In Sickness and in Health
I regard my vow to stay at a healthy weight the same way I regard my marriage vow. In sickness and in health, I will do whatever it takes.
OK, time to call in the chips, because I am sick. REALLY sick.
You don't want the gory details, believe me. Suffice it to say that the last time I had a gastro bug this bad, it HAD to have been when I was a kid. Ugh. I was so bad off, I had the paramedics called (at work). I really thought I was going to keel over. I didn't, but I got intimately acquainted with the ladies' room floor . . . we don't have a sick room or a couch anywhere.
I'm feeling a bit better, and yeah, it's 4 am, but I'm not sleepy. I've been sleeping most of the afternoon. So, I'm sitting in the loft, cocooned in my huge chair, and (hopefully) letting hubby get some shuteye. I'm keeping down crackers and Coke (the real thing, not diet). No work today, I'm not even 60% yet, but maybe tomorrow. We'll see.
I weighed myself after the, er, "festivities" of the afternoon, just to see how dehydrated I'd gotten. I was a little more than a pound under where I should be. That's not bad, not bad at all. My doc told me I would be fine even if I couldn't keep anything down until the next day, but it was good to see that the virus, or whatever it was, hadn't seriously decimated me.
Weighing in after the onslaught reminded me of a time, when I was in high school, when I caught another gastro bug. I had "dieted" my way down to about 117 or so (mostly, I think, from drinking tons of Diet Rite Cola and eating very little in general). I got some sort of stomach flu, the exact details of which now escape me (that was REALLY long ago). I do, however, remember weighing myself afterward and seeing the scale hit 113.
Man, I was ecstatic! 113!!! I had never weighed that before (or, truthfully, since). No, it didn't last. And, of course, I regained the weight I had lost on the Diet Rite Cola diet, and more, once I went away to college.
My attitude today is very different.
When I stepped on the scale to see how much damage the virus had done, I was actually relieved to see that the weight number wasn't even lower. I know now that water losses are not "real," and that proper hydration is terribly important.
Besides, I make a distinction between losing FAT and losing "weight." Losing water weight is pointless (unless you're bloated, of course; we women are quite familar with that cyclical phenomenon). Losing muscle is even more pointless and, in fact, is damaging. Muscle burns calories. Strong, dense muscles help you function well every day. I lift weights not only to keep my figure trim, but also because I want to be strong in my old age. I so do not want one of those easy chairs that help you stand up. I prefer using my own muscle power.
So now, for the next day or so, I get to lie around and do something I don't normally do: drink real Coke and eat crackers. (And rice or soup, assuming I get energized enough to fix some.) Yes, I will journal it all. That's my style. I'm unlikely to eat too much, but I'm also unlikely to lose any weight. You burn way fewer calories resting in bed, than when you're up and about. But, that's OK. Time enough for me to resume my usual routine, when I'm all better. I am bummed that I won't be doing my early morning bike rides for a day or two. But, time enough for that, too. The important thing right now is to take care of myself, rest, and let my body heal properly.
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