Changing diet from bodybuilding to cardio only

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Nancymcgregor
Nancymcgregor Posts: 150 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've injured my shoulders and I have to take a month off weight training, I currently eat six meals a day, high in protein. I can still do cardio but I'm unsure what I should change in my diet for cardio only exercise. I want to continue losing weightand I don't want to go back to eating junk food. Any help would be appeciated.

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  • ilovedeadlifts
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
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    what kind of shoulder injury is it?
    A lot of times you can still find excercises that don't bother the issues.

    Leg Press, Hamstring curls, Deadlifts (sometimes), DB lunges.
    I get that you cant do a lot of upper body work, but I wouldn't neglect lifting.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I've injured my shoulders and I have to take a month off weight training, I currently eat six meals a day, high in protein. I can still do cardio but I'm unsure what I should change in my diet for cardio only exercise. I want to continue losing weightand I don't want to go back to eating junk food. Any help would be appeciated.

    You don't have to change anything really
  • becky3277
    becky3277 Posts: 64 Member
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    It's hard to give advice when I only found 1 day in the last month where you logged your food. You shouldn't need to change anything if you're eathing healthy.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    My knees were injured and in quite a bit of pain for about a month last month, and I still managed to weight train 3x per week. I just focused on my upper body instead.

    Work around your injury. There's no reason for you to let that hold you back.
  • Nancymcgregor
    Nancymcgregor Posts: 150 Member
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    It's a rotator cuff problem, I can do lower body weights but nothing that means I have to lift weights with my shoulders. Sorry for the lack of food tracking, I'm not very good at that but most of my meals are chicken breast, brown rice and broccoli and oats with flaxseed, banana, nuts and skimmed milk for breakfast. I have a post workout shake too.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    You should be able to do legpresses, hamstring curls, sitting calf raises, etc. Machine lifts can be used in lieu of your compound lifts in the meantime to work the legs.
  • Nancymcgregor
    Nancymcgregor Posts: 150 Member
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    Thanks, I've just read an article on eating while injured and my diet should be fine but I probably need to cut down on the carbs and add some more healthy fats.
    It's my own stupid fault for going too hard , too quick.
  • becky3277
    becky3277 Posts: 64 Member
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    We've all been there. Just take it in stride and do what you can. Your diet should be fine though.
  • Nancymcgregor
    Nancymcgregor Posts: 150 Member
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    Thanks, I'm lucky I caught it early before I did more damage. I just have to do the physio exercises and be good now.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    Ask your physical therapist if you can do any rotator cuff exercises to strengthen that muscle group. I think a lot of people forget to work the rotator cuffs, and it ends up being a weak spot and prone to injury. I just added a round of rotator cuff cable workouts to my arm day this week to help build them up a little to help prevent it myself.

    Just take it easy and do your lifts correctly at first. Form is critical. Focus on your legs for now and work hard but don't overdo it.
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
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    Thanks, I'm lucky I caught it early before I did more damage. I just have to do the physio exercises and be good now.


    Yes be good, be very, very good and follow your doctors and PT instructions, and do your rehabilitation exercises..

    I had rotator cuff open surgery in both shoulders and that put me behind for a very long time. I can't play tennis anymore, and I can't lift heavy while doing shoulder exercises. So do the best and try to avoid surgery.

    I wish you the best!
  • PittShkr
    PittShkr Posts: 1,000 Member
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    I had a few nasty hockey injuries to my shoulders. Started doing Yoga and now they dont hurt nearly as much.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
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    I had to take 6 weeks off from most exercise when I had a stress fracture, and eventually decided to use that time to take a break from logging my food. I decided that the risk of gaining a few pounds was worth not having to fuss over my calories or macros. I think I gained one pound. Big whoop. :smile:

    Since you're not regularly logging your food now and doing well, you probably won't need to make any conscious change to how you eat. Your natural appetite might change somewhat... you might be hungrier doing more cardio if it burns more calories, but or you might be less hungry without the strength training.
  • Nancymcgregor
    Nancymcgregor Posts: 150 Member
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    He's letting the inflamation go down for a week then he's giving me some exercises to strenghen and rehabilitate the shoulders and gradually introduce upper body training again.
    My form was wrong in a few exercises so I'm going to hire a trainer when I hit the gym again so he can keep an eye on my form.
  • Nancymcgregor
    Nancymcgregor Posts: 150 Member
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    Ah yes yoga, I never thought of that. I might try some pilates too. My core is rubbish,

    I intend to work hard on my exercises and do everything to the letter. Just one session with the physio today and he picked up on problems I've had for years. I was amazed when he popped the joints in my neck, I felt so relaxed after.

    I'm going to stick with what I'm eating now and not have any cheat meals and increase my cardio. My body isn't reliable when it comes to deciding when to eat and how much to eat, so I eat strictly portioned meals.

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