How to Overcome Amenorrhoea

April 20, 2017

Tawnee Prazak, MS, CSCS, is a triathlete and triathlon coach living in Laguna Beach, California. She’s been involved in the endurance world for nearly a decade and is considered one of today’s leading experts in the field of endurance training, racing, strength training, nutrition and wellness.

When I first started listening to Tawnee’s Endurance Planet podcast, I was utterly addicted to carbohydrate, unable to go more than 40 minutes on the bike without sucking down 30g of sugar in the form of a maltodextrin gel. Week by week her fat-adaptation message sank in, and with some help of UCAN Superstarch training wheels, I was able to dig myself out of that hole.

You should listen to this interview to learn how Tawnee overcame an eating disorder and restored her hormone health; all while continue to enjoy endurance sports.

Check out Life Post Collective, Tawnee's inner-circle community and holistic wellness hub that focuses on taking your health, fitness and nutrition to the next level. People can get access to Tawnee, all her coaching resources, recipes, webinars, like-minded members, and more. Use code "lpc4me" to get your first month free, after that it's just $10/mo.

Contact Tawnee for coaching or consults at coachtawnee.com

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Here’s the outline of this interview with Tawnee Prazak:

[00:00:22] Endurance Planet podcast.

[00:02:47] The Paleo Mom.

[00:03:55] Tawnee's approach to triathlon in 2007.

[00:06:11] The peak before the crash.

[00:07:37] Anorexia.

[00:08:58] Using training as an excuse for disordered eating.

[00:09:49] LCHF.

[00:11:01] Specialising in not specialising; Low-carb Breckenridge.

[00:13:33] The anorexia diagnosis.

[00:16:14] Amenorrhoea.

[00:17:04] Oral birth control.

[00:18:35] Bone density.

[00:20:14] Cognitive decline and CVD risk; see Ann Hathaway podcast below.

[00:20:54] The female triad: low energy availability, amenorrhoea, decreased bone density.

[00:21:08] “Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport” (RED-S).

[00:22:06] Fertility.

[00:23:00] Podcast: Ann Hathaway, MD.

[00:23:52] Root causes of the triad.

[00:24:09] Stress (of all types).

[00:25:49] Learning to say no.

[00:26:53] Productivity .

[00:27:39] Over-exercising.

[00:27:59] Too low-carb.

[00:28:44] Book: No Period. Now What?: A Guide to Regaining Your Cycles and Improving Your Fertility by Nicola J Rinaldi, PhD.

[00:30:05] Teasing apart the effect of low-carb.

[00:31:00] Gender differences.

[00:31:33] Book: Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Cate Shanahan, MD

[00:32:55] Cycling carb intake.

[00:33:34] Rapid weight loss,

[00:33:54] Trauma ,

[00:35:27] Compatability of fat-adaptation and hormonal health.

[00:37:01] Cat skiing.

[00:39:40] Tawnee's sweet spot is 90-120g CHO per day.

[00:42:27] UCAN Superstarch, and a honey solution.

[00:44:49] Energy availability formula: 30 kCal per kg of lean body mass, see Reed, Jennifer L., et al. "Energy availability discriminates clinical menstrual status in exercising women." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.1 (2015): 11.

[00:45:46] Gut health.

[00:48:09] Testing.

[00:48:33] Greg White.

[00:50:27] Training plans vs healing protocols.

[00:52:51] Endurance vs strength athlete differences.

[00:53:04] Outside Magazine article on health benefits of a thru-hike/backpacking.

[00:53:55] Stand-up paddle boarding.

[00:56:18] Ocean swimming in Santa Cruz.

[00:57:05] Getting a dog.

[01:00:12] Podcast: Lauren Petersen, PhD.

[01:00:28] Song, Se Jin, et al. "Cohabiting family members share microbiota with one another and with their dogs." Elife 2 (2013): e00458.

[01:01:19] Coaching with Tawnee

[01:02:04] Life Post Collective.

[01:03:41] Brie Wieselman, LAc.