Eating right when you don't feel well

carol3312
carol3312 Posts: 5
edited October 3 in Health and Weight Loss
When I don't feel well physically, I tend to eat the comfort foods, chocolate cake or ice cream, potatoes, chips. I started out really well a few days ago, but I'm currently fighting a nasty cold that kept me home from work today. My asthma is kicking in and I am trying to stay as sedentary as possible so I don't have an attack. Normally I can work through the asthma and coughing but this time it's kicking me to the curb. Dr says stay low for a few days.

How can I combat this bordom/comfort eating when I can't physically do anything till I feel better? Any suggestions?

Replies

  • minapina
    minapina Posts: 11
    I have a VERY hard time deciding if I am really hungry or if I really want something just out of boredom!! I say you rent some movies.. or look online for random things.. I look at houses I know I can't afford.. it's fun to day dream sometime and before you know it an hour has passed :):)
  • rag5051
    rag5051 Posts: 28 Member
    My theory is just to give in (a little) and get your body healed up. Whenever I get sick I tend to eat worse foods as well but as long as I get back up when I feel better and get back to the grind I don't end up gaining from it.
  • looklikeaskeleton
    looklikeaskeleton Posts: 62
    im kind of the opposite... i dont want to eat anything when im sick.
    try eating a lot of healthy stuff when you get cravings and dont buy junk food so when you crave it, it wont be there for you to eat.
  • PlunderBunneh
    PlunderBunneh Posts: 1,705 Member
    Homemade soup!
  • KcFitCoach
    KcFitCoach Posts: 135 Member
    Keep a BIG sip cup of COLD water nearby and go to comfort things like homemade/low sodium soup that contains veggies and lowfat protein to fill you up. You can actually BURN some cals drinking very cold water...your body works a little bit to warm that water up ;-). Granted...not a whole lot...but you could burn around 70 cals each day by drinking about 64 ounces of ice cold water.

    Let nutritious soups and water fill you up (and hydration is a very big deal with asthma).

    Hugs! Hope you feel better soon!
  • Bluejay789
    Bluejay789 Posts: 176
    I was sick a week ago with nasty cold. I normally eat really bad when I am sick but I was reading online that it takes your body twice as hard to fight against a cold when you are eating unhealthy items and to avoid sugar. I ate soup and crackers Saturday and Sunday, I actually added Louisiana Hot Sauce to my home made beef stew and I think that might have kicked the cold. I also drank lemon & green tea. I actually broke my plateau and lost 1 pound ... that I have been fighting for 3 or 4 weeks to lose.

    Rest and drink plenty of water. I really hope you get better. Nothing like wonderful Fall Days when you don't feel good.

    I really hope you get better.
  • ReinasWrath
    ReinasWrath Posts: 1,173 Member
    Fill up on water, not to say only water though!! But water is a must when your sick anyways and sometimes the body will misinterpret the signal for thirst for being hunger. And when you do eat try and fill up on maybe cut up cucumbers or small veggies/ fruits that would be easy on a sick tummy but also something you can mindlessly gobble on
  • KimmyEB
    KimmyEB Posts: 1,208 Member
    I've noticed that since eating healthier (and exercising regularly), I never get sick anymore. I used to constantly get fevers, headaches (not migraines, just really annoying headaches), and colds all the time...not I've been sick-free since beginning of summer, something that NEVER happens to me! So I correlate that with my healthy eating--if I want to feel this good all the time, I need to keep eating healthy. So if I'm feeling down or particularly achy and out of it for some reason, I remind myself that I need to eat better. Sure, every now and again a snack won't kill me (I had a chocolate bar today..my first one in...many months!), but overall healthy eating and lots of h2o, I'd say. :flowerforyou:
  • Nurse_krissy
    Nurse_krissy Posts: 102 Member
    Your body will feel WORSE if you eat food that isn't good for you. Maybe it will help to remember that. Hang in there!
  • mochaphobic
    mochaphobic Posts: 92 Member
    Hang in there Carol! I, too, have asthma and when I get an attack, I want the old standby comfort foods too. What I find works best for me is to make a crockpot of chicken vegetable soup or something healthy that I crave when I don't feel well. Then I drink lots and lots of warm spiced apple cider (sugar free packets are an okay choice) or even tea (my attacks are more common in the fall than any other season.). It doesn't make me jittery (which the nebulizer treatments sometimes make me crazy like that) and the warmth feels good to my chest. To keep from over eating, I read or scrapbook or watch tv, far away from the kitchen. LOL! I was told to keep away from the milk since it can make the congestion worse but I still indulge in warm milk with cinnamon sometimes.
  • mea9
    mea9 Posts: 561 Member
    bump
  • carol3312
    carol3312 Posts: 5
    Thanks everyone! I will get sick only 2 or 3 times a year but those times really throw me. Homemade chicken noodle soup is on the menu today for sure. Have a great day everyone! I'm going to recover.
  • Kikilicious84
    Kikilicious84 Posts: 312
    Try snacking on apple slices, carrot sticks, pineapple cubes, bananas, anything other than crap. Keep telling yourself that you're eating the fuel your body needs to get over the cold.

    I'm not feeling too well myself but I've had an aversion to junk food...other than Keylime pie.
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