NUTRITION THROUGH INJURY

If you are involved in a sport or into training of any sort, chances are you have probably dealt with injury at one time or another.

The question I get from a lot of people is how to navigate through nutrition when activity drops and you enter into more of a recovery phase.

A lot of the time, people’s first response is to cut calories but this can actually become counterproductive to your healing process.

Although your activity may be lessened due to the injury, your energy needs actually increase. So from a recovery standpoint, your best bet would be to keep calories closer to maintenance.

Food quality is also going to be very important from the standpoint of managing inflammation.

You want to be focusing on getting in whole-nutrient-dense foods. (You should be doing this anyway)

Lots of fruits and veggies, and starchy carbs like potatoes, rice, or oats.

Healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, nuts, and seeds.

Protein is KING during an injury. I mean, it’s king no matter what but it’s essential for repairing skeletal muscle, tissues and maintaining muscle.

My recommendation for you is to get in at least .8-1.0g/lb of bodyweight or more.

Hydration is another key point to mention and is essential for your healing process. I recommend 1/2 body weight in oz/daily.

Lastly, nutrition is going to be incredibly important in this process, but there’s more to it than that.

Injury sucks, it can be dark, I’ve been there multiple times. It can be similar to a grieving process with feeling angry, sad, even maybe a little bit depressed.

Allow yourself to feel all that you are, process through it, and don’t ignore it. Within that also take time to focus on celebrating the little wins each day, and understand that it will all end and you will heal.

Be patient, don’t rush the process, and take it one day at a time.