Monday, January 11, 2016

Making a dietary virtue out of necessity


Whatever this tummy bug is that I've picked up, it's no fun at all.  I basically lost everything I'd eaten on Saturday evening during the course of that night, and didn't eat again until supper on Sunday;  but I lost that, too, on Sunday night.  My body just doesn't want to keep food down right now.  It's no fun waking up in the small hours to spend three-quarters of an hour on the "throne", leaking simultaneously and copiously at both ends!  (Yes, yes, I know, TMI!)

Oh, well.  I may as well make a virtue out of necessity.  Among the disciples of the so-called Banting diet that Miss D. and I are following is Dr. Jason Fung (his blog is here), who uses fasting as a method to reverse type 2 diabetes, and also recommends periodic fasting as a way to reset the body's metabolism and kick-start the weight loss process.  We've followed his articles and discussions with interest, and have been easing our way into the latter part of his program.  This looks like an ideal (albeit involuntary) time to put myself through a three- to four-day fast, drinking plenty of fluids but limiting my solid intake to what my body can handle.  Hopefully that will allow me to travel today and tomorrow without too many physical difficulties.  At least there won't be much to get rid of if my body decides to go into rebellion again!  I'll give it a try, and we'll see how it goes.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a safe journey back to Nashville.  We'll be leaving later this morning.

Peter

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try sipping Pedialight, a bit at a time. Need to stay hydrated. Hope you get better soon !

Gorges Smythe said...

Bummer! Said a prayer for you and yours.

Anonymous said...

Imodium is your friend!

My wife had a similar problem on an 850 mile drive back from PA.

No fun at all.

Gerry

SiGraybeard said...

You and I have a lot in common. I've been following Dr. Fung for some time and really think he's onto the big break in Type II NIDDM. After my own experiences, I think regular 16 hour fasts are a really good idea, interspersed with 24 hour or longer fasts. If you're doing a Banting style diet, one of the benefits is appetite suppression, so it's about as easy as can be.

Good luck with that trip! Don't forget minerals in those fluids.

Roger Ritter said...

Did you by any chance drink some Australian table wine? "Really opens up the sluices at both ends, Bruce!" I sympathize with you - get well, soon!

richard mcenroe said...

You moved to Texas and ate the strange, exotic and foreign foods of Tennessee? You've only yourself to blame. *g*

Judy said...

Here's how my mom handled your digestive problem. Sip ginger ale until you had no episodes for 24-hours. Then you got half a slice of dry toast. If you could make it another 4 hours you got the other half. From there it was clear broth soups in very small quantities all the while sipping ginger ale. After another 24-hours you got to graduate to potato soup and then real food. Any mishaps and you had to go back to the ginger-ale only stage.

I've found sipping ginger tea to be as effective and then nibbling on the slice of ginger root after my cup of tea is gone. I switched to ginger tea because finding ginger-ale made with real ginger to be very difficult to find.

Roy said...

That stomach bug has been going around awhile. I caught it the Monday before Christmas. I prayed to the commode god all that night. I was better in the morning and even went to work that day. My wife caught it on Wednesday and had it for the next five days. It ruined her Christmas. She spent the whole holiday curled up under a blanket on the couch, never more than about 30 feet from the bathroom.

To have to travel with it would be awful. I second Judy's remedy.

Will said...

Had this problem in early Dec. Only thing I could drink without a reaction was the Cold & Flu herbal tea from Triple Leaf Tea Co. I've misplaced the ingredients label, unfortunately. Regular tea, green or black, gave me the heaves, along with everything else I tried, including plain water.

Could eat toast after a day, but had GI tract problems for near two weeks, which seems to be the max duration for gastroenteritis.

Then I seemed to have caught a cold to replace it with, which may have turned into a mild sinus infection on one side, sigh...