The Triad????

After learning about the female athlete triad in class a week ago it really got me thinking about my own habits back when I was a competitive fighter. I was highly competitive in Tae Kwon Do and went to many competitions for sparring. I was in my mid teens and in great shape. When I stared competing I had to go to weigh ins the night before the competition. I starting becoming obsessed with my weight and was trying to get into a lower weight class. I would definitely say I was practicing unhealthy eating habits consuming very low amounts of calories per day and exercising like a crazy person. Then I had a very severe injury. I was training for Junior Olympics and I was kicked on my cheek. The kick itself wasn't even that hard and didn't even hurt that bad. I thought I was fine. Later I found out that I shatter my orbital bone and fractured my cheek. For years I just thought it was a freak accident, even the doctors told me that I must have gotten hit in just the right place in order to cause an injury like that. Then after learning about the triad, which I had no previous knowledge of, I thought maybe I could have prevented the injury by having better habits. I did a lot of unhealthy things in order to make weight. Although I don't remember having serious issues with menstrual cycles, I do remember having very irregular patterns. Was I suffering from the female athlete triad? Could my injury, which required reconstructive surgery, have been prevented? I guess I will never know, but I do wish I had previous knowledge of what the female athlete triad was because I probably could have recognized it sooner.

Tatiana Tseng*****