Body after Injury
After I herniated a disc at L5, S1 in early February I was absolutely devastated. I was reaching PRs in the gym and felt like I was in best shape of my life at age 40. It’s hard to work toward something for years and then feel like it’s being taken away. Not to mention, that I’ve pretty much invested myself full time into nutrition coaching and there will always be a bit of pressure to look a certain way. At the time I was focused on building muscle, eating more than ever and had completely eliminated any high intensity cardio from my routine
Navigating macros during this time frame was slightly difficult especially during a pandemic and quarantine. Lots of treats brought in for nurses and it was easy to “reward” myself with crap food and candy at home when I was stressed and in pain. My mental health is highly dependent on being physically active. I wasn’t intentionally trying to cut, but I didn’t think I was going to be able to maintain on 2300 calorie average days during rehab. Appetite was much reduced due to pain many days. The last 12 weeks the extent of my activity has been walking. I’ve been eating 1900ish calories a day plus I have 2-3 days where I don’t track and have a “splurge/cheat” meal
Looking at where I was, versus where I am now I can see I’ve leaned out. My leg and glute muscles have really diminished. I am hoping I can get back there with some time and building up the food again. The gym won’t be able to be the same for me for awhile. I’m desperate to keep the pain away (it’s been a great last few weeks) I don’t want to ruin anything
This page will always be a personal journal of my own fitness journey. I don’t ever want to give off the impression I’m not happy with my body. I love my body and every day I’m so thankful I had the ability to heal myself (so far🤞🏻) without surgery. Everyone has different goals. My biggest pride has come from transforming my lower body. I used to wear jeans all year long. Working hard in the gym and finding the proper food balance has taken me years to figure out. I would rather have defined muscular legs/glutes then abs and sometimes these things are a trade off. You can’t always have it all. ❤SC