Content warning: The following deals with topics centred around disordered eating.
Between the ages of 16 and 20, I was missing a vital aspect of my health: My menstrual cycle. If this predicament ever came up in conversation, people expressed concern for my well-being, but I was quick to brush it off.
I used every excuse in the book to explain my strange situation: “I’m an athlete. Many female athletes lose their period,” or “my mother lost her period in university, it’s probably just genetics,” and, worst of all, “I feel great and I’m not planning on having children soon, so what’s the big deal?”