resolution to stop eating the things you really like, so deprivation isn’t going to help you. It may work short term; the long term solution that you can actually stick with is eating anything, being present and mindful when eating, and not punishing yourself for eating.
Over eating isn't a healthy solution either. It's uncomfortable and leads to further weight gain which is likely unnecessary.
You need to find that middle ground where all foods fit but you won't overdo them.
If you want to find that middle ground too, AND if you have already recovered from HA, then I'm inviting you to join my 10PercentSolution challenge that runs from May 1st to May 10th. In this challenge, you learn to eat your favorite things in moderation, really enjoy them, FEEL when you've had enough and stop feeling satisfied.
UPDATE: This challenge is officially over, but you can still join and do it at your own pace! Sign up for it here, and all the materials will be sent to your inbox over the course of 10 days.
Let me know if you have questions about the challenge!
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