Injury - staying on track

dmdeubel24
dmdeubel24 Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

hi everyone…..2weeks ago I fell and broke my wrist and tore several tendons in my ankle both on the right side. I’m down and out. Any advice on how I can stay on track? No exercise and not the one fixing my food ☹️

08B11F69-64ED-4B61-9ECD-B05D64700B1D.jpeg

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,900 Member

    Stay on track…for weight loss?

    I recently had a significant injury too and there was no way I was going to stay at a calorie deficit without my regular exercise which I could not do.

    I gained 10 pounds. I know that trying to under-eat when the body needs nutrition to heal is not a reasonable plan. Most of that 10 pounds for me was unavoidable and I'm nearly back to where I was before the injury. I mean, I didn't have to have all those cookies and peanut butter crackers and bags of nuts, but that was easy and required no cleanup.

    I'd say don't add food guilt on top of this injury. You have enough to deal with.

    Eating enough protein and calories will be important to healing.

  • rms62003
    rms62003 Posts: 259 Member

    So sorry you had such a bad fall! Not sure you need much of a calorie deficit looking at the picture, and you need to let your body heal. Make sure to hit the protein to allow healing.

    You can keep toning, especially your good side by doing sit down exercises. (look on you tube)

    As far as meal planning - when I had my foot surgeries and was limited in the kitchen, I did look at pre-packaged meals. Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine aren't too bad (if you don't look at the salt content!) I did a meal subscription service for the two months I was on crutches both times - worked OK. Last year when I had a severe pneumonia, I bought packaged meals (frozen and store made fresh) at our local supermarket. MUCH more expensive, but I knew I couldn't do my usual cooking at the time.

    Really with packaged, look at the macros and the portion sizes. Try to go with smaller meals, not Budget, Stouffers, etc.

    But, the biggest thing I would say right now is focus on healing, not on tracking food, counting calories. Let your body decide what you need. If you gain a few pounds over the next month or so, you can take it off when you are healthier!

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 38,143 Community Helper

    I'm 100% on board with that recommendation not to eat in a calorie deficit while in the acute phase of healing. Sure, if someone were severely obese, and especially if their healing was made more difficult because of their body weight, and only if their doctor were completely supportive of their intentions, that might be OK. But the photo suggests that's not you.

    I'd say: Strive to eat at least maintenance calories. Work to get good overall nutrition, especially but not exclusively adequate protein.

    If you eat close to your normal sedentary maintenance calories, you may still find you lose weight, because healing requires EXTRA calories. (I'm not saying that loss would be a good thing. For a while, weight stable would be a better thing.)

    If you don't want to track calories, or can't because someone else is cooking, that's fine. Just eat sensibly and to monitor your weight trend, keep an eye on how your clothes fit (or what the scale says, if you're able to weigh yourself occasionally). Ask your cook to help you focus on good nutrition: Meat, fish, veggies, fruits, whole grains, all nicely seasoned but not drowned in low-nutrition, high-calorie sauces. Every nutrient you can get helps you heal.

    Wishing you excellent healing, as speedily as possible!

  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 2,170 Member
    edited September 18

    That sounds rough.

    I agree you should be on maintenance calories at least. The thing is, it's probably very hard to estimate what that is for you right now. Any previous estimate you had is out the window due to a) less activity, b) healing. You might need to eat more than you think because of the healing, and that's not a bad thing. It will help you recover faster. Definitely do not be focused on losing weight at this time.

    There's a real thing called contralateral training, where you can resistance train your good side, and the untrained side still gets benefits of potentially half the strength gains of the good side, and potentially muscle sparing too. Doing this would put you in a better (re)starting spot when the casts come off too. Of course you're limited with your mobility, but you can do leg extension, leg curl, leg press, calf raise, if you're strong enough bodyweight pistol squat, and for your good arm there's no shortage of arm and shoulder exercises you can do. All of these can be done at home if needed except for leg press, with the aid of a dumbbell and bands.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 10,310 Member

    can you get physical therapy? Now, rather than later?

    I know with with my minor injuries (bike wreck, broken toe, a bad foot for a while) I was determined to keep exercising, but was bad about overcompensating on one side to make up for the other, and ended up straining the other side through overwork. That felt harder to heal than the initial injuries. I


    f you go this route, seek professional advice. don’t be stupid and pig headed, like me.

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,808 Member

    Best healing wishes!

    I went through bad sciatica in the Fall 2024, gaining a few pounds. It comes with the territory! I then worked hard to lose it and more in the first half of 2025. I also used this as an opportunity to improve my physical health.

    My advice is to 1) take your time to heal. While I don't advise throwing all caution to the wind, I wouldn't try to eat in a deficit while healing. Ideally, you'd eat in maintenance. Take your time (a few months). 2) Once sufficiently healed, start up with PT. 3) As you regain increase exercise and go on deficit, if you feel you need to.

    The fight isn't not over, it's just begun anew!

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 38,143 Community Helper

    BTW, in case we may be coming across like crabs in a bucket, not wanting you to succeed: The reason I'm suggesting eating at maintenance calories during acute healing is that I didn't do that after pretty minor surgery, and came to regret that. I had laparoscopic gallbladder removal, kept eating in a deficit. Fortunately, my body did prioritize healing, but I got weak and fatigued, then took multiple weeks to get back to feeling normal.

    I told myself I was not going to eat in a deficit again when my body was trying to heal from anything above ultra-minor stuff. Not worth it. Healing is job #1.

    I've behaved accordingly, ever since . . . even when I struggled to eat enough after a skull fracture/brain bleed this past November.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,766 Member

    Yes, don't eat in a deficit but eat at maintenance at least. Your body needs energy for healing, thus it's possibly that if you eat at maintenance you're creating a tiny deficit already. Simple food. A piece of fruit doesn't need two hands. A deep freeze pizza is not bad as such. Make good choices, try to get enough protein in. And get physio as soon as you're cleared for it.

  • Dianedoessmiles1
    Dianedoessmiles1 Posts: 16,133 Member

    Please check with your Dr, with such breaks, are your bones weak? A blood test would help them determine this. If so, your Dr can help you with what type of "diet" (I do not mean to lose weight), but rather to help your body heal more easily. I am so sorry!! OUCH!! I fell last week, hit my head pretty hard, but I am on a calcium, Vit D, and magnesium routine because I have osteoporosis. If I had just taken supplements without the tests, I would have been over on some, not enough of others.

    At my very worst health, I was healing from a bone infection in 2016 after surgery for that infection. I was 98% Bedbound for a while with it. I would lie there, tightening my abdominal area. I would do this hourly during the day. Ten tightenings an hour, over the day, that was 100 of them!! When I was finally able to move around again, I was in a size smaller pair of jeans! My Dr because it was an infection and bones that needed to heal from surgery, eating more protein, and gave me the amount to eat. I hope this helps you!!

    By the way, LOVE the color of your cast. We hope you heal quickly!

  • crazyhorse8
    crazyhorse8 Posts: 962 Member

    Oh my goodness! I am so sorry about your fall! I have to agree with many above me that it is not the best idea to skimp on caloric intake so your body has the fuel to heal. Eating at maintenance is probably the best but also ask your "chef" to cook as healthy and clean as possible with lots of choices to avoid boredom. I hope you heal up quickly and make it up the ladder one step at a time! Take care!

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