Broken ankle...keep fit?
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kirstennc4
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- Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:55 pm
Broken ankle...keep fit?
Hi everyone....I'm a 22 year old woman that used to play basketball every day for 3-4 hours. I also did pilates every day. I recently broke ankle playing basketball and I'm concerned that I'm going to gain weight. I actually want to lose about 20 pounds, so this is a really tough time for me! I'm going to be on crutches and in a cast for at least the next 2 months. How do I stay in shape? I'm cutting back caloric intake to about 1200 a day, and doing push ups on knees (since I cant put weight on ankle), but im not sure what else i can do
Re: Broken ankle...keep fit?
Firstly, I'm sorry to read this. I hope you recover as quickly as possible 
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Secondly, please don't eat that little. You may cut calories, but also nutrition essential for Bone health, which could ultimately have a prolonging effect on the rehab period, plus a thinning effect on all your bones somewhat.
Then depnding on what you ate before and would no doubt be considering eating after recovery, calories wise, you might cause some Fat gain anyway, by getting the body used to lower calories, then creating some kind of daily "excess" from a normal intake again, that the body would store perhaps temporarily, until it was used to the normal calories again.
Assuming you were above 1,800 before, (sedentary female average), keep them at 1,800 a day. The more things you get, particuarly Magnesium, K2, D and Calcium, not to mention things like Boron, Vit C, Copper and Phosphorus, the better your Bones will be and the Ankle will be recovery wise, by potentially having enough nutrients per day that are associated or directly involved with Bone condition.
As for exercise, you'll be hard pushed to get any, unless you do bodweghted stuff in a chair like Pec Dck style movements, Shoulder Pressing, Front Raises, Bicep Curls etc etc.
Even exercise Bike stuff will be off limits, because pedalling with one Leg will be pointless, especially when the cast gets in the way of the other pedal, so Cardio is pretty much off limits full stop.
Hopefully limited suggestions might help somewhat. Good luck again getting over this and remember that it's only for 2 maybe 3 months, so it's not a pennance, just bad luck. Be strong, chin up and try not to worry too much yeah, as the Cortisol production could add Fat back on.
.
.Secondly, please don't eat that little. You may cut calories, but also nutrition essential for Bone health, which could ultimately have a prolonging effect on the rehab period, plus a thinning effect on all your bones somewhat.
Then depnding on what you ate before and would no doubt be considering eating after recovery, calories wise, you might cause some Fat gain anyway, by getting the body used to lower calories, then creating some kind of daily "excess" from a normal intake again, that the body would store perhaps temporarily, until it was used to the normal calories again.
Assuming you were above 1,800 before, (sedentary female average), keep them at 1,800 a day. The more things you get, particuarly Magnesium, K2, D and Calcium, not to mention things like Boron, Vit C, Copper and Phosphorus, the better your Bones will be and the Ankle will be recovery wise, by potentially having enough nutrients per day that are associated or directly involved with Bone condition.
As for exercise, you'll be hard pushed to get any, unless you do bodweghted stuff in a chair like Pec Dck style movements, Shoulder Pressing, Front Raises, Bicep Curls etc etc.
Even exercise Bike stuff will be off limits, because pedalling with one Leg will be pointless, especially when the cast gets in the way of the other pedal, so Cardio is pretty much off limits full stop.
Hopefully limited suggestions might help somewhat. Good luck again getting over this and remember that it's only for 2 maybe 3 months, so it's not a pennance, just bad luck. Be strong, chin up and try not to worry too much yeah, as the Cortisol production could add Fat back on.
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kirstennc4
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:55 pm
Re: Broken ankle...keep fit?
Thanks very much for the advise...i tried eating the 1200 calories today, and realized it was next to nothing! I had been following the advise from another site on what caloric intake should be if i wanted to lose weight. I was eating more than 2000 a day before, probably quite a bit more. I didn't pay much attention to diet when i was playing basketball because i could eat whatever I wanted to eat and never gain any weight. This injury has really forced me to take a look at what behaviors i need to change if i want to be healthy, not just slim. I figured i was pretty limited in exercising options, but didnt think it would hurt to get the opinions of others with more experience Thanks again
Re: Broken ankle...keep fit?
I hate to give you bad news but you may be out of commission for longer than 2 months.
wife broke her ankle last fall and still has a hard time running at all. she can for short periods but it usually hurts her and it still swells up. Its been almost a year and she is not back to 100%. It all depends on the person a how and where its broken. She was out of her cast for a good month before the doc said she could do any exercise at all.
Your best bet is to take good care of it as best you can. The ferst few weeks are the most important try to stay off of it and let it heel properly.
wife broke her ankle last fall and still has a hard time running at all. she can for short periods but it usually hurts her and it still swells up. Its been almost a year and she is not back to 100%. It all depends on the person a how and where its broken. She was out of her cast for a good month before the doc said she could do any exercise at all.
Your best bet is to take good care of it as best you can. The ferst few weeks are the most important try to stay off of it and let it heel properly.