Creature of Habit

[AmberFL 840]

Just venting LOL I am realizing that I am a creature of habit. I had my breast augmentation 12/30 and it was an involved surgery which I need to rest and not exercise. It’s killing me. I feel lazy, I’m eating stuff I shouldn’t because I’m home all day, I’m out of my routine, I can’t cook for myself and much as my hubby tries it feels like I’m eating at restaurants where I can’t track my food. I feel so blah! I’m tired and lethargic. I’m committed to get back on track tomorrow and told my hubby that I need to get better and stricter since I can’t workout. I cannot wait to get back to the gym to do some cardio at the least. 😮‍💨

[kristieshannon 1,664]

After my PS (I had a Tummy Tuck + breast lift/augmentation + arm lift all together) I went back to walking. 1 mile post op day one and added more each day after. It isn’t the heavy gym workout that you’re probably used to, but it kept me feeling active. You can add ankle weights for a little extra oomph to your walks.

[AmberFL 840]

1 hour ago, kristieshannon said:

After my PS (I had a Tummy Tuck + breast lift/augmentation + arm lift all together) I went back to walking. 1 mile post op day one and added more each day after. It isn’t the heavy gym workout that you’re probably used to, but it kept me feeling active. You can add ankle weights for a little extra oomph to your walks.

My surgeon hasn’t cleared me yet. I tried walking and I got super swollen then next day so I’m hoping tomorrow when I get my drains out he clears me 😭 once he does I’m going to be in the move lol

[kristieshannon 1,664]

Weird! We even get open heart surgery patients up and walking right away! (I’m a nurse)

[SpartanMaker 798]

Tell me about it!

I have a torn proximal hamstring tendon that I've been avoiding doing anything about since last March. I finally had a small procedure done in early December and was told no lifting, and no cardio of any kind for a month. It about drove me stir-crazy and I too found myself falling back into some old eating habits that were not good. I'm so glad to be past that first month now! Although I still am far from back to normal, at least I'm allowed to do some running again. I'm finding with that starting back up, I'm also eating better.

Hopefully you'll get back to normal soon.

[ms.sss 15,690]

14 hours ago, AmberFL said:

Just venting LOL I am realizing that I am a creature of habit. I had my breast augmentation 12/30 and it was an involved surgery which I need to rest and not exercise. It’s killing me. I feel lazy, I’m eating stuff I shouldn’t because I’m home all day, I’m out of my routine, I can’t cook for myself and much as my hubby tries it feels like I’m eating at restaurants where I can’t track my food. I feel so blah! I’m tired and lethargic. I’m committed to get back on track tomorrow and told my hubby that I need to get better and stricter since I can’t workout. I cannot wait to get back to the gym to do some cardio at the least. 😮‍💨

sooo...let me be a cautionary tale for you.

after my plastics i was so itching to go back to running that i did just that, at about 2-3 weeks post (i was told to wait 4-6 weeks). and wouldn't you know, i busted open my stitches in 4 different places.

doc told me to wait another 4-6 weeks. and what did i do? i went running again, 2-3 weeks before i was supposed to. and yep, busted them open AGAIN,..only 2 places this time, but still.

so because of my stupidity, i extended my recovery time by a good extra 3 months, and probably made those areas that re-opened more scar-ish looking had i not been so eager to move.

but i get it, i was so upset about not being able to move like i wanted to, i would seriously ugly cry some days. though this may have been because of the hormones or recovery or the pain or the fact it was winter and dark, lol...in any case i was miserable for what seemed like a really long time.

sooooo...take it easy, try not to worry about not being perfect in the exercise or food department (cuz i mean, you aren't 100% right now, how can you expect to give 100% ??) but yea, easier said than done. i know.

p.s. full disclosure: i am currently nursing a double "proximal hamstring tendiopathy" a.k.a. yoga butt...been suffering from it for like 2-3 months now. physio told me to rest it, meaning stop doing forward folds and splits...but i mean basically EVERYTHING in yoga involves some variation of a forward fold or split! needless to say, i have not stopped and am totally in pain. AND i have a shoulder injury from falling on it a month ago and have not been resting that either. so yeah, if you don't want to end up like a sack of injury like me, do as i say, not as i do! ha!

(i made a new years resolution to cut down on exercise this year, but as we can see, it is not going well. le sigh,)

good luck! ❤️

[AmberFL 840]

4 hours ago, kristieshannon said:

Weird! We even get open heart surgery patients up and walking right away! (I’m a nurse)

He wants me to walk short distances, but I had to get an internal bra and he diesnt want me swollen where a pocket will get created to have the implant be in my armpit lol so I’m trying to be good and take it as easy as possible but it’s effing hard

[AmberFL 840]

4 hours ago, ms.sss said:

sooo...let me be a cautionary tale for you.

after my plastics i was so itching to go back to running that i did just that, at about 2-3 weeks post (i was told to wait 4-6 weeks). and wouldn't you know, i busted open my stitches in 4 different places.

doc told me to wait another 4-6 weeks. and what did i do? i went running again, 2-3 weeks before i was supposed to. and yep, busted them open AGAIN,..only 2 places this time, but still.

so because of my stupidity, i extended my recovery time by a good extra 3 months, and probably made those areas that re-opened more scar-ish looking had i not been so eager to move.

but i get it, i was so upset about not being able to move like i wanted to, i would seriously ugly cry some days. though this may have been because of the hormones or recovery or the pain or the fact it was winter and dark, lol...in any case i was miserable for what seemed like a really long time.

sooooo...take it easy, try not to worry about not being perfect in the exercise or food department (cuz i mean, you aren't 100% right now, how can you expect to give 100% ??) but yea, easier said than done. i know.

p.s. full disclosure: i am currently nursing a double "proximal hamstring tendiopathy" a.k.a. yoga butt...been suffering from it for like 2-3 months now. physio told me to rest it, meaning stop doing forward folds and splits...but i mean basically EVERYTHING in yoga involves some variation of a forward fold or split! needless to say, i have not stopped and am totally in pain. AND i have a shoulder injury from falling on it a month ago and have not been resting that either. so yeah, if you don't want to end up like a sack of injury like me, do as i say, not as i do! ha!

(i made a new years resolution to cut down on exercise this year, but as we can see, it is not going well. le sigh,)

good luck! ❤️

Oh gosh!! Before I got my surgery and was forced to stop exercising my lower back was in excruciating pain and then my knees were bad. And I do not wanna extend being out any longer than I need to be! Idk if running will be in the cards for awhile but dang a good stairmaster workout? Squats? Something! But yes I will TRY to do as you say! 🤣

[AmberFL 840]

5 hours ago, SpartanMaker said:

Tell me about it!

I have a torn proximal hamstring tendon that I've been avoiding doing anything about since last March. I finally had a small procedure done in early December and was told no lifting, and no cardio of any kind for a month. It about drove me stir-crazy and I too found myself falling back into some old eating habits that were not good. I'm so glad to be past that first month now! Although I still am far from back to normal, at least I'm allowed to do some running again. I'm finding with that starting back up, I'm also eating better.

Hopefully you'll get back to normal soon.

I sure hope so! It’s only been a week and I’m going NuttZo!

[Arabesque 7,366]

As from these posts you can see you ‘re not alone in being anxious about your loss of routine due to surgery or injury recovery. I can add me too. I feared if I didn’t get back into doing some form of my stretching & resistance band routines I would never get back to doing it after my hysterectomy. My innate laziness and dislike of exercise would kick in again.

By day 4 I just had to do something so I started very slowly. Didn’t over extend my stretches to anywhere near what I usually did. Avoided certain things. Interestingly there are contradictions with post hysterectomy exercising. No lifting for two weeks, then 5kg, then 10 then all good ( so by 8 weeks lift anything) compared to no heavy weights (>15kg) for 6 months. No core muscle work for 3 months vs start core muscle work at one week. You can understand why I took my own path. If I felt a pull or discomfort I stopped and/or avoided that movement for a few days.

I can understand having to avoid upper body work but what about lower body? Like using ankle weights like @kristieshannon suggested when you’re able to walk or get some resistance bands to do some stretches either sitting down or on the floor. Don’t use your arms. If you have circular bands use a chair to brace the band or get your husband to hold the bands. I do some where the band goes around my ankles and below my knees and I pull one leg away from the other. Try deep knee bends, squats, ankle work, pelvic thrusts with feet on a wall, etc. So you’re not doing weight baring exercises but still working your muscles. Even if it’s not your usual routine make it a new, though temporary routine.

All the best.

[SpartanMaker 798]

Probably not a popular opinion here I suppose, but I'm not a fan of ankle weights for otherwise healthy individuals. I wanted to share my thoughts since I've seen these recommended a couple of times.

There are some really niche areas where these may be beneficial (rehab for specific populations), but in general there is little scientific evidence that they do anything beneficial. Plus there is some evidence that they may actually cause more harm than good by changing your normal walking gait. Some of that is dependent on just how heavy the ankle weights are, but I don't want to go that deep here.

It sort of make sense that you have to work harder when using them, but studies have shown that for the most part, people walk slower when wearing them, thus negating any potential effect. Now if you are walking on a treadmill and walk the same speed you'd otherwise use, then maybe they burn slightly more calories, but slightly is the operative word here. You could just as easily walk a few more minutes and get the exact same calorie burn. Since they do also potentially increase your risk of injury due to the altered gait, I just don't really recommend them.

Now if you have some and you love them, more power to you. Feel free to keep doing what you're doing if it's working for you. I just wanted folks to know my thoughts on these. People should decide for themselves if they want to consider using them.

Oh, and please don't say they help "tone" your muscles. I'm sure I'm opening another can of worms here, but there is no such thing as "toning" your muscles. Frankly that's a huge pet peeve of mine. Toning your muscles is a total and complete myth that was invented as a marketing term to try to get women to strength train that were afraid of becoming "bulky".

Edited 25 minutes ago by SpartanMaker