I went through this almost 1 year ago. I did competitive powerlifting for years and while deadlifting one day with a weight that wasn't even half of my 1 rep max, I herniated L5. I spent 2 weeks on my back and the doctors told me basically the same thing: No squats, no deadlifts. Which was torturous news all on its own because those are my 2 favorite movements. Luckily, like you, I was otherwise in good shape. My physical therapist said that I needed to drop a little weight, which wasn't a big deal because I wouldn't be competing any more, so I just knocked off the extra 20 pounds that kept me in the weight class that I lifted in.
For the first time in my life I followed a Doctors orders to the letter and was lucky enough to skip the surgery and injections and have now recovered as fully as one could hope to. Most of my physical therapy revolved around core strengthening (as others have mentioned). She told me right from the start, that the stronger your core is, the less work your back has to do. Oddly enough, the one thing I could do that she said would give me problems was running. For some reason, I could run a few miles and the pain would disappear for hours like it never happened. Obviously this isn't going to be the case for everyone, but it worked out that way for me. Now, most days I don't even think about it. Every once in a while I feel it if I pick up a weight the wrong way, but stretching usually corrects it. I started squatting again a few months ago, but rather than full squats, I generally do box squats or exertion squats because its easier to keep my form correct. But I always have my lifting partner watch in case I start to lean forward too much. As far as deadlifting goes, I've done it some with very light weight and always with a belt, but I'd rather not take a chance of going through all that again. I may not be so lucky next time. I have a very physically demanding job and back surgery would almost certainly be a game ender.
The only other advice I can offer is to stay hydrated. I learned that discs can dehydrate just like the rest of you, and if that happens, they get inflamed. I found that out the hard way. Thats about the only real trouble I've had out of it lately after a half marathon.
Good luck and I hope you have the kind of success with recovery that I have.
