The Parainfluenza Weight Loss Plan
Had a nasty, nasty virus about 4 weeks ago that provided me with nasty throat pain and pretty much constant fevers, chills, and night sweats. (I could practically tell you when 10pm hit, as my cold sweats would start.) I put myself on around the clock Tylenol and ibuprofen x 8 or 9 days (I know, I know) and somehow made it out alive. Rumor is it’s a parainfluenza virus going around the area.
Anyway–I usually weigh around 155 pounds; last week at the gym I stepped on the scale and was 147. I think that’s the lightest I’ve been since med school began. My pants no longer fit; my belts are too big. I lost 5% of my entire body weight (unfortunately mostly muscle).
Power of the fever and increased metabolism. Amazing, that human body.
Funny that. I’m on the other side of the country and I seemed to have the same bug just a few days ago. It was awful- at one point when I was shivering and sweating and running a very high fever, my girlfriend tried to get me to go to the hospital, except that I couldn’t sit up (and so couldn’t drive myself) and I wouldn’t let her go and call anyone. Now that I’m back on my feet I am definitely noticing that my clothes are fitting differently. It’s funny how you can lose so much weight just sitting around being sick. I seem to be someone who absolutely never looses weight unless I’m ill. Metabolism is strange. And fascinating.
Try getting dengue… the first time I had it, I lost 15 pounds in a week. And that was just the first time…