Flu Facts

Do you ever want to post something to your blog just so you KNOW where it is for future reference? There's been so much sickness going around, I thought I might want a copy of this chart on hand just so at least we might know what we are dealing with.

My sickness last month I think was the seasonal flu. I never went into the doctor, as I just don't know that they can do anything (I guess if you get in early enough, you could get a Tamiflu prescription. We got some one year when my little one was sick and it cost over $100 and I'm not even sure it was effective). But the last thing I felt like doing was going out and sitting in a doctor's office. You can see I survived.

I was still on "mommy duty" during my sickness. Driving carpools, making lunches ... I'm pretty sure I sneezed all over everything. I really tried to keep my hands washed and everything as disinfected as possible. I was very happy that no one else in the family got sick.

But Hubby HAS gotten sick now. His is quite different than my sickness. It came on so quickly. Extreme fever and chills. His fever hit 105º last Wednesday. Reading up online afterwards apparently I should have rushed him to the ER, but we did get the fever down with medication and cool cloths. I kept him on a strict medication schedule after that (even setting my alarm for a 3am wake up to make sure he got his next dose on time). I'm thinking his is the H1N1 ... I think he's over the worst of it. The fever has dissipated, but congestion has moved in. I'm still keeping an eye on him!

I'm not opposed to the flu shot, I just generally don't go out of my way to get one. If I happen to have a trip to the doctor, I'll get one. I haven't noticed any bad reactions ... or any real flu prevention.  I remember eight years ago, I had just had my last baby. The entire family then came down with the flu.  The baby was just seven days old. I took him to the instacare, and they immediately referred us downtown to Primary Children's hospital. I was so worried, as the rest of us had such a bad cough, I couldn't imagine his little body going through that. Although we were admitted and had to stay in the hospital for a few days, the baby never really got it bad (thank heavens). I probably got more rest there in the hospital with the baby than I would have at home with the other four kids (poor Daddy!) I HAD received a flu shot that year, as had both sets of grandparents and our pediatrician ... ALL of them were sick with the flu at this time as well!

I REALLY hope this is it for our family and the flu for a while. Although last year, my baby (he was then seven) got the flu in December. He got it again in February (as did I and two of the other boys). As bad as my recent bout was (hubby said he'd never seen me so sick) I do think the one last February was worse ... that sore throat was excruciating!

Sharing the handy dandy chart of symptoms

as well as prevention recommendations for today's 

Tips and Tricks

• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.
• If you are sick with flu-like illness, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)
• While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

How do you all feel about the flu shot?

Do you go to the doctor, or simply wait it out?

The Flu x2 Diet :(

It's Weigh-In Wednesday. This week we're introducing the Flu x 2 wonder weight loss plan. Lose 10 pounds in a week! No exercise required ... just you TRY to get out of bed! 

Ok ... I guess I did do some ab work. All this coughing must have worked them out somewhat. And then yesterday ... turned out to be the worst day yet. The influenza flu (fever, chills, coughing, congestion) had kept me down Thurs-Sun, but I was feeling a bit better on Monday. Not back yet, but getting there.

Tuesday I got hit with nausea. There had been a touch of it for the past several days here and there, but this was much more intense. I managed to get the middle schoolers off and was about to drive the elementary kids to school when it hit hard and I threw up (what little I had in my tummy). I managed to get the kids to school in that small recovery period after, but was hit again when I got back home and a few hours later.

The stomach flu is worse than the fever flu.

It was so miserable. I'd already been eating/drinking next to nothing for days, and now I couldn't keep anything down anyway. Hubby came home from work and brought me some pebbled ice which did hit the spot. We talked about going to the doctor but again, they can't really do anything for the flu. At this point I'm figuring that they would probably suggest an IV just to get some fluids in me, but I wasn't sure it was worth the effort it would take. We called a neighbor nurse just to check options/recommendations. She gave us some anti-nausea medication. Either it eventually kicked in, or the flu ran its course (while called the "24 flu" I've noticed the actual vomiting is usually limited to 12 hours).  After one more "session" in the evening, I made it through the night.

I had stepped on the scale Tuesday morning for a 146 weigh-in (down just a bit from Monday), and just for grins and giggles I weighed myself again in the evening for a 144.1 weigh-in. Down almost 2 pounds just in those 12+ hours. I didn't think that was possible after the weight I'd already shed with sickness.

So TODAY ... I THINK I'm on the road to recovery. I felt a twinge in my tummy this morning ... could it be hunger? I don't remember exactly what that feels like. I've been able (and even have the desire) to drink today. I even took a shower and put in a load of laundry. 

I feel frail and weak. I am going to take it easy on my return to activity, especially considering Christmas is around the corner and my streaks calendar is shot anyway  *Ü*.  Baby boy complained of tummy trouble so he stayed home from school today.

I know I'm going to have some scale shock coming up. No more one pound losses every single day. I'm ok with that. I realize that I'll probably put on much of what came off during this unintentional "crash diet" of mine. I hope I can keep a little bit of it though. Having finally broken through my plateau of the 155-150s that I'd been stuck at for so long, I don't ever want to go over 150 again. 

Still Sick

There's been a distinct downturn in exercise and eating the past few days ...

Still sick ... Saturday I did manage to get out to a couple of the boy's basketball games. I didn't feel great but wanted to watch and video. I tried to stay in my own little corner so as not to infect anyone. I rested in bed most of the day yesterday (that's a graph of my day to the left). 

No fever this morning. It comes and goes. I'll go for a bit without coughing and then I can't stop. Sleep ... the nights have been awful. I have been catching some naps during the day. My appetite is non-existent, which is SO unusual for me. I've been trying to make myself eat, but I've barely been able to get to 600 calories these last few days. My fluid intake hasn't been great either, but I'm trying to be conscious of staying hydrated. 

I'm down 7.6 pounds from last Monday.

Hopefully I'll  be able to shake this soon. Ease back into exercise and eating and back to losing weight the right way (and seeing how much of this loss I can convince to stick around and not rebound.)

I miss the me that works out all day, the Energizer Bunny me that just keeps going and going. I'm not that great a housekeeper, but this week, things have really piled up without me doing the minimal stuff I do to keep things somewhat straight. I'm attempting some laundry today.  Wish me luck!

Working Out While Under the Weather

In the wee hours of the morning yesterday (about 3 am), I woke up with a tickle in my throat. It was annoying enough that I got up and ate something, just trying to "scratch the itch" but that didn't work. I tried to get back to sleep. That didn't happen. 

It wasn't a great day. I could feel my throat was swollen, not really sore (yet) but irritated. A dry cough. Just feeling off. #1 texted he wasn't feeling well and he came home from school and crashed. We were hacking it up.

Breathing in cold air always irritates my throat to a painful degree, even when I'm not feeling sick. When I'm outside during the winter, I have to have a scarf around my nose and mouth to warm the air a little before I inhale.  When I am feeling sick, I incorporate this (can I call this a Tip&Trick?) into my workouts as well. It is quite cool down in my basement gym... about 60°.  That's not a medical mask, it's actually a ear-warmer headband. I pull it down over my nose/mouth and breath through it and it helps. I really don't know if I'd be able to workout without it when my throat is irritated. Another benefit of a home gym *Ü* ... no one sees me (unless I post a picture on my blog!)

I still managed to get in five (20min) sessions on my elliptical yesterday. It takes more than a cold to keep me down. I did dial it down and kept it pretty easy, but it was better to be moving than just sitting around thinking about my throat. I've been chewing gum and sucking on hard candies to help soothe it as well. My eating has been affected ... and that's not a bad thing. Kept calories at 1300 yesterday. I did make some chicken soup, but nothing really tastes good. A hot shower at the end of the day helped a ton. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to sleep last night, but I did ok.

Still definitely feeling it today, so I'll probably be taking it easy again. Moving if I feel up to it, resting if I don't. Maybe some elliptical, bike or walking ... no Jillian or jogging.

Even with little exercise, my calorie cutback did seem to show up on the scale.

My lowest weight in years.

So close to breaking into the 140s ...

Linking up with Weigh-In Wednesday.

How does sickness affect your exercise/eating?

Insurance Issues

Healthcare has been a hot-button topic lately. A few years ago, hubby went to a small company that didn't have health insurance as a benefit. Trying to find insurance on our own was such a stressful ordeal! Filling out tons of paperwork, and then the hubs was denied, as he had gone to the doctor to have his blood pressure and cholesterol checked. It had been high, and through diet and exercise he had gotten it under control. We appealed the decision, including his current reports and they finally did accept him on the plan with the rest of us. Our "wonderful" insurance had us paying almost $400 a month, although the $10,000 deductible meant it was basically just for basically catastrophic care, almost everything else was out of pocket.  Luckily, we are pretty healthy, despite a few broken bones, we got through the years without too many issues. We set up a pre-tax health savings account in which we tried to build a buffer of some savings for medical bills.

With the current health care changes, we received this letter (pictured above) ... under the new ACA, our premiums more than double from $381 a month to $835! I have to admit, I've been intimidated by our previous insurance application experience, and all the negative reviews on the "healthcare marketplace" so I have not checked  to see what our options would be there.

Hubby has recently changed jobs ... one of the things we took under consideration in making this move was medical insurance. We went ahead and signed up with the new company. It's still expensive (about $600 per month), and I am a little worried about the impact to corporations with government regulations this coming year. I am very afraid we'll be impacted again. But for now, I just need to figure out a new insurance company, new plan, new doctors ... it is a little better coverage (copays instead of just a deductible, which will hopefully help out. There were times in the past that I should have gone to the doctor but didn't because I didn't want to pay $150 out of pocket for a simple visit). 

So much of my journey for weight loss is to look better and feel better ... but I also do want to be healthy. While there are no guarantees, the steps I'm taking in fitness and food should help with health. I'm very glad hubby is back on board too (here). Wouldn't it be nice if there WAS a guarantee? If people ate right and exercised they would be assured of good health? I do wonder still, how many people could adapt to a healthy lifestyle even then ... 

Have you been impacted by the recent healthcare over haul?

Linking up with  two new ones this week ... 

Motivate Me Monday
Motivation Monday

... and also my usual Motivational Monday link-up as well.

Wendy @ Daily Dose of Del Signore

Tiff @ The Fit Train Katie @ The Carb Monster Alisha @ Coily Locks

How can you NOT be motivated on Monday with all these Motivational Monday blog posts going around? Monday is actually usually not a day I'm lacking in motivation ... I'm always ready to get back at it after my "wicked weekend".  This past weekend was ok. I went over calories Fri-Sun, but did manage to keep the activity up, so I didn't really go over too badly. Weight was up a bit this morning, but not as bad as I expected. Well, off to hit the elliptical!