The bum still hurts—in fact, I think the pain is getting worse and the Aleve I took this morning has yet to help—, so I was glad when I came across Liz Applegate’s article “Food Rx: Eating for Injury Prevention” today. Her advice isn’t foreign to anyone who does a lot of intense exercise; she says that to avoid injury you need to
- Eat enough calories.
- Eat plenty of protein.
- Supplement your diet with zinc and iron.
If you’re already injured, she says not to worry about gaining weight because you’re still burning calories with the muscle you’ve put on during training, and after two weeks of rest, you can usually start up easy exercise again. In addition to the tips above, she says to add calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C to your diet so your body has all it needs to mend itself.
I’ve been closely watching the scale over the last few weeks to make sure I haven’t gained any weight during what has turned out to be a recovery month. With December in full swing and social functions packing my calendar, I’m trying to eat wisely. Of course, that doesn’t count this weekend’s batch of snickerdoodles or the tin of cheese and caramel popcorn I munch on when I’m at home. At least popcorn has some nutritional value, right?
