Penny’s Fitness Challenge Blog Week 2

Although I came down with an end-of-summer cold that turned into bronchitis, I continued to make changes working towards a healthier lifestyle this week.

Motivated to be prepared at the start of the week, I decided to try something I saw on Pinterest called “Salad in a Jar.” Lining up several gallon sized mason jars, I first measured out two tablespoons of dressing for each jar. I then dropped some of my favorite salad ingredients, including mushrooms, followed by cucumbers, then broccoli, then ham, shredded cheese and baby spinach leaves. I sealed the jars and placed them in the refrigerator where they should keep up to four days.

I also made several fruit jars, cutting up mango, strawberries, nectarine and kiwi, adding yogurt to a few and leaving the others dry.

The first day I really enjoyed having the salad ready to eat when it came time for lunch. However the fruit with yogurt was not so great. I made a mental note that some fruits were meant to be cut up fresh and eaten straight away.

Tuesday, I again enjoyed my pre-prepared salad. However, Tuesday afternoon I began coming down with a cold, that turned into a horrible case of bronchitis, spiking a fever that topped out at 103 and danced between that and 102 for most of that night and the next day and stayed at 100 for the following days. With extreme flu like symptoms I was pretty much bed ridden for 36 hours.

Eating healthy when you are ill can seem impossible. For most of Wednesday I really had no appetite at all and slept most of the day away. When I finally came out of my sleep like coma sometime on Thursday, I was really overwhelmed when trying to figure out what I could eat and what would be soothing.

Salad was unappealing option. Since my throat felt like I had swallowed razor blades, I wanted something cool to eat. However, most yogurts and puddings are high in sugar. Trying to choose something filling, I looked to chicken noodle soup, however, I didn’t feel like making my own homemade healthy version and most canned soups are high in sodium. Grilled cheese is out of the question because of the carbs and fat. And typically when I’m sick, soft drinks, also high in sodium, are what get me through. So this time I was in a quandary as to what to do.

At first, feeling too sick to make a decision I just didn’t eat and drank orange juice, since its high in Vitamin C which has healing properties for the body.  Then I remembered I had some sugar free gelatin in the cabinet and frozen fruit in the freezer. Both were very filling and tasty.  The great thing about gelatin is you can eat all you want and not gain an inch.

Trying to drink all the fluids I could, to keep myself hydrated and sooth my throat, I drank glass after glass of orange juice, Minute Maid Cherry Limeade, Gatorade, water and iced tea. While most juices are high in sugar, they are typically better for your body than the artificial sweeteners that are put in cokes. Gatorade is also high in sodium, but when you are dehydrated, as I was, doctors will suggest it as an option.

While I haven’t been able to exercise, I’m proud that I didn’t give up and just do what would have been easy. I stuck to my convictions and I can already tell it’s paying off. I’m not swollen as I would be if I had eaten bowl after bowl canned chicken noodle soup with crackers and gallons of cola and I’ve even lost a couple of pounds.

I’m still on the mend and won’t be able to go full force with exercise until later in week three, but that doesn’t really matter, because I’m in it for life.