The Dreaded Flu

Codettea
Codettea Posts: 14 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I woke up monday sick with the flu and fever, unable to digest anything solid I was on a diet of apple juice and water, so I didn't bother filling out my food diary, as most of the liquids I did ingest came back up. (sorry for the imagry ^-^' )

Tuesday I was feeling better but was still sick. Kept juice, water and a tiny bit of mint ice cream down, but still didn't bother filling out my food diary, as I spent most of my day still on the couch, except for the 4 hours I was at work, sitting in the back room with my feet up drinking juice (I was pretty much there so my manager/my mom, could go to the bathroom and get something to eat).

Wednesday I still wasn't great again, but some more juice and a bit of toast, and after a 4 hour shift of standing and talking to people and walking around, I still didn't fill out my food diary.

Now after that long catch up (lol), I guess my question is, should I worry about filling out my food and exercise diaries now, or continue waiting until I feel up to par. I already know my body needs a lot of calories and nutrients to make up for everything I missed while I was sick and the thought of food made me want to hurl. So I don't want to starve my body of everything before it makes it up again, nor do I want to over ingest what my body actually needs.

So if anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated....especially if you read all of that ^.^

Replies

  • HanJu
    HanJu Posts: 7
    I'm sure you're all better now (see a doctor if you're not!) but it's a good question. How many calories DO you need compared to normal when you're sick? I mean, sure you mostly lie around all day, but that's because you're exhausted. So clearly you're using up a lot of calories, even when you've just got a really rotten upper respiratory thing and are still able to eat.

    SparkPeople says "In fact sickness, fever and infections increase your metabolism by about seven percent for each degree the body temperature rises above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit." Either my google-fu is weak today, or no one else has anything else helpful to say. It would be nice to hear some actual facts from a health professional though.

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