Injuries and Cravings
I sprained my ankle during a run recently. As I was mindfully aware of my surroundings and being super present, I was thinking about how as the winter comes, the trail has more twigs, sticks, leaves…it’s just more cluttered and it’s good to be aware of all of that. And then…boom… I rolled my ankle and then rolled my entire body and next thing I knew I was on the ground not sure I could get back up. That’s the last time I stay aware and present when running. Luckily, I was fine and no one was around to see that majestic fall. I knew my sister was just a little bit behind me so if I was really injured she’d be there to help me if needed.
I wasn’t too injured. I was able to stand up, put weight on my ankle, walk and even jog a little bit (maybe not the smartest decision, but that’s a different discussion). At the time, the pulled quad feeling in my other leg that I used to try to stop the fall worried me more. That is completely fine and no injury there at all.
In my years as an athlete, I actually have never fallen running before. Or, luckily, ever really injured myself at all during any exercises. I have gotten pretty familiar with back muscle spasms in the last 2 years though. Not from exercise, mind you. From getting older and doing things like changing my pants so I could go to my exercise class. Pulling up my sock in my office. You know, those dangerous types of activities.
Anyway, as I sit here with the constant nagging ache of a sprained ankle I realized I was hungry. More so at this time of day than usual and I ate a good lunch. So I got some potato chips with the excuse “My body is injured and I’m helping it heal”. That got me thinking: does an injured body crave fat more? Does fat help heal an injury faster? Should I be eating less fat since I’m not going to be running for at least the next couple days? Should I ignore that patriarchal, diet-culture bullshit of restricting what I want to eat?
The last 2 questions are easiest to answer because before my brain could even really finish the idea that I should eat less because of less running, I realized that it was in fact diet-culture bullshit that never actually prioritizes the health of a body. Enough with that type of thinking.
I did put more thought into nutrients and healing. As a nurse and athlete, I do know that protein is needed for healing. But what about fat? Is there some protective factor in fat that helps healing and craving it is my body telling me what I need. I realized that when I was dealing with my back injuries, I seemed to crave things more than usual too.
I did a quick good search of fat and injury healing and what I found was that, depending on the type of fat, it can help healing. Of course that would be the “good” fats like avocados, olive oil, etc. and not the “bad” fats like cake and, yes, potato chips. Fat is a macronutrient that our body needs. The “low-fat” diet crap from the 80s is now well debunked and not a good plan at all. I could do more thorough researching of this and share that, but that’s boring and it really doesn’t matter
What matters is that my body wanted potato chips. My body is injured. My body is going to let me know what it finds pleasurable so I am going to give it that because if I am already dealing with the stress of healing, I sure as hell am not going to deprive it of some potato chips and stress it out even more.
I might even have cake later tonight.
With a glass of wine.
For dinner.
And I plan to keep doing this after my injury is healed.
That’s just good self-care.
