On Tuesday, September 19, 2023 I began to experience what I would say was a reduction in energy in the second half of the day that was greater than usual. It was a work-from-home day and I did exercise on that day, so I didn’t think too much of it.
The following day (Wednesday), I ended up going to work and had what I think was a rather productive day. Towards the second half of that work day, I noticed once again I was starting to lose some of my energy. I was a bit stressed out dealing with the Google Fi stuff as well as some other personal things, but I figured maybe it was just a lack of caffeine or something. Perhaps I messed something up with my diet and it would work itself out.
One other possibility was my body adjusting to the workout schedule, so I didn’t think too much of it. When it was time to go home, I started my drive. Admittedly, this drive home was different from others as it took far more focus to actually keep track of things. I made it home fine, but wouldn’t say it was a pleasant drive home by any means.
By Wednesday night I started to realize that my throat felt funny, and my body was sore. Of course my body was sore; I had been working out. However, it usually didn’t stay sore this long. I made some extra effort to eat the right things and went to bed at a decent time. Well, for the most part. I stayed up about 30 minutes later than planned, but that was mostly because I wasn’t ready yet.
Thursday morning was a wake-up call. I felt sluggish, sore, and overall unable to focus. Thursday was a work-from-home day, and it was a rough one at that. I was struggling to stay on task, couldn’t keep up with conversations, and my throat was feeling a little worse. I started feeling sinus issues later on in the day, and by the end of the day I was completely and utterly exhausted. I gave my manager a bit of a heads up that I wasn’t feeling well, but was going to make an effort the following day.
I called off on Friday.
Friday morning was weird for me. I didn’t have focus and felt tired and sluggish, but in my mind taking a day meant that I needed to make up for it somehow. I did a relatively low-effort workout after getting some sinus medication to do something about the symptoms, but made sure not to overdo it. Kept to things that didn’t force me to breathe too heavily while working some muscle groups that I could feel needed it.
My primary focus after that was getting plenty of rest and eating the right things. I kept my electrolytes up per usual by my keto guidelines and did what I felt needed to be done in terms of my health. Having checked with someone on my health app, I took some medications that I could use in tandem and just waited it out over a long weekend.
Saturday was a weird one. On one hand, I was starting to feel better in some ways. My sinuses were terrible in the morning, but were at least getting somewhat better. Friday evening I was spewing stuff from my nose, but Saturday it was intermittent. Sometimes it was a lot, sometimes it was a little. By the evening, I actually felt decent, but had decided to skip out on both a family event (with their blessing of course) and a concert (I’ll get around to seeing Megadeth the next time they are around).
Growing up I was susceptible to illness whenever it was going around, and sinuses usually stayed with me for weeks. I was caught off guard by the fact that this seemed to actually be clearing up pretty decently all things considered. My brother, who most likely carried it to me, was definitely doing a lot worse. Then again, we work completely different types of jobs and have completely different levels of exposure to things that would cause sinus or chest congestion considering he works with grains and the like.
I skipped my workout routine on Saturday, but kept it this morning. Upon waking up at around 8:00 AM, I was feeling pretty decent actually. By the time I got out of bed, watched a couple of YouTube videos, and did some stretching, I felt pretty good! My sinuses are still a bit timid, but not bad. I’ve sneezed a bit and have gotten rid of some mucus, but I am breathing great.
I think the keto diet and general focus on wellness has saved me tremendously here. My brother has had a significantly longer recovery time, so I am feeling both lucky and hopeful towards the future on my current trajectory. For reference, my brother is six years younger and from a physical perspective, he is in much better shape. On the other hand, his diet is crap and he smokes. It’s sort of two sides of the same coin there.
I’ve shifted my perspective on taking better care of myself and getting exercise.
Growing up, I was rather adverse to working out and what-not. I had a hard time finding the appeal to it, but up until around the age of 15, I was actually in pretty good shape. I used to run around a lot and play games, so I had never really thought about putting in an orchestrated effort. By the time I was smack dab in the middle of high school, I started to see that wane and getting exercise was a problem.
Now I am seeing the benefit of even getting the smallest amount of exercise in on a daily basis. It doesn’t need to be intense, it just needs to be enough to keep you moving. Now that I recognize that, I find workout routines that work for me and slowly try to push myself out of my comfort zone.
I’ll keep this moment going into 2024 as I aim towards reaching a healthy weight first and foremost. I need to get this excess weight off my body, improve my less-used muscle groups to at least a minimal level, and get the right nutrition for the long-term. By the end of 2023 I will be in a much better place physically which will help me get into a much better place mentally.
Here’s the workout I did this morning:
