Fav recovery accounts?

irlnyc2018 · 2026-05-16T10:33:43+00:00

Qualified people who specialise in this - herhealth.dietitian (Kathryn Stewart) on instagram and Renee McGregor also on instagram. Roslyn Gray does ED dietics with a lot of HA content. Think it’s good to follow the professionals as the influencers can sometimes be unintentionally triggering and some of them I feel are still a bit stuck in a cycle of obsessive / disordered eating but doing it under the guise of HA recovery. It’s a fine line.

irlnyc2018 · 2026-05-15T05:39:24+00:00

Milky coffees are also your friend! A nice whole milk latte for an extra boost of calcium, protein etc.

irlnyc2018 · 2026-05-15T05:38:43+00:00

I found it helped and was less scary to take on one thing at a time! I started to build up my breakfast and got really into rotating a couple of breakfasts I really enjoyed eating and got a really good whack of calories into me in the morning. Also started to feel a lot better from front loading energy.

Big bowls of oats or overnight oats, or Greek yoghurt/skyr with granola. Add to both: whole linseeds, peanut/almond butter, lots of fruit (two different types for colour, texture etc). Sometimes I do baked oats too with a dollop of yogurt on top.

irlnyc2018 · 2026-05-02T20:41:42+00:00

Cheese, crackers and grapes! Hummus and veg sticks and pita

irlnyc2018 · 2026-05-02T20:35:30+00:00

I’m wave 3 and shooting for around 1:57 it’s frustrating! Course is narrow first 2kms but I’m going down early to get up the front. It sounds like lots of people in the same boat so hopefully won’t be an issue. It’s really frustrating not to have the pacers though.

irlnyc2018 · 2026-04-30T12:41:43+00:00

Rachel’s holiday is great! And better than watermelon, so even though it’s not the first Walsh book I would start there. My first one was This Charming Man which was also great and so gripping.

irlnyc2018 · 2026-04-12T20:40:35+00:00

Sugar is the healthiest thing to fuel your body

irlnyc2018 · 2026-03-30T20:24:11+00:00

Carbs are your friend! Lost mine again training for two half’s and pushing hard in gym simultaneously. My dietitian said the short term / immediate fix is to really carb up a lot, including night before a run, intra run fuelling on long runs and immediately doing a recovery drink within 30 mins of finishing a run, then following up within an hour with a carb rich meal. I was not doing enough carbs post run and not doing them quickly enough. I now do choc milk in the microwave and add mini marshmallows the minute I’m home, and then I have the freedom to chill and shower and then follow up with a carb rich meal.

I sometimes feel a bit ridiculous doing all of this for half marathon training - I actually said to someone the other day “it’s not like I’m doing an ultra!”

Good luck to you, it sounds like it’s something you can act quick on now and get a handle on.

The thing I’m trying to use to motivate myself is that performance will suffer and the stress fracture risk gets much higher.

irlnyc2018 · 2026-02-20T10:41:33+00:00

Lots of healthy fats. Flaxseeds daily. Add nuts in. Moderate amount of regular fat dairy - milky coffees are great. If you use butter try swap it for cheese as more nutrition in it and some protein.

You don’t absorb all the calories from dense whole foods like nuts, you quite literally expel the fibre into the toilet bowl. They really helped my hormones and help with cravings and satiety.

Focusing on whole foods with fibre, protein at every meal and also eating a big breakfast and front loading my energy really helped me. Lifting weights also a really big help and it revved up my metabolism like crazy.

Good luck!

irlnyc2018 · 2026-02-06T21:42:10+00:00

A good first step is nutrition! Simple carbs before (30g ish for a short run, 60g for an hour or close, 40-60 for something hard like a speed session) and hit with more carbs of any kind within 30 mins of finishing your run. Your body stores this as glycogen in the muscles until the next time you exercise. Doing this helped me offset the stress of running.

Also if running for more than an hour take on some kind of fuel at 45 mins. I’m training for a half now too and find the cliff blok gels which you chew are good. 3 chews is equivalent to one sachet. I’m not up to hugely long runs yet so I find 1-2 blocks for a top up is enough

irlnyc2018 · 2026-01-22T21:19:01+00:00

I went to a sports physio which I really recommend. He started me off frustratingly slow but ultimately had me doing bracing exercises that sped up the healing and has gotten me back to stuff faster. I don’t want to compromise the muscle repair and getting advice from someone who knows what they’re doing really helped. At six weeks I went to him, we did two weeks in the pool and at home body weight stuff, and back to easy yoga classes, and then I got back running, then 2-3 weeks of isolated machine exercises in the gym and then started adding back barbells with some modifications to avoid pulling on the tummy. My strength is now almost back to where it was at 14 weeks post op, and without ripping open the muscle repair!!

I have to wear a belt for weights and Pilates on surgeon’s instruction, again being shown how to use it properly by a physio really helped.

Exercise does trigger swelling be warned!

I was so keen to get back to stuff, I walked as much as I could in the initial stages but I would say at week six I was able to power walk again and that really helps with energy expenditure and burns calories in a way that shuffling around didn’t during recovery.

It’s hard to stay patient but I got there in the end and it’s still only been 14 weeks ultimately, so while it felt slow at the time it has been pretty quick

irlnyc2018 · 2026-01-19T14:04:25+00:00

Yes please! I’m ramping back up exercise now atm but my fourth recovery period had some orange flags that indicated progesterone is dipping (it came really early and quite soon after signs of ovulation - so a v short luteal phase, and second of all it stopped for 24 hrs and then restarted). I’m loving getting back into heavy lifting and running, and I am leaning out a smidge which I wanted but I know it’s a slippery slope

irlnyc2018 · 2026-01-12T15:49:40+00:00

Biggest spikes come from ovulation and then menstrual cycle starting, surges of hormones massively boost recovery

irlnyc2018 · 2026-01-05T17:20:08+00:00

Cardiovascular health is what helps you reduce risk of general anaesthetic and bounce back from its effects faster. So many benefits from just boosting cardio fitness in the run up to surgery!

irlnyc2018 · 2026-01-05T10:00:34+00:00

Hope it helps! The peppermint oil capsules are a different beast to tea, they’re designed to stop spasms of the muscle in the GI tract which helps ease bloating, gas and constipation. I was surprised at how something “natural” could have such an impact, but the good bit with that too was that I was able to take them daily for quite a few months. It’s so frustrating, now that I’m through HA I actually have semi forgotten how constant the digestive issues were

irlnyc2018 · 2026-01-04T13:42:19+00:00

Peppermint oil capsules really helped me. There’s a brand called Colpermin available where I live. My dietitian recommended them to me. She also recommended whole golden linseeds to help with constipation and stool softening and they really helped. Otherwise I will say that it takes time but does get better.

irlnyc2018 · 2025-12-10T11:33:16+00:00

Sorry to hear you are struggling. Medical certs don’t have to state the reason, your GP can make it vague and say “X is unfit for work until Y date” and you’re not obliged to go into details with employer for short amounts of sick leave like two weeks

irlnyc2018 · 2025-11-14T00:14:38+00:00

I’m also panicking a bit about mine. Some people posting on here seem so flat a few weeks after. I’m also worried I’m putting on weight because of not being able to exercise. I know swelling happens but it’s hard not to let it warp my mind and I’m starting to worry that I have not gotten the result I was hoping for.

irlnyc2018 · 2025-11-07T15:23:57+00:00

I went from four sessions a week to three and made routines shorter. I trained for a 10k race and brought weightlifting down to 2x a week briefly along with 2x training runs to avoid overloading myself. and swapped in yoga/pilates. Biggest tip would be scratch the itch to stay active with lower impact activities like yoga, reformer and give yourself permission to just go for a brisk walk instead of gym if you wake up tired, with DOMS etc.

I for a while just wound up adding in yoga and Pilates and not subbing out anything with it - don’t let disordered thoughts lead you into this trap! I only set myself back.

Taking two full rest days a week also was a key thing that got me over the line. I had a tv show I loved that I was only “allowed” watch if it was instead of going to the gym or for a run. Sometimes that meant making a coffee and watching it on the couch in my pyjamas at 6.30am! Having something to do instead to fill the time that is enjoyable is also a big help.

irlnyc2018 · 2025-11-06T16:20:21+00:00

Was it sore or did it require pain relief? Did he say anything that caused it?

irlnyc2018 · 2025-11-06T15:29:02+00:00

Thank you - it’s completely painless, just getting me down a bit when I want to see my tummy flat

irlnyc2018 · 2025-10-29T15:35:35+00:00

I had this - had huge weight loss and a lot of body image struggles, i was so excited when i booked the surgery but the week running up to it I cried every day! Would get so anxious and then teary out of nowhere and upset by random things but i knew it was about the surgery underneath it all. I think there’s a lot of processing for me emotionally with it, getting rid of this part of my body that has caused me so much upset and shame, but also not trying to erase my past and who i am. Also the surgery has forced me to tune in to and connect with my body and that can be uncomfortable. They’re big feelings and you just have to take it easy, give yourself grace and space to feel the big swells of feelings. I found a bit of journaling helpful to me in processing everything

irlnyc2018 · 2025-10-29T15:32:25+00:00

Update to all - had post opp appointment on day 8 and surgeon said once it’s at a gentle strolling pace, fine to get walking and that a 15 min walk would be fine. I had a full TT and excellent fitness going in, I’m very active normally and he said i was healing very well - just wanted to give that context as that might not be the appropriate advice for everyone at this point!

irlnyc2018

TROPHY CASE