This past week I’ve been recovering from a surgery where I had a gum graft done (that’s where they take a portion of skin from the roof of your mouth to essentially cover over the gum area of the tooth where you have a receding gum line. Exciting stuff, I know.) Anyway, I’ve been resting the last four days. But by today, the fifth day, I wanted to begin doing something to mentally and physically to remind myself I’m actively on the road to recovery.

You might think that getting back into weightlifting would not be the wisest move. But, thankfully, I’m fortunate enough to have a coach that listens to me and understands when I need a little push and when to prescribe just the right amount of “recovery work” to get my heart rate up and the blood flowing through my muscles.

Recovery is a funny thing, you see, because it’s a balance of getting enough rest and enough moderate physical activity to begin regaining strength. The trick is not letting yourself play the victim.

Mentally telling yourself you should continue to stay in bed. Mentally ignoring the healthy, nourishing foods that will aid in your recovery and instead eating fast food. Those can quickly become your reality if you let your recovery time become a crutch.

A quick aside, I am in no way overlooking your doctor recommended and necessary recovery time involved for any kind of major surgery. However, the general point I am making is that it can be all too easy to fall off the wagon…and stay there. And when that happens, you’ll have to remind yourself that you can also get right back on at any time.

Low intensity exercises are helpful during a recovery period because not only are there physical benefits of increased mobility and building strength but it also gives you perspective to know you can become strong again. You can’t think about it.  You have to do it.

A few more quick things you can do for yourself:

• Eat healthy foods that have protein, for me it was soft foods like scrambled eggs.
• Stay hydrated mixing it up with fluids like water/Gatorade or cold green tea. Try adding honey. It’s a natural healing element.
• Use a humidifier at night
• Call your mother 😉

The universe rewards action. The more you can make small adjustments taking action towards a known goal, the sooner you will get what you want.