Starting Over After Major Injury/Surgery

JennyRATL

Hey all,

Some of you may have seen this post on the Getting Started forum, but I thought I'd post here as well for some motivation and inspiration....

I was pretty regular around here for awhile up until last November. Fell off a 6 ft. ladder and broke my calcaneus (heel). Required surgery and 5 screws to put it back together. Couldn't drive or bear any weight on it. Went a bit cuckoo!

I was able to maintain my weight throughout (albeit still about 10 lbs more than my desired state), but now I am back to "normal" as far as not being in a cast/boot and able to function in my daily routines.

Got my cast off in January and still wore a boot for 3 weeks.

I started doing PT 2x/week up until recently, and am now doing 1x/week. I still have pain and mobility issues and was told I would deal with pain and swelling for up to a year and have arthritis forever. (Y'all--wear good shoes on a ladder, seriously.)

Up to the accident, I was walking or running about 2.5-3 miles 3-4x/week and doing weight training 2x/week and doing great tracking calories and eating more healthfully.

But I'm out of my groove. I'm back at work and not always making good food choices in our cafe, not planning meals/snacks well and drinking way too much rose! I'm gaining weight and feel gross.

I can't run yet (if I ever feel brave enough to, although doc says I can when I feel ready despite having all this hardware in my foot!), and even walking can be challenging. I cancelled my Y membership awhile back because I was running and doing weights at home, but I'm thinking of renewing to take advantage of the cardio machines since I can't run, and perhaps a trainer. I'm just NOT feeling self-motivated enough right now to do anything home-based. I can walk, but not very far or for very long, but I think getting on a bike or elliptical would be good.

Just need some pep talk to help me get my groove back and get this weight off!

Thanks for reading!

Jenny

busyPK

First off a huge hug as that sounds very challenging. I can say I can relate to what you're going through. Back in late 2014 I broke two bones in my ankle and had surgery. I have a plate and 9 screws. I was in a splint, then boot, then walking boot then out of that and it took about 9 months from the break to being able to work "normally" without crutches, a walking boot or a limp. I was told I wouldn't be able to run comfortably again, however I proved the surgeon wrong as about 1.5 years after the break I was jogging without any discomfort. During my recovery I put on weight, but I was able to get the weight off. Try and focus on little steps - start with your calories and eating within that range. Then add in walks and I think it would be a good idea to utilize the Y for the other equipment such as the elliptical.