Feeling really discouraged

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jenlance0213
jenlance0213 Posts: 5 Member
in Motivation and Support
I was doing great, exercising daily on elliptical for 30 min and watching what I was eating BUT then I broke my ankle 3 weeks ago. I read online that healing bones uses a lot of energy so I didn’t change my diet but that must not have been the case with me and since I was not able to put any weight on left leg and was in quite a bit of pain, I’ve done nothing but lay around, weighed myself today and have gained about 10 pounds. Feeling really bad about myself and still have at least 2 more weeks in the cast then might possibly move in to walking boot. Any advice?

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  • dawnymo1
    dawnymo1 Posts: 48 Member
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    jenlance0213 wrote: »
    I was doing great, exercising daily on elliptical for 30 min and watching what I was eating BUT then I broke my ankle 3 weeks ago. I read online that healing bones uses a lot of energy so I didn’t change my diet but that must not have been the case with me and since I was not able to put any weight on left leg and was in quite a bit of pain, I’ve done nothing but lay around, weighed myself today and have gained about 10 pounds. Feeling really bad about myself and still have at least 2 more weeks in the cast then might possibly move in to walking boot. Any advice?

    Had a similar experience with knee surgery, non weight bearing for 7 weeks.... its not fun but I gave myself a bit of a break and looked at each thing I ate as a new start..... try to make a good choice with the next thing you eat and build on that …. good luck
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    You took your pot off just to weigh yourself? :huh:
  • jenlance0213
    jenlance0213 Posts: 5 Member
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    I wish! No I crawled to the scale and kneeled on it.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
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    Firstly, you could be retaining water from healing.

    Were you wearing a boot or cast on your foot/ankle when you weighed yourself? Are you still eating the calories you would have gained from 30 minutes on the elliptical every day?
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,466 Member
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    Don’t let the injury to your ankle take over your head. Your injury will heal. Look on youtube and try to find some kind of mat routine you can do. Not the ankle rehab stuff, that’s for your Dr to say. You will find stuff to work around your injury. Anything that’s enough for you to be able to look at yourself in hte mirror and say it’s a workout.

    Ok what you find on youtube won’t be as good as what you had. But it can be a lot better than what you’re doing now. And it can serve as a placeholder for your regular routine when you can get back to it. Sometimes the best we can do is damage control. This is an opportunity to test your problem solving skills and resolve. Its unlikely that you’ve gained 10 lbs in 3 weeks.

    Good habits will see you through. But sometimes good habits have to be defended. Fill that 30 min time slot and get your eating back on track. If you have down time now, start a food diary if you hadn’t had one before and start counting calories. Tracking your intake will get you more returns than exercise and just watching what you eat. Don’t stop trying.
  • jenlance0213
    jenlance0213 Posts: 5 Member
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    I was wearing cast when I weighed myself and I figure cast weighs at least 3 pounds. Yes I was still eating the same calories as before as I read online that your body uses a lot of energy to heal broken bones so I didn’t want to reduce calories because I’m trying to heal and get out of cast as soon as possible.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
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    jenlance0213 wrote: »
    I was wearing cast when I weighed myself and I figure cast weighs at least 3 pounds. Yes I was still eating the same calories as before as I read online that your body uses a lot of energy to heal broken bones so I didn’t want to reduce calories because I’m trying to heal and get out of cast as soon as possible.

    Without knowing what your usual deficit is or how many extra calories you add for exercise, you might be eating over maintenance. It still seems unlikely you have eaten enough over maintenance to gain that much weight though, so I'm guessing cast plus water weight for healing accounts for most or all of the weight gain.
  • oceanvixen79
    oceanvixen79 Posts: 38 Member
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    I am hoping you are healed by now but...I am non-weight bearing for at least 3 months after a car accident that also knocked in my teeth and took about a foot of intestine. I am eating less than my maintenance calories because I don't want to gain weight while on a walker but also can only eat soft food until I have another surgery to repair my broken maxilla. Log, log, log your food. Don't give in to the urge to fast food it. If you have anyone that will make you food once or twice a week, that is so so helpful...trust me.

    Get recommendations from your surgeon, physical therapist, or nurses for what exercises you are allowed to do. I have PT to keep my muscles from atrophying and do them up to 4 times a day. My cast weighs ~5-6 lbs. With the layout of my house I am sometimes crabwalking around my house holding my casted leg up...that is an amazing workout 🙄. Ask if you are allowed to swim. My husband makes me go out and hauling myself around even to get to and from the store to get a motorized scooter is a lot and I sleep better.

    My home health nurses are constantly harassing me about protein, calcium, and Vit D intake, not about my general calories.

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