Year 3, Day 85: Recovery

Of course, I keep thinking that most people who have a stomach illness that nearly sends them to the hospital lose weight. But here I am, feasting on toast saltines, cheerios, bagels and Gatorade, just mitigating any weight loss I might have achieved through a lower volume of food. Sigh.

Breakfast
1 Slice of Toast
Tea
5 saltines

Lunch
1.5 Cups of Cheerios
1/2 bagel with jelly
1 Applesauce
Gatorade

Dinner
White Meat Chicken
5 Saltines

I am hungry, but totally wiped out. Of the several versions of Gatorade, some have high fructose corn syrup and some don't. It's too late now but I probably should have gotten Powerade, with its lower carbs and less sweet taste. Maybe next sickness.

Year 2, Day 282: Ruby Throws Up

Having kids definitely has its downsides and whenever your kid is hurt, sad or kneeling over a toilet it's a good time to reflect on the genuine pleasures of being a parent. As usual, we have no idea what caused this spout of nausea but it follows quite a few days of other-bodily sickness and we all struggled to get through the day as a very sick, very televison-watching, and very bed-ridden family. Needless to say there was no gym time for me which was disappointing but I sure know where my priorities are.

Breakfast (when I thought I was going to the gym)
Heritage Flakes
Ikea Meusilix
Blueberries
Banana
Coffee
Unsweetened Soy Milk

Lunch
2 Hard Boiled Eggs
1 Small Slice Balthazar Bread
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
More coffee

Snack
1.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
A few handfuls of Almonds & Cashews

Dinner
Chicken-Thigh Soup with Carrots, Onions
17 Whole Foods Wheat Thins
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar

I went to my local supermarket today to get a few supplies for all the sick people at my house (Emily also with the stomach bug). So I went to better my supply of 'sick food'—saltines, graham crackers, applesauce, you know. I was shocked and dismayed to find that Sudbury Farms, unlike the surprisingly better stocked Star/Shaw's, does not carry many foods that are FREE from partially hydrogenated oils. Since I was with Magnolia and only had so much leeway, I could not go to another market (plus the drive would have ruled it out alone—I would have had to go to Chestnut Hill for the nearest, and not very good Star Market). I would have gone to whole foods but I wanted to get ginger ale—Canada Dry—and while I was buying stuff that I will certainly throw out once everyone is better, I was wondering about the sense of that trip. Sure, the Whole Foods ginger ale is three times as expensive and tastes bad—but is that what's important? I mean, here I am trying to get something that my recently-toilet-bound daughter's stomach can tolerate and I'm telling her that she should put this crap (partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, enriched flour and more) in her body? I swear to you all that I am writing a letter to the management of the Sudbury Farms. I don't mind that they sell junk—that's the American Way. But they should offer an alternative. The brand that I bought—"Premium" (by Nabisco) is loaded with junk but I thought the other brand "Krispy" (by Sunshine, now by Keebler, which was purchased by Kellog's) was free of that junk, but I was wrong. I thought there was a third brand, but unless I go to a well-stocked market, I won't be able to tell you. In any case, the crackers without that junk are just as good and if you're old enough to read this, you know that those crackers didn't have that stuff in it twenty years ago.

From Wikipedia: In the United States, the word "Saltine" was originally registered as a trademark by Nabisco, but it lost trademark protection after the term began to be used generically to refer to similar crackers. In Australia, Arnott's Biscuits Holdings still holds a trademark on the name "Saltine".