This comes up every once and a while, but a lot in the last week between people I know online and in my weight loss group, so I thought I’d jot down some of what I’ve been saying … what do you do when you’re sick and you’re trying to lose weight?

To be honest, a few years ago I always stopped eating when I was sick.  I took advantage of the loss of appetite to try and lose a few pounds, but that was pretty unhealthy.  If you are counting calories, in theory you are already eating less calories than your body would consume at rest for the day.  In other words, if you did nothing whatsoever and just laid around all day, but were on a low calorie diet, you would still lose weight.  Adding exercise to the mix makes you healthier and causes you to lose weight more quickly.

But here’s the thing; when you’re sick, your body is actually burning a lot more calories than normal fighting the sickness.  That’s why we feel tired, drained, feverish, whatever.  There is a lot of stuff happening under our skin, so even if you’re missing your workouts, your body is still burning calories at an elevated rate.  Which is why continuing to eat your number of calories is essential.  Your body NEEDS that fuel to continue its fight against whatever is ailing you.  If your queasy, change what you’re eating to something you can stomach, but still eat on your regular schedule and get the food you need.  You will get well sooner and feel better throughout.

And do NOT weigh yourself while you’re sick.  The scale jumps around, but it’s not because you are putting on fat.  It’s water weight.  Your body retains extra water as part of the healing process – especially if you’re not drinking enough!  Weird but true!  A few days after you’re better you should see the scale settle back down.  So keep eating, drink plenty and wait it out.  Being healthy in how you deal with being sick is just as important as how you eat and exercise when you’re well!

I had always heard for years that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I guess I never really understood why.  Over the last couple years, though, I think I finally get it: it’s all about managing my appetite.  Back in the day, I wouldn’t eat until one or two in the afternoon (a common trait amongst those overweight), which is usually when I started feeling hungry.  However, because I was starving at that point, my portions would be absolutely out of control.  Eating a healthy size breakfast before you’re ravenous helps to control cravings and appetite; by having a steady flow of appropriate sized portions of food throughout the day, the impulse to binge is greatly lowered.

I typically eat around 500 calories for breakfast, which lately has been in the form of oatmeal (I tend to rotate between a few of my favorite cereals and egg beater omelets).  I really like to have a high fiber breakfast for a couple reasons; most Americans don’t actually get enough fiber in their typical day, so partially it’s for a healthy balance in my eating.  My body needs it!  The second reason, though, is more of an eating strategy.  In comparison to other foods, dietary fiber takes a looooong time for the body to break it down and digest.  What does this mean practically?  I’m going to feel full a lot longer and it will be that much easier to control my cravings through the day.  There is no need to spend the day hungry – it’s all about eating healthy and with intentionality.

Want some of my high fiber breakfast favorites?  Quaker’s weight control oatmeal is called that because it has more fiber than Quaker’s regular oatmeal (there’s no real difference in calories).  It’s decent, but my favorite is the Kashi brand oatmeals and hot cereals.  You can taste the difference in quality and they’re only slightly more expensive.  For cereals, I like Kashi brand and Fiber One brand cereals.  I usually have a few in the house at any given time and bounce around the different flavors.  I even keep a box of the Caramel granola bars from Fiber One in my car in case I need a quick, high fiber snack during the day.  Good stuff!