When You're Sick...

reginab1984
reginab1984 Posts: 41 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Do you continue to count calories, or eat what you can stomach/what makes you feel better?

Replies

  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    Depends.
  • many_splendored
    many_splendored Posts: 113 Member
    I'd say you can fudge the numbers a bit. Especially if you're not keeping stuff down, I'd only count half of your usual serving of something because if you're throwing up, it's not likely you're holding onto all the nutrients.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    ^ Same. I'm getting over a nasty flu, and for a few days there it was so bad that if I hadn't ordered a pizza, I wouldn't have eaten. That said, although I did enjoy some pizza, I did not "binge" or have pizza, cookies, cake, ice cream, fried chicken and cookie dough. So no counting but no excuse for going haywire either.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    reginab1984 wrote: »
    Do you continue to count calories, or eat what you can stomach/what makes you feel better?

    Why not both? Eat the things that make you feel better and log them.
  • Jolinia
    Jolinia Posts: 846 Member
    I count but getting well is the top priority and if my body wants more it gets more.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    I don't get sick much, but I imagine, at this stage, I would still log.
  • parkdad73
    parkdad73 Posts: 88 Member
    Usually when I'm sick it throws my eating off and I am eating way less then I would normally so no point counting.
  • NerdieMcChub
    NerdieMcChub Posts: 153 Member
    I was sick for around a month recently. I did not count calories or log anything. I was just focused on getting better.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I had a cold/cough/sore throat a couple of weeks ago, and that was coupled with sleep deprivation due to a teething baby. I was feeling like crap, 3 hours sleep and had to be up to get 3 kids ready to get my eldest to school on time, then look after the other two all day until my husband got home, and still do all the housework etc. It's rare that I don't log (I've been on MFP 950 days) but this time I didn't log for about 6 days. I didn't eat rubbish, but I just ate what I needed to eat to feel better.
  • karllundy
    karllundy Posts: 1,490 Member
    I still log it, but worry less about what it is. Though, if you look at my log lately, I seem to have been sick constantly.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    Mildly sick: Pay some attention to calories etc. Very sick: pay zero attention at all until healed.
  • WednesdayJanuary07th2015
    WednesdayJanuary07th2015 Posts: 163
    What I'd do is keep a notion of it, then go through the process of creating a new food (if necessary); when I was well enough to. Which I did for about 3 days recently because I was just overwhelmed; with a lot to do.
  • Timorous_Beastie
    Timorous_Beastie Posts: 595 Member
    If I'm sick enough to be throwing up or have wicked diarrhea, I'm not logging anything. At that point, getting anything to stay in my stomach long enough to be digested matters more to me than a calorie count or macros.
  • reginab1984
    reginab1984 Posts: 41 Member
    edited February 2015
    Thanks for the responses so far! My doctor was convinced I had the flu, but the test said otherwise so he diagnosed a sinus infection. And maybe the question I really should have asked is not do you log calories while sick, but do you restrict calories while sick. Very different questions!
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
    reginab1984 wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses so far! My doctor was convinced I had the flu, but the test said otherwise so he diagnosed a sinus infection. And maybe the question I really should have asked is not do you log calories while sick, but do you restrict calories while sick. Very different questions!

    To answer you new question, no I don't restrict....but I never have much of an appetite when I'm sick. Our whole family had the flu the week before Christmas, we lived on gatorade, ginger ale, broths, and toast and tea.
  • Roxiegirl2008
    Roxiegirl2008 Posts: 756 Member
    I don't get sick very often but when I do the sight of food just plan grosses me out. I typically get the "spewing for all openings" illness. I think with a sinus infection I would just be mindful but not overly strict like I normally I am.

    Oh and get well soon!
  • zinatara
    zinatara Posts: 76 Member
    I've had the flu the last week and I haven't really logged all my food. But I know I haven't eaten a lot and I've lost weight. I had a really sore throat and that has made it hard to eat. But I have been eating a few things I normally wouldn't and I haven't worried about balancing my nutrients too much.
  • Timorous_Beastie
    Timorous_Beastie Posts: 595 Member
    If we're talking about flu or respiratory infection sick, I don't intentionally restrict calories, but I usually don't have an appetite, either. So I just stick with soups and comfort foods.
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    I count, but I'm usually WAY under. Not over.
  • reginab1984
    reginab1984 Posts: 41 Member
    Roxiegirl2008 wrote: »

    Oh and get well soon!

    Thanks!
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
    If it's a stomach upset of some kind, I would just eat/drink whatever agreed with me and probably still log it, but chances are that you're going to be under your goal until you're feeling better. If it's a cold or similar, I know myself well enough to know that I'm going to crave carbs as comfort food, so I tend to still log and try to stay within my calories (maybe give myself a couple hundred calories leeway) but not worry at all about my macros if I'm really not feeling well - on my best days I struggle to get my protein in, so if I'm sick I give myself a few days off to just eat bagels and pretzels or whatever.

    If I was VERY sick, as in truly bed-ridden or something, I probably wouldn't bother to log at all and would just focus on getting better and eating the foods that my body needs to heal.
  • DKG28
    DKG28 Posts: 299 Member
    edited February 2015
    don't know. what I hate most about being sick is that it feels like I'm not in control of my body, and perhaps logging food and feeding it nutritiously would help me feel like i could do something to fight the illness. I can't say about digestive upsets - haven't had such an issue in a long time, but I suspect I wouldn't want think about food a second longer than I had to. In that case, perhaps just log fluid intake cause hydration is the most important issue in that situation.
  • LadyLots2Lose
    LadyLots2Lose Posts: 110 Member
    I suppose it really depends on what kind of illness it is and what you're eating.
    I had this dilemma last week. I ended up logging what I ate although that wasn't much to begin with (1 serving of apple and walnut loaf - which was rejected half an hour later). A packet of rice crackers and bolognese with pasta the following day.
  • mikeywarsaw
    mikeywarsaw Posts: 10
    I wouldn't restrict calories when sick, your body needs calories to get better.
  • CaptAwesome77
    CaptAwesome77 Posts: 84 Member
    When I'm sick I'm generally not hungry. It's not that I'm restrictions anything, just that I don't want anything. Therefore I don't bother logging anything, all I'm eating is a bowl of broth all day and some Thera-flu anyway, my body is burning more than that 120 calories or so anyway.
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