Flu

I was surprised when I heard earlier this week that the Mayor of Boston declared a health emergency due to the latest flu* epidemic. I generally am resigned that if there is something going around, it doesn’t matter how hyper you are trying to avoid it (washing hands, avoiding sick people, etc), you’re going to get it if your immune system is down. My made-up approach - which I think is mostly a psychosomatic approach, is based purely on diet and stress. Reduce the stress levels and increase your healthy diet. I specifically try to eat a bit healthier - more fresh greens/fruits, and I buy OJ and fruit drinks (Odwalla/Naked) that I drink religiously every morning. But the biggest thing I do - I down more water. I find it challenging to drink the 48 recommended ounces. I average about 30 ounces a day. When I feel something come on, I drink more water to flush those bad little bugs out of my system. Who knows if it works or not, but in my head I’ve preempted hundreds of miserable flues.


Having a sore throat the other night, I filled up my water glass at work and settled in for a morning of report writing. Two hours later I look and realized I hadn’t drunk a drop of water. It only took me a few decades to finally figure it out - I drink (and probably eat) what is in front of me. My glass of water was on my side desk, out of site (and out of mind). I shifted it to where it usually sits by my monitor and low and behold it’s empty already!

Of course the downside of more water in, is more water out. At least at my current job the restrooms aren’t too far. At a previous job I realized I had cut back on my water intake at work because the restrooms were on the other end of the building.

Blog worthy? Probably not, but I have a feeling I’ll forget the obvious and need the reminder. Good luck to all of you in avoiding the flu this year!

*For some reason I associate the flu with throwing-up and more serious sickness and I call the stuffy head, cough, sore throat, running nose, etc a simple cold.  I wonder if it's regional.