Flu 2 Me 0

So as is probably abundantly clear from the title of this blog post, I have the flu. My son and I have both been in and out of bed for 2 weeks and I am absolutely floored. I very rarely get sick. I have been focussing on eating healthier than usual and except for a chocolate binge as I was getting sick, I have been mostly successful. So why the prolonged bout of flu for the second time this winter?

I started wondering if starting a new exercise routine and diet change, coupled with an oddly large amount of stress, could have an effect. So here is what I found researching this query online:

Regular exercise can help prevent illness - Yes we know if you are fitter you are healthier. But what about starting new routines?

So I found very many people experience flu-like symptoms after exercise for a variety of reasons, sometimes with a new workout and sometimes not. Here are some of those reasons:

1. Dehydration - You need to keep well hydrated throughout your workout or you lose minerals.
2. Diet - Not eating enough healthy fresh foods to ensure you obtain all the necessary minerals.
3. Lack of supplements - To assist your diet as our foods aren't as mineral rich as we would like.
4. Overdoing the workout - Ensure you work at a pace that is challenging but not putting you back.
5. Probiotics - Are needed to assist keep your intestinal tract in balance.
6. Sleep - Or the lack thereof is very detrimental to your health. So get your 7 - 8 hours a day.
7. Then lastly, but probably a main culprit - Stress, even a moderate amount will put additional strain on your body so that working out will be more difficult. But working out helps relieve stress, so don't let that stop you.

So while flu-like symptoms could be experienced, it is most likely not the exercise routine that causes actual flu.

The only thing to do is just to try focus on fixing the first 6 points and push through, however slowly. We were taking probiotics with supplements and have recently not been doing so. I will remedy this and ensure that we continue to take them in future.

One thing confirmed in all sources is that you need to allow your body to rest and recover when you have the flu. So I just need to remember that while I am not working out during flu, slower progress is better than putting my body under strain and eventually becoming more sick. I really dislike being sick, so I will stick it out and can't wait to be back on track soonest.

Expectations Versus Reality

I have been training about half as much as I'd like to this last month and I have thought about this a lot. I really wonder if my expectations need to be addressed here. It is great to give it your best, but what if your best isn't what you imagine it should be?

For the sake of argument, though I wish to train daily for a minimum of 30 minutes, perhaps every other day is not an unreasonable compromise. I only fear I run the risk of becoming demoralised if I continue to fail to meet my own (admittedly rigid and high) expectations.

Hmmm. So while I decide on this conundrum there is one other issue I need to address. In previous years I didn't do any strength training, so when I started this programme I have added it. Only now it seems to have replaced cardio. I really need to balance it out a bit more, regardless of the number of training sessions a week. So from here on out, I alternate my training sessions between cardio and strength.

I also am not getting much Krav Maga done as yet, perhaps when I add that and the dancing I will be back up to training more days than not. Food for thought. Nonetheless, onward and upward. If I am moving along at a snail's pace, it's better than not moving at all.

So I found this funny picture which accurately depicts how I'm feeling at the moment and I just had to share it..