Now this is not my normal food post (no yummy recipe unfortunately, sorry!). But I think equally important, so I felt I should share. When a person is injured, either a sports related injury or any accident, how important diet is in the recovery, mentally and physically! After all it would be easy to just eat rubbish junk food while on bed rest or not being able to exercise. This however is not the solution and have discussed these points below. Please do comment after reading this post and let me know your thoughts on this interesting subject.
I will start at the beginning on how intrigued I became with the subject of recovery. A few weeks ago I had a car accident. I was the only person in the car thankfully and I came out very lucky... Glass cuts, bruises and a very sore back but overall okay! I was told to rest, and to be honest I had no choice as my back was very sore standing and even sitting down. This continued for a good week after my accident. In the first few days after I completely lost my appetite presumably due to shock (anyone who knows me knows I am a complete foodie, yes hence the name). Not being able to eat the smallest bowl of porridge was surprising. But then it occurred to me that I wasn't active, doing my usual routine of work, gym or swimming. So it was good I wasn't eating as much food as my regular diet because I didn't need to. It was more about listening to my body, eating when hungry and stop when my stomach felt content.
Focusing on the quality of what I was eating was of course another light bulb moment. Just like an injured runner I needed to eat right for a fast recovery. I eat clean anyway but this was adapting my diet to aid the repair of my muscles, tissue and ligaments specifically. This meant eating a balance of the following and definitely not cutting out any food group:
- Protein and minerals from lean meats, nuts and eggs as it is so vital for any repair to your body. So don't forget it!
- Carbohydrates from grains, vegetables and fruit. It is so important to include complex carbs as this will be used as the fuel for your body, while the protein can be used to repair and heal.
- Plant and fish oils such as avocado, fish, nut butters, coconut oil all have anti inflammatory effects.
- Vitamins from colourful fruit and vegetables. The anti inflammatory values of blueberries, strawberries, carrots and broccoli is amazing! Far more vitamins than popping a vitamin pill will give you.
- Herbs and spices again are great to reduce inflammation. Specifically garlic, cocoa, green tea and tumeric.
It is just as much a mental battle as a physical battle to get back to top health after injury. Personally, I love working out and swimming almost every day, so not being able to do these things did take effort not to let myself go into the "Well I cant workout I might as well eat anything I want!" mentality. But all of the training you do previously will be wasted with eating rubbish foods and therefore putting weight on (which would be inevitable). Staying positive and trying to maintain your clean body regardless of exercising or not, as this will just help you when you resume your fitness routine and watch muscle memory come into play! This is done by eating the right clean foods and understanding what your body needs to recover. Eating these amazing foods is not only speeding up your recovery but they also leave you feeling great and energised!
At this point in my recovery I cannot wait to get my gym kit on for the first time, but I know it is so important not to rush back into it as it may hinder the repair. Overall this whole experience has given me the chance to switch my focus from training to specifically what I eat and enjoying doing other things in the time I would usually be gymming or swimming! It is definitely an "Every cloud has a silver lining" situation and I definitely appreciate that :-)
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