How to Maintain recovery with a cold or Flu

How To Maintain Recovery With a Cold or Flu

Maintaining recovery is already tricky. However you throw in a cold or flu, then it either gets real to darn near impossible! What makes it so hard is that when you have a cold or flu, there goes the appetite. Therefore maintaining your daily meal plan could be thrown off too. Also you may not be able to smell the food; due to a head cold, and if you have a chest cold and are coughing a lot and you feel like you are going to choke on the food, it makes eating very hard! Another thing that can get us derailed is that evil voice telling us that since we have either a cold or the flu we don’t need to eat. We need to stay one step ahead of him and keep our recovery going on track.

Here are some helpful tips:

• Maintain your meal plan and keep hydrated
• Get as much rest
• Stay away from the gym or exercise equipment at the house.
• Be gentle with yourself

In the maintaining the meal plan, maybe easier said than done, this can be done. Try and eat at the same times that you normally would, even if you don’t feel hungry. Remember food is fuel and medicine to keep your body maintained. Also consider buying some Boost or Ensure in the adult nutrition aisle of your grocery store. These will help give your body the nutrients it needs and also soup is also good when you are sick. Remember to drink fluids, juices, water and tea, these keep you hydrated also. When I am sick, I keep a normal routine of mealtimes and I also drink extra water, tea, and juice. I have noticed I feel better doing this.

Get as much rest as you can. This could mean either naps throughout the day, or lying on the couch watching your favorite movies. I have done this. I also have two kitty nurses that lay with me and keep me company.

During this time, it is best not to exercise too strenuously or keep it to a light minimum, so staying away from the gym or off the exercise equipment at home is a real good idea. I know for me, there are some days, I can’t do the spin bike due to I am wore down by the cold. Again that evil voice will call you lazy and use every excuse why you should beat your body down. Don’t do it, you will wear yourself down and will take longer to recover from the cold or flu. I had a discussion with the voice and I told him I was not going to exercise and to shut up about it, because I was going to honor myself and take time off from working out.

Last but not least, you want to be gentle with yourself. Your body needs time to heal from the cold or flu. Don’t feel bad if you need the extra help around the household chores. I know for me, this is hard, because I feel like I need to do it all. I don’t have to. My husband steps in to do the kitty litter so I don’t have to go downstairs. If you live by yourself, the chores can wait until you feel better, or do a little bit a time like I do as far as dishes and making coffee. Remember the goal is taking care of you and also give yourself a hug or do something nice for yourself like a hot bath during this time.