getting sick......

[Orpheus]

Why is it everytime I try to push myself to a goal I end up getting sick along the way. Is there a way to know your limit or more types of food I need to up in my diet? and how long should I take off when sick? I currently came down with bronchitis and an upper respiratory infection.

[Loren Wade]

It's funny you mention that. I was reading a book recently about someone who got sick (respitory) whenever they pushed themselves too far. I think a lot of it has to do with what you're eating, which is what the book talked about.

What's your diet like?

[Orpheus]

6am cup of coffee

9am banana protein shake (whey)

12 pb and j sandwich and greek yogurt

3pm homemade ganola

6pm made tuna steak and veggies

That's a sample of what I had yesterday I do try to eat healthy just suck at counting lol

[Loren Wade]

I see. Have you ever thought about trying a Paleo/Primal approach? I've seen lots of people get much better results from it.

Besides that, are you getting enough sleep? At least 8 hours per night?

[dustinwh]

This guy said:

From a health standpoint, for years I struggled with respiratory issues. I would literally spend the first half hour of every day producing mucus from my chest and have to stop between rounds of MMA training to spit crap out. I had tried everything: allergy medication, allergy shots, heart burn medication, acupuncture and homeopathic treatments. I had been to pulmonary specialists that could slightly improve the symptoms, but never give me 100% relief... I haven’t had any chest/mucus issues since switching to the Primal way of eating, it’s not surprising that my chest was chronically inflamed and always making mucus.

He is a pro fighter that had lots of respiratory issues because of inflammation and such. Check his article out.

[Orpheus]

the paleo got too expensive with my wife not wanting to try it and my kids........ we try to all eat the same meals at home right now but any suggestions would be great and I'm to bed at 9 every night and up at 4 for work

[dustinwh]

the guy in the above story attributes it to inflammation issues caused by an omega 6/omega 3 fatty acid imbalance. maybe try to supplement with fish oil and see if that helps? many people are getting bad balances of omega 3's to omega 6's.

[Orpheus]

i take an omega 3 supplement for a bad knee i have?

[dustinwh]

well then I'm out of answers haha. just a thought i had. your original post made me think of that story about the pro fighter.

[Orpheus]

I take a B-12 supp and omega-3 I use whey protein once a day and use a creatine mix before workouts. My wife yells at me because she thinks its from me slipping and smoking again, which I quit 3 years ago, and that habit was only 1/4 pack a day at most for 10 years on and off

[Shortkaik]

I take a B-12 supp and omega-3 I use whey protein once a day and use a creatine mix before workouts. My wife yells at me because she thinks its from me slipping and smoking again, which I quit 3 years ago, and that habit was only 1/4 pack a day at most for 10 years on and off

It could be residual effects from the smoking. Congrats on quitting, btw!

Maybe take a general multivitamin in addition to your Omega-3 supplement. Have you talked to your doctor?

[iamwoman]

Maybe supplement with vitamin d3? This article caught my eye after dealing with an upper respiratory infection earlier this year. I've been supplementing with d3 since and haven't got sick yet, even with taking care of my kids who were sick a few weeks ago.

[DustMite]

Do you think you can work in some more veggies around lunch? What kind of veggies are you eating?

[Dio]

Part of it could be that 7 hours isn't enough sleep when you're pushing yourself. Some of it might also have to do with what you're doing workout wise and how you're pushing yourself.

From what I've read, chronic cardio has a much higher chance of wrecking your system if it's already fighting something off. Not ramping up the workout (going from couch to working out intensely to make up for lost time) can also be hell on the system. It can be traumatic enough that your body could possibly build an auto-response of shutting itself down when you try to do too much too quickly.

Next set of goals I'd recommend making them lighter and slowly, consistently building to them. Get as much asleep as possible, and if you're ever feeling sluggish try to replace some of that bread with a handful of almonds, avocado, or other fat source.

Good luck!

[andygates]

I used to get sick a lot after really heavy workouts, back in the mists of time when I did my great second, er, third restart. I'd get these crappy little two-day colds that normally I would shake off. Reading around a lot, the internets told me it was because heavy, hard sessions knock your immune system down for a bit while they deal with the stress hormones and hoo-ha and bro-science. Cortisol, baby!

The fix was to have a protein shake immediately after training heavy (no need after a jog; different demands). Never had those crappy training colds since. Which is why I'm religious about my after-training shake.

[andygates]

Of course,I turn out to be a big fat liar. That last post was on the basis of 5x5 (ie submaximal) lifting. I've since moved to 531, which has a "rep out on the last set" motif which is a lot of fun -- but the crappy training colds are back.

So, that's intensity causing a spike in cortisol which suppresses the immune system which lets the lurgy in. Anyone got top tips for managing this?

[crowemagnonman]

I wrote a post about working out while sick once. http://twobargarage.com/working-out-while-sick/ Hope that helps.

[Guest guest4729]

As someone with an immune disorder I feel your pain. On top of having a terrible immune system the treatments I get require me to take an immuno0suppresent which makes me get sick ALL the time. My freshman year in college I got a cold which turned into an upper respiratory infection which turned into a sinus infection. Same thing happened my sophomore year. Lucky for me, this year it's been very mild and I have yet to get sick. *crosses fingers*

Perhaps you should go see a doctor to see if you have some sort of disorder, deficiency or reoccurring illness that you're not noticing. What I thought was just a harmless winter cough was a respiratory infection and then it got worse and worse. Perhaps you've been consistently sick but it became "normal" so you only noticed it when you got REALLY sick. That's how it was for me. I just thought "Oh, I'm just tired and not sleeping enough" when really I was still battling the residual effects of a cold.

Also, perhaps you could try pushing yourself less and doing things that aren't as strenuous on your body. I make sure not too work out too long or too hard because I know that my immune system can't handle it. Take it easy on yourself and maybe do things that put less stress on your body.

Keep in mind that you have children as well! They could be passing these illnesses to you, but you could also pass it to them. Every time you push yourself too hard and get sick you risk spreading that virus to the kids. Children are still building up their immune system so they generally have a greater risk of catching whatever you have. And as we all know, we were once kids and we used every excuse to get out of going to school.

[oystergirl]

I am always asked how I never EVER get sick. Sure, I had Lymes Disease which left me with the occasional aches and pains and sleep issues, but seriously, I can't remember the last time I wasn't hail and hardy.

A few things I do that are easy...first, nasal saline rinse every single night before bed-aka neti pot or Ayr nasal lavage. you mix salt packets into warmish water and I always put one drop grapefruit seed extract into the mix. I also always sleep with a clean cold humidifier on, especially in the winter months, but basically every night and that keeps the nasal passages clean and the throat from getting dry. i also wash my hands every time I enter my home before I touch anything. I also only clean with baking soda, vinegar, water and grapefruit seed extract. Above that and you kill of the good bacteria in your home who's benefits far outweigh the bad bacteria.

I take a probiotic daily, either in the form of whole fat yogurt, a Jarrodopholus pill, home made kombucha or home made fermented veggies like sauerkraut. Probiotics and gut health are essential to the immune system.

If anyone in my family feels a tickle coming on I dose them with elderberry extract--aka sambucol, emergenC and a wellness formula dose as well as a grapefruit seed extract pill. Next morning they are fine.

We also take magnesium, vitamin D, one fish oil daily and an EmergenC. No other supplements. We drink raw milk products--avoid gluten grains and polyunsaturated fats--grass fed meats whenever possible--a mix of the archevore diet and the perfect health diet.

I do hope you got better--this is an older thread!

[andygates]

A bit of reading on cortisol madness and I'm going to try two things first: a carb drink while working out (shown to blunt cortisol spike in older athletes); and reducing my overall stimulant intake (I'm pretty much taking ECA as "daddy's little breakfast of champions" now, habituated, so let's cut that).

Also, while "not training so hard" is anathema, "pick your battles" isn't. Maybe not every session has to be a balls-out PB-grind.