puberty weight gain in girls

Bad mindset to have. Just keep on fueling properly, eat more than you think you should, lift weights to build muscle and strength if you're concerned about that. But remember that running through a calorie deficit in order to cut weight might get you some short-term results, but it's absolutely not sustainable. Trying to stay lean at all costs kills the careers of so many girls it's not worth even considering.

yeah i would not ever intentionally run in a calorie deficit or try to cut weight. what i was saying was i just don’t want to become bad during puberty because of body changes, if i get there.

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Sorry, but if this a genuine post and you really are female and have "no signs of puberty" whatsoever at 15, you need to see a doctor.

I'm a coach, and a lot of my developing female athletes benefit from weight training to help them through puberty. It helps you to maintain strength as your body changes, and it builds confidence, too. Just be patient through the changes. You'll be stronger on the other side.

This. And to be clear, puberty isn't what causes girls to slow down. Most girls hit puberty in ~5th grade. LRers just think 19-year-old women are slowing down "because of puberty" because that's the level of understanding of females the typical LRer has.

Don’t fight puberty. That will just lead to issues and health complications later that are so much worse than not having that muscular, lean look. These are some of the most critical years of your life for developing bone strength. It might not seem like a big deal now and you might think the stress fractures and tendon issues won’t happen to you, but trust me, they happen.

As a fellow female athlete, I really urge you to not think about your appearance and instead focus on your training and health. Although my situation is slightly different, I was also focused on looking lean. I took it too far (it’s easy to do and so many have done it) and lost my period for three years. I ran well for a year (this is a classic example of what happens), until I got into this injury cycle. I haven’t run in two years because of it. My sleeping is coming back and so is my energy and personality (I couldn’t sleep over three hours a night and was also moody), but I made my body fragile and it’ll take awhile for it to become strong and trust me again. I finally have my period, but my body NEEDED the weight and was sending me so many signs until it finally shut down. My example might be extreme, but you’re so much more than your appearance. You’ll most likely gain a little weight during puberty and then maybe lose it in a few years as your training load (slowly and gradually) increases. There’s no way to tell, but please don’t fight it.

One of my best friends in college was a little heavier than the classic distance runner. She always ate healthy and was shocked to learn that so many on the team had irregular periods. She was the only one who never got injured. Fast forward a couple years, and now she’s the leanest of everyone. She was able to slowly build her mileage over the years and be consistent in her training. She did it in a healthy, sustainable way. She doesn’t try to be lean, she just trains hard. Still has a monthly period and everything and just broke 2:30 in the marathon last spring. And she credits so much of her success to her nutrition (mostly quantity) so that she can hammer those 100+ mile weeks month after month.

As someone else mentioned, strength training will be your friend. Keep running. Focus on how you feel and getting strong. In ten years, you’ll be so happy that you didn’t get stuck in that trap. Being strong and healthy and happy is a billion times better for your body and mind. I understand it’s hard! But you have a really bright future if you choose the healthy path now.

CICO.

Yes, and lots of girls hit puberty before 5th grade at age 10-11. Female puberty is only considered precocious or abnormally early if it starts before age 8. But nowadays, some pediatricians say that the age at which it's considered normal for female puberty to start should be lowered to 7.

Puberty in girls does not typically bring the "getting fat" that OP is focused on and is afraid of. During puberty, girls do undergo breast development, menstruation, ovulation, skeletal growth - and their figures do change shape. But the sort of weight/fat gain and change in the ratio of lean muscle to fat that OP is disturbed by generally occurs long after female puberty is already long over and done.

my entire family is full of late bloomers. i’ve seen a doctor, though it was like 6 months ago when i was 14. they said everything was normal, so since then we’ve assumed it’s just being a late bloomer like my family. and also thanks so much for all your help everyone, all the responses help a lot:))

Glad to hear you've seen a doctor and all is OK with you. There's nothing wrong with being "a late bloomer" - and I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. But the claim you made in your first post - "im 15 and have no signs of puberty" - was/is cause for concern.

No sign at all of puberty at age 15 in a female person is a red flag that calls for further medical investigation.

You are solely focused on - and worried about - one of the outwardly visible changes you fear female puberty will bring to your body - namely gain of weight, specifically "getting fatter." But the truth is, many of the greatest and most fundamental changes that occur during puberty of adolescence in both females and males are invisible but vitally important. Such as changes to the brain that allow for more sophisticated, complex cognition - and changes to the bones that allow the development of adult skeletons and building of bone density that you'll find mighty handy the rest of your life.

But at 15, a female person should see at least some signs of puberty such as breast buds and pubic hair. Failure to display any signs of puberty whatsoever by your age means you have clinically delayed puberty, which is usually an indication of an underlying health problem.

What constitutes clinically delayed puberty in females varies depending on the source.

The UK's NHS says it's when "girls have not started to develop breasts by 13 years of age, or they have developed breasts but their periods have not started by 15."

The USA's NIH says, "delayed puberty in girls occurs when breasts don't develop by age 13 or menstrual periods do not begin by age 16."

Stanford's Children's Hospital says it's when "signs of sexual maturity don’t appear by age 12 in girls."

I hope you are OK and am glad you've seen a doctor. The info I am sharing here is as much for other readers as for you.

+1 for strength training.

The main reason why some females slow down as a result of puberty is reduced strength to weight ratio. Becoming stronger though strength training helps to greatly combat this issue.

Also, becoming slower as a result of puberty is not 100% certain to happen. I am also a was very late bloomer. I went from 5'2" 101lbs to 5'6" 125lbs from the start of high school to the end of college. I went on to run 5ks at my mile pace from high school.

Lets cut the crap. Unfortunately or fortunately, Mother nature takes over and prepares women for the future. If you disagree with this, you flunked biology in high school. Genetics play a major role her too.

Agree with skippy. I have witnessed several 13 year old girls who ran the mile in 5 minutes low, only to get progressively slower as they age. And these girls are trained by some of the best coaches around. Genetics

wow thanks guys, these responses are super helpful! like i said i have a good mindset around food/fueling and eat a lot, but i just had a question, since i know a lot of girls slow and it’s because of that. i wouldn’t ever starve/get an ed, trust me i’ve seen what it does. and i know im an extremely late bloomer, it’s pretty frustrating, but my height isn’t too bad. im actually very tall, been 5’4 for years, and it’s been confirmed i still haven’t gone through puberty and have a lot more to grow. thanks again guys, i liked reading the responses and they had some good info.

Since you claim that your entire family went through puberty very late, hiw fast were they after puberty?

none of them were runners, i’m the only one!

As another female athlete, I wonder what you mean by, “no signs of puberty”… are you referring solely to the fact that you haven’t gotten your period or are you referring to puperty as a whole- pubic hairs, acne, breast changed, etc.