7 Ways to Keep Your Head Up During an Injury
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Have you ever felt the emotional weight of an injury, which seems to affect your body and your mental well-being, too?
Let's face it: injury can cast a dark cloud over our lives. It can be emotionally draining, whether it's a long-term setback or a short-term hurdle. But remember, you're not alone in this. Many of us have walked this path; today, we're here to support you.
In today's episode of the Embrace Your Real podcast, we will explore seven practical ways to uplift your mental attitude during times of injury. We'll navigate through the often murky waters of injury recovery. Together, we'll uncover ways to maintain a positive outlook, even when your body is on the mend. Stay tuned!
What I discuss:
Realize that Injury doesn’t equal loss of progress.
Do what you can do….safely.
Invest your time in something else you love…
Accept that your body can benefit from rest.
Dedicate yourself to your rehabilitation program.
Stay connected with your community.
Remind yourself that “This too shall pass”.
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. A podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I issue a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it, let's go. [00:00:21][20.6]
[00:00:28] Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast. I'm so grateful that you have chosen to spend some time with me today. Dealing with an injury is hard. It's not just hard. Physically, it's almost more difficult mentally, and it's extremely common to experience like these greater feelings of sadness and even depression during these times of injury, whether it's a long term injury, a short term injury, anything in between, it can really just put a huge damper on our mental health and it can kind of put a halt to maybe what you think, you know, it's going to stall all of your progress and all of the work that you have put in up until this point is now just kind of a wash. And so I just want to be just that friend that gives you encouragement. I hope that this episode will encourage you in some way, shape or form. It will give you kind of a new perspective. And as always, I want to remind you to bookmark this episode. [00:01:23][54.7]
[00:01:23] So whether you are in a season of injury right now and this is going to speak directly to you, or maybe in the future, you might need this message. I know that we all are in different seasons and we all need different pep talks at different times, and that's the whole goal of this episode. My hope and prayer is that you walk away every time from this podcast, either feeling encouraged, inspired, empowered, educated in some way, shape or form. So thank you all so much for tuning in and just sharing this message and sharing this podcast with your friends. It genuinely I never want to take that for granted and I'm so incredibly grateful for every single one of you guys. I did want to highlight a review that came in this month from Bailey Granger. [00:02:05][41.5]
[00:02:05] She gave a five star review and said, Favorite podcast ever. The Holy Spirit speaks directly to my heart through Julie, whether I receive understanding the moment I hear the episode or days later, I always get something. Thank you, Julie, for the practical advice and help in learning on how to become more self-disciplined. You have challenged my discipline both physically and spiritually and I am up for it. This will forever be my favorite podcast because I am never not refreshed after listening. I'm so, so grateful. This is exactly what I pray every single time I get up to the microphone before clicking that record button. And even sometimes y'all, I forget to click that record. But when I get to the end of the episode and then I realize, Oh my goodness, I have to rerecord everything now, but I am just grateful to hear this. I'm so, so thankful that you are getting something out of this podcast that's always, like I said, just my hope, my prayer that you would just walk away from this podcast feeling like you just got a pep talk or feeling like you just were educated on something and so that you can walk away and go into your life and your spheres of influence and become the best version of yourself. [00:03:08][63.1]
[00:03:09] If you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and leave reading in review, that always does help us out so much. Not only it helps me and our team just kind of know how these podcasts are helping you, but also people who stumble upon the podcast, they tend to look at the reviews before they decide to jump in and start listening. So thank you in advance for doing that. Also, if you are over on Spotify, hey y'all, I love you all so much. If you could scooch over there and just rate the show, that would mean so, so much as well. [00:03:36][26.6]
[00:03:36] Okay, so let's dive into the seven ways to keep your head up during an injury. Number one, you have to realize that this injury does not equal a loss of progress. To be frank, I think a lot of women that get injured, you know, their main concern and the biggest thing that's on their mind is like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to gain all this weight back or I'm going to gain more weight back and I'm going to lose everything that I worked so hard for. But here's the thing that I want to remind you, especially if it comes to a physical injury that is hindering you from working out, Nutrition is actually a bigger driving factor than exercise when it comes to maintaining and even being in that caloric deficit. So if you can try to keep your nutrition dialed in throughout your injury, not only is it going to allow you to maintain that muscle mass that you've been building and working so hard for, but it's also going to help to speed up the process of injury because when you are properly fueling your body, just think of it as a well-oiled machine. Right. And it's going to help so much just to make sure that you're taking care of your body. [00:04:37][61.2]
[00:04:38] The one thing that I do want to kind of touch on when it comes to injury is if you are going off of like a previous count of macros that was based on a certain activity level, you will just likely want to change the activity level to one last. So if you let's say for example, you downloaded my free e-book and you factor factored your activity level at a 1.3 or 1.5, you might want to go down to the next level down just so that you are maintaining a realistic approach to what your activity level is going to be during this season of life. But I just overall want to remind you that nutrition does play a huge role. In fact, I would argue it's the biggest role in terms of our overall body composition. And a lot of women that I have, you know, been able to coach through this process, like when they get their new. And then during injury they were still able to see results. And it was one of the biggest lessons that they actually learned was, you know, I definitely love movement and I want to keep that movement once I am back and I'm better and my, you know, my injury has healed. But also a lot of women realized that they were overtraining and they were over exercising and they didn't they realized that they didn't need to put in as much work that they were previously doing if they weren't enjoying it, if it was, you know, too much and it just was not realistic. [00:05:56][78.1]
[00:05:57] And so a lot of women, what I've seen and, you know, people for some reason, they have this like it has to be 60 minutes a day in their head. And I don't know if that came from, you know, marketing in magazines growing up or just kind of what we see on social media. But you can absolutely get a killer workout in in even 30 minutes, Like you don't need a lot of time, especially if your workouts are programed effectively and you don't need to be doing even 6 to 7 days a week of hard, intense movement. In fact, I would argue that you should not be doing that. So, you know, 30 to 45 minutes, 3 to 5 days a week. But again, if this is a season where you are not able to produce the workouts and kind of output in that aspect, just know and take that mental capacity that you were previously placing on your workouts and put it into, okay, how can I dial in my nutrition? How can I start to properly feel my body? Maybe this is something that you are putting off previously just because you felt like it was so overwhelming to do all these things. I will tell you that if you can get your nutrition dialed and if you can really focus on that man, that will be a total game changer once it comes time to you being able and getting cleared to be able to work out again, just because that is the biggest puzzle piece that I've seen women struggle with. Like they can crush a workout and they can be consistent in that. But then when it comes to nutrition, like it just feels so overwhelming. So take this time as an opportunity for you to really invest in it and see what you can do with having and developing a healthy relationship with food. [00:07:26][88.8]
[00:07:26] Number two, do what you can do safely, do what you can do, but be honest with yourself about whether or not you're doing it safely. Do what you can without going near your injured body part, because in many cases you might have injured one part of your body. That doesn't mean that you can't, you know, work other parts of your body. You can still you still have functioning other parts of your body that you are able to exercise. Again, not in all cases, but in many cases. So, for example, if you have a hurt arm, you can maybe hit, you know, legs. You can do things that don't include your arm but is still working your legs and it's safe for you to be able to sit and do something that, you know doesn't have impact, but you are able to work your quads, you're able to work your hamstrings, things like that. Or maybe you just take this time to split up your workouts differently. Like instead of doing glutes and legs all in one workout, maybe you're going to do some glute exercises and then you're going to do some quiet exercises on a different day. Plus, if you have one her arm, don't be afraid to work that other arm that's still functioning, like do some bicep curls, do some shoulder raises, do some, you know, dumbbell single arm rows with that one arm. And you can also do a lot of core workout. You know, I have really put a big emphasis just in my own personal life on core, just because for so often and for so long, honestly, in my journey, I just steered away from AB workouts, core workouts simply because I hated them so much, but I didn't realize how much it affected so many areas of my life. Personally, professionally, obviously, you know, I'm doing workouts constantly. I'm putting together workouts and filming workouts, and I can just tell you having a strong core has been a total game changer in terms of just my overall strength and also my overall form. For example, there's certain exercises like the bent over rows or bent over tricep kickbacks. Those moves tend to often put a bigger emphasis and load on your lower back if you're not engaging your core properly and if your core strength is not where it could be. And I'm telling you, like I do not have lower back pain now because I know how to properly engage my column, strengthening my core. And so if you are, you know, if you're able to do some core exercises, that's amazing. Like just again, get kind of created and try to figure out what you can do. And also, again, number one, being safe, that's so, so important. So not putting yourself at risk. It's not worth pushing through it. It's not worth even getting close to risking it. Like, I want you to have a full recovery, but also just recognize the opportunities and look for the little pockets of body parts that you can work and just get creative. Who knows? You might find a love for like core workouts or you might find a love for upper body, or vice versa. A lower body like depending on where your injury is, because you're able to spend some extra time developing those things and kind of looking into it and researching it more than previously before you were injured. [00:10:20][173.7]
[00:10:20] Number three, invest your time into something else that you love. We all complain about not having enough time in the day to do the things that we want to do. But now. You have the extra time. Even if it's 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes before you were injured, think about how amazing it would be if you had that extra 30 to 60 minutes. You'd be beyond excited, beyond thankful. And now you have that time, so use it wisely. What are the things that you were previously saying that you wish you had more time for reading a book, journaling, enjoying more evenings on the patio, learning how to do certain things like is that sewing or pottery or organizing your closet? Spending more time with your kids or, you know, getting a consistent date on the calendar to hang out with your girlfriends, even if it's for a walk or whatever it is, now is the time. So look at this as an opportunity to take advantage of it. [00:11:06][46.2]
[00:11:07] Number four, accept that your body can actually benefit from rest. This we live in a society where it's go, go, go, go, go. Right. And often times we hear this, but we don't actually hear it, if you know what I mean. Like, we we know that our body can benefit from rest, but then we're like, no, but then we don't feel productive and then we feel guilty and there's all these different things running through our head, but exercising too consistently without giving yourself an entire week of rest every, you know, 8 to 10 weeks or so or at the very least doing some sort of deal load week. This is going to trigger chronic low grade inflammation, especially if you're pushing yourself like if you're really pushing yourself in your workouts. And so this is important. So remember that this inflammation can actually show up as experiencing constant bloat. You know, if you feel like you just have this like extra £5 that you can't seem to lose or, you know, I just feel bloated all the time, it could actually just be like this chronic low grade inflammation in your body. And it's simply because you haven't allowed yourself to rest enough. Again, this is only applicable when you are consistent with your workouts and you're pushing yourself in your workouts. Like there's a difference between, yes, I'm just going to show up, I'm going to go through the motions or, you know, I'm showing up consistently. I'm giving it my best. And obviously that's going to look different from day to day. But really being intentional about pushing yourself when you can previously. So again, if you tweak your ankle or tweak your back instead of pushing through it, like really try to take that time, like, okay, I'm going to take half a week or I'm going to take a full week off so that I can heal it and I'm going to come back feeling more fresh. And honestly, during that time, like let's say you tweaked your back or whatever it is and maybe you're not able to push heavy in weights, but maybe it does feel good to get some sort of movement in, like just walking outside or walking on the treadmill very slow at a one to speed and just, you know, giving yourself some movement, but not necessarily the movement that you normally do. And also realize that rest in and of itself, whether it's complete rest or it's resting from weight training and just looking for other forms of movement like that can be amazing for your body. So accept the injury and give your body the space, the time that it needs to heal. [00:13:17][130.2]
[00:13:17] Number five This is really important. Dedicate yourself to a rehabilitation program. So if you are someone who is committed to your workouts and it's the highlight of your day, it's a highlight of your week, injury can be really hard and it can feel really discouraging. But if you have some sort of rehab program to follow, I highly suggest like channeling that energy behind just crushing that and doing what you can to ensure that you are working what you need to work during this time of injury and you're giving your rehab that same time, that same carry that attention that you were previously giving your workouts. Sometimes that's all you need to do. You need a swap, something, right? So I know there are certain people in my life that you've got to have your attention on something. So if something is taken away, you want to try to replace that and that's just how you thrive. Other people, sometimes, if it's taken away, maybe it's not the healthiest for you to replace it. Maybe you need to sit with your feelings. Maybe you need to allow yourself some some time off. So again, this really does self-awareness is a key piece in this. But if you are that type of person that you need something to dedicate yourself to, I mean, a rehabilitation program is huge, right? Like, sure, you might not be dripping sweat, you might not feel the burn, but your rehab program might be exactly what it needs right now. So dedicate yourself to it. And the more consistent and attentive you are to that rehab, the sooner you'll be back to crashing those workouts. So just keep that at the forefront of your mind during this time. [00:14:40][82.3]
[00:14:40] Number six, Stay connected with your community. This is so important. I talk about this all the time. We are humans wired for community. We need to be in community with one another. I personally believe that this is a spiritual aspect, that the enemy can really attack you when you are isolating yourself and when you are shutting yourself off from people and you're your lifeline of a community, like that's when you can really get in your head. And I believe that when we are surrounded by people who are encouraging us, who are uplifting us, or who are just simply allowing us to kind of take our mind off of it, at least for a little bit, we're able to dive deeper into community to have those good relationships, to feel like we are connected in our life like that again. That's what we're wired for. And I believe that during this time it's the one time that the enemy is going to be like, no, isolate. You want to isolate, you're discouraged, you want to just stay in this box, and that's when you're just going to drive yourself crazy. [00:15:36][56.2]
[00:15:37] So, you know, again, like if you are regularly going to like a fitness community, whether it's in-person training or it's group classes, maybe, you know, on Saturday or Sunday mornings, you do a cycle with your friends. Instead, ask them like, Hey, if you're going to go to cycle, like, let's go to brunch afterwards or let's go to coffee before and just find activities that you can do outside of working out with that community. Maybe this could also even be I know there's a few fitness clubs, at least in Colorado Springs, where you can just pay and drop in for a day and you can actually like utilize their sauna, their Jacuzzi, all the other amenities of their fitness club without having to use the workout area. And so just kind of having like a fun spa day or a fun day where you are just, you know, going out to the park, you're going out to coffee, you're going out to brunch and you're staying in community together again. That is so, so important to not only make sure that you are not so self focused during this time, but you are also able to just get that encouragement that you likely get from those people if you're an online person. I know many of us, we love to connect online. In fact, my whole movement with Julie Community is an online community and I will tell you, like this Facebook group is more than a group. It is a family, and we are all like minded individuals. [00:16:57][80.0]
[00:16:57] We all are going through different things. I know there's women in the group who are posting, you know, on a daily basis and they're they're going through the injury process right now, but they're staying connected. They're encouraging other people and other people are encouraging them back. And it is just a beautiful thing to witness. And so if you are looking for an online community, I'm telling you my app, the Julie app, like I'm very biased, but I can tell you it is single handedly the best community on the Internet. It is just it is one big family. And kind of a side note here, there are two girls that have been in the community for a while. Shout out to Jenny and Courtney. So, ladies, if you're listening, I love you both so much. They've both been in the movement with Julie Community for a while and they connected through there. And Courtney actually just flew out to Iowa to go to the college game and they met up for the first time. And it's just so cool to be able to see what was you know, you met online and now it's a real life friendship. It's a it's a lifelong friendship. And so it's so cool to be able to do that. And so, you know, even if the community starts online, like in if they're near you or you have the means to be able to go visit them by all means, like really connect in person, there is nothing like an in-person connection. But again, if that's just not feasible right now, know that it is just a few clicks away on the Internet. [00:18:15][77.2]
[00:18:15] If you are looking for a like minded community number seven, you have to remind yourself that this too shall pass. At the end of the day, this injury will not last forever. This season will pass. We go through seasons, highs and lows and remember that this is simply just a period of time that you're going to look back on. So keep pushing forward and do what you need to do in order to have a healthy recovery and continue to remind yourself that this is not my permanent state, this is not where it ends. I do have better things, better days ahead and just repeat that constantly like this too, shall pass. And then also looking at this as an opportunity and saying, you know, for me I'm a spiritual person, so I'm like, Hey, God, what do you have for me in this season? What is it that you want me to shift my focus from? I was previously focused on this, and in this season of my life I should be focused, aware, and just like constantly be curious about that and just know that every season has a purpose. Whether we will understand that purpose in the moment will understand the purpose, you know, a month later, a year later, ten years later, or we won't understand the purpose in this lifetime. I believe that there is a purpose to every season. And so just really being intentional there and asking the question like, what is this season about and what should I be shifting my focus to? So there you have it, The seven Ways to keep your Head Held high during your injury. [00:19:38][82.7]
[00:19:38] Let me quickly recap what we talked about in today's episode. Number one, realize that your injury does not equal a loss of progress. Just remember that nutrition is actually queen when it comes to maintaining your body composition. So shifting your focus to nutrition and really mastering that can actually be such a game changer. Number two, do what you can safely. Number three, invest your time into something else that you love. So that extra 30, 60 minutes, what is it that you want to do during that time? Do you want to acquire a new skill? Do you want to get better at something? Do you want to read? You want to journal? Take that time to invest in friendships or relationships? Your kids, your spouse? Number four Accept that your body can benefit from rest. Number five, dedicate yourself to a rehab program. Number six, stay connected with your lifeline, your community. And number seven, remind your. Self that this too shall pass. Slash asking yourself, okay, what is it that I'm supposed to learn? What is it that I'm supposed to shift my focus to in this season of life? So what is next? Well, if you want to work out safely and avoid injury in the first place, I recommend strength training. I am a big believer in dumbbell workouts. There are just so many benefits to dumbbell workouts. I have tons of podcast episodes on why I personally quit the gym and started dumbbell workouts at home, the benefits to it, so you can kind of browse through my over 370 episodes now, which is absolutely crazy and just kind of listen to those. But if you are looking for a community to get plugged into, I do have a Facebook group for all of my active subscribers in the movement. Julie Apps. If you want to learn more about that program, go to sale that's as elite at movement with Julia dot com. And if you're already in that community and you are struggling with an injury, please connect with us. We would love to encourage you. We would love to lift you up. We would love to stay in community with you during this time, as we know that this time can be a very delicate place, just mentally and physically. So love you guys so, so much. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you have a friend or someone in your life that maybe is dealing with injury or that can really benefit from this episode, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can always copy the link and send it to them in a text message or you can screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I'll talk to you on the next one. [00:21:48][129.9]
[00:21:56] All right, sister. That's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes. It's with an A in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it. [00:21:56][0.0]
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