This is not medical advice. If you’ve recently had an accident, go see a doctor.
I’m going to share the pattern of sickness that I’ve recognized and the strategies I use to get better once I’m sick. There is no science in this article, this is just my personal experience.
Nutrition is Everything
When I get sick it’s usually because my nutrition has been less than ideal for some time.
Maybe I ate too much saturated fat from cheese and sausage or too much sugary sweets.
Last time I got sick was after a week-long vacation in Disney where I ate too many french fries and hamburgers to count. It felt like I had a stomach full of garbage, and that’s exactly what happened.
My primary focus to get healthy when I’m feeling sick is to cleanse my body and digestive tract of the sickness.
Drinking warm water and eating lots of fiber allows my body to cleanse my digestive system.
I’ll eat as many fruits, vegetables, and green leafy vegetables as I can. I’ll drink so much water that I feel like I’m going to burst.
Here are two incredibly simple salad recipes with tons of fiber and nutrients that I found with 30 seconds of Googling. Click the images to see the recipes:
I believe most sickness can be overcome with proper nutrition, so that’s where I focus when I'm sick.
Conserve Energy
Sickness is a form of stress, so I want to do activities that aid recovery and allow my body to calm down.
If I’m feeling sick, I don’t want to go do an intense workout. Going for a walk or doing some very light exercise to aid blood flow is all I’ll focus on.
When I’m sick I’ll also sleep much more - as much as I can - because sleep is the time our body repairs itself.
However, if I’m going to sleep I want to make sure I’ve had nutrition before sleeping.
For example, after a night of late drinking, if I’m hungover the next morning, the worst thing to do is lie in bed all day. Instead, I want to wake up early, drink water and eat some fruit, and only after that do I go back to sleep.
Sleep is great, but without nutrition and water, my body won’t have what it needs to repair itself.
That's my strategy, hope this helps! - Tom
