Sidetracked by Injury - How to Deal?

Coolhandkid

For years I would do fairly well on diets for a while then push my activity just a little too far, causing injury which would invariably destroy the momentum of the diet until I completely fell off. I had a really great stretch this time avoiding some of the activities that had caused injury in the past (even though they are the ones I enjoy most). With an increased base of knowledge surrounding diet I got back into some semblance of shape over 9 months and felt better than I had in a decade. Things were good.

Then I got knocked off the track again. An old injury got worse until I found out I needed surgery which has completely halted exercise. I was essentially immobile for 2 mos and allowed myself to eat poorly (going to have to work on eating to make me feel better about something else; thought I was past that). I'm still nowhere near back to being able to exercise (Dr's orders) for another month or so but I'm trying to get into my positive eating habits again and look forward to hitting the ground running when the Doc relents on exercise.

I'm not looking for sympathy. But I would love to hear some coping mechanisms, things that helped you through similar situations, etc.

Coolhandkid

How am I the only one to ever get hurt??

chouflour

Weight loss is mostly about what you eat. I injure myself somewhat regularly, and am just coming back from two months without martial arts classes due to a knee injury.

I do my PT as if it were exercise. I do what I can that doesn't aggravate my injury. With a bad knee, that meant I did a lot of easy walking and some swimming with a tow buoy. If I had a gym membership, I'd have been doing upper body weights. My goal was to feel like I was doing something and to keep that time reserved for physical activity.

I'm not sure that really helps though - I don't see weight loss and exercise as a package deal - so not being able to exercise is just annoying to me, not demoralizing.

Liftng4Lis

Weight loss comes from caloric deficit. Exercise is for health.

goldthistime

I understand exactly how you feel. When I can't exercise I get a lot less happy, and typically lose my motivation to maintain a calorie deficit. I blame the loss of endorphins or endocannabinoids. Apparently THEY are addictive too . My best bet is to look for something I CAN do for exercise. I may have to wait out the initial acute phase of the injury, but eventually I get to where I am ready for things like swimming or cycling. I have an irksome injury right now in fact. We set my bike up on a stand in front of the tv and I have been keeping my spirits high by pedalling till my t-shirt is drenched. I hope you can find an exercise that works for you.

bgoddess2003

Maybe if you need to go for PT, you might be able to ask there what you can do. I have injuries that I wouldn't trust just a trainer, I need a PT. Seriously. My injuries are from a accident accident they will always effect what I'm doing, but it's been 4 1/2 years and I need to move and lose weight. I'm tried of it. Keep talking with everyone these are real people with weight issue and there might be some one else who makes your problem look easy.

Kevalicious99

I got injured running ... I don't run anymore once I learned how really terrible it is in that department.

cheshirecatastrophe

Oh, boy. So, I am an endurance athlete and an adrenaline junkie. I broke my wrist last winter (see: adrenaline junkie) and it was *devastating*. I was already sliding down into winter SAD, and I pretty much crashed after that for months. (Losing my dominant hand, not being able to take basic care of myself--yeah, didn't help, either). So I know a little about how hard that can be.

When I hurt myself running this far, just a normal runner's injury, I had a little better presence of mind. Is there a time-absorbing goal, however stupid, that you can accomplish in the meantime? I played Sporcle quizzes and can now label every country on a map, name them in alphabetical order, pick out their capitals and identify their flags. It is just the right combination of numbing and occupying for me. I guess jigsaw puzzles would be the twentieth-century equivalent.

I also tend to feel a loss of identity during injury downtimes, because being active has always been such an important part of me. I make up for this by online window-shopping for gear and apparel related to my sports, watching YouTube clip videos, and planning out future races and events to attend.

It is hard. I looked for online resources about how to cope last winter and found zilch. It is very telling that a "things to do when you can't work out" Google search spits out things to do BEFORE and AFTER you work out instead.

Coolhandkid

goldthistime wrote: »

I understand exactly how you feel. When I can't exercise I get a lot less happy, and typically lose my motivation to maintain a calorie deficit. I blame the loss of endorphins or endocannabinoids. Apparently THEY are addictive too . My best bet is to look for something I CAN do for exercise. I may have to wait out the initial acute phase of the injury, but eventually I get to where I am ready for things like swimming or cycling. I have an irksome injury right now in fact. We set my bike up on a stand in front of the tv and I have been keeping my spirits high by pedalling till my t-shirt is drenched. I hope you can find an exercise that works for you.

This is exactly where I am. I had what I thought was a lingering muscle injury turn into something SUBSTANTIALLY more significant. I was OUT for a mo pre-op then 2+ post-op. I'm finally at a place where I can hop on a bike again but I live in WI so its all done inside this time of year. I finally feel good again as being completely incapacitated is at least as bad for the mind as it is for the body. But I'm still not 100% and it has completely knocked me off the best path I have ever been on.

goldthistime

galbracj wrote: »

goldthistime wrote: »

I understand exactly how you feel. When I can't exercise I get a lot less happy, and typically lose my motivation to maintain a calorie deficit. I blame the loss of endorphins or endocannabinoids. Apparently THEY are addictive too . My best bet is to look for something I CAN do for exercise. I may have to wait out the initial acute phase of the injury, but eventually I get to where I am ready for things like swimming or cycling. I have an irksome injury right now in fact. We set my bike up on a stand in front of the tv and I have been keeping my spirits high by pedalling till my t-shirt is drenched. I hope you can find an exercise that works for you.

This is exactly where I am. I had what I thought was a lingering muscle injury turn into something SUBSTANTIALLY more significant. I was OUT for a mo pre-op then 2+ post-op. I'm finally at a place where I can hop on a bike again but I live in WI so its all done inside this time of year. I finally feel good again as being completely incapacitated is at least as bad for the mind as it is for the body. But I'm still not 100% and it has completely knocked me off the best path I have ever been on.

AND when I have tried to get back on that path I have been frustrated by how much my fitness level has declined. Sometimes so much that I had to step away from it for a while. I do hope you can be more patient with yourself than I have been.

sofaking6

Right there with you - hopefully some good ideas will bubble up here. I really rely on exercise and if I don't work out, I basically can't eat. Or at least that's my mindset.

Coolhandkid

I'll readily admit the whole thing destroyed me. I went from killing myself at the gym to literally not moving more than a handful of times during the day. I allowed myself to eat stuff that I hadn't eaten in ages. Even the good stuff I was eating was devoured at rates that were harmful.

And when I tried to get back into the gym (prematurely) I got nothing but setbacks.

I'm just frustrated. My PT doesn't want me to do anything that I would consider a workout (just walks, etc).

PammieSuzyQ

It's a number of trail injuries that have really messed me up. I never rest the injured part long enough and thus the injury becomes much worse and then begins to cause problems for other joints. I had bursitis in both hips since 1988 and did not see a doctor until I began randomly screaming in pain eight years later, now it's arthritis. DUMB. I fell at work and tore my meniscus, left knee; waited to see a doctor until my knee would not hold me up 5 days later. DUMB. The limping began to tear at my right knee. I now have chondromalacia patella in both knees. When I thought it was healed, (had been hiking for years), I began backpacking; I blew it out on a backpack and saw a doctor the next day, smart. Two months later I did back-to-back backpacking trips before it was healed. DUMB. My knee was so badly injured I was forced out of work for six weeks. Did the steroid shots, did a synvisc shot. Did not backpack for years. Still hiked though. Fell and sprained my ankle SEVERELY a couple years later. Wrapped it, continued to hike for months. DUMB Finally stopped. Took over a year to heal. Developed a knot in my right calf muscle. Went hiking and when jumping from one rock to another, tore my calf muscle. Wrapped it and continued hiking through the screams that day. DUMB Went to the doctor the next morning, back on crutches yet again. Stopped hiking for two months. Hiked again a few times through the pain. Stopped hiking for over a year. The knot is still there and so is the pain.

Rest the injured parts that must be rested, I really really really cannot stress this enough. But DO see a physical therapist so that you will heal, and in the meantime find alternative forms of exercise for the rest of your body. This is a good time for strength training of other sets of muscles. Look for low cost gyms. Currently I belong to a gym that only costs me $9 a month; yes I did lay out $79 to begin it, but I cannot begin to tell you how much this has been one of the most worth while expenditures of my life. I have learned to listen to my body. I still hike, but I stop when it hurts. I don't hike without knee straps anymore, I do quad strengthening exercises for the knee. Yoga is great for my hip pain. My backpacks are now limited to very short trips, nothing longer than 7 miles in a single day. If I bike and my knee hurts, the ride has to be over. *kitten* your athletic pride, you only get one body.

i LOVE activity, I definitely feel like half of the woman I used to be, but if I want my body to last until my 90s, I'm going to have to give it a break and go slow. So, fishing, kayaking, and strength training for now. Slow on the hiking and biking. One day I will get back to long backpacks and maybe even rock climbing again.

As to your diet, try to think of this as the one place you have some control, and eat accordingly. Yeah I have had some ups and downs, especially with the stupid meds, but nothing I could not fight back with when I throw my self control into it.

IzzyBooNZ1

this is me at the moment... I badly sprained my ankle 3 weeks ago. I can walk on it ok but it's still weak, a bit sore and feels unstable. I am seeing a physio for it .
My main form of exercise was thai boxing and I haven't been able to do it.
So I'm feeling a bit down because I feel like there isn't much I can do as most things seem to aggravate it. Seeing my physio tomorrow morning and I'm going to discuss my exercise options and see what the latest update on it is

SwankyTomato

I injured my back doing Jillian Michael's shred after being off my game for 2 yrs. Did PT, got a tad better.

Then my feet starting hurting after awhile, went to podiatrist, another podiatrist, and then another one who finally cared to really help me. She sent me to a sports PT place. They helped me through my issues.

I was finally able to exercise after baby stepping my way back.

I also tend to go "gung ho" and at almost 50, it is a very stupid thing to do. My recovery takes flipping forever!

Anyway since I want to be able to walk (I have mean Mr. Neuroma on the bottom of my right foot) this time it is FOR REAL and I can't mess around.

tomatoey

I'm constantly trying to find ways to work around my issues. And I'm trying to be as diligent about my physio exercises as I have been about real exercise.

I am not convinced things ever get fully right again, even after physical therapy, though I have not had surgery. I paid a ton for therapy, did my work, thought my wrist and forearm had healed. A couple of months later, I tempted fate by trying to carry some grocery bags a couple of blocks (cans of lentils! why?). It came back - not to the degree it was before, but a good bit. Enough to remind me daily never to try to carry groceries. I don't know, you just have to kind of accept that there are going to be vulnerabilities and do your best not to aggravate them.

You've had surgery, though, so things may look different for you long term

Try to focus on your therapy and rehab and learning how to move again in a healthy way.

tomatoey

I'm not going to lie and say I'm not jealous of people who are out there running and skiing and whatever (those are off the table for me bc of another injury), but you know what? It could be so much worse. It's just luck, and I guess, be glad it's not something fatal.

That said, injuries really do a number on your sense of independence and your connectedness to people. Super scary that way, easy to fall into depression when you're stuck at home. Try to get out as much as you can, if it's a lower body injury, and if it's an upper body thing, get whatever gadgets you need to make life easier.

elphie754

Would your doctor give you a referral for physical therapy? They would be able to give you ideas on how to do simple exercises that won't set you even farther back.

47Jacqueline

I broke my leg in October and was on crutches and non-weight bearing for 2 months. I gained about 4 lb and lost some cardio and srength capability (more cardio). I was at maintenance and ended up about 2lb above, which I have since lost. I started back with Aqua fitness, which I could do while still in a brace. I didn't need physical therapy because here was no tissue damage. Last week, I finally got back on my bicycle and remembered not to take shortcuts on one-way streets.;-)

Coolhandkid

elphie754 wrote: »

Would your doctor give you a referral for physical therapy? They would be able to give you ideas on how to do simple exercises that won't set you even farther back.

Yeah, I've been in PT for 3 mos. The surgeon told me I'd be back on my feet in weeks and playing basketball in 3 months. My PT (after 3 mos+) just told me I should probably never play basketball again and I had another 3 months of recovery time (which would put me over 6 mos; WAYYYYY longer the the weeks I was promised initially). I'm a little mad at myself for taking the surgeon's word over the things I had read. And I'm a LOT mad at him for providing an outlook far rosier than the best case scenario.

Basically, I have a few BASIC exercises that don't even qualify as cardio that I can do.

I haven't had a good workout in 6 months now and have gained a fair amount of weight back. Its been maddening.

saraphim41

Worst case scenario is muscle loss over recovery time. Try isometrics to help maintain strength. Isometrics strengthen muscles; weights, cardio build stamina.