15 Random Thoughts When Recovering from the Flu
- I think I won’t die. (Well, eventually, I will likely die – just not anytime today. Probably.) However, I am still lacking a lot of focus, so today, I just have bullet points.
- Yesterday afternoon I started feeling better – able to keep the food where it belongs.
- I made African Chicken Peanut Soup for dinner last night, and it was amazing – I was able to eat an entire bowl of soup without once even contemplating puking. So – definite progress.
- My friend Kim brought me over a bunch of pumpkins (two large & two smallish), so more pumpkin butter is in the making. Also other pumpkin-y things.
- I really really need a chest freezer. My little freezer is always so full.
- I need to go out today & get some groceries and some inserts for my running shoes.
- I think I’m going to take today off (4th day in a row – boo) and get back into some exercise tomorrow with some light elliptical. Run on Wednesday & Friday & Sunday.
- There is something in my diet that is bad. I’m not sure what it is, and I think I need to start tracking my food – but every few meals, I get uncomfortably full & bloated feeling, even when I haven’t eaten much. This morning for breakfast, I had coffee with soy creamer, one slice of 12-grain bread (from the store), an egg & some cheese (the bread, egg & cheese were a delicious little sandwich). Is it the bread? the cheese? I have some issues with dairy. BUT, not usually cheese (lately). Should I give up the most delicious food ever created (cheese, in all forms) or should I cut back on my wheat? Is it the egg? I can probably give up eggs. (Bread & cheese, along with tomatoes are the most perfect foods. Everything else is just a vehicle for the enjoyment of bread & cheese.)
- I am lactose intolerant – although I can usually do cheese lately. However, there was a time when even cheese was bad – hence my cheese worry with this morning’s breakfast. In related news, today I won something. My first win for anything blog-related. Free ice cream. I would’ve turned it down, but they do make frozen fruit bars with very little dairy. Also, I love ice cream, even if it hates me. And I love Blue Bunny. Also, I was pretty sure the architect would be angry if I’d turned down free ice cream.)
- Why did I get the flu? I just had a flu shot like three weeks ago. That was a total waste of money (okay, fine, it was a free shot, but still). [Also, I realize that influenza does not often come with vomiting, but it CAN! And I had the symptoms: fever, severe body aches & muscle pain, headache as well as general malaise. I did not get the respiratory symptoms, which probably means I didn't actually have influenza, but STILL!]
- I really like the phrase “general malaise.” It sounds so genteel.
- I really really wish I had someone to come clean my house for me. I like having a clean house – I just can’t really be bothered.
- I have spent all morning researching cookie recipes. I am totally going to kick the holiday bake-off’s ass. Or something.
- I am not going to my lady appointment today. Hair removal & the last vestiges of the flu do not go together.
- Week One of not being on a diet seemed to go pretty well. I paid a lot of attention to hunger & full signals, and almost acted accordingly. I was really good about not over-stuffing myself. I felt that I made good choices. I brought my lunch to work. I brought snacks. I went to yoga on Monday, ran on Tuesday, Shredded on Wednesday, Crazy Weights on Thursday. I also got sick & vomited for 24 hours. The result? I gained 2.6 lbs. Seriously. What the hell happened? How do you eat right, exercise, throw up everything for a day & still gain 2.6 pounds? I am now at my highest weight in well over a year. I am 10 pounds over my lowest weight (since high school). This is complete insanity! ACK!!!! I’m not quite sure I understand. It’s going to be hard to stay off the scale until next Monday. I have gained 5.6 lbs in the last 2 weeks, and I’m not quite sure why. If I’m not careful, I’m going to have to go buy new pants again (since I got rid of everything over a size 6 last year). And that is unacceptable. No plan yet….but I’m working on it.
I almost forgot! I have now participated in a listless Monday! WOO!
No related posts.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:30 am
GAH the flu sucks!!! hope you continue to feel better.
i have been having that same bloated thing going on… so i have been eliminating one thing at a time from my normal daily foods to see what it is.
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
Have you found any suspects yet?
November 17th, 2008 at 11:40 am
i also like the phrase “general malaise”. and i don’t think i can say it out loud without doing this funky thing with my mouth and drawing out the “aise” part of the word. and i’m totally confused about the gaining 2.6 pounds thing because i’ve always considered the stomach flu to be the best way to start off a diet. blows that theory all to hell!!
also, i will take some pumpkin butter please. thank you.
gazelle reply on November 17th, 2008:
If you happen to be the Portland area, feel free to stop by for pumpkin butter.
Or, alternatively, stay tuned for a food basket give away just after thanksgiving.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Hope you feel better soon! You sound like you have a sensitivity to gluten maybe with the whole bloaty bloat. I dunno, I’m lactose intolerant and generally fine with cheese too. Well, you could be acquiring a sensitivity to Soy as well. Like 80% or some crazy percentage of people are allergic to soy and apparently the more you consume, the more likely you are to eventually reject it.
You chick-scape for the lady doc? You’re way nicer than I. I prefer to go in with the “I haven’t had action since the Clinton Administration” look.
gazelle reply on November 17th, 2008:
oh dear god, no! I do not chick-scape for the lady doc. I chick-scape only for the pool – and was planning on swimming on Thursday
I was afraid that it might be gluten – didn’t even think soy. Maybe I’ll try to go gluten-free (or something like it) for the next couple of weeks & see if that helps with the bloat & the weight loss. Of course, I have no idea how to go gluten free. Sounds hard.
I can’t be both lactose intolerant & soy intolerance! That’s just unfair! How will I get my ice cream fix? Thanks for the suggestion – that was definitely something I hadn’t thought of before.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Good call on skipping the hair removal! Just found your blog, but so sorry about the flu!
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
Thanks for stopping by!
November 17th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I have no words of wisdom about food. I’m the most not in tune with myself person I know.
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
I could definitely introduce you to some “less in tune with themselves” people, if you want.
November 17th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Ick. I hope you’ll be all the way back to normal (HA – if we can ever call you ‘normal.”) soon.
I have an egg issue. I can eat hard boiled egg whites and some times fritta type of things, but eggs prepared any other way land me on the toilet! (TMI)
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
I’ll keep your egg issues in mind
Thanks for the normal wishes.
November 17th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I am intrigued by this African peanut soup of which you speak. Tell me more.
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
I linked to the recipe in today’s post.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Yes, what Anna said!!
Also, glad your feeling better flu wise! I want to tell you not to obsess about the 2.6 lbs OK? Only if you can!!
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
I linked to the recipe in today’s post.
I don’t want to obsess over the weight, just want to stop the creep in its tracks.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
The years I got a flu shot, I always got the flu. Years I skip it, I go all year without getting sick. Don’t know if that’s common. I also got ridiculously sick after all 3 phases of the Hepatitis B vacine. Then when I got a titer, I had NO anti-bodies for hep B. So I went through the whole series again, got sick 3 times, and a year later, tested negative for anti-bodies.
I think my body hates innoculations.
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
This is the first time I’ve gotten a flu shot in a long time. Maybe I won’t do that next year.
Crazy about your inoculation issues! It’s like when I went in for an allergy test – they did the skin-scratch test, and my skin reacted to EVERYTHING, even just a plain tongue depressor. The blood test showed I was allergic to NOTHING – not even a tiny, tiny bit. Which is, apparently, weird.
Crazy bodies!
November 17th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
you said “chest freezer”. heh.
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
you’re a dirty girl.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
So I just discovered your blog a few(?) days ago, maybe through Miz, and I was liking it, but today? I KNOW that you are someone I could totally hang with. All because of this: “Bread & cheese, along with tomatoes are the most perfect foods. Everything else is just a vehicle for the enjoyment of bread & cheese.” I always say that my favorite food is bread and cheese in all it’s forms. I would cry if I couldn’t have bread and cheese. Seriously.
gazelle reply on November 18th, 2008:
Cheese is the most perfect food ever created. Cheese & bread together are a match made in heaven.
Thanks for stopping by!