60. Is Having Abs Worth Risking Your Fertility? Recovering Your Period and Fertility, with Dietitian Amy Giannotti (@amyleegiannotti)

Movies, TV, magazines and Instagram would have us believe that washboard, 8 pack abs are the holy grail of health and fitness. However, the reality is that our bodies (especially those of women) did not evolve to function properly with a very low body fat percentage. In the case of women, the level of energy restriction that is required to lower our body fat percentage to under 20% can have adverse effects on our reproductive systems and fertility, as well as a number of other aspects of our physiology.   Today I talk with Amy Giannotti, a dietitian from Melbourne and the director of Eating Fit. Amy specialises in eating disorders, disordered eating and has a special interest in helping people recover from hypothalamic amenorrhea (loss of period) after overcoming her own personal journey and struggles with the condition.   We start off by discussing what hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) is and how it’s diagnosed, what the long term health effects of HA are and compare it to RED-S syndrome. We then talk about how HA is linked to infertility, how you can recover from it and how food and nutrition is crucial for recovery. We discuss how long it takes on average for women to see their period’s returning and also what to do if you’re on birth control and may not be aware that you’ve lost your period.   This episode is a must listen to for all females, coaches and those working in the space of women’s health and weight loss. To learn more about Amy and her courses and coaching, head to her website and follow her on Instagram (@amyleegiannotti) or listen to her podcast, Healthy Life Redefined.   Please subscribe and leave me a review  If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag me and share it in your Instagram stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most! Don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you never miss an episode!