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Archive for After Surgery diet

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Best Meals to Pre-Make for Foot Surgery Recovery

Let’s face it: foot or ankle surgery is never fun. But if you’ve spent the majority of your time dreading that ominous square on your calendar that contains the date of your surgery, then it’s time for a reality check:

Your foot surgery, whether you like it or not, is happening.

So you have one of two options: you can either avoid preparing for your surgery, or you can take some steps (you know, because stepping’s gonna be hard after your surgery!) to prepare for life after surgery…

And that includes discovering the best meals to pre-make for surgery recovery.

Man does not live on delivery pizza alone. So if you want to ensure that you heal in a healthy and (somewhat) enjoyable manner – without making you feel like Pizza Hut’s number one customer – here are the best meals to pre-make for surgery recovery.

Savory Baked Chicken

Baked chicken is going to be the lifeblood of your surgery recovery – and for good reason. The protein in chicken can help fuel your muscle growth and repair, while the lean meats ensure that your weight stays off of your waist as well as your injured foot.

Baked chicken can be thrown over rice, pasta, or shredded and added to a bed of lettuce. As you can see, savory baked chicken is perfect for eating well while undergoing surgery recovery.

First, grab yourself a couple pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil on a large baking pan. Coat the foil with cooking spray (go for olive oil spray – delicious). Lay the chicken on the pan. Now here’s the fun part: start seasoning the chicken any way you want. We’re taking garlic powder, lemon pepper rub – anything! Set the oven to 400 degrees and pop the chicken in for about 30 minutes, or until the juices are running clear.

Super-Fast Tomato and Basil Pasta

Pasta can keep for many days in your refrigerator, which makes this one of the best meals to pre-make for surgery recovery. Try out this meal, which incorporates whole grains and vegetables for maximum healing power.

First, grab yourself a box of whole grain linguine (whole grains are an excellent source of fiber) and pour into salted boiling water. While the pasta’s boiling, chop up a few cups of grape or cherry tomatoes into quarters. Next, chop up some basil leaves (make sure you take the time to enjoy the delicious scent!). Once the pasta is done boiling, drain it. Add the tomatoes and basil to the pasta, and throw in some olive oil or spaghetti sauce to bring it all together. If you’re really feeling adventurous, add some crumbled goats cheese for a tangy flavor that just won’t quit.

Foods to Avoid

While the above recipes are some of the best meals you can pre-make before surgery, it’s important to point out what you shouldn’t be eating during your recovery time. Healing your body is a delicate process, and it’s going to need all the nutrients possible. Therefore, avoid the following foods, as they don’t pack a nutritional punch:

Processed foods (buh-bye, Funions)

Dehydrated foods like beef jerky

Full fat cheese (too much can cause constipation – not really something you want to deal with on top of an injured foot or ankle)

Refined sugars (sweets, white grains, etc.)

Now that you know the best meals to pre-make for foot surgery recovery – as well as what foods to avoid – it’s time to throw on your chef’s hat and whip up a creation that would make Paula Deen jealous (butter not included).

Category: After Surgery diet, After Surgery Recovery, Foot Surgery, Nutrition After Surgery | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Your Ultimate Non-Weight Bearing Nutrition Checklist

Whether you’re about to endure an ankle fusion or you’re going to have surgery to repair a persistent foot problem, you want to ensure that you’re fully prepared for your recovery time. You’ve made sure that you’ve rolled up any loose carpets in the house. You’ve let your family members and friends know that your mobility will be limited for some time. You’ve even order a bunch of DVDs and TV shows that you can watch while you’re recovering…

So you’ve covered all your bases, correct?

Not exactly. You see, when you’re recovering from a foot or ankle surgery, your body needs more than physical therapy – it also needs nutrition to help your bones and ligaments heal faster. By following a non-weight bearing nutrition diet, you can ensure that you’ll be back on your feet in no time.

So what foods should you stockpile in your fridge? Take a look!

Get loads of fiber in your diet. Constipation is a common experience after any surgery that requires anesthesia, so you’ll want to get as much fiber to ensure that things are, er, running smoothly. Get your hands on fruits and whole grain breads. Can’t stand fruit? Even your favorite breakfast cereal may supply you with the fiber you need.

Get as much calcium into your diet as possible. Calcium is critical to your bone health, which is exactly what you need after a foot or ankle surgery. Drink three glasses of milk a day or take a calcium supplement. You can even request that your partner make your favorite cheesy, gooey dish (hey, calories don’t count when you’re recovering!).

Avoid processed foods like chips and cookies. They may taste delicious, but they’re not exactly stocked with the nutrition you need to recover from a foot or ankle surgery.

Now that you have this non-weight bearing nutrition checklist in hand, head out to your local grocery store and stock up on tons of healthy foods. After all, the last thing you’ll want to do after your surgery is battle through a crowded grocery store and lug those heavy bags into your home!

Category: After Surgery diet, After Surgery Recovery, Ankle Surgery Recovery, Nutrition After Surgery | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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Broken Ankle Recovery Time And Tips To Speed Up Healing

Lounging around on the couch waiting for your broken ankle to heal might seem like a dream. After all, who can resist the delicious temptations of watching your favorite movies and TV shows, all while resting on your couch with your favorite meal balanced on your lap?

Fast-forward just a few days later, and your “restful” recovery might begin to feel more like a prison sentence. You’re going out of your mind with boredom – and you’re anxiously looking for ways to speed up your broken ankle recovery time.

Before you resort to drastic measures, heed this warning: your foot is going to take its sweet time recovering. No matter what plans or desires you might have for your future healthy ankle, your foot is going to take all the time it needs to get itself back on track. So don’t pressure your ankle to start carrying its weight before it’s ready – because you’ll just end right back on that couch again.

If your doctor didn’t already tell you how long your ankle needs to heal, note that you should expect to cater to your ankle’s needs for the next year or so. However, you can expect to see the following from your broken ankle recovery time:

If the ankle was a simple break, you should expect to be healed in a minimum of three months. However, if you smoke, it’s important to note that healing will generally take longer. Therefore, if you’re a smoker with a broken ankle, expect healing time to extend for another month past the minimum three months.

If there were complications in your broken ankle (for example, other bones were dislocated or there were several breaks), you’re looking at a healing time of six months to a year.

Note that this healing time will include physical therapy and plenty of doctor’s appointments, so make sure you like your doctor – you’ll be seeing his or her face a lot!

Now that we’ve supplied a final definition of broken ankle recovery time, let’s focus on the tips you can use to hurry the healing:

Elevate your foot as often as possible. Invest in comfy and bright pillows, as these will lift your mood when you’re going through your broken ankle healing.

Buy a foot bath. Fill it up with warm, swirling water, and soak your foot in it as often as possible (this will be done once your cast is off, of course). After taking the warm foot bath, apply an ice pack to your ankle. The warm water loosens and relaxes muscles, while the ice pack eases any swelling that might occur.

Invest in a good bone supplement. Nutrition is key to healing, and a bone supplement will help hurry up healing time. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a high-quality bone supplement; Wal-Mart and Target both carry their own versions of popular supplement brands. Make sure your bone supplement has magnesium as well as plenty of calcium, as magnesium helps the body’s absorbency of the calcium.

Avoid foods that could rob your body of its healing powers. Many studies indicate that patients recovering from a broken ankle should avoid alcohol, sugar, and even pain relievers like aspirin and ibuprofen.

As previously mentioned, smoking can increase your healing time. Therefore, if you’re a smoker, consider quitting for good. You don’t want to do serious damage to your body while attempting to hurry up your broken ankle healing!

Use these tips for faster broken ankle recovery, and you’ll be back on your feet in no time.

Category: After Surgery diet, After Surgery Recovery, Ankle Surgery Recovery, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , ,
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The Ultimate Ankle Surgery Preparation Checklist

When you know you’re about to walk into a hospital to have major surgery performed on your ankle, you might only be focused on one thing: imaging what life will be like after you have your ankle surgery.

If you’ve never had ankle surgery before, then you might think that your life will be on pause for the next few months. And in a way, it will be. You’ll definitely have to get used to moving around your home and office. You may have to find new modes of transportation because your ankle cast prevents you from driving around. And you may even have to put those beach vacation plans on hold – after all, no one deserves the torture of getting sand in their cast!

But if you think that life after ankle surgery will be grim and miserable, take heart: if you prepare for the surgery, recovery can be relaxing, hassle-free and – dare we say it? – even enjoyable.

So if you want to breeze through your ankle surgery recovery time, you need to make the most of ankle surgery preparation. Luckily for you, we have a checklist that will put an end to any questions you might have.

Read on, take note, and start your preparations – and you may even actually enjoy your ankle surgery recovery time!

1. Transportation to and from your home, as well as the hospital. You may know that you need someone to drive you back from the hospital, but what about all those times you need to run errands or go to work? Work out a carpool plan with a generous coworker or enlist a family member to drive you around when you need to run errands. Try to limit the amount of activity you’ll need to do directly after your ankle surgery, as you may not be ready to deal with transportation and mobility a week after your procedure.

2. Preparing healthy meals before your ankle surgery. Let’s face it – the last thing you want to do when you groggily stumble back from your procedure is to deal with cooking a meal in the kitchen. If you live alone, consider cooking up a massive batch of meals ahead of time. You may want to make a massive pot of pasta, bake a pound of chicken breast, and cook up various sauces. Buy pre-made salads, boiled eggs, and granola for easy-peasy breakfasts and lunches.

3. Call up your insurance company to ask how much of your prescriptions, follow-up appointments, and mobility devices will be covered by your plan. Be sure to get an exact outline of how they’ll cover these expenses and what your responsibilities will be. After all, you don’t want to encounter any nasty financial surprises when you discover that your prescriptions cost as much as a weekly paycheck.

4. Get your chosen mobility device well ahead of your ankle surgery procedure; in fact, if possible, we suggest that you leave at least a few days between receiving your mobility device and the procedure. That way, you have enough time to accommodate for potential late deliveries and any mistakes by your insurance company.

5. Splash out on movies, TV shows, and other forms of entertainment. Let’s face it – you’re going to be stuck on the couch for more than a few weeks. Make it an enjoyable time by catching up on your favorite shows, movies, and reading a few books on your must-read list!

When it comes to ankle surgery preparation, you don’t have to go in blind. Use this checklist to ensure that your recovery time will be a restful and relaxing one.

Category: After Surgery diet, After Surgery Recovery, Ankle Surgery Recovery, Crutch Alternatives, knee scooter, Knee Walkers | Tags: , , , , ,
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4 Helpful Tips to Keep the Rest of Your Body Active While Recovering From Foot Surgery

Experts at The Mobility Resource know how pressing it can be for those that have just undergone foot surgery, to remain as active as possible. This can go beyond a mere physical desire to heal, but involves emotional needs as well. The fact of the matter is, that despite some of the pains that come from surgery, you just want to break free of crutches and get back to your old self. We are here to tell you, there are other options. A knee walker is a great option to get you up and mobile without aggravating your foot injury, they can give you the independence and mobility that you may be longing for. Of course you can also take the route of a wheelchair, which will give you some mobility as well, and a little bit of an arm work out too.

You need to take it easy and follow your doctor’s orders. Still, there are several other ways that you can stay in shape without putting your foot at risk. Try some of these options and see what works for you.

Pay extra attention to nutrition.

Because some of your exercise routines will be hindered, maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle are very important. Proper nutrition plays a huge part not only for regular benefits but also because some foods contain certain nutrients that help injuries heal. These include fresh juices not from concentrate and as many as eight servings of whole fruit a day.

Alternatively, stay away from foods that promote inflammation—foods such as potatoes, hot peppers, processed white flower and foods high in omega 3 fatty acids.

Exercise your mind.

When you’re done with surgery, take your mind off of the burning desire to get active again. Instead, stock up on some movies and books, and relax. If you are determined to somehow keep improving your body during this time, get books that focus on your physical goals, dieting or other self-improvement topics that are relevant to your goals.

Ride with your arms.

The use of an upper-body ergometer—otherwise known as an arm bike—can come in extremely handy. Many physical therapists are raving about them, particularly for those that can’t use their legs. They provide a stellar cardio workout and are a great way to relieve some of that pent up stress that might still be lingering from the surgery.

Get preoccupied.

Find an upper-body exercise that does not require the use of your foot or leg, for that matter. Pull ups can be great for this, so long as you keep your injured foot inactive. Some rehabilitation centers will also rig up a rowing exercise that keeps your injured foot safe from harm. Whichever exercise you choose, use your competitive spirit and challenge yourself. See how many reps you can do and constantly try to one-up yourself. This sort of focus will help you forget about the fact that your leg is hindered at all.

You can also get creative with other exercises. Speak to a trainer or your physical therapist to make sure anything you come up with is safe before trying them out, though. The last thing you want to do is push yourself too hard, re-injuring your foot and enduring the recovery process all over again.

Category: After Surgery diet, After Surgery Recovery, Crutch Alternatives, Foot Surgery, knee scooter, Knee Walkers, Mobility Options | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Non-Weight Bearing Diet Tips That Really Work!

Most dieters encounter plenty of obstacles along the path to a slim and healthy body. Cupcakes. Family parties. Holiday food. It’s enough to test the willpower of even the strongest dieter – and recovering from foot or ankle surgery certainly doesn’t help matters.

When you’re recovering from foot or ankle surgery, it may feel like your whole routine is thrown off. Suddenly, you’re unable to work out as much as you used to, as your foot can’t handle the stress of running, jogging, or riding a bike. Add to the fact that you’re often sitting or lying down during foot surgery recovery, and it’s no wonder you’re looking for non-weight bearing diet tips that really work.

Whether you’re looking to stick to a healthy diet or just want to learn about the foods that can optimize your healing, here are a few tried-and-true non-weight bearing diet tips:

Unlock the Powers of Superfoods

You’ve heard about certain foods that can boost your immune system, improve your cognitive function, and help reduce your chances of developing disease. Now it turns out that there are certain foods out there that can speed up your foot and ankle recovery – and best of all, they’re absolutely delicious.

Studies have suggested that foods high in Vitamin C, zinc, and protein are crucial for speeding up foot and ankle recovery. You can get your daily amount of these crucial nutrients by taking a daily supplement, or by piling the following foods onto your plate:

Protein: Dairy (drinking three glasses of milk per day can also increase your calcium intake, another important nutrient to healing), nuts, seeds, and lean meats.

Zinc: Beef (this can also fulfill your protein requirements, especially if the beef is stripped of its fat), liver, sunflower seeds, milk, eggs, and peanut butter.

Vitamin C: Fruits like oranges, strawberries and tangerines can supply you with this crucial vitamin. You can also get your vitamin C fix from red peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, and potatoes.

These foods are both delicious and essential for your foot and ankle surgery recovery, so be sure to stock up before your procedure. You may even want to prepare meals that incorporate these nutrients ahead of time so you don’t have to risk accidentally putting weight on your injured foot while cooking.

Drink Tons of Water

 

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You’ve heard it before, and you’re about to hear it again: drinking tons of water is not only crucial for your recovery, but it’s also essential for staying healthy when your injury has put you on the sidelines. If you have a tough time drinking water, consider getting a flavor enhancer or drinking light fruit juice. The latter can help you stay hydrated as well as help you get your daily intake of fruits and vegetables.

Invest In Meal Shakes

If you need a quick and healthy meal but you need to keep your weight off your injured foot, consider investing in healthy meal shakes like Ensure. You can keep these within reach, which means you won’t have to place weight on your injury. Additionally, these shakes can help you get dozens of vital nutrients you need to speed up your recovery period.

Achieving a healthy figure doesn’t have to be impossible now that you’re sidetracked by a foot or ankle injury. By using these non-weight bearing diet tips, you can stay on the right track, as well as provide your body with the nutrients it needs to heal quickly and safely.

 

Category: After Surgery diet, Knee Walkers, Surgical Recovery Diet | Tags: , , , , , , ,
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The Best Broken Ankle Surgical Recovery Diet – Revealed

Admit it: you thought that laying down on the couch for a few weeks recovering from your broken ankle surgery would be a welcome break. Since your days are spent hurrying from the home to the office and back again, it seemed like catching up on your favorite TV shows and surfing the web would be a fantastic idea.

But now you’re not only getting bored – you’re noticing that you’re not exactly feeling your healthiest.

If you’re eating anything less than the best foods, you might as well point a blaming finger at your diet. Like with recovering from a sickness or a disease, a broken ankle surgical recovery diet should emphasize healthy intake and avoid tons of processed junk food.

So if you’re been living off of microwave meals and Doritos during your broken ankle recovery – hey, no one would blame you – it’s time to revamp your mealtime choices with the best broken ankle surgical recovery diet.

Get Your Fair Share of Fruits and Veggies

You heard it during middle school health class, and you’re about to hear it again: if you want to feel unhealthy during your broken ankle surgical recovery, you need to get your fair share of fruits and veggies. We’re talking your leafy greens, your colorful fruits, and your seedless grapes (yum!).

Okay, we know that not everyone likes to eat their fruits and veggies. But if you want to expedite your ankle healing time, you need to get as many vitamins and minerals as possible. Consider stocking up on all-natural smoothies (or having someone run out and get some for you) or eating preserves (they may be coated in sugar, but at least it’s fruit!). Many fruit Popsicles even contain a fair amount of fruit juice, so consider stocking it in your freezer.

If you’re not getting five servings of fruit and veggies each day, buy a multi-vitamin and take it daily. Make sure you take it in the morning since that’s when your body is able to absorb the most nutrients. This way, you can be sure that you’re getting some of the essential stuff you’ll need to heal your body.

Eat Lean Meats

Your body needs protein to heal itself after a traumatic injury – and no injury is more traumatic than a broken ankle surgery. If you want to expedite the healing process, you should stock up on lean chicken breast and lean steak. Lean meats can provide you with the protein that helps your muscles grow, which is important in helping support your broken ankle. You also want to avoid eating too many fats, as this can be bad for your heart.

Consider having a loved one cook up some grilled chicken with spinach and walnuts for a delicious serving of meats and vegetables. Or combine shaved steak with delicious hummus and sprouts for a lovely lunchtime meal you’ll crave each day.

Go Light on the Carbs

Since you’re sitting and recovering from a broken ankle surgery, you don’t want to go too heavy on the carbs. This means avoiding refined pasta and breads, as these can surge your insulin levels and make you quickly gain weight. If you’re going to eat your carbs, be sure that they’re whole wheat or whole grain. And don’t go for seconds, no matter how delicious your wife’s chicken alfredo may be.

These broken ankle surgical recovery diet tips will have you back on your feet in no time!

Here’s a recipe to get you started on the right track:

Chicken Breast with Peaches

Sprinkle one 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast with a pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper. Place in a baking pan and top with 1 sliced fresh peach. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Category: After Surgery diet, Knee Walkers, Surgical Recovery Diet | Tags: , , , , , , ,