Does the body burn more calories when you have a flu?

FullBeard

It started with a sore throat on Sunday morning. Today I am warm, weak, and a little languid, and the sore throat persists. I went home from work today and am in bed.

I am also in the process of losing weight by eating primally..

Out of sheer curiosity, will being sick raise my BMR? (My BMR is 1765).

I am eating below my BMR since Saturday, which I know is bad. But, although I'm only eating 1200 per day, I am eating flax, blackberries, strawberries, whey protein, and pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Also whole super milk and weetabix (which I know isn't primal but I have no access to meat at the moment -- at least not good meat).

When I get home at the weekend, I'll remove the weetabix and add lots of beef, veg, and butter.

I was:

• 79.6 kg on Saturday
• 78.7 kg on Sunday
• 78.1 kg on Monday

The above readings make little sense to me mathematically if we give 3500 cals in 1lb, so there must be other factors at work, namely perhaps I had retained water on Saturday.

My goal by 31 August is 75kg.
Ultimately, it is 65kg.

I am a thirty-year-old male who is 169cm tall (or 5'6 for the imperialists )

saa

I have never been able to measure my weight loss using the 3500 cals= 1lb thing, at the start I was losing way more than that equation adds up to and after that for the next 12 months its was periods of having that deficit and not losing, creating a 3500 cal def but losing more than 1lb, or not burning 3500 extra calories and still lost a pound, and I've defiantly ate 3500 calories + extra in a week before and not gained a pound, but I do still create the deficit and in the long run I do lose weight its just hard to bank on it.. but thats week on week, month on month I never consider day by day because of fluctuations.

I doubt it makes that much of a difference really especially if you're only sick for a few days but if you under eat greatly expect that your body will slow down after the initial loss if it doesnt have enough fuel or has adapted to the new low levels of food and energy output and probably won't be a very efficient fat burner after the initial couple of weeks. If you've just started losing weight it almost always slows down to a lower rate anyway and thats when you switch up the exercise and make your diet incrementally better and/or take a short maintenance break

Don't sweat about the small numbers, calculations or days just eat enough, keep chipping away and the weight will get towards its optimal point over a number of months.

meijin

FullBeard wrote: »

It started with a sore throat on Sunday morning.

I am eating below my BMR since Saturday, which I know is bad.

hmm... do you see a connection maybe? and are you trying to starve yourself?
anyway, while you're sick forget about weight loss and make sure you eat at least your maintenance calories, but preferably well over

My goal by 31 August is 75kg.

IMHO goals like that are bad idea, but if you keep undereating while being sick you might get pneumonia and reach 65kg by that date :rolleyes:

FullBeard

meijin wrote: »

hmm... do you see a connection maybe?

No. Please provide a scientific reference which indicates that respiratory tract infections take hold within 24 hours of eating below BMR.

Stench Blossoms

Hang on. You ate below your bmr and you lost weight and you can't see the connection?

FullBeard

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Hang on. You ate below your bmr and you lost weight and you can't see the connection?

The other poster was referring to my throat infection and seems to imply that the infection was caused by eating under BMR.

hellosunshine2

Yes, having a flu or fever raises your BMR due to there is an increase in body temperature. I suggest that instead of thinking too much of losing weight when you have a flue, you should focus on healing. It is true that caloric restriction may bring lots of benefits to our health but this is not true if you have a flu or fever. Get well.

RacoonQueen

The last thing you should be thinking of while ill is restricting calories. You need food to make you better...

Stench Blossoms

We've interrogated him so much he closed his account ! :O