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#103: What to do if you get sick!
536 Plays2 months ago
In this episode of The Kate Hamilton Health Podcast, I share my personal experience of battling a severe flu and the valuable lessons I learned about recovery, fitness, and overall well-being. If you've ever struggled with getting back to your routine after being sick, this episode is for you!
I chat about the essential steps for a smooth recovery - why rest is more important than workouts, how to adjust your nutrition, and the mindset shifts that make all the difference.
You'll hear firsthand how I managed my own fitness and health goals while prioritising healing, and I’ll walk you through the best strategies for easing back into training without setbacks. Most importantly, I discuss the power of listening to your body, avoiding unnecessary stress, and reassessing your health priorities with gratitude.
Episode Highlights
[00:00] Welcome & Episode Overview – Why this topic is so important
[00:21] My Personal Flu Recovery Story – What I experienced and learned
[01:06] Balancing Fitness & Recovery – How to manage goals while healing
[02:40] The Importance of Rest & Patience – Why pushing through isn’t the answer
[05:20] Tracking Progress During Illness – What to focus on (and what to let go of)
[08:22] Nutrition for Healing – Foods that support recovery and energy
[11:12] Avoiding Overtraining & Stress – How to prevent setbacks post-illness
[15:43] Reflections on Health & Lifestyle – Shifting priorities after being sick
[18:09] Final Thoughts & Encouragement – Moving forward with balance
[18:38] Outro & Listener Engagement – Connect, share, and subscribe!
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with friends who might benefit. For more health and fitness tips, follow me on Instagram and TikTok @katehamiltonhealth.
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Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and this episode is based on my personal experience. Always consult a medical professional before making changes to your health or fitness routine.
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Transcript
Host's Battle with the Flu
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. So today's episode is going to be a little solo pod. I thought I would just get my thoughts out there while I'm going through it. So for anyone who has been following me recently, we'll see that I have been struck down by the flu. And my God, when I say what a dose it is.
00:00:33
Speaker
And it's funny, I knew this because from a lot of my clients have been sick in the past few months that I've been checking in with them. And a lot of people that I speak to online have also been struck down by this flu. So I knew this flu was a bad flu. And I knew that, yeah, people are getting particularly hammered by it, but it's funny until you actually experience how sick it makes you feel.
00:00:57
Speaker
It's very very hard to know what it feels like.
Balancing Recovery and Fitness Goals
00:01:00
Speaker
So I just thought what I would do with this episode is talk a little bit about how to kind of recover from being sick if you're working towards a fat loss goal or a fitness goal and you feel like you've just literally had the legs cut from under you and you're back to square one.
00:01:16
Speaker
Yeah, we'll talk a little bit about kind of how to manage this step-by-step process, particularly if you have been struck by the flu like myself. The first thing I'll say about this flu is I genuinely did not think that I would be affected so badly by the flu. I really thought like I eat well, I strength train, I do a little bit of cardio, I'm fit, I'm healthy, I'm relatively young. I really thought that, you know, yeah, if I get hit by the flu, I'll be down a couple of days, you know, but Bit of sniffles, maybe a little bit of a temperature and I'd be okay. But when I tell you I have been so sick, the aches and pains had been unreal, lying around with zero energy. And when you've got three kids, that's really hard. And luckily my husband works from home and he's literally just been able to take over, but just sleeping all day long, then.
00:02:05
Speaker
the following day feeling better and then thinking you're getting a bit better and then following day you're back to nearly sleeping all day long it's really really debilitating but it got to the point that the other day that i woke up and i could feel on my chest it had moved down onto my chest in a way that didn't feel okay so i knew i was getting an infection so i went to the doctor and now the doctor has me on steroids and antibiotics so obviously they're making me quite tired as well. But I'm actually just relieved that it's a starting point to getting better.
The Importance of Rest in Recovery
00:02:35
Speaker
But with that in mind, we're not going to be running back or jumping back to anything too quick. And I want to just talk a little bit about my thought process behind what I will be doing myself as I recover so that you can kind of keep that in mind yourselves because it can be really, really easy to get impatient and expect
00:02:51
Speaker
to get straight back to where you were. And that's really not the reality of when you're really sick. Like, so anyone who's been hit with the flu, that's really sick. Okay. It it is, it's a horrendous virus that takes over your body that you need time to heal from. um And obviously there are loads of other different types of sicknesses that this podcast will be relevant to. Also, I am not a doctor. I am.
00:03:13
Speaker
a personal trainer and a health coach. I'm speaking from experience what I'm doing myself in relation to getting back to fitness. You a hundred percent need to follow your doctor's advice. If your doctor's advice is longer than my advice, go with your doctor's advice, but I will always be erring on the side of caution as well with how quickly I get back to things.
00:03:35
Speaker
Okay, so what to do when you're sick, while you're still actually struggling with and dealing with the symptoms, it can be easy to be like, that's fine, I'll just push through, I'll still just bring the kids here and there and you know, I have to do this and they can't miss swimming lessons and I need to get some steps in because oh my God, I've only got 800 steps. and You know, all of these thoughts go through our heads. When you're sick, what do you need to do? It is really, really simple. You need to do nothing. So what you need to think about is it doesn't matter what type of sickness it is. There is some sort of infection in your body, whether it is a viral infection or a bacterial infection, there is an infection in your body that your body is trying to fight to get better.
00:04:14
Speaker
So what that means is your body is working overdrive to get better and if you're adding loads of extra pressure onto your body, your body is not going to effectively get you better and you're going to make it so much longer before you're actually back to 100% and that's That's the most important thing to remember. Just drop everything. Okay. And really just focus on giving your body the rest, you doing as little as possible with your body. So your body can do what it needs to do to fight the infection. That's really, really important. You have to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. I know you might have goals, whether you've got a race coming up or a competition or you've been doing really well with your fat loss journey and you just, you don't want to lose momentum or you've only gotten started with your fat loss journey and you don't want to lose momentum.
00:05:01
Speaker
Zoom out, this will be a few days or a couple of weeks of the rest of your life. There is so much time to get back to being consistent and you will want to after being sick and having to switch off like this, you will want to get back to it. So don't be afraid that you're not going to be able to get back to it because you will. Okay.
Personal Recovery Journey
00:05:21
Speaker
So in relation to, we'll take it back to my own sickness here.
00:05:24
Speaker
In relation to some stats from like the past two days, for example, okay. Well, I have two days of stats here. I didn't actually track all the time while I was sick because obviously that's not going to be what you need to do necessarily while you're sick. But I did just for the sake of education to be able to share with others as an example. Today, as I'm recording this, it is Friday.
00:05:46
Speaker
So I'm feeling much better as I'm recording this still on antibiotics and steroids, but definitely much better not moving around too much. I'm going to take it back to Sunday and Monday as examples. Okay. So on Sunday, I only ate 461 calories. I had zero, zero appetite.
00:06:04
Speaker
Out would of what, out of that 461 calories, I think it was, might've been four slices of toast I had throughout the day and ah drinking a little bit of seven up. I think that was it. So nutrition of any sense, I was too sick. I could not even consider anything my steps.
00:06:21
Speaker
Were 869 so I literally was in bed all day long and my sleep clocked up at 14 hours So on Sunday, I literally slept all day could not eat and didn't move very much at all But that's what my body needed. My body was putting me to sleep so it could start fighting this infection and there would have been enough energy probably in my body from what i had eaten on the previous day on the saturday then monday was a little bit better and food wise i managed to get 1363 calories into me again not a huge amount of nutrient dense foods just you know carbohydrates
00:06:57
Speaker
And my steps were even less 716 steps, got nine hours sleep. So I was awake a lot more of the day on Monday, but lying on the couch resting and my body was able for a little bit more fuel. So as the week has gone on, my calories have increased slightly. My appetite is still not back to normal. Today is Friday. And it's the first day where I have consciously put food into my body being like, I need a little bit of fruit. I need some vegetables here. I need to try and get a little bit more protein in.
00:07:24
Speaker
Today's the first day where I've been well enough to really do that. And the other days have been survival mode since Monday is also Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were similar to Monday, I would say. My step total is extremely low this week because that's not what my body needs right now. As I'm sitting here recording this at 10 to five on a Friday, my step count is currently at 830. The reason why I'm sharing this information with you is I think it is extremely important to realize you have to drop all the usual goals.
00:07:54
Speaker
Your only goal is to fight that infection, to get better, so that you can perform well when you are better. Okay. And don't be stressing me like, Oh my God, i I didn't get any protein in and I haven't had any fruit or vegetables. And you know, yes, food quality is important to getting better.
00:08:10
Speaker
But those initial stages when you're really sick, it's just about eating, ah just keeping in enough fluids into your body and eating what you can and sleeping as much as possible, okay? As you start to get better then in the days to come, this is like what I will be focusing on now for the for the next week basically. I'll be focusing on food quality, I'll be focus focusing on hydration, and I'll be focusing on rest. They're the most important things for you to focus on. So even, you know, after you get better,
00:08:40
Speaker
and you still don't feel 100%, your main priorities should be food quality, hydration and rest. Make sure you get to bed on time and stick to your bedtime. Try and give yourself an extra couple of hours sleep than what you usually would because the sleep is what's going to make you better. Hydration.
00:08:57
Speaker
so We really want to focus on getting water into the body because you can be quite dehydrated and from medications and from a lot of sleep and, you know, not hydrating properly when you're really sick. So that's really, really important to to really focus on that water. If possible, it's going to clear the the system out. If you really, really struggle with water for a little drop or something of dilute or whatever into it, if you can put at least two liters of water every single day. Okay. And food quality.
00:09:27
Speaker
Be patient with yourself with your appetite as well. So bring your foods back in as you can. you know You probably will be able to manage some carbohydrates first. Try and make them whole grain if you can, because yeah is but if you haven't been eating for a couple of days, you know your digestion can be slow. The medication can make your digestion slow as well, and you don't want to end up constipated. Go whole grain carbohydrates to give yourself plenty of fiber.
00:09:51
Speaker
And then start introducing a little bit of protein source, fruit and vegetables and healthy fats and slowly build yourself back up. And as you start to feel better, your appetite will increase. It's really, really important to remember that your body might need a little bit of a refeed. So even if you're tracking your calories and you get back to tracking your calories after being sick, being in a calorie deficit is not necessarily what you're going to need for the next week or two.
00:10:16
Speaker
your body might need more calories to get better. This is why I want you to focus on food quality. Track your calories if you like, because it can give you the visuals and you know the education to what's going into your body and what your body needs. ah Allow yourself the extra calories, but make sure it's with good quality foods. okay So don't just have loads of extra chocolate and crisps and all of that stuff, comfort foods and things like that. Have soups, have bread and chicken and fruit and I don't mean all these together that would be weird but just to to get a nice variety on your diet as you're getting back to good health and allow yourself the extra calories but make them good quality that I don't mean you can't have your
00:10:56
Speaker
your tea with your chocolate in the evening time as normal and just say, don't add loads of extra junk food in. It's not going to help you get better. Stick with your usual amount of treats that you would with your calorie deficit and any extra calories that you are having, make sure they come from good quality foods. And this is really important.
Avoiding Premature Training Post-Illness
00:11:13
Speaker
Do not train. Even if you feel better a few days after being sick, your body needs time to help. When you train, and I'm all for training, and when you train, whether it is, you know, running, whether it's lifting weights, whatever it is, you are putting extra stress on the body, which when we're healthy is a really, really good thing because it helps, you know, build strong, resilient bodies. When you're already sick and your body is under stress trying to make you better, you don't want to be putting it under extra stress. This is going to make things worse.
00:11:46
Speaker
Not only could you like end up being sick again, it's just going to take weeks for you to feel a hundred percent if you're constantly adding more stress on with the with the training. So like I would say a good solid week off training. So like I said, like for context, I have been sick since last Saturday. It's now Friday.
00:12:06
Speaker
I have obviously not trained this week because I've been very sick. The medicine's starting to make me feel better. I will be on antibiotics. I'll be on steroids until Monday and I'll be on antibiotics until Thursday. Even if I'm feeling better Monday, I will not be going back to the gym. I will not be going running or anything like that. I will be resting my body all of next week and I will not go back training until Monday week. And that's important. If I feel good next week, I will go for a gentle walk for a little bit of fresh air, a bit of sunlight and gentle movement.
00:12:37
Speaker
But not because I have to hit loads of steps. It's but if because if I feel my body needs that and is able for it. And I'll start with a small little gentle walk. If it feels too much, I'll take it back a notch. You have to be patient. So put a little bit of a plan in place for yourself. And also if you don't feel up to it, like if I don't feel up to it by Monday day week, I'll reassess. Like I know long-term zooming out so all the goals that I want to achieve this year.
00:13:00
Speaker
how I want to feel, how healthy I want to be, I will get there. But I won't get there if I keep pushing through when I'm not well. like I know I keep going back to this, but it's really important to remember the stress that your body's under while trying to get better. like Even if you look at your resting heart rate, my resting heart rate usually sits at about 58 beats per minute, which is I'm really proud of. I feel it's really, really healthy. While I was sick,
00:13:24
Speaker
Like when I was very sick, my resting heart rate was up in the eighties. So that just shows like your body's nearly working double to get you better. Okay. So it's so important not to take that for granted. What's going on in your body. You have to honor your body and you have to give it the rest that it needs.
00:13:41
Speaker
in relation to weight loss as well. When you're sick, obviously if you're you've lost your appetite, you'd be like a nice little side effect is dropping a load of pounds. And you're like, yes, I'm feeling so skinny. This is great. It'll give me a good head start. And then they people get stressed then when their body, like I explained that refeed where you need the extra calories.
00:13:58
Speaker
I lost four pounds in two days. It's not real weight loss. Well, it is real weight loss. It's not fat loss. It's losing a lot of fluid, losing a certain amount of fat, probably certain amount of muscle from being malnourished, from not being able to eat. A healthy body will always try and catch up and you have to listen to it.
00:14:17
Speaker
is is not a type of weight loss that you want to try and maintain. The important thing is that you don't want to allow your body to fall for loads of sugary cravings to like overcompensate for the weight loss that you've had. and Because remember, all that extra junk food is going to be extra stress on the body too.
00:14:37
Speaker
I just thought it was really important for me to just share this information. I know it's for you probably nothing that you don't already know, but I think sometimes we need to hear things again. Don't we think we can know things and still kind of push ourselves to do things that we probably shouldn't when we're sick. But I thought, you know, it would help anyone who is unwell at the minute or anyone who is unwell in the future. I know this winter flu this year is particularly bad and there've been a lot of people sick. So I feel like there's definitely going to be benefit for people in listening to this.
00:15:07
Speaker
I want you to remember, and no matter matter what your goal is, a goal of health should always be in there too.
Reflecting on Lifestyle During Recovery
00:15:14
Speaker
And pushing through sickness to reach a goal is not healthy. So don't do that. It's important to honor your body and then push forward towards your goals when your body is in a healthy position. Okay. You really have got to think long-term. It is so, so important.
00:15:30
Speaker
And it's it's funny, another thing you can do when you have that little bit more time where you're sitting around and getting better, instead of getting frustrated and thinking, making lists of all the things you need to do and panicking about things that you can't do and all of that stuff, take this time to reflect, reassess your life. You're like, why did I get sick?
00:15:48
Speaker
No, it might just be unfortunate. And you'd be like, well, I was eating well and I was exercising and I was sleeping well and everything seemed to be good and I just got the flu and it hit me pretty hard. That's kind of what happened to me. I wasn't in a particularly stressful situation, had good habits in place, nice balance with everything. I was just struck down with it. That's why I'm so surprised. So sometimes that is the case. Other times we can make ourselves sick by being overly stressed.
00:16:13
Speaker
underly rested, underly rested doesn't even r by not getting enough sleep and just in general trying to do too much. So kind of taking the time to reassess and be like, am I overloading myself? Am I being too hard on myself? Am I making myself sick? Is my lifestyle making myself sick? Am I eating foods that are nourishing my body? Am I getting enough sleep? Take out a pen and paper while you're sitting, lying, resting and make a list of all of these things. Have a little bit of a reassessment of your life.
00:16:43
Speaker
Because I kind of feel like I've had time to reflect and I've really kind of reevaluated some of my goals, let's say, not necessarily my fitness goals, but just goals in life in general about what's really, really important. Like it's funny, we can have so many problems in our lives.
00:16:58
Speaker
You know, things we're stressed about, things we're worried about, things that are happening and you know, a lot of these problems, we kind of bring on ourselves. There are some genuine problems that need to be dealt with that eventually we will work through, but a lot of the stuff, the stresses, the day-to-day stuff, we really put on ourselves unnecessarily. We have all these problems until we're sick.
00:17:18
Speaker
And then when we're sick, we only have one problem, trying to get not sick anymore. And I just thought that was really interesting how much everything else fell away. And I i just really didn't care. I just wanted to get better. Not in a panic because I had loads to do, just because i'm I was like, I'm shocked at how unwell I am. And I got a fright of how unwell I was. And I was like, all I want to do is get better.
00:17:42
Speaker
And you know what, I'm so grateful that I get to get better. And anyone listening to this as well, who, you know, is getting better from sickness, has gotten better from sickness, don't fall into the same patterns of things that that are going to make you sick. Because I think it's really important that we're grateful that we do get to get better. There's plenty of people in the world who are sick, who are not getting better. And I think it's really, really important to remember that.
00:18:09
Speaker
Anyway, that is it for today. I hope you have found that somewhat helpful, probably a little bit obvious, but a nice reminder all the same. So I hope that everyone keeps well, keep taking those multivitamins through the rest of the early spring, eat well, sleep well, and look after your minds as well as your bodies. I will talk to you all soon.
Contact Information for Coaching
00:18:36
Speaker
I just want to say thank you so much for listening to the podcast. It really means so much to me that there are people out there actually listening to what I have to say and to the conversations that I'm having with others. So thank you so much. If you are enjoying the podcast, could you please make sure that you are subscribed? And if not, if you could hit that subscribe button, it really does make that much of a difference. Also, if you would like to leave a review on any of the episodes that you listen to that you particularly enjoy, I would love to hear what you have to say.
00:19:04
Speaker
And also, if there's an episode that you've enjoyed, please do share it on your social media, in your WhatsApp groups, with your friends. If you're sharing it on your stories, please tag myself in it and whoever I'm interviewing, this it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you're interested in working with me and my wonderful team, please do contact me about applying for coaching. So you can contact me at Kate Hamilton health at gmail dot.com or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. all Kate Hamilton Health and you will be able to comp apply for coaching. We can organise to have a chat and see if it's a good fit for you and get you moving towards your goals.