Injured and Gaining-- Need Support!

abberwocky · May 2013

I started my weight-loss journey in late February, and have been consistently losing about a pound a week since then. I have been jogging about 5x/week (only about 6-7 minutes at a time, with walking breaks in between) and my goal is to run a 5K in late November this year.

Unfortunately, I injured my hip flexor muscle a little over a week ago, so I've stopped jogging to let it heal. I'm not sure exactly how severe the injury is; It's sort of a low-level, dull ache all the time, and it gets worse with activity, but I still have full range of motion.

I don't know how long I'll have to take off from jogging, but I want to take my time and really let this thing heal properly so I don't make it worse.

The problem is, I've already gained back over half a pound this past week, and I'm so worried that all my hard work and progress is going to get ruined! I want to continue to keep my calorie counts low, but I'm finding that without burning the extra calories with jogging, it is VERY difficult. Plus, I'm finding myself extra hungry all the time, probably due to inactivity. (Exercise was a great natural appetite-suppressant for me!)

I've basically adopted a "Screw it, I can't do anything anyway, so I'll just eat crap," attitude. Not healthy or productive, but I can't seem to get out of the mindset. :frown:

Does anyone have any tips for staying on-track with an injury?
Also, if anyone has particular experience with a hip flexor strain, I'm dying to know how long the recovery was! Websites I've found say anywhere from a week to several months could be necessary. That's a huge discrepancy, and it's making me feel pretty hopeless and depressed.

somanyrhoades · May 2013

First of all, I'm really sorry to hear about your injury! Being injured is awful. Second, don't give up! Jogging/running isn't the only form of exercise there is. Swimming is great because it's low impact and doesn't strain your joints. You could also try cycling, though with your injury I'm not sure that would be ok. Also, if you are still able to walk, go for walks throughout the day. It's not going to burn as much as jogging or running, but at least you will be doing something. It's important to stay active in some way, but like you said, it's also important to let it heal properly. Have you seen a doctor? If not, I recommend going. Hip flexor injury healing can be helped with physical therapy sometimes, and a doctor would be able to give you limitations on what you can and can't do. As far as recovery time, it depends on the person and how severe the injury, that's why you are getting mixed recovery time when reading about it. If you are really going to be out of commission for a while and you want to continue to lose weight and feel good, modify your eating. you may have to temporarily eat fewer calories until you can resume normal activity. And stop telling yourself "screw it, I'll just eat crap!" thing... instead, try "If you stumble, make it part of the dance". your injury will not undo everything that you have done if you don't let it! I have torn labrums in both hips that need surgical repair (which I can't have done at this time) and I spoke with a sports medicine specialist and physical therapist to find out what I can and can't do. I can walk, bike, swim, dance, hoop etc, pretty much just not allowed to do gymnastics or run. So don't let this discorage you, just look at it as a minor set back and find a way around it.

SteelySunshine · May 2013

Here is a place to start building some ideas for exercise while you have a hip injury.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/525021-non-impact-exercises/

I am thinking water jogging or something like that might work. But, I am not sure as you would still be working that muscle even if you don't feel it while in the water. Then there is the rowing option, that would keep your heart rate up and I don't see anything in that that would strain your hip muscle, but you wouldn't be working your legs at all as far as I know. Some people do chair exercises as well, you can probably find some ideas for that on You Tube (bestest place on the interwebs besides here of course).

lisacopeland72 · June 2013

I'm in a similar situation and it is so frustrating! I lost about 25 lbs using MFP and spinning 3-4 times a week. I injured my quad about a month ago and haven't been able to do any exercise since. I have good days and bad with my eating, and have only gained about 3 pounds back from my absolute lowest weight. But I'm terrified that all my hard work will go to waste.

I've been doing some upper body work with free weights, but haven't found any good cardio. I tried swimming, but it aggravated my injury. It's so hard this time of year with lots of barbecues, ice cream everywhere, etc.

Hang in there and maybe we can both weather our injuries and continue our weight loss!

erinsemail3 · September 2013

I too lost a bunch of weight (50 pounds). I injured my hip flexor. And now I feel like there is no acceptable form of exercise. The idea with the hip flexor is to not life your knees. So I can't cycle, play tennis, run, walk, etc. There has to be something I can do. I will try the rowing as suggested below but I am a little nervous about that. Please keep the ideas coming on how to burn calories while resting the hip flexor. THANKS!

kkvon · September 2013

I have had the same injury while playing football in collage. One of the things that i found helped me with the pain was a compression wrap. It may provide you with enough support where you are able to walk with a little less discomfort. If you can get a stationary bike or put your bike on an indoor trainer you can soft pedal where the healthy leg does the majority of the work.
Plus the activity may help with the rehab. Have you seen a Dr yet?.

Just don't give up. It is frustrating but every little bit helps

Have you tried swimming using just upper body?

Injured and Gaining-- Need Support!

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