New Approach

I woke up this morning hoping I would be able to head back to work and leave my apartment for more than 30 minutes for the first time in 5 days. Nevertheless, my throat was raw and hurting and I felt pretty crappy all around. Not the start to my day that I was anticipating.

So, I moved from my bed to the couch... and then to the kitchen shortly thereafter for my morning green tea. While making my breakfast ideas were running through my head about what could help me start to feel like a real human being again. I've been getting lots of vitamin C, feeding myself good foods and soups, trying to stay well-hydrated, and getting lots of rest. Then, as soon as Matt Lauer popped back on the tv, I remembered a segment I saw on the Today show yesterday about the germs that lurk in our kitchens. Aha, that's it! While I've been making sure to wash my hands, not leave dishes in the sink, and would never say that my apartment is messy or dirty, it was time to do a good cleaning now that I'm recovering from my flu.

So, after breakfast, I thoroughly cleaned my apartment - kitchen, bathroom, door knobs, I vacuumed, dusted, changed sheets and swept. Plus I cleaned my phone, the TV remotes, and any appliance surface I've touched in the last week - which in my studio, was most of the apartment! Goodbye germs! Feeling accomplished, I settled in for some rest and rehydrating on my couch and got some more work done for the sorority.

My appetite is still recovering from the flu, so I had a small lunch consisting of last night's leftovers. The small meal hit the spot and I once again headed out for a small errand. It felt good to stretch my legs and get some fresh air and sunlight! I'll probably stay in tonight and rest up for tomorrow (hopefully back at work). And, it's Tuesday which means my favorite "healthy" show the Biggest Loser is on!

I've decided to start taking pictures with my camera instead of on my phone. Let me know what you think! Also, what's your favorite active TV show?

Toast w/ PB and cinnamon, an egg white and some berries

Cuban black beans over rice and sprinkled with reduced-fat cheddar and roasted brussel sprouts!

Day 5...shouldn't I feel better by now?

Well, I've made it to Day 5 of my flu-cation and feel like I'm hanging in there. I'm definitely ready to stretch my legs a bit after all of this lounging around but that's going to have to come with some slow, short walks. My energy level is still pretty low, appetite small, and that icky feeling is lingering!

Thanks to Daylight Savings, I woke up earlier that I would have liked. I'm definitely a person who would rather it be light in the evenings than in the morning when I have to get up. I like my sleep! I wasn't hungry for a couple of hours and made a repeat of yesterday's breakfast when I finally was. I'm pretty full after the hot cereal and a small glass of Trop50 orange juice.



I spent the morning working on the schedule for my leadership training weekend in a few weeks It was nice to feel productive for a bit. Otherwise, the sun is shining through my windows and I'm hoping to start feeling like my normal self later in the day!

For those of you who gathered up some candy this weekend trick-or-treating, I found this gluten-free and allergy guide for candy and treats. Thanks to Elana for finding this!

I had a small bowl of hot and sour soup around 1:30 and then decided that I could sit no longer. I committed to running a small errand to see how I'd feel. I took my dress from last weekend to the dry cleaner as I'll be wearing it at a gala dinner in NY in a couple of weeks. I make a pit stop in the grocery store after to pick up a couple of things I was craving and then headed home. I ended up being out for much longer that I had anticipated and was pretty exhausted by the time I got home. I snacked on a pear and a handful of soy crisps and enjoyed Oprah's shoe and accessory intervention show. I definitely added a few more items to the "Want" list!! Thanks, Oprah!

I've spent the rest of the night continuing my work on my training schedule, relaxing, and doing a bit of cooking. I've been craving brussel sprouts for the past few days so I made sure to pick some up today to roast. I simply seasoned them with sea salt, black pepper, and garlic powder and they were delish! I was full from dinner so I didn't have too many but these will be great to snack on tomorrow!

For dinner, I had a baked sweet potato and cuban black beans with bell peppers and broccoli, sprinkled with hot sauce and some parmesan cheese.



On the agenda for tonight: the Greek season finale with some cinnamon toast. I love love love the show and am sad that the fall season is over. Maybe it will force me to find a new Monday night post-yoga routine!

I'm hoping to be able to go into work for a bit tomorrow but it will completely depend on how I feel when I wake up. I'm still pretty tired and exhausted from today's little outing. Goodnight!

Halloween / Flu Confessions

Sunday was pretty uneventful. After an amazing Longhorn win, I got a pretty good night's sleep and woke up around 9:30am. I wasn't hungry until about 11 and when it hit, I decided to try a new hot cereal mixture. To my Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Hot Cereal I added: a sprinkle of raisins and dried cherries, cinnamon, and some maple syrup, and topped it all with peanut butter. It felt like fall and was delicious!!



The day was otherwise uneventful with some tv watching, book reading, and a nap. For dinner, i got a craving for Thai food so I decided to make my own chicken phad see eiw. It was pretty successful! I managed to stay up for the Next Top Chef, snacking on some cinnamon toast as I watched, and went to bed.


On Saturday, I had a quite different experience - I woke up at 8:15 this morning, ready for a good breakfast. I tried one of my new frozen waffles and had it alongside an egg white and a pear with PB. I had a glass of OJ as well as some green tea and that seemed to do the trick.


It was also Halloween, a holiday that gives children and adults alike the opportunity to prance around in costumes for fun, trick-or-treat for candy, and celebrate in a myriad of other ways. I had planned in participating in a Halloween bar crawl with friends, just like last year. However, because of my flu, my new celebration (in full costume of course) will be watching the Texas Longhorns beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys from the comfort of my couch. This game is a bit personal for me because my brother began his college career at OSU, thus creating a bit of sibling rivalry. The Longhorns have the winning record in the match up though and I'm sure they'll continue the streak tonight.



I've decided to compile a few confessions to make the blog more interesting while I'm on my flu-cation. Hope you enjoy!

Confession #1 - I really hate scary movies and all things scary. I don't do haunted houses, thrasher movies, and the like. I was that kid who got scared by Disney movie villains until the age of 6 or 7. So, while some delight in watching scary movies on this holiday, I'll be alternating between the football game and any rom-com that's on tv.

Confession #2 - I am not good at being sick. I hate feeling crappy and I also really hate the sitting still / laying around. I'm normally pretty active so spending a lot of time on the couch for multiple days at a time is hard for me. In fact, this morning, I decided my apartment needed tidying and my mirrors needed cleaning - partly because my apartment got a bit cluttered and partly because I needed to move for a bit. I'm now paying for this decision by being tired but it was well worth it!

Confession #3 - Even though fall means winter is coming, I LOVE the change of seasons and being able to enjoy the leaves changing. I think that this week was the peak for coloring and I snapped a few pics of trees in my neighborhood:

Trees lining Embassy Row:
The Indian Embassy across the street:

And finally, the rest of what I ate this weekend (at least what I took pictures of):

Tomato soup and rice for lunch on a rainy Saturday afternoon

What goes better with football than the last of my veggie chili and some Alexia oven-baked fries, complete with bbq sauce on the side?!


There were also some apples, pears, and European style plain yogurt for snacks!

What's your favorite rainy day lunch? What about your favorite french fry condiment?

Another one bites the dust

After 12 hrs of sleep and a midnight dose of Advil after my evil fever returned, this time at 101.8, I kind of struggled to get out of bed. The only reason I did was I was really hungry that for some reason. I made some toast with PB and cinnamon with some grapes (no picture) and parked it on the couch to watch The View. I knew I was sick because the next time I moved from my couch was at 1:00 when it was time to head to the doctor's office.

I decided to take the short walk (just a few blocks) to the doctor and was glad that I did. My legs needed to move a bit after being so sedentary for the past 24 hours. I did however, pay for this decision as the fatigue really kicked in once I sat down in the waiting room. I joined the army of smartphone users wasting time until their name was called and gave myself a thank you for continuing to make my COBRA health insurance payments so that I was able to see a doctor without a huge hassle.

I found out that my flu test was positive (seasonal) and that I needed to plan to stay home for the next 4 to 5 days to recover. She also prescribed Tamiflu yet said that I could use my own discretion for filling it or not, and I was on my not-so-merry way.

Because I had exciting Halloween plans for the weekend, I didn't have much food in my apartment, let alone the foods that I crave when I'm sick (and are recommended by friends, colleagues, and Jewish mothers alike): soups, juices, and plain grains. I made a very quick pit stop at the grocery store, touching as few things as possible, and brought myself home.

My shopping purchases:G2, Amy's Black Bean and Chunky tomato Bisque (low sodium) soups, 2 kinds of chicken and rice soup, brown rice, Trop50 OJ, Hot and Sour soup, and Autumn Mix candy corn :-)

I also got some toaster waffles because who really feels like cooking from scratch when you have the flu...
One of my favorite Halloween treats:

I unpacked my goodies, which included my special Halloween treat since I'm no longer to celebrate the holiday out with friends, and took up residence on the couch for a Say Yes to the Dress marathon. I did finally get hungry later on in the evening and had a simple and comforting dinner which consisted of:

Amy's Reduced Sodium Shepherd's Pie
baked sweet potato with cinnamon
3/4 c peas
OJ, G2, and lots of water
a few pieces of my Autumn Mix candy corn

I headed to bed early yet again. My head was pounding and I was exhausted. My body decided to protest all of the rest though and I laid in bed wide-awake until about 12:30am.

Down and Out

Well folks, I guess I should have known that something was up when I started feeling less than normal on Monday morning. I figured I was just recovering from an exciting wedding weekend, but when I woke up today, I felt like I got hit by a truck in my sleep. Since I knew that was pretty unlikely, I dragged myself to the medicine cabinet and took some Advil in hopes that it would relieve my symptoms.


I had an egg white with some toast with PB and some berries topped with yogurt. I was in the mood for something simple and kind of comforting. I headed off to work for a couple of my meetings and only made it through the early afternoon. That's when the Advil wore off, the fatigue kicked in 200% and I knew that I was really sick.

I spent the rest of the day / night on my couch, with a fever that reached over 102 degrees. No fun. I was in bed by 9, managed to watch most of Grey's Anatomy, and then fell asleep.

I had a quick lunch of veggie chili with some brown rice: