Did you know that more than 39.8% of American adults suffer from obesity? Some people gain weight even when they don’t overeat. Elements like stress, injuries, or health conditions might contribute to weight gain too.

That might worry you if you got injured recently.

Getting injured is frustrating and painful, especially when you have a regular routine. But that doesn’t mean your weight should suffer from it. That’s why it’s important to know how to avoid gaining weight when you can’t go to the gym.

Are you ready to learn how to keep yourself from getting fat while recovering? If so, read on and find out more today:

How to Avoid Gaining Weight While Recovering

It’s a good time to break away from your usual workouts. After all, there are a lot of other ways for you to stay fit and healthy. The good news is that you can work harder than before once your body is ready to go back to your routine.

While recovering, here are some of the things you can do:

1. Look for Alternative Exercise Methods

Is your knee injury preventing you from running on a regular basis? If so, you might need to try different exercises like Pilates. When you do, it’s important to ensure that you’re accompanied by a qualified instructor as well as a capable physical therapist.

A lot of physical therapists use these alternative methods as a means of helping speed up the recovery process. Pilates, for example, helps to increase your range of motion as well as promoting tissue and muscle repair. It also aids in increasing body awareness while assisting in strength and flexibility recovery.

If you aren’t suffering from severe injuries, you can try lower impact cardio methods. The most popular ones include cycling and swimming. Don’t let it get to you—try out new things to give you the motivation to do your strength training while recovering.

But it’s important to have a talk with your doctor or physical therapist first. This ensures that you know the types of activity you can do. That way, you won’t end up making your injury worse.

2. Start New, Healthy Habits

Is your injury preventing you from doing anything physical? If so, you can try focusing on starting something new. For example, you can try healthier practices such as eating and sleeping better.

Take the time and fill your workout routine with other healthy habits. There are a lot of things out there that can help with weight loss or at least maintain your current weight. Experiment with new food recipes and add healthier foods to your current regimen.

Take your recovery period is a perfect opportunity to ensure you’re sleeping better. After all, healing with enough hours of good sleep is as important as calorie burning for weight loss. As everyone will tell you, get at least 7-8 hours of rest each night.

3. Help Other People

Injuries can often make you unmotivated in becoming fit. If you wallow in self-pity, you might end up sitting on the couch clutching a bag of chips. That’s why it’s better to try reaching out to people and asking whether you can help them out.

You can donate your time and service to people who are in worse straits than you. Sometimes, all you need to do is to visit someone to make them feel better. It also helps to take your mind off of your situation while making it a more rewarding experience compared to workout sessions.

It’s important to remember that the gym isn’t the only location to do some workouts. If you stay active throughout the day, the better your chances of burning calories. Don’t let the excessive effort discourage you—heal and take care of yourself while helping others.

4. Stop Mindless Snacking

It’s important to remember that your workouts play a big part in ensuring that your weight stays consistent no matter what food you eat. When you stop due to injuries, you need to put your foot down and stop imbibing unhealthy foods. If you take a good look at your diet, you’ll most likely pinpoint places where you can cut your calories.

Don’t start snacking just when you’re trying to suit your mood. If you want a definitive way of stopping your snacking habits, make sure not to buy it in the first place. Once you get into this habit, you’ll know other ways on how to avoid gaining weight.

Pinpoint the culprit of the extra calories if you aren’t sure about your eating habits. Ask whether your food portions are too large. Remember, large food portions, second helpings, and mindless snacking can make you gain weight, especially when you’re recovering from injuries.

Fight these situations and come up with things you can do instead of trying to eat snacks. Post a list on the fridge and read it whenever you feel like you’re about to start a mindless binge eating episode. Act upon it to ensure that you distract yourself before you can go back to your workout routines.

*Related: 10 Best Weight Loss Apps for 2019

5. Plan Ahead

If you do this, you won’t have to take a guess about what to eat for your next meals. To make your diet healthier, make sure to map out all this week’s meal plan. Make sure to do some prep work within a day so you’re ready to eat your meals as soon as you’re back home.

Speaking of plans, you can try to find help here for your recovery. If you take medicine alongside your other habits, you’ll have the means of going back to your workout routine sooner. This decreases your chances of developing bad habits.

Learn How to Avoid Gaining Weight Today

Simply follow these steps to learn how to avoid gaining weight even when recovering. They’re simple to do since they won’t need too much time and money. All you need to do is to focus your efforts and start developing better habits to help you live healthier.

Did you find this guide interesting and educational? If so, you can try reading more of our posts today.