What do you do when you're sick?

coderdan82
coderdan82 Posts: 133 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm sick and frustrated because I don't have the energy to go to the gym. At what point do you start doing any sort of exercise after an illness? Do you still try to go for a walk or something while recovering?

Replies

  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,310 Member
    Rest and try to recover
  • RoseyandReady
    RoseyandReady Posts: 256 Member
    Rest and just stay in your calorie zone. It's frustrating, but hopefully in a few days to a week you will bounce back. I hope you feel better soon :-)
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
    Rest and eat maintenance until you are well.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Eat maintenance. If you do not know what it is go back through the guided set-up and select to lose 0 pounds per week. This will help you recover faster and get your energy back up.

    You should not go to the gym while sick and especially not right now because you might cause a stir. If you are not running a fever a small walk should be fine.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,416 Member
    I'm just getting over the flu, and I just stuck with the calorie burns my Garmin gave me. Mostly. The first day of 102 fever, I slept for 20 hours, so both my eating and my step count were low. I slept 18 hours the next day of 102 fever and ate my calories for that day (pretty much sedentary) plus some of the missed calories from the day before. The third day I felt good enough to walk my dogs so that they wouldn't drive me nuts. That walk burned twice as many calories as it usually does, because my breathing was still labored and my heart rate was high. I ate to what would have been maintenance if I didn't have my Garmin to tell me that I was still burning an abnormally high number of calories for a potato.

    I skipped gym workouts for a week and a half, and gradually got my step count back into it's normal range, just eating my assigned exercise calories back. At the end of two weeks, I still lost the pound I had planned to lose at a rate of .5# per week.

    My energy was very low because my body burned a TON of calories trying to run at a much higher temperature than normal.

    If your body is telling you that you need rest, DO IT. When you feel like a caged animal, it's time to go back to the gym, but GENTLY. Just do as much as your body allows. It's pretty smart and will send you signals.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    Funnily enough, I was just researching this, since I have been sick for two weeks (getting better now, but it's been a long slog). From health.com:

    "When the body is combating a cold, it needs energy in the form of calories to fight off infection and recover. ... The same applies to a fever. “The body’s demand for calories increases in both scenarios in order to produce immune cells that defend against an invading pathogen,” says Sharon Horesh Bergquist, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at the Emory School of Medicine, which means, she adds, that the idea that we should starve fevers is a myth. In fact, feeding (and hydrating) a fever might be even more critical than feeding a cold. “When you have a fever, it is essentially increasing your body's temperature to fight an infection and in turn also increasing your metabolism and your body's use of calories,” Dr. Ahn says. “Hence, you would likely benefit from more caloric intake during a fever.”

    In short, eat at maintenance when you're sick.

    Exercise: Your body needs rest when you're sick, to recuperate. It is better not to exercise at least until you're over the hump, if not completely well. The more you push yourself, the longer it may take to get all better.
  • coderdan82
    coderdan82 Posts: 133 Member
    This is all so logical it's annoying :smile:
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
    I never exercise when I’m sick. I figure my body needs all the energy it can get. I’m afraid if I divert my body’s energy by exercising, it will take me that much longer to get better. Plus I will probably have a miserable, crappy workout anyway. If I’m “lie on the couch and sleep all day” sick, I also eat whatever the heck I want and don’t bother logging. I’m not going to derail all my hard work in just a few days.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 694 Member
    I once read somewhere that muscle wastage starts after just 3 days. So if you are bed bound for a week with flu or something, that's why it feels like such a mission when you move - even if it's just going downstairs to make tea.

    When you do feel able again start really slow, and see how you go. I usually start with a short walk to test the water, if I can't manage 15 mins to the corner shop I definitely can't do anything else.

Categories