Monday, February 11, 2013

Staying on Program While Recovering from Stomach Flu

This is the first time I have been violently ill while on Weight Watchers.  When I say violently, I mean violently.  I will spare you the gory details.  Feel free to imagine, if you like.  I used some of the skills I learned through having colds while on the program.

First of all, while you are in the throes of illness, stay hydrated and keep something in your stomach like a bit of dry toast or some crackers.  Gives your body something to work with and keeps you from becoming completely dehydrated.  I sipped water until I could manage diet ginger ale.

On the second day, at which time the violence calmed to just weakness and lots of rest, I continued with the ginger ale and toast.  Whole wheat toast can be too much for your system, so I ate whole grain white bread which gives you more of the fiber, less points, but is still easy on your stomach.  Depending on the brand, you can eat 2 slices for 3 points.  That's a lot of toast!

Toward the end of the day, I decided soup would be good.  A can of Campbell's tomato soup or chicken noodle soup is only 5 points for the ENTIRE can.  If sodium is a concern, get the lower sodium kind.  While Progresso soups already have WW Points on them, they can still cost you about the same amount per can and tend to be chunkier and harder to digest.

On the third day - day two of recovery - I added Jello.  The sugar free 0 point Jello is soothing and is a power food.  I continued with soup and a few crackers.  Late in the day, I re-introduced my Greek yogurt with fruit.

I will say that the upside of all this was that I lost 5 pounds in that one day of illness.  Once I was rehydrated, I only gained back a portion of 1 pound.

As you can guess, I won't post any pictures with this blog post.  There aren't any, but you wouldn't want to see them anyway!

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