What to do when you get sick?

[CuJo1992]

I just started a new diet for the springtime and honest to goodness I was doing it for one day – eating healthy and did two long walks plus some weight lifting – and then I got sick the very next day. It made my calorie and exercise tracking go haywire (I’m on an online diet tracker). Are you just supposed to write off the days that you’re sick and “start again” once you get better again? Does that mess up your metabolism? What’s the best advice for someone who is trying to keep up with a diet and exercise program but who has either food poisoning or the flu?

[Tiff]

I hope you feel better. All you can do is feel better and rebuild your strength and healthy habits.

[Carol1]

You have to work on getting better first before you can work out. It will only do your body good to take time to feel better first.

[suzie]

I agree with Carol1. I think the best thing that you can do when you're sick is not to think about dieting and exercise. Instead, you need to do what you have to in order to get better. Rest, eating the right foods (for example, clear liquids when you have a fever) and just focusing on getting yourself well again.

Once you're better, then you can start to build back up to the right habits for healthy weight loss. Remember that you may have lost some strength while you were sick, depending on how long you were ill, so you might not be able to start right back at your fitness program where you had left off before you fell ill. Be careful as you get back into it so that you can avoid injury.

I hope you feel better, Cujo1992. Take good care of yourself!

[Mike]

Hang in there, Cujo1992. I hope you feel better now. Wait until you're healthy again, then decide how you should get back to your dieting.

[tammybear]

Get well soon, Cujo! I hope you're feeling well now

[jan]

When you're sick, your diet and exercise doesn't count anymore. Do what you have to do to get better and see where you are once you're healthy again. You might need to ease back into your program.

[CuJo1992]

Hi everyone. Thank you for the great advice and the well wishes. I'm feeling a lot better now. I fell way behind in my fitness and had to slowly rebuilt. Oh well.

[suzie]

Hi everyone. Thank you for the great advice and the well wishes. I'm feeling a lot better now. I fell way behind in my fitness and had to slowly rebuilt. Oh well.

I'm glad to hear that you're doing better, Cujo1992. It's good that you're getting yourself back on track again, too. It's always hard when there has been a setback like that, and there isn't anything that you can do about it. But it sounds like you've handled it in the best and healthiest way possible.

These little hiccups happen every now and again in any long term goal. The best thing is always to simply pick ourselves back up again when we can, and to have a look at where we currently stand so that we can start working toward the goal as quickly as possible, so that the minimum amount of time has been lost.