Ppl watching Carbs- Do you cut yourself some slack when sick?
This is mostly for those watching their carbs.
I had asked about exercising while sick in the exercising forum. Now, I want to know if you go off plan when your sick...
I'm asking because Monday night I was very sick with the stomach virus (and I was still getting over an chest cold). All day Tuesday I had a glass of watered down OJ, and late in the evening, a piece of dry toast.
Now today, my stomach feels blah. I had a piece of dry toast for breakfast, and this after noon, I've eatne only what sounds good. Which has been mostly dry toast. I did eat some strawberries and yogart, but really just toast. Now it doesn't sound like a lot, and its not, but normally I would not eat this many carbs. But carbs are usually the only thing that sounds good when my stomach is uneasy. For dinner tonight, I will probably just make a baked potato. I'm planning on feeling 100% tomorrow and being able to eat normally. I also did not work out at all today.
Especially for those watching carbs, do you cut yourself some slack if your sick?
I haven't been so much actively restricting carbs as trying to increase the percentage of protein, but it still is definitely a significant decrease in carbs from how I used to eat. I've also had a cold for about a week now, and I was trying to be really good and stay on plan especially in terms of the target amount of calories that I wanted to eat (around 1400). But the last couple days I was still hungry constantly and feeling just kind of generally weak and off. So yep. I snacked on a variety of more carb-heavy foods (like naan... I love love love naan!) and added probably 300 - 400 more calories per day than intended from doing so. But I felt better pretty much immediately, and I feel a lot better today as well. I figure that being sick was putting enough demands on my body, so I was trying to pay more attention to choices that would make me feel better / healthier as opposed to just staying on my ideal plan.
But especially with a stomach bug... oh yeah, I would definitely say cut yourself some slack with regards to the carbs! Toast and crackers are pretty much the classic bland food that most people can eat even when they're nauseated, so if you're having trouble keeping food down, or at least down comfortably, it definitely seems to make sense to ease up on carb restrictions. You can always get right back on plan when the illness clears up, after all.
As I sit here munching my probably 20th Triscuit of the day, I can say I am giving myself total free pass re: carbs while sick. To be fair, I actually eat more responsibly when I'm sick -- loss of appetite = no temptation to cheat with cake or pizza, both of which are plentiful in college dining halls -- and I'll probably only have a cup of soup for a late "dinner," so it evens out... I hope?
I give myself a free pass for things like bread when I'm sick, but try to stick to whole grains. I tend to avoid potatoes, but that's just because they're a bit of a trigger food for me.
I think you can be a little looser when sick, but what about some hot broth, or hot broth with veggies. Lots of fluids of course, but I stick to water and broth and avoid the juice. I find it difficult to cut the carbs back after revving them up, so thats what I prefer.
I made a potato for dinner and made some broccoli. I ended up throwing out half the potato. My appetite is pretty lousy right now. I guess if I find myself eating a bag of cookies or cake or A LOT of bread, then its safe to say I'm not eating carbs because my stomach is uneasy, but rather I'm using that as an excuse to eat junk and too many carbs. I hope to be back on track tomorrow. Thanks everyone!
I haven't had a stomach virus since I have removed carbs- but when I had a cold I still did not eat carbs... a stomach virus is different... I think I would probably have toast and then probably plain white rice. Thats what I usually have when puking.
When I'm sick I still watch carbs. My go-to sick foods are tea w/cream, chicken miso soup (no noodles), eggs, and various preparations with cream cheese or peanut butter. I sometimes have a slice of bread with a meal on my plan, but usually not more than one serving of carb per meal. A little goes a long way.
Thanks everyone! I think I'm just about back to normal now. Had an egg for breakfast, early like 7am, because I didn't want to eat too much. And about 1/2 hour ago I was super hungry! Finally. So I made a turkey, tomato and avacado on light whole grain bread with asparagus. That bread will be it for me today. The rest ofthe day with be veggies and a protein and a fruit. I'm not counting carbs, per say, but I have to be careful for I fill my whole day with breads, cereals, pastas, rice, granola bars, ect. They are a trigger food for me.
I used to, but I realized that carbs actually aggravate my health issues, so now I try to be just as careful.
I should say "almost as careful," because I do make a little more room for fruit and juice.
I follow a moderately low-carb exchange plan and have a few exchanges that I can swap for any 80 calorie exchange. So some days are higher carb than others. Because of the swappable exchange plans, I can follow plan and my carb range can vary from quite low carb to moderate carb.
The problem with the higher end of my allowable carb spectrum though, is at the higher end I experience more hunger and am at greater risk for going off plan.
Depending on how sick I am, though that may not be a terrible risk. If I'm feeling no appetite whatsoever, and frozen juice bars feel good on my throat - the carb content isn't my only or even prime concern.
If I'm just feeling sorry for myself for having a mild cold, I need to look at that differently (sometimes with a cold I have the constant munchees. I think because I can't taste my food very well, there's an unconscious urge to keep eating until I find something that tastes good).
I don't give myself any slack, because those carby foods soon turn into uncontrolled urges to eat more. It always starts out innocently, then comes back like a raging addiction.
When sick, hot chicken or beef broth with a splash of heavy cream soothes like nothing else. If I have a cold, I add cayenne pepper.
[QUOTE=martinimouse;3637322]I don't give myself any slack, because those carby foods soon turn into uncontrolled urges to eat more. It always starts out innocently, then comes back like a raging addiction.
Ppl watching Carbs- Do you cut yourself some slack when sick?
