Being "sick" confuses me....

I know, the title may seem a little odd, but its really the truth. Sometimes I get confused when I'm "sick". I put the word sick in quotations because for me, being TRULY sick and just being "sick" are two very different things. What I mean is, when I'm TRULY sick, I characterize that as throwing up, fever, aches all over, I mean, being in bed. To me, THAT is being sick. But when I say that right now I'm "sick" I simply mean that I've got an annoying headcold that just won't quit. I've been batteling it since Sunday and its still going strong. I'm taking medicine and I've scaled down my workouts accordingly (so I don't over work my body and get even more sick). This headcold, and ones I've had in the past, are really hard to read. When I wake up in the morning, its the worst. I'm coughing and hacking, my nose is completely clogged, and my head feels like a brick. But I take some medicine, I drink something hot, and my nose starts to loosen up a bit, my throat starts to feel better and my head clears up. Then I go to the gym. Since I've been dealing with this cold, I've scaled down to just an hour or less of light exercise in the morning, usually either cardio or strength training. I'm not kidding you, THE SECOND that I start working out, everything feels 100% better. And I come home feeling like I'm not sick at all! Then, inevitably, at about 7pm it hits me again. I start to feel groggy, stuffy, and clogged up again. WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!?!

ITS ANNOYING, THATS WHAT IT IS!!!!!

You wanna know what else annoys me? I mentioned to the girl at the front desk of gym (whom I'm sort of friendly with) that I was starting to feel a bit of a cold coming on. The next day she was working in the daycare area. As soon as I walked in the door she said, "YOU SHOULD NOT BE PUSHING YOURSELF!" Okay, I appreciate the concern, however, how do you know if I'm truly pushing myself or not? I politely went on to explain to her that I actually have been feeling BETTER after I work out, to which she replied, "Yeah, you feel better but you're wearing yourself out when you need to rest." Okay, this is where I became a bit annoyed. Obviously, I'm not going to be going to the gym if I'm showing a fever or feeling weak and light headed or whatever. THAT would be completely stupid to continue working out when you're feeling that way. But this? This is just a head cold! Its about the same as allergies! You can still function when it hits. I can still walk, run, lift weights, etc. And whats more, I WANT TO! I'll be the first to tell you that when I feel weak or tired and I'm also showing signs of an illness, I DO NOT go to the gym or go workout outside. Because I KNOW thats not what your body needs. However, if I'm just feeling a bit sniffly, with a bit of an itchy throat, I find thats no reason to stop working out altogether.

So, I know this is going on a bit of rant here. All I'm trying to say is, shit like that annoys me. I'm not an idiot. And I know what I can and cannot do. Its my body! I know what its capable of. A mere bystander does not. Its kind of the same way I feel when someone says, "Oh, you're going to get to skinny! You're crazy! You need to stop with the weight loss!" That annoys me as well for the same reasons. I'm super healthy and I'm very active. I eat, and I eat well. Short of me starving myself or puking up my food, I feel that no one has the right to tell me when 'enough is enough' in terms of my personal health and fitness goals. Same goes for the afforementioned scenario. If you see me about to pass out and still going for a run, THEN you can tell me I need to cool it and maybe go home and rest. Short of that? Keep your opinions to yourself.

And yes, I do recognize that when you have even just a headcold, you need to allow your body to rest. So thats why I've planned 2 days of complete rest instead of my usual 1 day a week. This is also why I've scaled back my workouts considerably. But, I still like to get that workout once a day, at least for 30 minutes. I see nothing wrong with that.

So there you have it. I had some free time today and this was just something that was bugging me a bit. Figured I would share and see if anyone agrees or has any thoughts regarding this. On another note, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Be responsible with your eating if you can. And if you can't? I suggest that you kick it into high gear and do something extra as a means of damage control on Friday. Me? I'm planning on an early morning run before the day's festivities (A.K.A. eating till you can't breathe). However, I've promised myself that I will NOT eat too much. I REFUSE to walk away from that table feeling too full and feeling sick. Small portions of everything, only one helping, no seconds, and I'm done! I like to follow a little motto from Bethenny Frankel. She says, "Taste everything, eat nothing". I'll be repeating that in my head when I sit down to eat tomorrow.

Enjoy your Turkey Day and be thankful for everything you have, because we are all blessed. Sometimes, we just don't stop to think about it.