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Let me start off by saying that I the reason I post this message on this board is because this board has more knowledgable people than the average fitness board! This board is great!
Hmmm... where to begin... Right now I think I'm in a stage of overtraining. I have most of the symptoms I read up on: amenorrhea for a year with one period last January, fatigue, general moodiness, sometimes wobbly or dizzy-feeling, impulsive need to work out every day and I probably don't eat enough for what I do. I do a little weight-resistant exercise, but the bulk of what I do nearly every day is cardio. The elliptical machine tells me that I supposedly burn 900 calories in a little over an hour of exercise (65 minutes or so). By my estimates I eat about 1300-1500 a day, although I know I should probably be eating a little more. I guess simple math would tell me I'm eating way too little if the elliptical machine is right. However, I'm in a quandry. I'm fairly happy at my weight right now 5'4"/110-112 and have no desire whatsoever of gaining weight, of course-- unless it's muscle. (Technically, according to my age, 20, small body frame I'm at a healthy weight). Over the fall and winter, I decided that the amenorrhea was serious, and began to eat more. I went from 1500 on average to about 2000 fairly gradually, which was easy to do because of all the @$%@#$ holiday food. Supposedly, on a lot of websites and books I've read, my body can support 2000 calories while maintaining my weight and work out schedule, but my experiences say otherwise. My workouts were easier and I lifted more weights, but despite my harder-than-usual workouts I gained ten pounds of flab on the 2000 calorie a day diet, fairly quickly. I also had a period at my peak last winter of 120 or so. Granted, being 120lbs isn't fat, but on my body it all became cellulite, belly fat. Eating more seems to have un-done all of the gains in my body since I had began to exercise in January of 2000. (Many women look good at "normal" weights whereas I do not. Just had to write this in case any 5'4" 120lbs woman is reading this and thinking "So, you think I'M A PRIZE CORN-FED HIEFFER COW?"-- no, I do not. I don't gain the weight in my chest, for example. I'm much more comfortable at the low end where I am now. It all goes straight to my stomach, thighs, ass.) I freaked out at how blubbery I felt and at how much I had gained, so over a period of time I ended up cutting back, mainly on extra carbs. I've also became more aware of my body's "need" for fat, and more protein. My workouts are now a bit slower than they used to be. I have a lot of overtraining symptoms, too. I still work out nearly every day @ 900 calories. I don't know what to do. Today I jogged instead of doing the elliptical, and probably burned 600 or so-- right now I feel much better, more alert, etc., not as moody. My common sense tells me to maybe back off a little the strenuousness of my cardio, or take more rest days, or eat more, but the irrational side of me is fearful that I'll gain all the nasty flab back again, undoing all of my "gains". For instance, if I cut back on cardio to 600kcal for 6 days a week, I won't burn the 1800kcals extra that I do when I maintain the 900kcal workouts. In my mind the extra 1800 will turn to flabby fat on my thighs, adding a new pound of lard on my body every two weeks. On the other hand, I wonder if I'm burning off so much muscle or becoming so lethargic at 900kcal a day that cutting back wouldn't change anything (because I'd be more physically active during the day, have more muscle to burn calories). This is driving me insane. What would you guys/girls suggest I do? Thanks for putting up with my whining!
Hmmm... where to begin... Right now I think I'm in a stage of overtraining. I have most of the symptoms I read up on: amenorrhea for a year with one period last January, fatigue, general moodiness, sometimes wobbly or dizzy-feeling, impulsive need to work out every day and I probably don't eat enough for what I do. I do a little weight-resistant exercise, but the bulk of what I do nearly every day is cardio. The elliptical machine tells me that I supposedly burn 900 calories in a little over an hour of exercise (65 minutes or so). By my estimates I eat about 1300-1500 a day, although I know I should probably be eating a little more. I guess simple math would tell me I'm eating way too little if the elliptical machine is right. However, I'm in a quandry. I'm fairly happy at my weight right now 5'4"/110-112 and have no desire whatsoever of gaining weight, of course-- unless it's muscle. (Technically, according to my age, 20, small body frame I'm at a healthy weight). Over the fall and winter, I decided that the amenorrhea was serious, and began to eat more. I went from 1500 on average to about 2000 fairly gradually, which was easy to do because of all the @$%@#$ holiday food. Supposedly, on a lot of websites and books I've read, my body can support 2000 calories while maintaining my weight and work out schedule, but my experiences say otherwise. My workouts were easier and I lifted more weights, but despite my harder-than-usual workouts I gained ten pounds of flab on the 2000 calorie a day diet, fairly quickly. I also had a period at my peak last winter of 120 or so. Granted, being 120lbs isn't fat, but on my body it all became cellulite, belly fat. Eating more seems to have un-done all of the gains in my body since I had began to exercise in January of 2000. (Many women look good at "normal" weights whereas I do not. Just had to write this in case any 5'4" 120lbs woman is reading this and thinking "So, you think I'M A PRIZE CORN-FED HIEFFER COW?"-- no, I do not. I don't gain the weight in my chest, for example. I'm much more comfortable at the low end where I am now. It all goes straight to my stomach, thighs, ass.) I freaked out at how blubbery I felt and at how much I had gained, so over a period of time I ended up cutting back, mainly on extra carbs. I've also became more aware of my body's "need" for fat, and more protein. My workouts are now a bit slower than they used to be. I have a lot of overtraining symptoms, too. I still work out nearly every day @ 900 calories. I don't know what to do. Today I jogged instead of doing the elliptical, and probably burned 600 or so-- right now I feel much better, more alert, etc., not as moody. My common sense tells me to maybe back off a little the strenuousness of my cardio, or take more rest days, or eat more, but the irrational side of me is fearful that I'll gain all the nasty flab back again, undoing all of my "gains". For instance, if I cut back on cardio to 600kcal for 6 days a week, I won't burn the 1800kcals extra that I do when I maintain the 900kcal workouts. In my mind the extra 1800 will turn to flabby fat on my thighs, adding a new pound of lard on my body every two weeks. On the other hand, I wonder if I'm burning off so much muscle or becoming so lethargic at 900kcal a day that cutting back wouldn't change anything (because I'd be more physically active during the day, have more muscle to burn calories). This is driving me insane. What would you guys/girls suggest I do? Thanks for putting up with my whining!
I too freak out when my tummy gets distended from eating and annoy the hell out of my husband and anyone else who happens to be around at the moment. Help!
The odd situation I find is that eating more protein has probably made my overall calorie intake lower. It has also forced me to learn how to cook. For example, I used to have a bowl of pasta for lunch, or a bagel, or snack on pretzels. Then I'd wonder why my skin looked like shit and my mouth was sore and gums were bleeding. During the past winter I constantly snuck extra baggies of oatmeal, extra bowls of cereal, carb-laiden desserts like scones 
. Now that I'm eating more protein for lunch on a regular basis, I'm satisfied with less. 
Any advice is welcomed, and I'm pleased to see some really good quality responses to my post! 
I have a take-home essay test I have to work on, and have no ambition to work on it. For some reason, I keep thinking about food, but I rarely get hunger pangs. My folks are planning on having veal sausage for dinner, and I'm allready becoming psycho-calorie watcher, figuring just one sandwich with a big refined white roll and sausage will equal 500+ calories, and the idea of eating it is pissing me off already! What is it with our culture that demands that we eat processed meats WITH refined bread? I'm mentally so warped that I'm already trying to think of ways to avoid eating the whole thing. People look at you like you have three heads if you eat a hamburger without the bun! Oh man...
and comments!
mantra. The only reason I've weighed myself lately is out of morbid curiosity, knowing that I've lost too much and wanting to find the extent of my "damage" 
Last year I was this thin, and felt like shit. Very little sex drive, dreaming about food, oddly no physical stomach-growling appetite, going to bed early like an old woman and waking up too damn early. 
Most of this stuff doesn't work, either. Good hair cuts and good nutrition makes your hair look good, not tons of hair dyes and products and treatments... Acne can't be cured by using a product bought in CVS for the most part-- generally you need a dermotologist if it's recurrent. Cellulite isn't special fat that can be zapped with a cream. Man, I wish women didn't buy into that stuff....
. I figure I'll follow the basic 3-day weight training plan in Sculpting Her Body. Then after a few months or so I'll do more targeted stuff if I can!
! With the help of all your great posts, common sense finally won out! I'm not foggy or voracious, I don't feel depressed or apathetic, and I'm not on the brink of ripping anyone's face off with my teeth 
