I Got Sick, Came Home, Went Back to Work (?)

I’ve been trying something new – I’m trying to …

Make your first meal the biggest and your last meal the smallest. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

Because I get tired of eating a big dinner, then sitting around either reading or watching TV, then going to bed and feeling like a whale in muddy water – fat and sluggish.

So. Even though I have NO APPETITE in the morning (never have, really), I force myself to eat two scrambled eggs and a buttered bagel and then drink some orange juice every morning.

Sometimes I shake things up and eat a bowl of oatmeal instead of eggs. Then I usually take leftovers from the previous night’s dinner for lunch and eat really late (like around 2:30ish in the afternoon) so that by the time dinner rolls around, I’m not hungry – at all.

Or if I’m a little hungry, I’ll eat another bagel.

This plan seems to be working – I’ve lost a little weight and I’m training my body to eat at different times.

I woke up this morning, had my breakfast and went to work. But I started to feel funny by the time I drove into the parking lot. I felt like a fist was pressing into my stomach and before long, I felt nauseous and ran to the bathroom to promptly lose my breakfast. I couldn’t figure it out. I’m NEVER SICK. Like, EVER. And this was a really strange thing for me and it happened so fast.

I felt a little better after tossing my breakfast, but before long, I felt that pressure again and my co-worker said my face turned white. She could tell I was trying not to vomit. I finally threw in the towel and came home. I chewed four extra-strength Tums and slept for about two hours.

I left work at 11:00 and by 1:30, I was feeling 100% better and considering there were several hours left in the day, I went back to work.

You can imagine everyone’s surprise when they saw I was back. But I honestly felt better. I left work at 11:00, came home, chewed some Tums, slept for a bit, woke up around 1:30ish and thought, “I feel fine.” I couldn’t, in good conscience, NOT go back to work. What was I going to do for the remainder of the day? (Oh sure, there is always something to do at home, but I would rather spend my time making money, if at all possible).

So I put my scrubs back on and went back to work. And I got quite a bit done in the remaining hours – and I’m pretty sure I scored brownie points with my boss. (Which wasn’t why I went back to work – I just have a VERY STRONG work ethic – but BONUS!)

Everyone was more than a little surprised to see me back. (My co-worker had sent out an email stating I had gone home sick). And I’m sure they were thinking, “Damn it, Karen. You’re making the rest of us look bad by putting on this super employee suit” but I’m being honest when I say, if I ever call in sick to work, it’s because I’m near death.

And that’s the God-honest truth.

And yes, I realize I’m super weird, especially nowadays when “work ethic” is an alien term to most Americans. I hate to be snarky, but there it is.