I broke my thumb about 3 weeks ago (a painful tuft fracture) - this coincides with base season and when I usually start a more active calorie deficit - so the question is, how safe or sane is it to reduce overall calories while keeping protein and nutrition very high quality?
My nutritionist that I had during two bone fractures gave very clear directions to not eat less, but he actually set me up for a calorie surplus, with added protein in.
Maybe you can cut back on fat a bit, but I would still make sure to eat plenty.
Its more important to heal as fast as possible, and properly 
I had an elbow surgery, as well as collarbone surgery. Donât know how these compare to thumbs, but bones are bones!
TL;DR - Eat more, not less, sleep a lot, focus on recovery and not weight.
6 Likes
Iâve never actually broke anything myself but in the last Podcast Nate was telling Jonathan heâd need x number calories for his break.
2 Likes
I would definitely agree with the previous advice of making sure youâre getting enough âgrowthâ stuff into your system. I recall drinking lots of milk to get calcium and protein.
Maybe it comes down to the exact amount of calories and nutrients that are required (and canât be worked out exactly) and deciding which side of the more or less you should aim to beâŚ
A calorie deficit should be avoided during the healing process because energy, protein, calcium, and vitamin D are all necessary for bone regeneration.
If you maintain a dense diet, a modest maintenance or very moderate deficit (â¤10%) is OK, but wait until your fracture heals completely before making a deep cut.
1 Like
And my question would be why are you starting a calorie deficit? As others have mentioned, your body will need some extra calories to heal, but who really knows how many? And, personally, I would be more thoughtful about the timing of my eating than the actual calories. âGo to bed hungryâ can be a good mantra along these lines. It doesnât necessarily mean that youâre taking in fewer calories than youâre using in a day, just that your system has already processed your dayâs calories, and can then begin the fasting process while youâre sleeping.
Whatâs the old adage? Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.
Echo what others said, it definitely sucks having to keep your calories up to heal. I put on 8 lbs when I broke my collarbone this summer but my bone healed up very fast.
Highly recommend âDoctorâs Best Calcium Bone Maker Complexâ if you want to supplement your calcium.
Thanks the responses guys, as itâs 10 months since the thread started I think worth recounting what I did - it was indeed a bad idea to do any sort of deficit. My thumb ended up taking over 5 months to heal to the point that I could start using it again. As it became clear in the first month of healing that it was going to be a long journey I ended up tracking calories less and running a small surplus and slowly putting on some weight, I later worked this back off once well past the healing sign off to start using my hand again.
1 Like