Brittany van Schravendijk on Kettlebell Sport, Overtraining, Loss Of Period and Body Image

Today's interview is with an amazing athlete and hypothalamic amenorrhea warrior Brittany van Schravendijk.

She has already shared her hypothalamic story on this blog. You can find it here. In today's video, we talk more about kettlebells, strength, overtraining, body image, and even career choices.

Movement has always been Brittany's passion, but just like happens to many other women, doing too much of a good thing led her to overtraining and loss of period. After she recovered from hypothalamic amenorrhea, she successfully returned to Kettlebell Sport.

I hope you enjoy this interview!!

Here are the timestamps of this interview:

00:35 Brittany introduces herself

4:05 Brittany's background as an athlete

6:00 What she did to end up overtraining and what happened as a result

7:20 Why the negative effects of overtraining may not manifest right away but you can actually feel great at first

9:10 When she stopped getting her period and what she taught of it at first

12:10 The problem with the birth control pill and why the BCP doesn't give you a real period

12:50 Low body fat percentage and hypothalamic amenorrhea

15:20 How everyone's bodies are different and why there's no one specific body fat percentage that will give your period back

18:05 Why Brittany finally committed to recovery and to getting her period back and why it was important for her to deal with it rater sooner than later

21:20 What she did to get her period back and how long it took

23:30 Brittany's weight gain and how she accepted and embraced it

24:15 Why she started talking about body image and hypothalamic amenorrhea on social media

28:00 Why she started posting “imperfect” pictures of her on Instagram and encouraging people to do the same

32:06 Kersten's experience with gaining weight and accepting it

33:28 How Brittany got back to training and maintained her period

36:30 Kersten's experience with overtraining and loss of sleep

38:30 Brittany's career change and why you should follow your heart

43:10 Why exercise isn't always stress relief but can be the opposite

43:35 How to work with Brittany and where to find her

44:30 The importance of movement and finding the right way to do it

46:38 The importance of listening to your body

Inspiring quotes from Brittany:

Overtraining and missing periods:

[tweet_box design=”box_05″]Overtraining doesn't feel bad at first. You're making gains, everything seems great, but later you find yourself exhausted all the time. [/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]Overtraining left me burnt out. I had days when I was exhausted and didn't even want to get up. Those days made me think: You know what you're doing wrong, you need to fix it. [/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]I was put on the Pill to get a period, but later I stopped getting it even on the Pill. I realized that taking the Pill is not a great answer to my problem anyway.[/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]I knew that not getting a period must be unhealthy, but I thought that I can always reduce my exercise later and get it back when I want to have kids. In my rational brain, I knew that the reason why I was not getting it was my exercise. [/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]At certain point, exercise can turn from stress reliever into stress. [/tweet_box]

Fitness industry and social media:

[tweet_box design=”box_05″]Fitness industry promotes many unhealthy things.[/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]We need to talk about issues that other people are not talking about and have to stop talking and showing only our happy moments.[/tweet_box]

Accepting and embracing yourself:

[tweet_box design=”box_05″]It's such a shame to be held back by insecurities or by what other people might think.[/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]Life is too short to hate yourself at any point. Embrace what you look like. Maybe you don't love yourself every day and that's okay. Just embrace and accept yourself.[/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]Worrying about your looks leaves a very little headspace for anything else. You could take all that energy and put it into something that is meaningful to you and other people.[/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]Your body wants to be healthy and efficient and it will go there if you let it. [/tweet_box]

Work and career choices & listening to your heart:

[tweet_box design=”box_05″]I decided to say “Screw it!” to what anyone else would say and just realize that my life is MY life to live.[/tweet_box] [tweet_box design=”box_05″]If you're passionate about something, you don't really feel like it's your job because you really love it.[/tweet_box]

Where to find Brittany:

To find out more about Brittany, go check out her

Thanks for watching and reading! Let me know if you have any questions to me or Brittany!

-Kersten

What are your workout goals?

If you have recently recovered from hypothalamic amenorrhea and want to safely get back to working out, check out my program, Simple Strength for Women, that is designed specifically for women like you.

If you need help with learning how to eat flexibly, mindfully and healthfully without dieting, I can help you.

We work on your behaviors around food and fitness, improve your body image and if needed, create your unique training plan that supports your health and wellness goals.

Get in touch here if you're ready to take the step towards food freedom and true physical and mental health.