Worried injury will be a setback

drummondk
drummondk Posts: 79 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I've made great progress since starting my weight loss/fitness journey in February. I've also started working with a personal trainer.

I'm approaching my first goal in six weeks and I find out today that I have an injury that could put me out for a few weeks. I'm AT LEAST going to be on complete rest (little to no movement) for 5 days. This includes muscle relaxers and pain meds. I also had a steroid shot, which is making me want ALL THE FOOD!

I'm hoping after the 5 days I can get back in the gym. I'm worried I'm going to ruin my progress until then eating and not exercising. These meds make me so hungry!

Any words of encouragement/wisdom/advice?

Replies

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
    My primary suggestion to you before you go back to the gym. Talk to your doctor about your injury and what you can do. The last thing you want to do is go back in the gym too early do something you're not supposed to do and really screw up and be out a couple months.

    Your body needs time to physically heal itself. Also there been plenty of cases where people have an injury try to work their way around it and they ensure something else.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    'Make your set back the platform for your comeback."
  • pedermj2002
    pedermj2002 Posts: 180 Member
    Yep, it's going to be a setback in *some* form. Either your weight loss slows, or your journey to better fitness slows, or you even regress a bit. At least one of those is going to happen. That's the crappy news.

    The good news? You can control how bad it gets. You can wallow in it, and eat *all* the things in a fit of depression, and consume 6000calories/day for the entire time. You can eat at maintenance (maybe even a *little* above), and avoid gaining (or losing) weight, giving your body the food it needs to help heal. Or you can continue to with a calorie deficit (might make healing harder, though!) and lose weight, just more slowly than before.

    It's all up to you. You choose what happens. Being hungry *sucks*. Wanting to eat everything *sucks*. Actually eating everything sucks *more*. So, I recommend choosing maintenance (plus a little bit, like 250 calories). This gives you control over how you're doing, helps you heal, and gives you some set goals while you heal. You might gain a little bit of weight over the week, but you'll do just fine in removing it afterwards.

    Go, get yourself healthy, and then deal with the gym. Just don't make the injury worse by getting back to the gym too soon, okay?
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,763 Member
    edited April 2017
    About 6 months after I started running, less than a week before my first half marathon, I developed a pelvic stress fracture. I was devastated. I was also really unhappy because exercise is the way I deal with depression and stress. I decided that food wasn't going to make anything better, so rather than eat everything in sight, I'd focus on my diet, since that was the one thing in the situation that I could control. I ended up losing weight instead of gaining. When I was eventually able to run again, 7 months later, I gained the weight back, but that was fine since I had been at a healthy weight before I got hurt.

    Don't let the steroid shot be an excuse to eat. I've had two in recent months for a shoulder injury. I had no idea it was supposed to make me hungry, and it didn't.

    This is a temporary problem, so think long term. Figure out how you got injured and how you can keep it from happening again. Plan your future activities. I did eventually run a half marathon, and went on to become a marathoner as well. The sfx wasn't my last injury, but I decided each time that I would focus on what I could do to get well, and not let it stop me from doing what I love to do.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    There's always something... it's called life...

    Rest as much as you need to, don't rush back to the gym too soon or you risk being out for weeks or months not just days.

    Up your cals to maintenance to try and stop eating the whole world!

    :flowerforyou:
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    There's always something... it's called life...

    Rest as much as you need to, don't rush back to the gym too soon or you risk being out for weeks or months not just days.

    Up your cals to maintenance to try and stop eating the whole world!

    :flowerforyou:

    This! Please please please do yourself a favor and don't rush back into things. It's what I did after my back injury last Fall. I'm still paying for it now.

    Any set back you have now will be temporary and can be undone quickly enough once you're fully healed up. The set back will be much worse if you don't take the time to fully heal!
  • drummondk
    drummondk Posts: 79 Member
    edited April 2017
    Thanks everyone! I'm going to forgive myself for the pity food last night and get back on track with nutrition today. Y'all are right, it's the only thing I can control.
  • Muscle_for_Fitness
    Muscle_for_Fitness Posts: 2,198 Member
    Focus on your diet and don't try to come back too early. The last thing you need is to injure it worse and be out for even longer.
  • twistedingenue
    twistedingenue Posts: 38 Member
    I'd also make sure that you are eating adequately -- like your sedentary TDEE. Your body needs the energy to heal!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories