This last week I’ve been focusing on recovery. As cautious as I am at airports and public places, I still managed to catch the flu. I arrived from my Easter Bank Holiday weekend into Leeds, but even before I boarded the plane back to England, I felt off. I was a bit dizzy and needed to eat something. A salad and coffee helped, so I thought I just had some low blood pressure, but when I was sitting on the plane, I think I started having a fever…

I didn’t get much sleep that night. The plane landed at 10:45 pm on the Monday night, and I didn’t get to my friend’s house until 11:30 or so. I was starving, so I ordered some mild curry from a takeway. We spent a few hours talking and catching up, and I was off to work the next day, so obviously, I didn’t sleep much. Tuesday went by, but then by Wednesday morning, I was feeling worse. I went in to work, but afterwards, I had zero energy. That night, I was having trouble breathing and sleeping and I decided to not go into work the next day. It’s been several days of terrible quality sleep, a runny nose, a very dry and painful cough, runny eyes (ew) and zero energy.

Today, I’m really struggling with feelings after being unproductive for days. I feel super negative after I stop sticking to my routine. I don’t like to miss work, and I like being sick even less. I also don’t like going this long without physical activity. Not going to work or the gym has been mentally challenging, because it just makes me feel like I’m really lazy. I didn’t realize how much of a creature of habit I am, until I don’t have my routine anymore. This makes me nervous and I feel like I’m failing at life (which is stupid, I know).

The reality is that my body needed the rest. Since getting to London on Thursday before Bank Holiday, I haven’t had much sleep. All this running around, traveling around lots of people, and having a weakened immune system really made me the perfect candidate for the flu.

As much as I hate doing nothing, I have had to try and be forgiving on myself and just go with the flow of what my body was telling me I needed.

Here are a few things I’ve been focusing on to feel better:

1. Sleep – Not sleeping enough was the main reason I feel like I got sick. I’ve been trying to not have any alarms on and just sleep until I wake up naturally. I honestly think this is the most important part to my feeling more human again.

2. Staying home – Not spreading the germs back in the office is extremely important as well. I don’t want to get everyone infected with what I have or catch anything else, especially since I’m in this delicate state.

3. Vitamin C – I know it’s important to have Vitamin C in your every day diet, and I try to achieve this by eating lots of leafy greens and berries. However, just to make myself feel better, I’ve been taking Vitamin C supplements, and I’d like to think it’s helped me feel better. It does give me a bit of energy, to say the least.

4. Eating healthy – I tried to have well rounded meals, even when I didn’t have an appetite. There were times where I didn’t feel hungry and I still had  those meals because I knew that in the long run, it would help me feel better.

5. Get some air – After two days of exclusively being in my room, it was time to get up and about, even if it was for a little. I cracked open a window to let some fresh air in, and I went outside to a cafe to get a hot drink and to get some Vitamin D from the sun.

I’m on the mend now, but that’s really been my last week and weekend. I am hopeful that this weekend, I’ll feel 100% again and be able to get back into my routine and doing the things that make me happy.

What do you do, when you’re feeling off, to get better? What is your go-t0 ‘therapy’ for when you’re ill? Do you have any tips or tricks for feeling better?