Need Motivation

[lucidblue]

I haven't really had time to post much lately, but I'm in need of some motivation. Up until May I was probably in the best shape I've ever been in my life. I was thrilled. However, my shoulder started to really bother me around that time. I finally went to the doc in early June and found out I have a torn labrum and instability. We tried a month of therapy to see if I could avoid surgery, but it didn't work. I'm getting surgery Sept 7. Meanwhile, I have not been allowed to do any upper body weightlifting since May, except for some ab work and the shoulder therapy. I'm looking at 4 months of rehab after the surgery, so I probably won't be able to get back to my normal training until January.

I've been hitting legs 2x per week sticking to the 5x5 I used to do, but even that workout is modified b/c of my shoulder. I can't do SLDL and I can't do any squats with the bar (been using the hack squat machine and a sled leg press as an alternative). Meanwhile I'm losing muscle and gaining fat, especially in my upper body. I'm just really bummed out. I need to clean up my diet, but just haven't been able to stick to anything.

After my surgery I will be in a sling for 3-4 weeks, so that will really limit workout. I figure I will definitely be able to do the recumbent bike and maybe precor (depending on the pain). I plan on working really hard in therapy following the surgery and maybe I will be able to get back on track sooner.

Guess I'm just looking for people to yell at me to get as on track as I possibly can right now . I think I've been a bit depressed about all this (and maybe feeling a bit sorry for myself ) just need to get back to my normal self.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Welcome back! I was just thinking about yo the other day....wondering where you ran off too.

Sorry about all your shoulder woes....sounds frustrating, as well as painful. You have such determination and drive, I know your recovery will be great.

I wouldn't stress about the workouts - you can't control that. If you can't lift, you can't lift. But the DIET portion, you CAN control. If you clean up your diet now, focus on eating healthy, you're body will be healthier during your recovery - that could mean a speedier recovery!

 

[lucidblue]

Welcome back! I was just thinking about yo the other day....wondering where you ran off too.

Sorry about all your shoulder woes....sounds frustrating, as well as painful. You have such determination and drive, I know your recovery will be great.

I wouldn't stress about the workouts - you can't control that. If you can't lift, you can't lift. But the DIET portion, you CAN control. If you clean up your diet now, focus on eating healthy, you're body will be healthier during your recovery - that could mean a speedier recovery!

Thanks Daisy!!! Yes, diet needs to be my focus. Dieting is not my strong suit. I'll lift and do cardio until I fall over, but I HATE dieting. I'm aiming to get back on the reduced calorie and equal ratios of protein/fat/carbs diet I was attempting in January and February. I need to start this today. When I get home I'm going to break out the spreadsheet I was using before and start logging everything I eat. Maybe I'll even try to set up a planned menu.

 

[Sassy69]

I can appreciate where you are coming from - I started lifting when I was 16. I've belonged to the Y & various gyms over all these years. I finally hired my first real trainer & was really getting into the lifting lifestyle - and this was about 15 years ago - back when "girls didn't lift". You never saw girls in the gym - only doing aerobics. I used to go play half court hoops w/ some of the local guys, ran a couple miles / day, biked alot, etc. Then my feet started to bother me. Alot. Like, it felt like they were both sprained across the top of my feet. So I went to see a podiatrist who came thru as part of the my work's 'health awareness program'. The first thing he told me was that I had an advanced case of bunion problems - you know bunions, like you hear about old ladies getting after years of wearing high heeled shoes. Well, guess what, it runs in my family.

So long story short, I told my trainer I was going to be getting foot surgery & would probably be in casts for 2-4 months (because I was having both feet corrected). So focused my training on building a strong base, dropping some of fat and establishing a good, easy diet. I had transferred to a different state for my job, so I moved, got set up at the new job and then within 3 weeks I had scheduled my foot surgery. So from Sept 1991 - Dec 1991 I was in various foot casts, During that time, I did a lot of ab work, non-weight bearing leg work and some upper body work. Because my feet had a tendency to swell up if I didnt' have them raised, I didn't get much gym time at all. Finally in the last month or so I was able to cut down my foot casts enough to get full ankle flexibilty & did lots of stairmaster work (much to the consternation of my podiatrist!)

When I finally was able to get back in the gym, I was still flexible, the diet was established & I hadn't really gained too much weight. During the time off I actually focused more on my eating habits (and developing patience w/ the eating part of a diet) and also more on my flexibility, stretching, isometrics, etc.

So long term motivation - do what you can training wise, but also look at the diet part as training as well. It helped me a lot to look at myself as in a phase of therapy in order to hit it hard when the therapy was over. That way, the time period has an endpoint and a place in the bigger schedule instead of just this never ending time that you can't or arent' allowed to do anything, so screw it, I'm getting fat & nobody cares, so let's go hang out w/ Ben & Jerry! You might also get more into the training / physical therapy aspect of your injury to better understand the biomechanics of your shoulder and also of the rest of your body.

 

[lucidblue]

I'm so glad you shared your experience Sassy... this really helps motivate me and get in the right frame of mind. Our situations are similar Sept - December for surgery and therapy (although I can't even imagine having both of my feet in casts... you must've had such a positive attitude to get through it like you did).

I'm determined to get my diet on track. This evening, I started a new spreadsheet and started logging my food intake. I did good today, that's a step in the right direction.

 

[nikkita]

I think that you already have many time invested in the sport... and as everything there are ups and downs... and it is in the downs where we learn the most. As someone said once "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".
So as much as you may be sad now because of the changes and the lack of training, redefine your diet to prevent muscle loss... and try to get the most out of the current trainings you're doing.
Want your body back? then stick to that... although recovery may take time... there is muscle memory!!

 

[Sassy69]

It helped a lot that I went in knowing that I had to do the surgery one way or another. I didn't even know what bunions were until I went in to see this doc - all I knew is that my feet were sort of funny-shaped and I couldn't wear many types of shoes. That particular year I would get serious throbbing pain across the ball of my foot, sort of like there was a vice grip across that part of my foot. Originally I thought I had some how sprained my foot playing basketball (sometimes our games were literally "full contact") but when the other foot started to hurt the same way, I figured either it was "sympathy pain" or else I had something else going on.

Since not doing the surgery would only leave me with that annoying pain, I went for it. It really helped me to plan ahead knowing I'd be out of the gym - so I lost some weight, etc. w/ the expectation that I might gain some back, but also that I'd be in the best shape I could be going in. And since it was in the fall / winter, I wasn't missing any beach time. (Luckily it was also in S. Florida, so I didn't have to worry about freezing my toes in that ugly cast in cold weather!) One rather humorous, but annoying situation I got into was the fact that I had just purchased a car w/ a clutch and I had this bulky foot cast on my left foot - also the clutch foot. Had to be careful about not getting the cast jammed on the clutch while driving.

I guess when you are in a situation you know there is no way around and you will be a better person for it when it is over, you have to go in w/ the right mind set or it will just be miserable. I'm an extremely goal oriented person, so it helped me to put the whole thing on a schedule and to still keep the gym lifestyle going, but to look at a different aspect of it while I had the time.