Fitness After Injury
An injury of any magnitude can be extremely humbling. As I am sure many of you can tell, I am a very active & independent individual. I spend my days outdoors, at the gym, running around with my kiddos, etc. In the past, I experienced very significant injuries including a broken hip & pelvis! As painful as that was, I didn’t have the responsibilities as I now have with being a mom & wife.
Fast forward 16 years brings us to now and unfortunately, just 2 short months ago I fractured & tore some tendons in my foot. However, for whatever reason, this injury, even though a lot less extensive has been harder as a whole (not as painful though). I have a house to run, a son to take to and from school, a 2-year old that needs me 24/7 and never sits still. Thankfully I am no longer on crutches and working on rehabilitating my injury.
Only Do What You Can Do
A hard thing for me is to not push my limits. I am so used to doing certain things that it has been very difficult asking for help and letting things go. I’ve had to let some of the housework go and just realize it is only temporary. The same goes for a daily fitness routine…modify, modify, modify! Listen to your body and only do what you can do. As I have gotten older, I have come to realize that our bodies don’t heal as fast, and to listen more closely to what it is saying.
Fighting Off Depression
It can be depressing not beying able to do what you once could. I know I personally had a really hard time seeing my body atrophy in many areas and that I couldn’t do a lot about it until my body was truly ready. Things that helped my depression; good podcast, talking with friends and family, getting out of the house when possible, working harder with my ZYIA Business, continueing to incorporate some level of fiteness daily & learning to be ok with not being 100% ok everyday.
Where Am I At Now?
I am two months out since my injury and still very limited on what I can do for workouts and still have quite a bit of swelling and some aching pain. I have started to go to the gym M-F, doing non-weight bearing cardio and only stationary or sitting weight training. I am taking time each day to stretch the injured area as well as some simple PT exercises. I keep having to remind myself to take it easy. For eample, I did 3 hrs of yard work yesterday and am extra swollen/sore today.
What’s the Point?
You may be wondering what the point of this post is? It’s simple, my point is to show others that IT’S OK TO NOT BE OK 100% of the time! Being that this month is Mental Health Awareness Month, I want to simply talk about the fact that we don’t all have it all together all the time, we don’t always feel happy and truthfully, we may feel sad a lot due to current circumstances. No matter what you are personally dealing with; injury, loss, love, death, etc. I encourage you to just reach out and talk to someone and remember it really is OK TO NOT BE OK all the time!
