Katee Shackoff, American actress, best known for playing Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on Battlestar Galactica, opened up about her journey of body transformation and how it has negatively impacted her and made her menstruation stop completely. She said that she may have taken the process of body transformation too far in her work. In a conversation on the Joe Rogan Experience, she said that she wanted to change her physical appearance to more precisely embody a character. She noted that for a Netflix show Another Life, which ran from 2019 to 2021, she underwent a weight loss journey as her character required her to look gaunt and dehydrated in the initial scenes. She said that she "grinded" to put on muscles, and got lean and fit, and also changed her intake to 1,500 calories a day. While the trick worked for her weight loss, it caused her to completely stop her menstruation. This is when she knew she went too far, and she was in fact, happy to put the weight back, and as her character also progressed to do so. Can Weight Loss Impact Menstruation?Cleveland Clinic mentions that severe weight loss can actually cause amenorrhea, a condition where your period stops. Endocrinologist, Vinni Makin, MD, tells Cleveland Clinic that if your period has stopped, it could be because you are exercising too much, eating too little, or both. Dr Makin says, "When we are talking about weight loss, if a person is trying to lose weight even though they are at a healthy weight already...this can impact the menstrual cycle by making the periods irregular or by stopping the menstrual cycle altogether."Why Does Losing Weight Stops Your Period?The doctor suggests that it is because your body undergoes stress from the physical changes, which may not necessarily be required. She explains that this puts your body in a 'fight or flight' mode. "Your body is conserving all its energy. It stops your menstrual cycle and reduces your hormone production because it only wants to use resources for things that are very, very, very important, like breathing and digesting."While not all exercise disrupts menstrual cycle, studies have shown that exercising vigorously may have an impact on menstruation. A 2007 study published in BMJ, titled Exercise and Menstrual Function, saw that 80% of women who exercise vigorously may experience some form of menstrual dysfunction. Another 1983 study, published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, found that women who run more than 50 miles a week are much more likely to experience amenorrhea. However, it does not mean that not having your period means you are more athletic than other people. The doctor explains, "When somebody loses their period because of exercise or diet issues, that does not mean they are physically fit. That is a sign that they are nutritionally deficient. They don't have enough fat to support that hormones production."Could You Get Your Period Back?While losing your period could be scary, you can get your period back by making certain lifestyle changes. "You need to decrease exercise and increase your caloric intake," says Dr Makin. The doctor says that the rule of thumb is that you should be striving to return to your weight you were when your cycle was arriving every month at the expected time.
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