The Female Athlete Triad

This topic--when brought about in class--very much so hit home for me. There was a time in my life where I experienced disordered eating and ammenorhea, and honestly, not so much of the osteoporosis part of it.
This problem of mine started when I was in the 9th grade all the way until the end of my freshman year in college (around the time of my first period) . I was a hard working, dedicated dancer, and a hard core volleyball player. Growing up in a household where my dad and big brothers were very vein about their looks and bodies, I started to pick up the same habits. I found myself wanting to excercise a little more so that I could dance a little harder, jump a little higher, and to move a little faster. I never noticed or ever thought about being too obsessed with working out until i went to the doctor and had regular check-ups each year and seen that I was dramatically losing more and more weight. Although my doctor said she was pretty concerned about it, it gave me a rush to pretty much see that the numbers on the scale were dropping and I didn't care, as long as I was looking in the mirror to see and enjoy how toned I was. I didn't want to stop. Whatever I consumed in food, I made sure that I counted how many calories there were in it so that I would know just how hard I'd have to work to burn it off when I got to exercise. And sometimes I would catch my eating and somewhat bingeing because I knew that I could enjoy the food I loved and then go exercise like crazy to go burn it off. I thought I was unstoppable until I was deprived of my periods going on months at a time--at times, there were even 5 months in between them. But nevertheless, that didn't stop me. To me that was just one less thing I had to worry about each month. I was glad that my periods weren't coming.
This problem continued until my freshman year in college. But, it got a little worse before it ended. I was worried about the famous freshman 15, so that made me train a little harder than what I was doing in high school. It came around for my next yearly check-up and I guess since my estrogen levels were dropping dramatically, she said that it would be a good idea to get on birth control to regulate my periods at least. She then warned me firmly that I should stop what I was doing because it could make my bones weaker and it would lead to osteoporosis and of course I didnt want that. Honestly it wasn't her words that made me want to quit; it was the fact that what I was doing to so called make my body look amazing, was tearing my mom apart. To this day, I still have to watch it because I know I could still have those same tendencies. Nevertheless, I can't believe I was so stupid--let alone do that to my own body,but hurting my mom too? I'm not a big fan of neither.

~Candice Carter