Fit After 40! (Now 50s): Sunday Potpourri

A belated Happy Chinese New Year to you loyal readers of the blog!

In case you haven't been able to tell, I've been bed ridden the last few days with a stomach virus. However, as life unfolded, there are still lessons to be learned no matter the hand you're dealt. Are you ready? And here, we, go....

By the morning of the 4th day, I was down 2 lbs to 139 (was 141 at the start of January). Not being able to eat will do that to you. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Okay a recap.

Last Saturday morning, I took my daughter to her Brazilian Jiu Jitsu lesson. I met my friend "K" who is joining me for a kickboxing workout after my daughter's class is over. Later that evening, at the invitation of another friend, my family went over their home where I spent some time devising a workout protocol for the father who wants to get back in shape. So we did a brief workout together. Sunday was a bit of a rest day. Monday was work. That evening my wife and I conducted an information meeting with parents from our school on the dangers of Wi-Fi and its effects on children. I was fine until about 4 a.m. Tuesday morning when I started feeling unwell. When the alarm rang at 7:30 a.m. I thought, "Oh, oh, we have a problem."

I was also having bad diarrhea. The virus in the gut meant I did not have any appetite. At the risk of violating the TMI protocol, I'll leave out the details. I was lying in bed, experiencing aches in my joints and occasionally having bouts of uncontrollable shivers even though I was under blankets. Being blood type O, it was probably the Norovirus.

PW (that's Precious Wife) asked if she could get me anything.

"Ginger ale," I replied.

"Ginger ale? That has sugar," she said.

I'm laying here dying and losing precious fluids every 20 minutes on the toilet and she's worried about sugar? Eating Paleo was definitely not the first thing on my mind.

"I know sweetie. But since I'm not eating anything, getting in some fluids with a bit of sugar isn't going kill me."

Now its been a long time, a very long time since I tasted pop. I don't miss it. I don't crave it. But when you're sick with no taste in your mouth, no appetite and leaking from unmentionable places, a little ginger ale is comforting. I did notice the sugar left on the teeth from drinking pop and made an extra effort to brush fastidiously. It was Tuesday. I normally go kickboxing Tuesday. Oh well. End of Day 1.

Day 2. Its Wednesday. Same old, same old. Leaky and achy best summarizes my condition. I'm alternating Tylenol and Advil with Immodium. Tylenol seems to work better for this bug. Where I've had great success using Immodium in the past, its batting average was 0-0 this time around. This was like showing up at a 30 Banana-A-Day diet with a prime rib in hand. It wasn't working. Trouble was being Wednesday, I was due to attend Chinese New Year dinner at my folk's house. To miss CNY dinner when you're in town is taboo. I phoned my mom and explained. She was cool and even packed Chinese hot pot leftovers for PW to bring home.

Day 3. Felt a little bit better and decided to eat some hot pot leftovers we had in the fridge. Re-heating the satay-flavoured soup base, I was able to enjoy a serving of soup and some fishy dumplings. Then the trouble began. I noticed a peculiar after-taste in my mouth from the soup. I started having cravings. So out of the blue, I texted PW to buy 3 cans of Campbell's New England Clam Chowder. In my Pre-Paleo era, I would boil rice, heat a can of this soup and chow the gob-smacking combination down the gullet.

Then it hit me. The satay soup had to contain MSG or some type of artificial flavouring. These chemical structures obviously matched certain memories which begat cravings. The brain tried to match the taste and it led to Campbell's. Processed foods have addictive qualities which begat cravings. The cynic in me suspects such addictive qualities are known to the manufacturers. But since cravings keep people coming back...

I was much more aware of these feelings since I have not eaten canned foods for such a long time. Going Paleo is like being on an extended cleanse from processed foods. I texted PW to forget about the soup.

Day 4. I was better. Went to the office by 11 a.m. and worked through the day.

Day 5. Took my daughter to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Went 3 rounds with my training partner before kickboxing class. Then 1 full hour of kickboxing. In the afternoon, I made two huge salads for a Chinese New Year dinner gathering with friends.