I saw my podiatrist yesterday because my left foot - the one that had the strain in the arch - is still bothering me. There is a little swelling where the anterior and posterior tendons meet, so the strain has morphed into tendonitis.
His solution? Two weeks rest. One week complete rest from cardio activity - yup, even my BFF the elliptical machine. If the swelling is gone, then I can introduce "light activity, such as easy biking or elliptical without much resistance." He wrote a prescription for physical therapy and took casts of my feet for custom orthotics.
Woe is me.
Well, crap. (<-- Those are not the words I'd really like to use, but I'll mind my manners.) I wallowed in self-pity (and a late-night bowl of cereal) for about 10 minutes yesterday, then I decided to revisit my overall goals (improve my fitness level and eat healthily) and my specific goals that I set last Friday (publish my food journal for the week, drink at least 48 ounces of water each day, and do 5 tricep pushups on my toes by April 1).
Guess what? I can still meet my goals. I can and will still meet my goals. I CAN AND WILL STILL MEET MY GOALS. I CAN AND WILL STILL MEET MY FLIPPIN' GOALS. I have to say it over and over, and in bolded caps, so that I will remember this in my moments of weakness and self-doubt.
What can I do? I can still take Body Pump (minus the lunge track - it might be too much bendy-ness for the arch; I'll do squats instead during that time). I can work on core strength, which will help me meet my goal of doing tricep pushups on my toes (I think the arm strength is almost there, but my middle collapses). I can try yoga. I can sleep in some mornings instead of getting to the gym by 5:15 am.
Honestly, I'm trying so hard to lose weight - which, I hope, will be a side effect of the "big picture" goals I listed above. I've been having success, and I'm terrified that these 2 weeks of restricted activity will result in binge eating and lying around the house feeling down, which will then result in gaining back the weight I have lost. I don't want to overeat, but I don't want to eat too little and shut down my metabolism - I'll be doing more research on this soon.
In the meantime, my food journal will be published tomorrow morning. I'd love feedback on it - especially going into this two weeks of restricted activity. If you've faced similar setbacks, let's talk about it! I'd love more user comments below!!!
From my limited reading and input from others, as long as you're still working on your lean muscle mass, it should keep your metabolism to a point where you're burning calories. I would probably be saying bad words if I was told to stop doing certain activities for two weeks, too, though!
ReplyDeleteAnd as long as your food choices are healthy, and you're taking in the protein to help your muscles repair themselves, you should be able to stay on track. Honestly, I've had people tell me that when they had to cut back on the gym for one reason or another, they ended up losing weight at first. :)