Y’all probably feel like you’ve gotten a fairly complete accounting of my knee surgery recovery. I’ve talked (at length, you could say) about how things have improved and then not, how things have been going great and how it’s been annoying the ever-loving crap out of me. There is, however, one thing I haven’t mentioned at all, because, well, I would prefer to pretend that it doesn’t exist.
The post-surgery weight gain.
Yup. As the swelling in my knee went down, the size of my ass went up. Since I end up wearing yoga pants to school more often than not, I hadn’t really noticed it all that much. But the jeans don’t lie, and the jeans are two sizes bigger than they were a few months ago. I’m going to be honest: it’s depressing. It is not, however, entirely surprising. When you go from running 25+ miles a week to cycling and swimming and doing yoga to spending all of your time sitting on the couch because that’s all you can manage? Well, yeah, you’re probably going to put on a few pounds. Especially when you’re craving baked goods and sweets and let yourself have all of them because, hey, your knee hurts and you just had surgery so you certainly deserve a little ice cream. Every day. At least.
Still, it’s hard. Clothes that used to fit are now too small, and things that used to be almost too-big-to-wear either fit or are a bit on the tight side. Instead of shopping in the back of my closet for smaller sizes, I’m digging through the Goodwill pile for bigger ones. I have yet to spin this in a way in which I can feel good about it. (The only bright side is that, thanks to my excellent procrastination skills, that Goodwill pile is still on my bedroom floor instead of actually at Goodwill. Not having to go out and spend money on bigger pants has certainly saved a big chunk of my sanity, for sure.)
As much as it gets me down from time to time, I’m trying not to get too worried about it. I know that as my activity level goes back up, my butt should shrink back down. I also know that I can help move that along by cutting out the junk and filling my meals with fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. I also know that the better I eat, the better I feel and the more energy I have. (Which makes it seem like a total no-brainer, but the call of the brownie is hard to resist.)
The thing I’m really trying to resist is giving myself a deadline for dropping the weight, because I don’t think that’s going to help me in the long run. Instead, I’m just going to focus on eating better, moving more (without overdoing it) and letting my body work things out for itself. And, in the interim, rejoice in the fact that I can wear comfy pants to class instead of squeezing my butt into no-longer-comfy jeans.
