## 3 Results  
Out of 12 cyclists, 8 completed all the procedures. One cyclist was eliminated due to poor compliance in the diary log, and three did not finish due to personal reasons. Anthropological characteristics are represented in Table 1.  
The LEAF questionnaire was positive in 6/8 (75%) of participants; the rest were labeled as the LEAF- group. In 5/8 (63%) cyclists, we registered negative EB over 3 days, and 7/8 (88%) had EA \(<\) 30 kcal/kg FFM/day. Other data on energy-related parameters are presented in Table 2. For clarity, \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Minimum** & **Maximum** & **Mean** & **Std. Deviation** \\ \hline Age & 14 & 30 & 17.50 & 5.21 \\ Height (cm) & 159.0 & 173.0 & 166.2 & 5.2 \\ Body mass (kg) & 43.0 & 64.3 & 54.2 & 7.6 \\ FFM (kg) & 41.1 & 50.7 & 45.3 & 3.1 \\ FAT (\%) & 3.00\% & 24.20\% & 16.95\% & 6.63\% \\ SMM (\%) & 42.00\% & 53.00\% & 45.63\% & 3.44\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Anthropological characteristics of female cyclists with all completed procedures. Figure 1: An example of how within-day energy availability (WDEB)neg and WDEB\({}_{-300}\) were calculated for one of the participants. The visual representation of the WDEB calculation of this figure is adapted from [PERSON] et al. (2011). univariate scatter plots for key values EA and WDEB\({}_{-300}\) are shown in Figure 2. Two participants were amenorrhoeic, and one had previously experienced stress fracture. Looking into differences in the LEAF\(-\) and LEAF\(+\) groups, we found some significant results. EA in LEAF\(-\) (mean 25.67) cyclists was significantly different from LEAF\(+\) cyclists (mean 4.77) (U = 0.00, z = \(-\)2.00, \(p<0.05\), r = \(-\)0.70). In addition, EB in the LEAF\(-\) group was significantly different from the LEAF\(+\) group (U = 0.00, z = \(-\)2.00, \(p<0.05\), r = \(-\)0.70). There were no differences in WDEB\({}_{\rm neg}\), EI, EEE, and EE. WDEB\({}_{-300}\) was significantly different in the LEAF\(-\) group compared to LEAF\(+\) group (U = 12.0, z = 2.049, \(p<0.05\), r = \(-\)0.72). Performance-related parameters are presented in Table 3 and their scatter plots in Figure 3. We have obtained maximal power output (W\({}_{\rm max}\)), relative power output (W\({}_{\rm rel}\)), maximal oxygen consumption (VO\({}_{\rm max}\)), lactate values at the end of the test (La\({}_{\rm max}\)), and 5 min after the test (La\({}_{\rm 5 min}\)). Mean VO\({}_{\rm 2 max}\) was 53.61 mL/min/kg. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Minimum** & **Maximum** & **Mean** & **Std. Deviation** \\ \hline EEE (kcal/day) & 460.00 & 1912.00 & 1357.81 & 474.62 \\ EE (kcal/day) & 914.46 & 2313.57 & 1740.84 & 455.52 \\ EI (kcal/day) & 1408.70 & 2243.79 & 1802.52 & 332.91 \\ EB (kcal/day) & \(-\)431.08 & 1168.72 & 61.68 & 496.70 \\ EA (kcal/kg FFM/day) & 0.02 & 35.75 & 10.00 & 11.69 \\ WDEB\({}_{\rm neg}\) (h) & 56.00 & 64.00 & 61.38 & 2.67 \\ WDEB\({}_{-300}\) (h) & 5.00 & 12.00 & 8.13 & 2.17 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} EEE = exercise energy expenditure, EE = energy expenditure (total), EI = energy intake, EB = energy balance, EA = energy availability, WDEB\({}_{\rm neg}\) = time spent in negative energy balance, WDEB\({}_{-300}\) = time spent in energy balance under \(-\)300 kcal.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Descriptive statistics of the energy-related parameters. Figure 2: Univariate scatter plots for energy availability (EA) and WDEB\({}_{-300}\). Performance-related parameters (W\({}_{\rm max}\), W\({}_{\rm rel}\), VO2 max, La\({}_{\rm max}\) and WDEB\({}_{\rm neg}\)), body composition parameters (FAT, SMM, FFM) and other parameters related to energy metabolism (EE, EEE, EI, mREE, mREE/pREE) in LEAF+ cyclists did not differ from LEAF\(-\) cyclists. We found significant correlations between WDEB\({}_{\rm 300}\) and EA (\(-0.736\), \(p=0.037\) (2-tailed)) and between WDEB\({}_{\rm 300}\) and EB (\(-0.732\), \(p=0.039\) (2-tailed)). No correlations were found between WDEB\({}_{\rm 300}\) and body composition parameters, mREE or mREE/pREE.