Getting sick when you're trying to get healthy?

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busymommyx3
busymommyx3 Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello I have a strange question. I have been working out about 6 days a week and eating healthy for about 4 months now and I have just recently been hit twice in a row with some yucky illnesses. About 2 1/2 weeks ago I had bronchitis and was put on a 10 day antibiotic and now again, 3 days ago I got hit with a nasty sinus infection! I don't remember every getting sick twice in a row like this and this last one has absolutely kicked my butt! I am taking vitamins and I eat lots of fruits and veggies (more than I ever did before I started my weightloss journey) so you would think I would be healthy and able to resist these germies easier!? My boss made a comment today that I'm probably getting sick so much because I am dieting, I didn't think to ask her to elaborate but it left me wondering if this is common? So I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced this while working out/eating healthy or if its just a coincidence. I have 2 school aged children who bring home lots of germs but I don't feel like I should be catching everything that comes my way!
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Replies

  • bakay138
    bakay138 Posts: 47 Member
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    Are you working out in a gym? Perhaps using weight machines or cardio machines the the previous user may have not wiped down and they were carrying a sick germ. Just a thought. You may want to start using hand sanitizer when you go to the gym or at the very least wash your hands immediately after working out and try not to touch your face when working out. Hard I know as I wipe my sweat off my brow constantly when working out!

    Could be the additional exposure to many people from the gym causing illnesses that you never experienced before.
  • fishergreen
    fishergreen Posts: 109 Member
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    If you have allergies at all this spring has been terrible and wreaking havoc on my immune system. That could be doing it.
  • chrisb75
    chrisb75 Posts: 395 Member
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    If you live in the NE we had an abnormally warm winter. Great for doing stuff, not so great for killing off nasty bugs. Everyone I know has been sick lately.
  • mayerel
    mayerel Posts: 254 Member
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    The seasons are so messed up this year (depending on where you live) but it's made a lot of people sick. Also, like a previous poster said, it could be more exposure if you're in classes with lots of people or at the gym with unclean equipment!

    I'm fighting a nasty, nasty cough/cold/death and it's definitely no fun!
  • abetter40
    abetter40 Posts: 2
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    I agree with the previous two posts, but also our bodies tend to "detox" as we move forward in our fitness and clean eating. It's going to clean out your gut, your sinuses, your colon, etc., removing all of the existing bad. Hang in there!

    Are you in a gym six times a week or outdoors/in your home?
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
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    Yeah, there have been some nasty bugs going around this season. I know of several people who have been ill lately.
  • allysabee
    allysabee Posts: 123
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    So weird... I've actually found this with myself too! Whenever I'm eating healthy and exercising, I get a cold every few weeks it seems.
  • Setof2Keys
    Setof2Keys Posts: 681 Member
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    Maybe do 5 days a week of intense work outs then one day of a lighter one like walking. Your body may be too worn down to fight off the infections. I did this when I started and it took about 4 months before it happened. Also, keep in mind your body is clearing out all of that crap you have been storing up. Keep up on the water and maybe scale back just a little and see if that helps.
  • kristy8403
    kristy8403 Posts: 18 Member
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    I just started feeling sick yesterday - so annoying. Usually I catch it in time and start taking Echinacea the moment I feel something coming on. This time, I didn't feel it until I was at work - doubled up on the dose when I came home and I don't feel too bad today.

    When I first heard of it, i was very skeptical - surprisingly it actually works. I would recommend everyone have a bottle in their medicine cabinet for when they feel the aches or soar throat coming on.
  • ArtemisMoon
    ArtemisMoon Posts: 144
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    Even if you are eating the right foods, are you eating enough? People who cut their calories too much seem to be more prone to illness from my experience. My sister was super sick, got better, started dieting again and was probably under eating a little bit, and then got sick again. So if you were sick once, you probably ought to go back to eating a little more for a while because your body is needing more than normal to get back in good shape.
  • _hi_hat3r_
    _hi_hat3r_ Posts: 423 Member
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    You're probably not washing your hands often enough.
  • Shweedog
    Shweedog Posts: 883 Member
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    I wouldn't think it has anything to do with your diet. Secondary infections are extremely commom (sick once- then reinfected). It happens all the time.
  • jeannec3631
    jeannec3631 Posts: 108 Member
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    i know exactly what you mean! i've had colds, sinus attacks that always lead to bronchitis which in turn keeps me from working out since it's hard to breathe. then i would have to build my stamina back up again & again. it was very discouraging. i talked to my MD & asked her why. even though we are strengthening our bodies, germs/allergens will reduce our immune system. however, when i start feeling a lil under the weather, i start with my inhaler & sinus spray decongestant & boost up my water intake...seems to shorten or totally eliminate whatever is trying to use my body as their host!

    don't be discouraged...this is life
  • Desertnetti
    Desertnetti Posts: 7 Member
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    I was thinking the same thing as abetter40 as I was reading thru the posts. With my health issues, I always go thru a detox period when I have slumped in my eating habits and go back to eating lots of fruits and veggies again. For me, it can last for up to 3 weeks of feeling crummy, but if I hang in there I feel better. My NMD. says taking antibiotics only postpones the clean out and sometimes makes it worse. Hang in there. It will get better, then you will feel great!
  • BubbaBoo2012
    BubbaBoo2012 Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm in that same exact situation! I have two small kids, but get sick more then they do. As of today I once again am beginning to get a cold which ultimately ALWAYS leads to the same exact thing, ear infection and bronchitis! It's exactly a month since the last time I had this, and before that it was a month...for the past year I have been getting the same thing monthly, which really sucks b/c it sets me back big time when I try to workout. I'm always sick for at least a week....which means that I pretty much am healthy three weeks out of every month....VERY frustrating. I do the same thing Kristy8403 does and start popping Echinacea the second I feel something, along with airbourne. It doesn't prevent it from arriving full on, but I feel as though it keeps the length of the cold at bay. But ultimately I always end up on antibiotics which always do the trick. I don't workout at a gym either, I work out at home (though I do commute to work via subway + bus, so LOTS of germs there).
  • Mgregory723
    Mgregory723 Posts: 529 Member
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    I have been sick for about a week or so and I am extremely frustrated! :angry: I just started my journey a month ago, was doing really well, going to the gym 3 days a week and doing the Wii on off days, then I got sick and I haven't worked out in week. :grumble: I have asthma. Two years ago I was hospitalized 3 times for pneumonia, so I do not mess around with it at all. I stopped working out and have done nothing, my hubby is taking care of the house even. I am currently taking Echinacea, Vitamin C, and a Multi-Vitamin. Slowly I am on the mend and I hope to be at the gym on Monday. :wink: I always wipe off the equipment at the gym but who knows if everyone else does. So from now on I am going to wipe off before I get on too, hopefully this will cut down on the getting sick part. Good luck to you!! :smile:
  • rf1170
    rf1170 Posts: 180 Member
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    I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling bad! I hope you heal and feel better soon. As for your question, I think dieting can contribute to illness, depending on how it's done. Your body needs plenty of energy to keep its immune system in tip-top shape, and if you're eating less than you need, your immunity may suffer. Do you feel hungry often? If you do, try eating more - of good-quality food, of course, that fits into your notion of healthy eating.

    Additionally, it's possible that your diet is nutritionally lacking in some way - not that it is, but it couldn't hurt to consider the possibility. For example, many people try to limit their fat intake while dieting. But the kinds of foods that have a lot of good fat (whole cuts of meat, real butter, egg yolks, etc.) also help support your health by allowing your body to make better use of the nutrients you consume in other foods and supplements. Try to incorporate these into your day in a way that you like. Personally, I started eating soup for breakfast when I got a cold two winters ago, and I haven't had one since. My go-to breakfast soup is egg drop, and I try to pack it with lots of immune-boosting herbs and spices. The gelatin in homemade stock is soothing to the digestive tract, attracting fluids for smoother digestion and allowing the body to better utilize the protein in the eggs. Even if you don't eat it every day, I bet some homemade soup will make you feel better in the short term! Here's my recipe if you'd like to give it a try:
    1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock
    1 Tablespoon coconut oil (which has anti-microbial properties and contains lots of medium-chain fatty acids)
    two or three cloves of garlic (supposed to be good for a cold as well as your heart)
    1/2 - 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger (included in many immune-boosting supplements)
    1 teaspoon curry powder blend (a lot of the spices in a curry powder are said to be anti-inflammatory and immune-supporting)
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (same as above, plus it makes you feel warm and toasty!)
    1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed with water, if desired (for a thicker consistency)
    1 cup kale or other greens
    2 whole eggs

    This makes a lot of soup - probably enough for two as a starter, or one for a meal. I'm a person who loves variety, and I eat it every morning because it's just so good! At any rate, good luck, and maybe take some days to rest and recover before hitting the gym again. Hope you feel better!
  • busymommyx3
    busymommyx3 Posts: 40 Member
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    Wow thank you all for your wonderful responses! I workout at home and take walks outside so I'm not getting those gym bugs (thank goodness)I do try to wash my hands all the time too but, I think its is probably a combination of things definately the season changing. I do get some seasonal allergies so that is probably a huge part of it and I also found it very interesting that while your body is cleansing you lose some of the good bacteria too, that makes a lot of sense as well. I'm going to pop some echinacea, boost my calories a bit, and lay off the working out for a few more days and then get back to it!! Thanks again for your help, hopefully I will be feeling good again soon and stay that way, this time :happy:
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
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    If I get a nasty bug then I usually then get anything else that's going for months, just because my immune system has taken a knock.

    The only thing I've ever found to work is to temporarily take very high doses of vitamin C at the very first suspicion of something being wrong. I'm talking 3000 mg. Only for a few days though because those levels are toxic if you continue.
  • iDaphney2
    iDaphney2 Posts: 1
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    When you start to get healthy and you are eating better, especially fruits and vegetables, you body starts to go through a detoxification process. During this process your body is releasing a bunch of toxins, which causes your immune system to drop because it has turned its focus and attention to ridding the body of the toxins. Once this process is mostly complete, the immune system will come back up, only now it will be in a nearly toxic-free state and will be able to build itself stronger with the good nutrition you are feeding it.

    Fruits and Vegetables are critical to our health and maintaining our health. They are so full of nutrients such as minerals and NATURAL vitamins that you just can't get when consuming man-made vitamins. If you take the money you are spending on vitamins (not natural whole-food-based supplements) and put it towards extra produce, you will be doing yourself a great deal of justice. Vitamins (man made in a lab) are expensive. For one, they are NOT 100% bioavailable, which means that the body doesn't use all of it up, and therefore is excreted in your urine, which is one reason why your urine is a bright yellow color versus the normal pale yellow color. Secondly, the body doesn't recognize man-made vitamins and so the creators of vitamins have to add Vitamin D to it or put it through an Oligofructose process so that the body will "think" it is a nutrient from food and accept it into its system. We need to stop being such a vitamin-dependent country and start getting our real nutrients from real whole foods.

    If you know you can't get enough fruits and vegetables in your diet or into your children's diet, there is a product called Juice Plus, which is whole-food nutrition that is 100% bioavailable because it comes straight from the vine. I will place the link on here for you to go look at the research and how it has benefitted so many people around the world. Another thing you are going to want to look at is a documentary called "The Beautiful Truth". It's a documentary about the Gerson Therapy discovered by Dr. Gerson in the early 1920's-1930's. You just may change the way you feel about eating after you watch it. It really opened my eyes to a lot of things, and I am a 20-year practicing health and fitness professional with a background in human performance and nutrition. I too was shocked when I watched it.

    You will need to copy and past these into your browser's address bar, but here is the website for Juice Plus and "The Beautiful Truth" documentary:

    Juice Plus: www.FitnessWithJuicePlus.com

    "The Beautiful Truth": http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/beautiful-truth/

    So, with that, I hope that this information was helpful to all of you. Good luck in your journey to optimal health!! :o)

    Daphney Henderson
    Daphney@TrinityHFConcepts.com
    www.FitnessWithJuicePlus.com
    www.YourGardenOfEden.TowerGarden.com

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