In August I had surgery on my back to repair a prolapsed disk. Although I’ve suffered with back problems for about seven years, the surgery wasn’t planned and it was a shock. It was one of life’s little curveballs, and it forced me to stop pretending everything was ok. After a couple of months of rest, I can live my day-to-day life without too much pain, but I’m frustrated my own physical weakness.
After a day of walking to school and working from home, I’m shattered and my back is stiff and achey. It’s a constant reminder that while I’m not in acute pain, I still have a lot of work to do before I can truly feel fit and well again. It’s time to step things up and get back to where I want to be. I can’t rush things, but it’s important to motivate myself. I need a plan, some new gym kit and a set of simple goals to achieve.
I’m hoping that if I actually write my plan out here, in public, it’ll help motivate me to actually achieve it. Here’s what I’m planning:
Daily physio exercises at home. My commitment to this has been patchy over the last eight weeks. I try, but often forget – especially when I’m busy with work or the children. These simple exercises, prescribed by my physio, will form the basis of my recovery. I know this, and I need to stop being flaky. I’m adding it to my daily to-do list and will resort to an adult sticker chart if necessary.
Dust down my bike. I’m finally allowed to get back on two wheels, which is exciting as I’ve really missed it. I’m starting with one short bike ride a week. Hopefully, with time, we can get back to cycling to school most mornings.
Swimming. I’m not a big fan, but everyone agrees it’s a fantastic way to recover from an injury. I’m planning on starting with one short swim every week – probably just about 10 minutes and see how it goes. This is probably the hardest of my goals, so I’m going to allow myself the chance to skip it if I’ve had a really busy week. It’s important not to push things too hard to begin with.
Invest in some lovely new gear. If I can motivate myself with a bit of shopping, then so be it. I’m not doing anything too strenuous, but it’d be nice to have some faintly sporty to do it in. I love the athleisure range at Jack Wills – especially, this gorgeous high-necked sweatshirt. It’d look gorgeous with black leggings, on the school run or riding my bike. Maybe it could be the goal at the end of my adult sticker chart?
Remembering to eat well. Crucial to recovery. My go-to is soup, soup and more soup. It’s healthy and nutritious. I usually just chuck in everything I can find leftover in my fridge, but I’d like to be more adventurous. The soup section of the BBC Good Food website has some gorgeous ideas.
If you too are recovering from a discectomy, I’d really recommend this NHS leaflet which has useful information on exercise and recovery.
I’d love to hear more about your current fitness goals, especially if you’re recovering from an injury too. It’s a frustrating time, but I really need to put on my positive pants and start things moving.
This post contains a sponsored link to Jack Wills
I’m still laughing at the idea of “positive pants”, a concept I will treasure. Don’t underestimate how tiring 10 mins of swimming will be. When I started learning to walk again with Chronic Fatigue, I began with 50 paces each day for two weeks, before rising to 55 per day for another two, and so on. It took me a year to be able to walk out of the village we lived in. Do let me know if you need commiseration or encouragement, XXX
Maybe I’ll just make it 5 mins!!
Good luck with getting your fitness levels back, Lizzie! I had the joy of spending almost 6 months flat on my back about 20 years ago after an accident, and I remember just how hard it was to get my fitness levels back to an okay level. Small baby steps… you will get there! xxx
Goodness that must have been awful!! Things are moving in the right direction, but I’m always impatient I suppose…
Good luck with this Lizzie!
Thanks Liz!
It’s hard recovering from surgery isn’t it? It can be easy to underestimate the effect it has on your whole wellbeing. You sound like you are making sensible plans for your recovery. I’m expecting surgery soon and will totally be making a physio reward chart! Take care x
You are SO right about that Louisa! I didn’t really realise how all-emcompassing the effects would be. Hope everything goes well for you!
Sticker chart is a great idea – go Lizzie! x
You need to keep reminding me to stick to it!
Good luck on the road to recovery. I’ve always thought that a back injury must be one of the worst as it really affects everything we do. I’m pretty sure you need that beautiful jumper in your life though to add some motivation for your efforts.
Thank you Stacey! My sticker chart is going well so hopefully I’ll be able to treat myself soon!