Eat maintenance calories when sick?

Given the day it is, are you sure you have not over indulged in over rich foods?

Other than that, ensure you stay hydrated, Going without food in general is no good for anyone. If you are down with something, for the first little while hours this might be different. Depending on how you feel, try starting with a slice of dry toast, or a little fresh boiled rice then as you start to pick up, plain chicken or steamed fish, or if you are vegetarian a gentle protein of your choice. Keep it light and simple. Avoiding milk could also be wise. All being well you should pick up.

Should you not be able to face these first steps in the next hours and it hangs around, please get some formal advice.

for most other things maintenance for a while seems like a good idea.

Take care

I sometimes eat at maintenance calories when I'm sick to give myself more energy to recover, but I don't force myself if I'm not hungry. My usual calorie budget is 1580 to lose 1 lb/week, which is very close to my BMR, so I'll eat that or somewhere in between rather than stuffing myself.

Also, just like you can't make up sleep, there's no point in eating more calories once you're already better. But if you find yourself hungrier because you haven't been eating, I suppose you could make up the deficit without gaining weight.

When I' m sick I eat plain healthy food. I don't worry about calories but always log and am always under because, well, it's plain healthy food.

Drink water and take care of yourself.

I hope you feel better soon. Praying for a speedy recovering.

The old adage 'starve a cold, feed a fever' is not an instruction but a warning! If you don't eat when you have a cold you will find yourself getting worse rather than better, heading for a fever or secondary infection, the same is true for most illnesses. But your appetite is still likely to be depressed, for when you do feel ok to eat make sure you get 'good' foods which are going to give you the vitamins and minerals that your body needs, don't get hung up on protein/fat/carb calories, go with the flow there. In the grand scheme of things if you're ill and don't feel like eating for say a week and then when you do only manage about 1000 calories a day or something, with the extra sitting around you'll be doing as you won't fancy a 6 mile run either you probably won't lose too much weight, only a pound or so, this will probably go back on when you start eating again so I wouldn't go all out to eat back any left over calories, a chocolate bar would probably do it.

When you are sick your focus should be on getting well. Eat what you can and drink lots of fluids, don't forget to rest.

When I'm really sick (like can't get out of bed and just want to sleep/die), I go with what I feel like eating. A couple years ago, I was down for a week and lived on Wheat Thins, broth, water, and cough drops. My basic following is to go with what I'm wanting to eat. It's usually crackers of some kind and broth.

If you're not hungry or don't have the urge to eat, then don't. Keep your fluid intake up with whatever you can keep down (coffee, juice, milk, water).

When your sick and you lose weight because of not eating, I try not to pack the weight back on, but make sure your eating atleace 1,700 Calories a day when your sick. Clean eating because you don't want to lose Muscle while your sick. So try to eat High Protein meals like fish & baked chicken or steam with some soup. and drink lot's of water. that way you won't put on any water weight... So If you'r Maintenance Calories are 2,000 try to hit close to It. Hope this help

I'm feeling kind of sick right now so I'm asking this just in case I really fall ill. When you guys are sick do you still stick to eating your maintenance calories? Or do you just eat whatever you want? But when we are sick we tend to eat a lot lesser, do you eat those calories back once you have recovered?

The day after Christmas to Saturday I was sick with the flu, including fever and chills and was in bed a lot. Since my tummy was fine, I ate what I could. Thursday I did not come close to my calorie limit because I was in bed a lot, Friday and Saturday I ate almost up to maintenance. No, I did not eat any of those missed calories back.

While sick, just take care of yourself and eat what you can.