Perks to having a stomach flu?

None. Okay?

Spoiler alert.

Oops, I guess that was supposed to come before.

It had been a tough few days in mid-January. Mainly because I’ve been so busy recovering from the stomach flu and then catching up with work from school when I did finally return.

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Not feeling so hot. I haven't worked out in a few days and I can't tell you how much anxiety I feel not having the autonomy to even make myself walk to my kitchen to heat up soup. I can't even seem to do any sort of homework because i dont have the mental energy to. Nothing digests properly, I have the stomach bug and that consists of fever, hot and cold chills, heart palpitations, gas, and diarrhea. Last night, I woke up 3 times to use the washroom and each time I stayed for 30-45 minutes, contracting my diagram, bending over my fists on my stomach, sitting up straight rinse and repeat– a strategy i developed to release gas and ~other stuff~. If you taped me, I would've looked like I was giving birth or going hysterical! I woke up pretty hysterical from the lack of sleep and pain. I called my dad because I wanted some comfort from the loneliness and sympathy, but he only yelled at me to take medication and gave me not such much the fatherly figure I knew he never was. I don't know why I tried when I knew better. I got an anxiety attack as a result. Lack of sleep causes poor decisions! The sickness, poor sleep, anxiety, and guilt from not being productive and not working out(I feel so stiff from being bedridden) and loneliness is a lot to deal with, but now I feel just a little better than yesterday. I hope I recover soon. Never take your autonomy for granted. It's the worst thing to be taken from you.

A post shared by Linda | Lifestyle Coach (@thefitty) on Jan 18, 2017 at 1:22pm PST

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There's something I like very much about pre packaged soups now. Yesterday, my father came out of he blue and it caught me by surprise. I was curled up in bed (Thank goodness I was wearing socks, because I know the first thing he checked was that and he would have scolded me had I not had them on, and blame my stomach flu for my poor attire.) when he opened the door to my bedroom. It completely caught me off guard because everyone knocks before entering. I got in a fight with him on the phone in the morning just a few hours ago yesterday, didn't say goodbye, just hung up the phone when words failed me to reply. I didn't want him to come, I didn't want his company. He spent the next 2 hours with me and we didn't fight. He was very systematic, very frank with everything he did. He checked the temperature in the room. He asked me what I ate. He told me what I needed to do to heal. He took me to the drug store to buy medicine and some soup. I was too exhausted to object to anything he said, and although I'd never take pills or drink prepackaged soup, I felt better after both. Gosh, I think I've fallen in love with boxed soup. The mushroom broth tasted good and the pill relieved the diarrhea after a few hours. My dad does care, even if he doesn't emotionally show it. Today I was able to stomach more solid foods and had no diarrhea. Hoping to make a full recovery at least by the end of Friday! Are you closer with your mom or dad?

A post shared by Linda | Lifestyle Coach (@thefitty) on Jan 19, 2017 at 3:09pm PST

I can’t tell if it’s because I a) caught it from a friend or b) ate lobster the night before that might’ve been either under cooked or contaminated. Apparently there had been a virus going around and everyone seems to be getting a sore throat, fever and diarrhea. My dad got diarrhea a few days after I got sick; he took some medicine and did gua sha, a traditional Chinese medicine therapy. I just remember feeling absolutely hysterical after no night’s sleep; I got up every 2 hours to go to the washroom where I stayed for 45 minutes at a time with stomach pains and watery stools. I could barely stomach anything and had nausea when I tried eating any food at all. I lay curled up in bed with a fever and such tiredness. I wanted to sleep but couldn’t deal with the agony.

Eventually, my father came with some medicine and did the same procedure (I begged him not to come, actually. I didn’t want drama) he got. That night was the night I just started to feel better.

I felt like death; I didn’t understand why I was sick! I rarely ever got sick! In fact, I don’t remember really being “sick” the last 4 years of my life. I had to get a doctor’s note to excuse me from classes for 4 days, and that costed $25. It’s insane how much it costs to get a note to do something you’re truthfully not in the health to participate in/for.

During these past days bedridden, I tried at least getting in school work done. Let me tell you, anxiety + being sick do not go well together.

I repeat. ABORT MISSION.

They say that saying optimistic helps you heal sooner than later, and those that were pessimistic remained sick longer. I don’t remember the source of the study I read this in, but many research shows the strength of mentality on physical tolerance/resilience and so I tried being positive, but it was extremely hard to when all I could think about were the things I could not do, like catch up on school work, and workout, and even just walk outside to get some fresh air. I couldn’t concentrate reading books and I was too weak to warm up water to keep myself hydrated; I had to ask Wardah to help me. Taking away my autonomy was like taking away my life.

Should you workout when you’re sick?

I sure tried, but let me tell you–I felt like shit. I wouldn’t do it again and I’d rather finish a workout calendar a few days late then haul ass and not make the fitness gains.

Let me first say that it really depends on the severity of your sickness. If you just have a cold, a cough, or something minor, I would say that getting your sweat on would make your day even better by boosting your mood and even combating the sickness. On the other hand, I had the stomach flu and I could barely walk without feeling the need to collapse. I was 0/10, dead meat, so I had no choice but to skip workout days. How did that make me feel? SO GUILTY! SO SO SO GUILTY! And I’ve talked about Workout Guilt before. I wanted to kick and scream and cry–all I wanted was to have my morning ritual back where I got out of bed, worked out, do homework and get things done, meet up with clients. I couldn’t do anything. I can’t go on a day doing nothing. That’s just not me. I took my autonomy for granted so much, and having this sickness really made me realize how lucky I am to hop, skip, and jump.

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😄Guess it's my lucky day! Look what I found on my run!💲💲 I feel SO much better now that I've recovered (90%). My stomach is still a little weak, but I got in some fresh air, which was so refreshing after being holed up indoors for 3 straight days. I jogged for just 20 minutes, but that was after doing 45 minutes of #hiit Insanity MAX INTERVAL CIRCUIT (THAT'S THE HARDING EFFING ONE I KID YOU NOT; EVEN I WAS SURPRISED I DID IT). 🤗 Bravo bravo bravo! I guess God was smiling down on me today. 🙂 I feel happy. ➡Have you found money on any of your runs? What was the most that you ever found on the ground?💲💲

A post shared by Linda | Lifestyle Coach (@thefitty) on Jan 20, 2017 at 3:21pm PST

The day I 90% recovered, I actually felt like doing insanity max interval circuit (that’s the HARDEST video in the entire insanity series) and then even went for a run afterwards, where I found $20! I looked around and there was no one for miles, so I picked it up, and took it home. This experience has taught me to value me as I am, my current abilities and be grateful for all that I have.

(Are you reading the captions in my instagram photos at all?)

Have you ever had the stomach flu?

If you had to choose, would you choose to have constipation or diarrhea? (I’m serious; you have to choose)

What do you do when you feel like you’re falling behind in life due to sickness? How do you deal with the feelings that arise?