Since it's "what to eat" day -- exercise & the common cold

[niq]

Does working out a lot make it harder for your body to fight off random colds? If so are there things you can do/eat that actually avoid getting sick, or get over the sickness quicker?

I am so over this cold and flu season. It's MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND and I am getting what feels like cold #61 of this season, which started for me the weekend before Halloween. This is so much worse than it's ever been, my job is low stress, I get about 7-8 hours of sleep a night (but, I don't always sleep really well). We have a small kid, which I'm sure is part of the problem. The only other big change is that I'm working out a lot more compared to even last year. I'm eating more too, and I'm even gaining a little weight, but maybe I'm not eating the right things.

Any tips? Or things that help you deal with the symptoms and stick to your workout schedule? I just want to go a good six weeks without feeling so gross

[runaways]

Anecdotally, I find that my immune system actually seems to be stronger when I'm running more. I can count on one hand the number of colds I've had in 3 years in the hospital which I attribute (rightly or wrongly) to being very active. That said, I usually start slamming Emergen-C and Airborne and zinc as soon as I feel one coming on. There's not really great evidence for these things, but I'll take a little placebo effect.

[hannahb]

I've noticed in the past if I'm overtraining I will get sick. However, ever since my DS, I've had sicker winters. I blame the kid

[niq]

May 22, 2015 17:22:08 GMT -5 hannahb said:

I've noticed in the past if I'm overtraining I will get sick. However, ever since my DS, I've had sicker winters. I blame the kid

Yeah, we have a toddler, I'm sure that's part of it. I get sicker more and it takes longer to recover. But I don't remember last year (he was born in August 2013) being this bad.

[kams]

I got rocked last fall(13) - spring (14). I had back to back big training cycles (a marathon then ironman). DD1 was 3 - germ city. I tried zicam when I was getting sick during marathon taper, but ended up racing sick.

I tried vitamins, garlic, you name it, and it just still was a really sick year for me.