Day 67: The good thing about norovirus

I know what you're thinking. Norovirus? Good? Those two words don't belong anywhere near each other. I know. Norovirus, for lack of a better word, sucks. My entire family had it last week - and some colleagues and a lot of students too. It's gross. But for me, this time around, it had some benefits. 

First, I didn't have to log every bite going into my mouth for about three days. There may have even been a 24-hour period where no food actually went into my mouth at all. When you're eating little more than crackers and toast, it's pretty easy to know you're not going over your RDA for, well, anything. 

Relatedly, I lost a couple pounds. I mean, it's not the ideal way to lose weight and a good deal of it was probably water weight from dehydration...but I definitely saw a dip in the scale which helped console me through the awful way I was feeling. 

Finally, and this one is genuine: I kicked my coffee addiction. I've been meaning to get off the coffee for a long time. In my life, anytime I've kicked one habit another rolled along and took its place. Coffee is a relatively harmless addiction, and I was only having a couple of cups a day, but I got to the point that I didn't even really enjoy the taste anymore - I was just drinking it so I didn't get sleepy or have a headache. So, after 3 days without coffee I decided I could live without drinking coffee and other caffeine sources on a regular basis. I have to say, I really feel a lot better. I actually have more energy, especially in the evenings. And the worst I suffered was a pretty nasty headache on Sunday evening. Who knew. 

I'm feeling good. I have kicked my biggest and nastiest habits and not lost my mind. I'm continuing to take small steps toward eliminating the remaining nasty stuff in my diet and replacing it with really good stuff. I feel strong when I work out and I am seeing slow but certain progress with my weight and my body composition. 

This is long, hard work. But it is worth it. I am worth it.