No Sickness Diet

I went to a ladies who lunch event today and got to see a bunch of friends I have not seen since the holidays. I don’t know how January gets by me so quickly. Of course the three or four days of house-bound-snow days ate into any possible socializing, but that is only like a ninth of the month.
Two friends I had not seen much of both independently told me they had not been well. One had a cold/flu that held on for weeks and the other had oral surgery. I guess if you are going to be sick January is the best time because you are not missing anything exciting. Both friends said the same thing about being unwell, “the worst part was I did not even lose any weight.”
It reminded me of an old joke that was popular when I was in my twenties. A skinny woman says to a friend, “I’m just one flu way from my ideal weight.”
Losing a bunch of weight from a one day bug is something that only happens when you are young. By the time your body hits middle age it is unfazed by your not putting any food in it, or in the case of my oral surgery friend, only drinking your food. Instead of attacking your fat reserves, the older person’s body just shuts down unimportant functions to reduce the amount of calories needed when not many are coming in. No new hair will grow, your nails will stay short and stubby and your skin will be fairly lack luster. (Although my friends who had been sick looked pretty great today.)
The fact that my ill friends did not lose weight is also a testament to how important exercise is as you age. When you are sick you are probably not moving around much so you are not burning any calories that way. Right there is the answer to why you are not losing weight when you are sick. Now if you were riding that exercise bike with a bucket attachment with the stomach bug, then certainly you would drop a pound or two, but that visual is horrible and I’m sorry I out it out in the universe.
The line about being “one bug away from your ideal weight” does not apply to middle aged women. Being sick just stinks with no side benefit. So stay healthy and keep moving. And for goodness sake, don’t drink your calories — they really add up.