Tips on How to Get Better Faster

Like I mentioned yesterday, I spent most of the end of last week and all weekend being sick. My sinus issues and general malaise are still lingering into this week,unfortunately. Since it is that time of the year, and getting sick can disrupt your social life, work, fitness regime, and any training plans you may be following-it's best to try to get well as soon as possible if sickness cannot be avoided. Here are some the ways I try to speed up the healing process:

1. Accept the situation: It doesn't matter what is going on in my life, if I try to fight through the sickness, eventually it will win.  I feel much better taking a day off from work to sleep and rest than go into work and end up not being very productive anyways.  Also I know this is debatable, but I think that unless it's something you know you'll feel better if you get just get your sweat on, just take a rest day. I'd rather rest up and be able to the gym strong later then have a few days of crappy workouts that don't leave me feeling much better. 

2. Stock up and drink up: I take a mixture of herbal and pharmaceutical supplements. I believe in taking extra Vitamin C (something like Emergen-C) and echinacea tablets, along with my multi-vitamin and probiotics.  After a few days of feeling crappy, I'm going to take some generic Mucinex and cold or sinus medication too because it helps. It's really hard for me to remember to drink water which is important for getting better. I like to drink lots of green tea with lemon.  

3. Get steamy: Something that really helps me at night is having a humidifier next to the bed.  I find that especially with the heat on in the winter, the air gets super dry and dries out the mucous membranes in the nose and throat which usually help keep things moving along. My little portable humidifier keeps the air moist by creating steam which helps when I've got some nasal or respiratory distress at bedtime.  I got this little elephant humidifier (yes, it's made for a child) at Target because it's cute. Standing in the steamy bathroom after a shower feels amazing for a congested nose too!

4. Comfort food: Sometimes it's hard to eat when you're sick because you aren't as hungry as usual, but your body needs fuel to boost your immune system!  I believe in the healing power of chicken noodle soup.  Anything that is yummy and warms you up from the inside out, or is whatever your mom made for you when you sick when you were younger. Another awesome comfort food I made this weekend was these little chicken pot pies. I saw a bunch of recipes and kind of just did my own thing.  I used this biscuit recipe, which I halved, to put on top of the pies before I baked them, and it turned out great! You could use any biscuit recipe, frozen biscuit, or even puff pastry as a topping. You can add or substitute for any vegetables you have on hand. I filled 4 small ramekins with a little leftover filling.  These came out so yummy and were even boyfriend-approved!

Lighter Chicken Pot Pies (Serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

1/4 yellow onion diced

2 stalks celery, diced

10 oz bag of frozen vegetable medley (corn, carrots, peas)

1/2 cup of mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup of sweet potato, cubed

1 Tbsp of fresh thyme (dried would work fine)

1/2 lb chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces (you can add more or less)

2 Tbsp of ghee (coconut oil, EVOO, or any other fat would work fine!)

1 1/2 cups of chicken stock

2 Tbsp of arrowroot (cornstarch can also be used)

salt & pepper

Directions: 

Cook frozen vegetable medley on the stovetop as directed (or microwave).  Add onion, celery, mushrooms, and sweet potato to a pot with the ghee or fat of choice on medium heat.  Stir until vegetables are cooked through and begin to soften, about 10 minutes.  Next add the chicken stock to the pot and simmer, covered for about 5 minutes.  In a small bowl, mix arrowroot with approx. 3 tablespoons of water with a fork until all the lumps are gone, this will be the thickener. Add chicken breast pieces and arrowroot mixture into pot, reduce heat and stir.  Remove from heat when mixture is a thickness to your liking for the pot pie filling.  Fill  4 greased ramekins with the vegetable and chicken filling.  Top with a biscuit or cut-out circle of puff pastry and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Let cool and then eat!

What are your favorite comfort foods? Any tips on how to get better quickly?