New and Injured

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone.

I've been lurking for a few months now and love this group. I've

been following BFL for my eating about 90-95% for about 6 weeks, but

just got serious and dedicated to my workouts last week. Now I've

been brought to a screeching halt. Wednesday night, I fell off of my

horse and into a cement wall. The result was a fractured skull and a

broken T-10 vertebrae. Luckily, it was a clean break, so according

to the doctors, there's no concern for potential problems as long as

I take it easy for a while. Aside from the obvious emotions at

falling off in public and getting fairly significantly hurt, the

biggest thing I'm struggling with is frustration. My brother and his

fiance are getting married in June and I was sincerely motivated and

dedicated to getting into great shape and most importantly, feeling

good about myself at their wedding. Now I feel like there's nothing

I can do to see any results. (I know that my health is the most

important thing right now, and I am sincerely grateful that I was not

hurt as badly as I easily could have been. I just don't want to

completely give up on my goals!) I've already discussed with my

family the importance of sticking with recipes out of EFL, but it's

going to take a while before I can even do cardio, let alone any

weights. And now I feel like I'm just whining here, which was not my

intention, so I'll apologize for that. My primary reason for posting

was to get some feedback.

I know there are many of you out there that are very knowledgeable

and experienced, and I was hoping that you might have suggestions as

to how I can do little things to help strengthen my back as well as

work on pursuing my goals in weight loss/fitness in my limited

capacity. (Sorry for that run on sentence!)

Also, if anyone has any experience with similar back injuries, any

advice on the proper way to sleep or simply easing pain without

relying so much on medication would be appreciated!

Thank you for listening (reading)! Any comments/suggestions would be

greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

Amy

[Guest guest]

Normally when someone around here says they've fallen off a horse, hit a

wall, or been run over by a wagon, they're talking figuratively. I had to

read that again to confirm that you did in fact fall off a horse and hit a

wall. Ouch!

Anyway, good news. Nutrition is by far the biggest part of your

transformation, probably about 80% of your results. If you eat well, you

can continue to lose weight and make progress even while you're resting.

It's just a matter of staying focused and not feeling sorry for

yourself or giving in to pity eating. Try to stick to the plan and save your

treats for one day a week, just like you would if you were active. You may

need to make your portions a little smaller or use a little more restraint

on your free day than someone who is training hard, but you can still follow

the book.

If you're able to use Myoplex Lite or whey protein shakes for a meal or two

a day, that's an easy way to stay on track without a lot of meal prep. You

could also use some of the ideas from my Snack-o-Matic:

http://www.skwigg.com/id80.html Those are really simple meal combos like -

turkey/grapes, string cheese/apple, tuna/Triscuits, cottage cheese/berries -

that you could eat without relying on your family to make you an authorized

recipe.

Any word on how many weeks of rest you're looking at? As soon as you can

walk, do as much of that as you can. It's not quite the same as running

sprint intervals but all daily activity helps. You may not be on the squat

rack with a loaded barbell anytime soon, but once you get the ok from your

doctors you can ease back into strength training with seated dumbbell

exercises, resistance bands, etc.

You'll be fine. Eat well and look forward to working out again, look forward

to the wedding. Use your down time to read up on health and fitness,

motivation, inspiring stories, humor. Keep your thoughts positive and moving

forward, make plans. That will help your transformation a lot more than

getting discouraged and focusing on the worry and depression.

>

> Hello everyone.

>

> I've been lurking for a few months now and love this group. I've

> been following BFL for my eating about 90-95% for about 6 weeks, but

> just got serious and dedicated to my workouts last week. Now I've

> been brought to a screeching halt. Wednesday night, I fell off of my

> horse and into a cement wall. The result was a fractured skull and a

> broken T-10 vertebrae. Luckily, it was a clean break, so according

> to the doctors, there's no concern for potential problems as long as

> I take it easy for a while. Aside from the obvious emotions at

> falling off in public and getting fairly significantly hurt, the

> biggest thing I'm struggling with is frustration. My brother and his

> fiance are getting married in June and I was sincerely motivated and

> dedicated to getting into great shape and most importantly, feeling

> good about myself at their wedding. Now I feel like there's nothing

> I can do to see any results. (I know that my health is the most

> important thing right now, and I am sincerely grateful that I was not

> hurt as badly as I easily could have been. I just don't want to

> completely give up on my goals!) I've already discussed with my

> family the importance of sticking with recipes out of EFL, but it's

> going to take a while before I can even do cardio, let alone any

> weights. And now I feel like I'm just whining here, which was not my

> intention, so I'll apologize for that. My primary reason for posting

> was to get some feedback.

>

> I know there are many of you out there that are very knowledgeable

> and experienced, and I was hoping that you might have suggestions as

> to how I can do little things to help strengthen my back as well as

> work on pursuing my goals in weight loss/fitness in my limited

> capacity. (Sorry for that run on sentence!)

>

> Also, if anyone has any experience with similar back injuries, any

> advice on the proper way to sleep or simply easing pain without

> relying so much on medication would be appreciated!

>

> Thank you for listening (reading)! Any comments/suggestions would be

> greatly appreciated.

>

> Thanks again!

>

> Amy

>