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Lose the Freshman 15: Getting Injured Isn’t the End of The World

Hey guys,

I have some very sad news. If the title hasn’t tipped you off yet, I’ll just let you know. I am injured. A rather old injury decided to come back. I wish I could say that this doesn’t happen often, but that would be a lie. While the injury is not too bad, I have to stay off of it so that it doesn’t get worse. It started on Wednesday so this coming Wednesday I’ll hopefully be back on my feet. Normally, my knee doesn’t hurt unless it’s raining or snowing outside (I’m in a lot of pain during the winters) but this time it decided that it would hurt on sunny days as well. Since my knee is the problem, it will be very hard to get cardio in or work on my legs. Knee pains means no running, no elliptical, no stair master, no biking, no rowing, no squats, no lunges, etc. Anything that causes me to have to continuously be bending and unbending my leg is off limits.

Normally if this happened I would do nothing. Just lay in bed and wait for the week to be over. But since I have to report back to you guys every week, I can’t do that. Instead I have to come up with other ways to get some cardio in. Also known as my least favorite ways to get cardio in. All my choices have to be low-impact and/or ones that allow my knee to lock into a position for a long time.  

Walking is unfortunately one of my choices. Have ever you seen that one girl on the treadmill who’s walking? Now, there’s nothing wrong with walking on the treadmill, unless you’re me. I don’t walk. Apparently, I slightly waddle. Yes, like a duck. I also have really short legs so I can’t walk very fast. 3.5 on the treadmill is practically jogging for me. If I put an incline on the treadmill, I have to hold on to the bars unless I wanna fall off. I don’t enjoying walking on the treadmill.

Unfortunately, I can’t think of any other ways to get cardio in without hurting my knee. But I can lift weights. Lifting weights burns calories and builds muscles that eat your fat, for lack of better terms. I’m also going to be doings abs. I mean no you can’t see them yet but one day when my fat is gone, they’re going to be beautiful. They’re kind of shy right now. 

While you’re supposed to work through the pain, make sure you know when enough is enough. There’s a difference between the pain that comes from a good workout and the pain of being injured. You have to know your body well enought not to cross the line. If you do, take a day off. It won’t kill you and you’ll feel better after too. Or you can just do something different that doesn’t deal with that part of the body. Remember, that if you are in pain, go to a doctor. Don’t be like me and underplay your pain to a point where you can’t walk. Been there, done that, it sucks.

Also if you’re injured and can’t hit the gym, make sure to keep eating healthy and sticking to the Drop10 Diet

Mucho grande love (I know that didn’t make sense, whatevs),
Dani to the Elle 

 

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Danielle is a sophomore at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY majoring in Economics. As a lover of all things money, she is a member of the Society of Women in Business, the Cornell Economics Society, and the Cornell Financial Club. She spends her free time figure skating, reading books in Italian, and creating creative ways to procrastinate.